Activity Guide Regional in Nature

Regional in NatureActivity GuideMARCH – APRIL 2022 Brickyard Cove Opening Soon See page 3 inside • Upcoming Groundbreakings, page 3 • Pole Walking, Hiking and Fitness, page 13 • Pacific Flyway, page 9 • Flower Activities, page 14 • Octopus Fun Facts, page 10 • Gummy Salamander Recipe, page 15 Trails are for Everyone, page 2 • Bug Safari, page 12 • Earth Day, page 16

Co n t e n t sTrails are for Everyone........ 2 Every Day is Earth Day for Park Staff A MESSAGE FROM GENERAL MANAGER SABRINA B. LANDRETHDisc Golf Course.................. 388 Years of Preservation.... 4-5 EArdenwood............................ 6 arth Day began over Today, park staff carry on the work of Earth Day each 50 years ago to bring and every day, stewarding parklands, protecting wildlife,Big Break................................. 7 attention to the need restoring natural habitat, and providing balanced andBlack Diamond...................... 8 for environmentalism responsible public access. Our staff are everyday to counteract the environmentalists dedicated to protecting theCoyote Hills........................... 9 negative effect environment and keeping it clean and safe for humanity was having future generations.Crab Cove............................ 10 on the earth – This year, we celebrate Earth Day withDel Valle................................ 11 polluted skies, dirty numerous programs and volunteer park water and littered cleanup opportunities throughout the RegionalMobile Education................ 12 lands. While much has Parks on April 23 and 24. Visit ebparks.org toOutdoor Recreation.......... 13 been done, the challenge of Earth Day remains. find out how you can help continue the Earth Our climate crisis is real; the effects are present and Day tradition and honor those who had the passionSunol...................................... 14 accelerating – especially locally with extreme weather, and vision to create it over 50 years ago. drought, sea level rise and increasing wildfire risks.Tilden..................................... 15Volunteer Program............. 16 Trails are for Everyone Tilden Golf Course Turns 85 With over 1,250 miles of trails, your Regional Parks Eighty-five years ago, Tilden Golf Course in Tilden Regional provide ideal places for healthful recreation and Park opened to the public with much fanfare and excitement. opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding, dog The course was built during the Great Depression by the walking, and more. However, popular parks and busy Works Progress Administration (WPA), that included Civilian trails come with some trade-offs. The Park District Conservation Corps’ (CCC) Company 2940-C, a segregated ebparks.org needs your help to keep parks safe, enjoyable, group of 182 young African Americans from California sent to and welcoming for all users. the East Bay to construct park roads and picnic grounds, park Whether you walk, ride or roll, beautification, watershed protection, and fire hazard reduction.General Information From 1933 to 1942, the WPA and CCC were key parts of the1-888-EBPARKS or 1-888-327-2757 remember these important trail tips the next time you country’s recovery from mass unemployment, providing laborCamping and Picnic Reservations.... for infrastructure projects throughout the country.................................1-888-EBPARKS visit your Regional Parks.Naturalist and Recreation HikingPrograms...............1-888-EBPARKS • Stay to the right when approaching others.TRS Relay Service.....................7-1-1 • Always stop and yield to horseback riders. • Look behind you and to bothEBRPD Board of Directors sides before changing course.Elizabeth Echols..........................Ward 1 • Hiking with a dog? Keep control ofDee Rosario.................................Ward 2 your dog or leash up around other trail users. SomeDennis Waespi............................Ward 3 people, especially children, are afraid of dogs.Ellen Corbett...............................Ward 4 BikingAyn Wieskamp............................Ward 5Beverly Lane................................Ward 6 • Slow down and call out or ring your bell whenColin Coffey (President)...........Ward 7 passing other visitors. • Stay on designated trails for your safety and others. Tilden Golf Course, circa 1937 Horseback Riding The golf course was first envisioned in the 1910s by Roy Butler,Visit ebparks.org for mapdownloads, activity and event • Keep to the right when encountering other visitors. an Oakland businessman and former member of the UCinformation, and much more! • Communicate — let other trail users know how Berkeley golf team. The vision became a reality when the East to pass your horse safely. Bay Regional Park District was formed and received national • Clean up after your horse on paved trails. assistance for a public course.

