On Wednesday, I was on the Conservancy’s Kismat tract with several others, and we were shocked at what we saw. No one could believe it. We saw what we believed to be a large, female giant garter snake. In winter! On a cloudy, chilly day! Speculation is rampant on why she wasn’t hibernating, as she is supposed to be doing this time of year. An aquatic snake, on land (see photo) in the winter. We’ll have to log this one in the record books.

They’re back!
We are so pleased to see one of the NBHCP’s “Covered Species,” the Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), back on Conservancy property! Going back 15 years, the owl used to be seen frequently on Conservancy mitigation lands. At the time, we documented too-common depredation of them by dogs from nearby residential… Continue Reading They’re back!