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Repairs at Shollenberger Park 2013 by Gerald Moore Shollenberger Park Was Built As a Dredge to Start

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Repairs at Shollenberger Park 2013 by Gerald Moore Shollenberger Park Was Built As a Dredge to Start VOLUME 47 December 2013/January 2014 Number 3 Repairs at Shollenberger Park 2013 by Gerald Moore Shollenberger Park was built as a dredge to start. Thus it is important to remove animal life that had lived for years in the spoils site in the 1970s to allow the City much of the river water and send it back channel providing wildlife sitings and joy of Petaluma to remove the silt that is to the river via a channel called the decant for all visitors. always building up in the river. The silt channel which is lower in elevation than The Petaluma Wetlands Alliance (PWA) comes from both the upstream side and the pond. To control this operation, the was concerned about this downturn in the downstream side of the river as a water must slowly be drained down via wildlife and contacted Ducks Unlim- result of commercial boat traffic, recre- a decant channel (connected to a Water- ited (DU) to consult with us about our ational boating, and the action of tides gate) and returned to the river. proposed cause of the problem and pos- pushing and pulling on the water in the By 2008 the pair of Watergates at Shol- sible corrections for the issue. DU sent a river like a giant bathtub. In order for lenberger were 30-odd years old and had biologist and an engineer to Shollenberger the river to remain navigable, the river eroded away like a pile of rust. To make to look at our problem. They quickly must be drained of silt every few years. matters worse, the City of Petaluma confirmed that our analysis of the prob- During a dredging operation one-or-two had allowed a construction company to lem was correct. The cattails needed dras- large dredge boats, specially designed dump all of the surface water of a sub- to pump water and silt out of the river, tic thinning and better control while the division, located up slope from Shollen- Watergates needed replacing. They even spend about a month removing the mud berger Park, into Shollenberger and with from the river and depositing that mud agreed to help us make it happen, if PWA it came “tons” of fertilizer which stimu- would contribute half of the required in the big spoils pond at Shollenberger. lated the cattails to grow at an exponen- The water/mud mix during dredging is tial rate, choking out all other plant and Continued on page 2 about 80/10, so a lot of river water gets trapped in Shollenberger. Dredge water NO GENERAL MEETING IN DECEMBER, BUT COME JOIN US ON MADRONE’S also contains lots of fish and plants which CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, SUNDAY DECEMBER 29. Details on page 7. Continued on page 2 help feed the fauna and flora in Shollen- HAPPY HOLIDAYS! berger Pond. After the dredge spoils water sits in Shol- JANUARY GENERAL MEETING lenberger for a month or two, most of the “What Do Birds Do for Us?” sediment has settled at the bottom of the Monday January 20, 7:00 PM pond. Since dredging is always done in First United Methodist Church 1551 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa autumn to minimize interferences with migratory native fish and wildlife, there Julie Jedlika, a post-doctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, researches various aspects of Western Bluebird prey is danger of having the pond too full of interaction in agricultural systems. She has set out to prove that avian conservation efforts in Califor- nia vineyards strengthen ecosystems by controlling pests and scourges, such as Pierce’s Disease. Julie’s water just as the rainy season is about research, “What Do Birds Do for Us?”, is described in the April 2013 issue of Audubon Magazine. Julie will present us with a summary of her experience over the years, working with growers to To receive Leaves via email in PDF format just achieve a beneficial outcome for agriculture and Western Bluebird populations. email your request to: COMING Monday February 17 [email protected] John P. Kelly, Ph.D., Director of Conservation Science and Habitat Protection for Audubon Canyon You will get your copy faster and help save paper. Ranch, will give an update on the egret/heron rookeries. MADRONE LEAVES REPAIRS AT SHOLLENBERGER Madrone’s 2014 Enrich Your Life – Continued from page 1 BIRD-A-THON… Become a Petaluma project funding in the form of in-kind coming early next year Wetlands Docent grants. PWA looked through their records by Marcia Johnson by Mary Edith Moore of volunteer restoration projects done by Bird-A-Thon Coordinator the PWA docents and