Spring at the Nature Preserve
What a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
The Nature Preserve was showing off its green as all the plants were coming out of their winter slumber.
And not just green. The redbuds were in full bloom and moving with butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. The air was heady with fresh scents and filled with a cacophony of song from blackbirds, sparrows, jays, warblers, and woodpeckers.
Spring is a transitional time, and we enjoyed views and songs of some of our winter visitors, like the white and golden-crowned sparrows, who soon will be leaving to their breeding grounds in the north, along with the pleasure of welcoming back the first of our summertime breeders, the tree swallows.
Some of our resident wrens (house, Bewick’s, and marsh) were in full song, advertising their nesting territories. California namesakes were in good attendance, with quail, scrub-jay, towhee, and even thrasher singing and calling along the walk.
We had about 20 nature walkers in attendance at the Spring Seasonal Wildlife Series, from tweens to senior citizens, representing many diverse backgrounds, but all sharing a common experience of a mindful, sensory, springtime walk through our local nature preserve.
Photos by Donna Ruiz
Donna Ruiz took these photos during the Spring Walk. She really knows what she’s doing!
I was amazed during my first trip to Cache Creek Nature Preserve how many Anna’s hummingbirds and bees were feasting on the nectar of the Redbud Trees. It was such a lovely representation of the Spring season.
~Donna Ruiz
Photos by Peri Hoke
Really enjoying spending time here and going on the Seasonal Wildlife Walk was fun! I was really happy to have the Wood Ducks and the Swallows cooperating! I’ve never had a problem finding something to photograph when I come here even when the critters don’t cooperate.
~Peri Hoke
In the News
“Spring is in the air for first ‘Seasonal Wildlife Series’”
Daily Democrat March 22, 2024 by Jim Smith, CCC Board of Directors