Last Saturday we had Ms. Boardman’s Biology class from Cerritos College join the Stewards for weed picking and native plant planting.  They did a great job considering the weeding was more difficult than usual.  The native grasses we had planted back at the end of 2014 had been overtaken by the non-native grasses (mostly Hordeum sp., barley) and needed to be cleared.  I had gone ahead and flagged all the natives I could see and showed all the volunteers what a native grass and a non-native grass looked like.  I didn’t expect them to instantly learn to recognize the difference, but the group took the extra time to verify the natives versus non-natives and did a great job!  I was very impressed.  We then planted tar plant in between the grasses and watered all the natives.

At the end of the day, while we were making sure we didn’t leave anything behind, Danny, the Jr. Stewards’ Coordinator, found a San Diego gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer annectens).  I was super happy to see the snake because I think it was the same one I saw last year based on its size, location, and temperament.  We also saw a flock of American Coots (Fulica americana) near the walk bridge enjoying the greenery as we walked back to the parking lot.

~Erin