Ardenwood HISTORIC FARM SHEEP SHEARING DAY! Our sheep, with their woolly Ushering in the Spring coats, notice the warming weather each spring. WeT he Spring Equinox, on March 20, marks the date on which day and night are ofequal length. As spring carries on, days stretch imagine they look forward to their annual shearing, which keeps them from getting tooprogressively longer than nights, the weather hot as temperatures rise. Joinwarms, and summer crops begin to grow. us on Saturday, March 19,Marking the seasons is one way to stay for our sheep’s annual “haircut.”connected to the natural world around us. Watch as the farm’s sheep getFor farmers who rely on sunlight and weather sheared; then, try your handpatterns to grow our food, seasonal cycles are at wool carding and see theespecially important. The warming of the soil in transformation from fiberspring is not only important for many plants, but to yarn at the spinningalso for the critters living in the dirt. In fact, the fullmoon in March – which will be on the 18th this year wheel. You can even make– is sometimes referred to as “Worm Moon,” possibly your own woolly lambbecause earthworms start becoming more active around to take home.that time.Whether you’re a worm, a seed in the soil, or somebody who eatsfood grown on a farm, the ebb and flow of the seasons are importantfor your survival, and we invite you to join us in ushering in spring! Ardenwood Interpretive Programs For a complete list of Ardenwood programs, please visit us online . . . . . Want to celebrate the Spring Equinox at home or school? Wild Food Spring Garden Stroll Before farms, people ate Welcome spring by learning If you have wild foods from the land, and the secret Victorian language access to we still can. Explore the farm of flowers. Find your Rabbit Rendezvous a patch of for edible native California favorite flowers, learn their Come meet the farm rabbits. dirt, try plants and discover some meanings, and meet some Learn why they have big ears, digging for weeds that make tasty of the pollinators who make what their favorite food is, snacks. them possible. and how they communicate. worms! Use Sun, Mar 6 Sun, Mar 20 Sat, Apr 9, 23 this QR code 1-2:30pm 11am-noon 10:30-11am to watch a Farmyard Story Time Birding 101 Earthy Eggs six-minute Perhaps you’ll meet Especially for new birders! Dye Easter eggs the natural video about Woolbur, the Billy Goats Learn to find and identify way! Learn which plants Soil Health Video: using worms Gruff, or other farm friends! birds by sight and spices hold secrets to Scan this QR code to learn if Join the story circle for some and sound. beautiful, natural hues and or visit youtube.com/ the soil is classic barnyard tales before Bring binoculars take home an egg colored by watch?v=aQGdo51c- healthy. visiting the main characters. if you have them. Mother Nature. ck&t=4s Sat, Mar 12, Sun, Apr 3, 17 Sun, Mar 27 Sun, Apr 17 10:30-11am 8:30-10am 1-2pm6 See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs.

Big Break REGIONAL SHORELINE Root Systems N ot many people think about roots on a daily basis, but roots are one of the most important structures in The Importance of Roots Roots are something for us to root for. With an expected future a plant. Plants use root systems for many of more intense storms, cohesive root systems will help us to retain things like anchoring themselves in place, our topsoil, protecting two of our most important natural resources. absorbing and transporting water and Keeping topsoil in our farmlands helps farmers to continue to produce nutrients to the stem where it’s used to food sustainably and keeping topsoil (and chemical fertilizers and help the plant grow, and storing food – talk pesticides) out of our waterways will protect wildlife from smothering about a “root cellar!” There are two kinds sedimentation, poisoning, and toxic algal blooms. of root systems. Taproots are the main Plants are nature’s water filters, drawing water from the soil into vertical roots that anchor the plant to the their tissues and eventually their leaves, through a process known as soil and are used for food storage. Once evapotranspiration. Like how humans sweat, plants shed excess Taproot a taproot is established, it branches out water from their leaves, injecting purified water back into the water horizontally to increase absorption. Some cycle and cooling their surroundings. familiar examples of edible taproots are Root masses foster unique collections of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and carrots and turnips. On the other hand, all kinds of invertebrates. These microbiomes, with their nutrient cycles, enhance the fibrous roots grow directly from the fertility and quality of the soil. With carbon-based creatures crawling through the root stem and spread out horizontally, staying masses, these microbiomes help to ensure that more carbon stays in the soil (and less fairly shallow (

