This Winter-Spring line-up covers topics and areas close to home here in the Santa Ynez Valley, and extends to remote San Nicolas Island. We’ll get geology-in-hand at Figueroa Mountain, and see the tectonic picture of Coastal California. Please see the previews below, and save the dates. Full descriptions and details, including registration information, will be provided very soon here on our website, www.syvnature.org, via email, and our Magpie Calls newsletter.

Please recall that we announced two changes in Spring.  First, participants must register for each individual field trip separately, normally 30 days prior to each trip.  The registration dates for each field trip will be included very soon, when all programming and field trip details are complete. Second, we are now charging a nominal fee for field trips. Adult members will be charged $10.00, and other fees will be $25.00 for non-members and $5.00 for each child.

The featured image of lupines and oaks is by John Evarts.

The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island
Free film screening with filmmaker Paul Goldsmith
Thursday, January 25, 7:30 p.m.
Santa Ynez Valley Grange
Co-sponsored by the Los Olivos Library

The Wonder and Natural Resources of San Nicholas Island
Free lecture with William Hoyer
Thursday, February 8, 7:30 p.m.
Location to be determined

Bear Essential? The Past, Present, and Potential Future of Grizzlies in California
Free lecture with Dr. Peter Alagona
Thursday, February 22, 7:30
Santa Ynez Valley Grange
Co-sponsored by the Los Olivos Library

The Serpentine Landscape: Rocks, Soils, and Plants
Field Trip with Susie Bartz and Liz Gaspar
Saturday, March 3, 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Figueroa Mountain Area

UCSB North Campus Restoration
Field Trip with Darwin Richardson
Saturday, March 17

Introducing the Trees of UCSB: Six Continents in Three Hours (Rescheduled from December)
Field trip with Larry Ballard
Friday, March 30, 9:00 a.m. to noon

When the Plate Tectonic Revolution Met Coastal California
Free lecture with Dr. Tanya Atwater
Thursday, April 12, 7:00 p.m.
Legion Wing, Solvang Veterans Memorial Building
Co-sponsored by the Solvang Library

The Lupines of California
Free lecture with Stuart Wilson
Saturday evening, April
Location and time TBD

Hike Among the Fire-Followers
Field Trip with Larry Ballard
Saturday in April
Location and time TBD

What Is a Perfect Field Guide, and Why Don’t We Already Have Them?
A free lecture and book-signing with Charles Hood
Mr. Hood will sign his recent book, A Californian’s Guide to the Birds Among Us
Saturday, May 12, 7:00 p.m.
UC Sedgwick Reserve, Tipton House