Good news. Golden Gate Audubon is planning another visit to the Laurel Creek Beavers. September 24th, say do you think it’s in honor of my birthday?

BIRDS AND BEAVERS ON LAUREL CREEK

Beavers are a keystone species, engineering wetland habitats for themselves that also benefits fish, amphibians, and mammals like otters and muskrats. The water, food, and shelter found in beavers’ riparian habitats are among the many benefits to birds (https://goldengateaudubon.org/blog-posts/the-birds-and-the-beavers/).

Beaver dams are known to double the probability of willow flycatchers and the density of song sparrows compared to areas without beavers. The story of the FAIRFIELD BEAVERS (https://baynature.org/2021/11/11/beavers-can-help-californias-environment-but-state-policy-doesnt-help-them/) on Laurel Creek involves the city of Fairfield, which can get a permit to kill beavers, and has removed their dams in the past due to their worries about flooding, but is currently leaving the beavers alone due to the presence of a kit.

First we will watch the beavers near sunrise for about an hour and then bird the creek (about 1 mile long and then back again) that they have dams on. Virginia Holsworth is the admin of the Laurel Creek Beavers Facebook page, and she has led many beaver field trips. She will help us find signs of the beavers (old dams, new dams, slides, chews, etc.) and give the latest updates on these beavers.

We will walk about 2 miles round trip on a mostly flat trail (dirt, partially paved). We will be in a residential neighborhood, so there are no bathrooms or water nearby, and no places to sit. (We suggest visiting a gas station for a bathroom prior to the walk. The nearest public bathroom is at the Laurel Creek Park, which opens at 6 AM, but note that the bathroom stalls do not have doors.)

Participants are asked to be quiet, since we will be meeting early in a residential neighborhood.

This trip is free but advance registration is required. Registration will open two weeks before the trip and close at 4 pm on Thursday, September 22. Directions for registered participants are below.

Directions Final directions will be given a few days before the trip, to the beaver dam location with the most current activity.