Archives

Free lecture with Richard W. Halsey. Thursday, Oct. 27, 7:00 p.m. Legion Wing, Veterans Memorial Hall. 1745 Mission Dr., Solvang. Once home to the California grizzly bear, and where the last California condors were able to hold off extinction, the chaparral remains one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated ecosystems on earth. Chaparral is found in every county in the …

Free screening of documentary film. Saturday, November 5, 7:00 p.m. Little Theater, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. 2975 East Highway 246. Santa Ynez, CA. The Little Theater at SY High School is located directly across from El Rancho Market in Santa Ynez. Join us for a free screening of  TIME TO CHOOSE, a timely exploration of one of the …

Free lecture with Kevin Lafferty. Saturday, November 19, 7:00 p.m. Tipton Meeting House, UC Sedgwick Reserve. 3566 Brinkerhoff Avenue, Santa Ynez. Join us for an eye-opening talk about the hidden complexities of local aquatic ecosystems. California’s tidal estuaries like the Carpinteria Salt Marsh contain trematode parasites with complex life cycles hosted by both birds and snails. Within the snails (rendered …

Field trip with Dan Fontaine and Darwin Richardson. Saturday, December 3, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Participation is limited to 25. Advance registration required at synature@west.net or 805 693-5683. Member registration begins: August 16. Non-member registration begins: August 26. Members free/non-members free. This trip will explore the Devereux Slough ecosystem, our western most large estuary on the south coast. Lower …

Field trip with Joan Lentz and Larry Ballard. Sunday, December 11,  9:00 a.m. to  4:00 p.m. Participation is limited to 25. Advance registration required at synature@west.net or 805 693-5683. Member registration begins: August 16. Non-member registration begins: August 26. Members free/non-members $20. We’ll spend the morning looking for birds in the rich avian habitats around the Morro Bay salt marsh, …

Free Lecture with Cathy Rose and Stephen Ingram. Wednesday, January 20, 7:00 p.m. Wildling Museum. 1511-B Mission Dr., Solvang, CA 93463. Author Cathy Rose and photographer Stephen Ingram will present their new book, Rock Creek Wildflowers, published by the California Native Plant Society.  Cathy will discuss the alpine and subalpine flora native to the eastern Sierra in a talk illuminated …

Free Workshop with John Evarts and Sedgwick Docents. Saturday, February 20, 10:00 a.m. to noon. UC Sedgwick Reserve. 3566 Brinkerhoff Avenue, Santa Ynez. Participation is limited to 30. Advance registration required at synature@west.net 693-5683. What outdoor activity is fun, and in future years will help beautify any landscape, support wildlife, and combat global warming? Planting a native oak tree!! If …

Free Lecture and Book-Signing with Tom Parker. Co-sponsored by Solvang Library. Saturday, February 27, 7:00 p.m. Santa Ynez Valley Grange #644. 2374 Alamo Pintado Ave. Los Olivos, CA. The California Floristic Province (CFP) is the center of diversity for manzanitas (Arctostaphylos species, Ericaceae). The CFP contains 104 of 105 species known worldwide.  Manzanitas are the “rock stars” of woody plant …

Field trip with Larry Ballard. Saturday, March 12, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Participation is limited to 25. Advance registration required at synature@west.net or 693-5683. Members free/nonmembers $20. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge lies within the largest coastal dune system in California. The hike takes us through dune scrub, a shrub-dominated habitat that includes dune specialist plants along with …