Black Diamond Mines REGIONAL PRESERVE Join Us Underground! BLACK DIAMOND MINE TOURS REOPEN FOR THE SEASON Spring is here and as the blooms across the Bay Area begin to open, so do our mines! Take a trip back in time with two different mine tour experiences at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. Tours are available to all ages 7 and up. The Coal Mine Experience tour is ADA accessible, call in advance for special accommodations up to the mine entrance. Book Your Mine Tour Today by visiting ebparksonline.org . . . Coal Mine Experience Tour – Hazel Atlas Mine Tour – Not old Enough for a Tour? 30 Minutes, $3 1 hour, $5 Take a journey back to the coal mining Coal wasn’t the only way people profited No Problem! days of Black Diamond. Discover what from the rocks of Black Diamond. Join us every second Tuesday for our life was like for miners from the 1860s Step inside a sand mine and transport new toddler program called MINI MINERS to 1906 as you go inside a replica coal yourself back to the 1930s, the height at Black Diamond! Bring your little gems mine! Hear the sounds of workers toiling of operation for the Hazel Atlas Glass out to the park for a morning of learning, underground, feel the cold, black coal, Company. Find out how mining impacts Book Your Tour: playing, and enjoying the great outdoors. and discover the dangers of the Mount your daily life as you step through the Scan this QR code or visit Registration Required. Diablo Coalfield. geologic history of the Bay Area. ebparksonline.org Ages 0-5, siblings welcome.8 See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs.

Coyote HillsPhoto: Jerry Ting REGIONAL PARK Peregrine falcon Pacific Flyway M illions of birds travel each spring and fall on their winged migration through a route called the Pacific Flyway. This avian highway in the sky is one of four transient skyways in North More than one-third of the 1,900 North American bird species use wetlands for a source of drinking water and food, social interactions, breeding, nesting, and rearing their young. Protection of wetlands and America. Some of these long-distance travelers fly from Alaska and Canada, other needed habitats help support our diverse Photo: Matt Sharp Chaney through the United States and Mexico, and eventually blend with other flyway populations of migratory birds. travelers from the mid-west and east in Central and South America. These Here are some things you migratory birds seek seasonal food sources, breeding grounds, habitats for can do to help protect raising their young, warmer climates, or longer daylight hours. migratory birds: Biologists cite several reasons why migrating wildlife can navigate over • Put out a hummingbird such long distances. Lanes of heavier bird concentration feeder. Be sure to use follow the coasts, mountain ranges, principal river a mixture of four parts Yellow-rumped valleys, the sun by day, and the stars at night. water to one part sugar. warbler Navigating by an internal magnetic compass, Do not use the dye! these migratory travelers go through behavioral and physiological changes, • Give beach-nesting including a modified diet birds a break. Stay on and metabolism. the trail and out of sensitive habitat. Be sure to keep your Coastal California is one of many dog on a leash in areas where stopovers along the Pacific Flyway. Sanderlings birds nest. When birds stop to rest, their fat reserves are nearly exhausted. The wetlands • Pack your trash. Eighty percent of waste in of San Francisco Bay and Coyote Hills provide the marine environment comes from land-based food to fuel up for the needed calories to fly much sources, so help clean up your own farther south. The high nutrient levels of wetland plants make a and other people's trash.Photo: Jerry Ting productive ecosystem that helps sustain a vast array of animals. Coyote Hill The Pacific Flyway brings waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds Naturalist through California. Bird watchers and ornithologists can find fascinating Programs: species of birds, from hummingbirds to pelicans, during a specific Scan this QR code or visit time of the year. In winter, sanderlings travel from Alaska to https://bit.ly/3fQgSXs as far south as the tip of Chile and Argentina. Spring and fall bring migratory songbirds to Alameda Creek. Watch for yellow-rumped warblers wintering here from the Western Arctic. West of the Rockies, American white pelicans will migrate to their winter grounds along the Pacific coast in California, Mexico, and Central America in early fall. You might spot peregrine falcons in the Bay Area as these birds travel 15,500 miles from Alaska to South America. American white pelicans See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs. 9

