LAUREL CREEK BEAVERS ON THE AIRWAVES

heidi08 Beavers July 3, 2023

This was fun to see drop right before the festival. Jeanne and her fellow podcast host came to the event and did some research on who to interview next.

Jeanne and Christy|6/20/2023

In this follow-up minisode, we tour an active beaver colony in Fairfield, CA, and learn even more about the lifestyles of the toothy and hairy. A visit to the home of the Laurel Creek beavers.

Great work Virginia, and I’m glad to see you marching on with the role of beaver host. Someone’s got to carry on the tradition while Martinez is in between beavers.

GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON PLANS ANOTHER BEAVER FIELD TRIP

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.

Don’t you want to go? It’s already filled with the beaver curious but I’m sure I could talk them into making an extra trip if you’re interested.

BEAVER NIGHT AT SAFARI WEST

heidi08 Beavers August 7, 2022

So last night was Beaver night at Safari West! Our friend Virginia Holsworth represented Worth A Dam and gave a talk in the Elephant Room using a ppt I put together for her focusing on our urban beavers. She and her family got to stay in a tent cabin and have dinner and breakfast at the lodge. And today she takes a vehicle excursion to see the wonders it has to offer.

Virginia Holsworth is a member of Worth A Dam, the nonprofit that worked to save the beavers in Martinez California. The group works now with other cities to teach them how and why to coexist with this important Keystone Species. Valued for water storage, biodiversity and even fire prevention, beavers really are “Worth A Dam”.

More people become beaver believers And Worth A Dam gets a great donation that we can use to make MORE people even care about beavers! What a deal!

AUDUBON LEADS THE WAY FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds July 24, 2022

Do you remember back before the festival when Elizabeth Winstead wrote that excellent article for Golden Gate Audubon about the Laurel Creek beavers in Fairfield? Well folks were SO excited about this that they wanted a field trip so this weekend Elizabeth and Virginia Holsworth teamed up and gave them the morning they never had before.

Look at these photos and you’ll understand why Audubon matters so much to beavers. Great work ladies!

SALMON SAYS “WE LIKE BEAVERS”

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and salmon November 15, 2021

Hey do you remember that awesome beaver habitat that was just across the water from Martinez and in the news this week? Well you’ll never guess what Virginia Holsworth filmed yesterday in the creek by her house. Hold onto your hats.

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