Pictured here are two photos, one of a goat about to give birth to a kid on a portion of the Conservancy’s preserves that benefit Swainson’s hawk. The hawks have migrated now, so the field’s vacant state was recently enlivened when this newborn made it …

Now that the habitat conservation plans (HCPs) are being more actively used by private and public project proponents in the “Permit Areas,” the Conservancy steps up its advancement of implementation of the HCPs. That includes constructing additional ma …

Photos taken by Conservancy staff on Conservancy mitigation land, 2023. The Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is one of the HCPs’ “Covered Species.” And, we on the Conservancy staff freely admit, it’s a favorite. The reason is simple: these birds are …

It’s a great time of the year when rice harvest begins. One of our favorite parts of harvest is the aroma of a freshly-harvested rice field. Maybe it has something to do with the bran or bran oil on the rice grain where the aroma is released in part by …

The Conservancy has redoubled efforts to use mitigation lands for prey production purposes. A big component of that is an effort to enhance small rodent populations at strategic locations. These small rodents are favored prey of raptors, and the Swains …

Okay, so some call it button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). We call it button-willow. It’s a favorite among the staff here at the Conservancy. It’s easy to see why. One of the reasons is that large insects are attracted to them. We’re trying to enha …