community vol- If you live in Petaluma or Penngrove, consider joining the Petaluma Wet- unteers, documenting several thousand Madrone’s Bird-A-Thon takes place in hours over the previous two years which lands Alliance (PWA) as a docent. Our February or March each year, and teams new-docent training begins Thursday could be converted to an in-kind grant have a fun day just counting birds to sup- January 9 and continues for eight con- to the project at the rate of $ 19.15 per port our Chapter. I am hopeful that the secutive Thursdays thru February plus hour. PWA/DU had the repair proj- six teams who participated in 2013 will the first two Wednesdays in March, ect funded within nine months. The continue in 2014. This is our major fund- 8:30 AM – Noon. The 10 training ses- project needed the approval of the raiser. Last year, we collected almost $9,400 sions are held at the Lucchesi Commu- City of Petaluma since they “owned” - all of it was used for educational and con- nity Center and Shollenberger Park. the wetlands. The City of Petaluma, servation programs, such as the popular Ju- PWA has a very active wetlands pro- which was somewhat shocked by nior Audubon, the Christmas Bird Count, what we had accomplished in nine gram: teaching third grade hands-on Audubon Adventures (a FREE resource kit activities in the classroom and in the months, did not act to support us for for teachers to use in their 3rd-5th grade field, nature discovery walks with the 2-3 years. Finally the city saw the classes), and Lincoln School’s half-day Bird second graders, bilingual nature/bird merit of getting $83K of grant mon- Festival for all students. walks for higher grades and adults, bird ey from PWA/DU to get new Water- research, and stewardship & restoration Sponsors (you) are the backbone of a suc- gates and cattail/sediment removal for at Shollenberger Park and Alman Marsh. the city’s wetlands. Then they agreed cessful Bird-A-Thon. Teams will contact Obviously, there is a niche for everyone. to work with us on the Watergate/ you and ask for your support. Please be gen- cattail project. erous by sponsoring a team with a pledge You would be joining a great group of of 10 cents to whatever per bird species, or docents who enjoy each other’s compa- We knew that several governmental per- even a set amount. The team will contact ny and are always ready to pitch in and mits would be needed to do the project, you after their day of birding to accept your help when the call comes. Teachers sign and by late 2010 the city agreed to help donation with thanks. If you would like to up quickly for a space in our program. us get the permits which finally hap- form your own team with friends, please see We ask that applicants pay $40 toward pened in September 2013. Most of the the box for information. the cost of materials and apply by Tues- cost of the permits was paid by PWA, day January 7. For more information, Madrone Audubon, and DU. The new How to be part of visit www.petalumawetlands.org, click Watergates were installed in October Bird-A-Thon 2014 on “Education”, followed by “Docent 2013, just before the fiscal year ended. Program”; or call 763-3577. Unfortunately there was a 2 ½ month For Birding Teams: delay in getting one of the permits (for Contact BAT coordinator Marcia Johnson at • • • • • cattail removal), so this part of the proj- [email protected] or 829-3808, and she ect will have to wait until next August will send you a sign-up sheet with instruc- Those Wonderful (when the birds are done nesting) for tions. Start signing up your sponsors. Winter Outings completion. After your “big day”, tell your sponsors “Saving America’s Bald Eagle” how many species you saw and how Thursday December 5, 7:00PM much they owe. Are you a National Glenn Stewart, founder of the Califor- Teams, send your checks to Marcia at 1460 nia Bald Eagle Recovery Program, will Audubon member? Big Cedar Lane, Sebastopol 95472, or bring speak on the history of the program. them to the next General Meeting. Bald eagles, unique to North America, Please consider joining disappeared from most of California by our local chapter, For Sponsors: Say “Yes” to anyone who asks you to the time Glenn Stewart began efforts to Madrone Audubon. restore the species to Central California pledge. If no one asks, you can sign up to in the mid-1980s. Today, we are see- (see membership form, back page) support a team at the General Meeting or ing the results as Bald Eagles are once contact Marcia. Continued on page 3 Page 2 MADRONE LEAVES WINTER OUTINGS waterfowl and raptors. A local favor- a docent naturalist and see monarch Continued from page 2 ite among these is the majestic Snow butterflies wintering in Santa Cruz.
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