Free Nature Walk on Birds of Elings Park, Led by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Followed by Restoration Work Party — December

Free Nature Walk: Birds of Elings Park on Saturday, December 16, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. 

Led by Scot Pipkin, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Director of Education, and Zach Philips, Ph.D., Terrestrial Invertebrate Conservation Ecologist

Join us on the last if the free Nature Walks in 2023 to explore Elings Park’s biodiversity!  Each one-hour walk has a different natural history focus, such as plants, pollinators, or birds, and is led by experts from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

The walks are part of a collaborative effort between Elings Park, Botanic Garden, and the public to transform a section of the Park from invasive to native plants and document the effects.

Meet at the parking lot adjacent to the Elings Park administration building by 9 a.m. No reservations are necessary.

Walks now followed by Restoration Work Parties as part of a new project with Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Volunteers are needed to help restore a one-acre site on Elings Park’s South Bluffs using California-native plants. Restoration Work Parties are held immediately following the Nature Walks, from 10 a.m. to noon, on the third Saturday of the month.

The restoration project and science experiences concentrate California’s native plants in this area and will compare the abundance, diversity, and composition of plant and animal life both before and after the transformation. The first phase of the project involves installing black plastic and cardboard to discourage weeds, and assembling gopher cages to protect new plantings.

This is the last Work Party of 2023. Please visit the Elings Park Transformation Project website for updates on 2024 activities, https://sbbotanicgarden.org/conservation/our-impact/restoring-habitats/elings-park-transformation/.