Crab Cove VISITOR CENTER AND AQUARIUM Located on Alameda’s Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach, Crab Cove Visitor Center connects East Bay residents to their watery backyard: the San Francisco Bay. Check out East Bay Regional Park District – Crab Cove Visitor Center (ebparks.org) to view current operating hours and program offerings. Spring on the Shoreline OCTOPOPS T he birds and the bees often get all the spring fanfare in the East Bay parklands, but the season also brings an explosion of new life in the harder-to-see, underwater bay. Springtime is Popsicle Time! Among these water babies, are the newly hatched East Pacific red octopus – one of two species of octopuses found in the San Francisco Bay. Materials The hand-sized octopus adult lives along the West Coast, from Alaska to Dixie Cup, juice, gummy Baja California. Although it tends to stay in coastal kelp forests and the worms, craft stick, and rocky intertidal zone, the “ruby octopus” has been spotted in the bay in aluminum foil. places like Richmond and Oakland. Instructions After mating in late winter and early spring, the female will place her • Pour the juice into the thousands of fertilized eggs in protected intertidal areas. She will guard andPhoto: Tiffany Boothe cup and put in gummy groom the tiny embryos until they hatch after six to eight weeks – at which worms hanging over the Adult East Pacific point they look like miniature versions of mom. edge to look like legs. red octopus eggs, egg Even in springtime, it is rare to see an octopus in the intertidal zone, but there • Place the craft stick close up, and baby. are many other things to discover on the edge of the bay, from the little green down into the center of shore crab and the large sea hare to the stealth leopard shark and the smooth the cup and press thePhoto: Jerry Kirkhart bat ray, just to name a few. With over a dozen shoreline parks, the East Bay aluminum foil over the Regional Park District invites you to explore all the nooks and crannies of your edges to hold the stick watery backyard this spring season. straight up. Octopus Fun Facts • Place in the freezer overnight and then Like the other 300 species world-wide, East Pacific red octopuses enjoy your octopus-on- have some very impressive traits – here are a few: a-stick the next day! • Geniuses – thanks to their nine brains, octopuses have the largest brain-to-body ratio of any invertebrate and as many neurons as a dog. They are curious, can Adult problem-solve, use tools, and hold a grudge ... one captive octopus became famous East Pacific when Scientific American reported that it disliked a particular staff member and red octopus squirted water at them every time they passed by! • Masters of Disguise – Octopuses can change their skin color and texture to disappear from sight. Some species, like the mimic octopus, will even scare off The Many Plurals of Octopus predators by imitating bigger and scarier animals. Octopi? Octopuses? Octopodes? • Escape Artists – limited only by a hard parrot-like beak, octopuses can The debate has been going on for over squeeze through impossibly small spaces thanks to their boneless, soft 140 years, but the Merriam-Webster bodies. The giant Pacific octopus, the largest octopus species in the Dictionary assures us that all three world, can grow up to 150 pounds, but fits its entire body through a plurals for octopus are acceptable. hole the size of a lemon. Photo: Kirt L. Onthank Now you might be asking yourself why these cool eight-legged creatures have not taken over the world yet? And that’s because they have a relatively short life span – most species only live up to 1-2 years. 10 See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs.

Del Valle REGIONAL PARK Valuing Water W ater means different things to different people. What does water mean to you? How is water important to your home and family life, your livelihood, your cultural all the different ways water benefits our lives, we can value water properly and safeguard it effectively for everyone. practices, your wellbeing, and your local environment? Come Celebrate! Worldwide, water is under extreme threat from a growing In observation of World Water Day, join us at population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, Del Valle for a day celebrating water! Come by the and the worsening impacts of climate change. By learning Visitor Center on March 20 for fun activities and about and practicing water conservation and celebrating games centered on all things water.Photo: Janet Norris What is All Del Valle the Buzz About? Interpretive Additional Interpretive Programs Programs Ornate Checkered H oney bees get a lot of the pollinator praise, but California has a number of other important Nature Story Time: First and third Saturday of the month, 10am and 11am. Beetles are bright critters that help get the job done, Hoverflies mimic bees, and stand out. They Park N Play: Bring the kids out for including other types of bees and with coloring are indeed ornate, some fresh air, nature games, and insects, moths, and bats. If you would that advertises with metallic blue- wildlife exploration. 4th Sunday of the like to attract more native pollinators, danger. Usually black backgrounds, month, 10-11:30am. creating habitat is relatively easy. marked with yellow spots and lines of Most native bees and pollinating flies Snake Talk: Meet our gopher snake or white bars or spots bright yellow, and require limited use of insecticides, animal ambassador Julius Squeezer! on a dark background, dense, whitish or weed-free, uncultivated ground, areas Every Sunday at 11am. with short antennae, yellow hairs. of mulch, a few old logs, and some A Day By the Water: Fun activities stout waists and only native bushes. There are even a few and games all about water. Sunday one pair of wings (see left) that are sometimes mistaken March 20, 10am to 3pm. (the bee has two pairs). for bees. Hoverfly: Roger Nyemaster Beetle: Jerry Ting See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs. 11

