The Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a variety of free nature-themed walks, tours, and outdoor activities for all ages, 2-6 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at the UC Sedgwick Reserve.
The event requires advance registration by emailing syvnhs@syvnature.org or calling 805-693-5683. Registration is now open.
A prime location for natural science research and education in the region, the 5,900-acre UC Sedgwick Reserve is an ideal place to spend in the outdoors, the Natural History Society said.
Following interpretive walks and activities offered by the Natural History Society, there will be time to visit and enjoy free snacks and drinks. Participants can also bring their own picnic supper and stay until 7 p.m.
Gates to the reserve open at 2 p.m., and all organized walks and hikes start at 2:30 p.m. and last until 4 or 4:30 p.m.
At 5 p.m. the event will honor five individuals who have had a major impact on the Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society’s educational programs over the past 25 years. Anniversary cake will be served.
Registrants can sign up for one the following short hikes and activities:
1. Family Friendly Nature Walk with Nikki Evans. This stroll to various sites around the Reserve’s Field Station will introduce a variety of topics to naturalists of all ages, including animal tracks, bone identification, and feathered friends.
2. Fire Ecology and Recovery at Sedgwick with Tina Collins. The mostly level 2-mile round-trip hike on Figueroa Creek Road will examine burned and unburned areas at the edge of the Lake Fire, with time to discuss the role of fire in Mediterranean climates.
3. Oak Tree Natural History with Margie Popper and John Evarts. A moderate 2-mile hike (with one steep uphill section over the scenic Arroyo Willow Trail) will cover basic oak identification; oak woodland ecology; and an overview of California’s oak habitats and the challenges they face.
4. Sedgwick Field Station Tour with Dennis Beebe offers a chance to learn about the history and research at Sedgwick. The tour includes the Sedgwick family house, historic barn and history room, and the LEED certified Tipton Meeting House.
5. Bird Life at Sedgwick with Tim Matthews. Bring your binoculars or spotting scope to join this birding walk to the Sedgwick pond, home to the county’s largest population of tricolored blackbirds, as well as other species such as soras, rails, and common yellowthroat.
Participants will also bird around the ranch house and other nearby spots to sample the avian fauna at this recognized birding hotspot.
6. The Rocks Tell a Story with Susie Bartz and Sabina Thomas offers a one-mile hike introducing visitors to the geologic processes that have helped define the Sedgwick landscape. The hike will focus on the stream bed of Figueroa Creek, which holds rocks from various origins dating back nearly 200 million years..
7. Nature Journaling with Jim Farnum. Gather under the oaks by Tipton House to get guidance and share ideas for starting or adding to a nature journal. Bring your own materials.
A visual retrospective of the Society’s 25 years of trips and lectures will be ongoing in the Reserve’s Clarke Hall.