2003 marked my third year working for the San Dieguito River Park. I started out in 2000 working as a contracted Ranger Aide/ Maintenance worker and progressed to a full time Ranger later that year. As the park continued to grow and purchase the land needed to build the Coast to Crest Trail, we were… Read More »
In the year 2001, the San Dieguito River Park was identified as a State Wildlife Corridor linkage by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. If you go to the California Parks website today, you will see the Coast to Crest Trail is a highlighted corridor on the Southern California map. The San Dieguito River… Read More »
In 1999, the San Dieguito River Park JPA was celebrating its 10th anniversary, and there were so many active projects. The River Park had just been awarded a $3 million grant to fund the design and construction of the bicycle/pedestrian bridge across Lake Hodges and a grant for $212,000 from the City of San Diego to begin restoration planning… Read More »
The Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) has a white eye stripe just behind each eye extending to just before its upper back. Its throat and breast are heavily spotted dark brown and black, and its wings and tail are barred with black, white and brown feathers. Its overall appearance is a creamy colored brown bird with… Read More »
The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. This is the most widespread and familiar large hawk in North America, bulky and broad-winged, designed for effortless soaring. An inhabitant of open country, it is commonly seen perched on roadside poles… Read More »
Each year, the San Dieguito River Park organizes a trip for our active volunteers to a location or institution that is designed to widen their understanding of natural or cultural resources and in turn make them more well-rounded volunteers in the park. Some twenty volunteers, many of them Dust Devils, were treated to a private,… Read More »
Our night skies are transitioning from Spring to Summer in late May to early June, and you can see two, clear signs of that transition. The first sign is that Spring, specifically late May and June, is the perfect time to observe globular clusters. Globular clusters are the mysterious giant balls of stars (usually between… Read More »
There are some special sky events and wonderful deep-sky and solar system objects to observe in March. But March nights can still be very cold even though the March equinox on the night of March 20th (about 3:30 am local time) marks the beginning of spring. The zodiacal light, the soft light from sunlight reflecting… Read More »
The San Dieguito River Park is proud to announce the Sikes Saturday Series. The series will host over 30 presentations and hikes at Sikes Adobe over 4 months starting in January. Every Saturday a morning and afternoon event will take place. The program topics include local history, wildlife, native plants, wilderness survival, mountain biking, gardening,… Read More »
In partnership with United States Fish and Wildlife Service, The Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County, Butterfly Farms, Sky Mountain Permaculture Institute, and the California Native Plant Society, a pollinator garden was installed along the Coast to Crest Trail near Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead. The purpose of this garden is to help conserve… Read More »