Mobile Education Bug Safari Y ou might swat them away, but insects are an important part of our planet that we couldn’t live without! Adapted to almost all habitats (land, water, and air) and all continents (including Antarctica), they pollinate, are decomposers, and are an essential part of the food web. Finding and studying them is one of the easiest nature activities "Trust me, you love bugs, you can do. So, slow down, look around and watch for the wiggle! spiders and slugs!" (Okay, I believe you!) Use this QR code NATURE JOURNAL ACTIVITY to sing and dance to a buggy beat, In your nature journal, write or visit: or draw observations about all tinyurl.com/ your bug discoveries. You can use eastbaybugsafari a magnifying lens or a bug box to see close-up details! Follow these tips to start your Bug Safari – either inside or outside! Shake … the branches of a tree or bush over a light-colored piece of cloth, like a T-shirt, pillowcase or bag, and see what bugs fall down. Keep the Ladybug Lift … up a log, rock or stone, mulch, leaf litter, Creatures brick, and other objects on the ground. (and you) Look … in spiderwebs, dry leaves, cracks and SAFE! crevices, decaying wood, under loose bark, • Be careful and kind near windows, among flowers, crawling on to the invertebrates the ground, in the grass, near lights at night you find and so many other places. • Protect the habitat Release … the creatures where you found – leave it the same way them or bring them outside. you found it Dra • Make sure an adult is nearby gonflies Release … the creatures where you found them or bring h hi W them outside. te - ot lined sphinx m12 See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs.

Outdoor Recreation A D U LT F ITN E S S/ W E LLN E S S PROG R A M SPole Walking, Pole Hiking, and Fitness TrainingE njoy small group sessions and easy-paced, expert, trekking pole training for hiking, walking, and outdoor exercise. Enhance your enjoymentof the outdoors with certified Personal Trainer Jayah Faye Paley. Learn how toimprove endurance, balance, spine function and confidence as well as how to avoidjoint stress or strain. A variety of top-quality poles are available for your use.HIKING WITH POLES: SKILLS + HIKING WITH POLES: SKILLS +SHORT PRACTICE HIKE PRACTICE HIKEBlack Diamond Sunol9:30am-2:30pm, Sat, March 12 9am-3pm, Sat, April 9 #43190#43187 See March 12 listing for classSmall group session. Learn description. This session includes theindividualized, anatomically optimal same poles training, trail and bodystrategies for enhancing performance skills, but includes a longer practiceand confidence on the trail. Uphill: hike (less than 5 miles), includingImprove power, endurance, posture, steeper terrain, stream crossings andand spine function. Downhill: Develop narrow trails. Sunol in springtime canskills for feeling safer and preserving be spectacularly bucolic and flowerful!joints – save your knees! Short Fee: $75 (non-res. $83)practice hike included and optional.Fee: $65 (non-res. $73) FITNESS FOR THE TRAIL AND FOR LIFE!USING POLES FOR WALKING Kennedy GroveAND MAINTAINING MOBILITY 8:30am-11:30pm, Thu, March 24Kennedy Grove #43188Noon-3:30pm, Thu, March 24 #43189 Fitness training designed to enhanceWhen pole walking, you will feel your longevity. Learn and practicetaller, more confident and experience movements to enhance physicalprofound freedom of movement! health and experience happy, healthyLearn skills that reduce fall risk, adventures. Individualized movementsimprove your balance, endurance, focus on improving your foundation,walking gait, longevity. Special joint health, spine structure, balance,equipment provided. Easy pace: posture, endurance, strength,beautiful practice pole walk. Class flexibility. Motion is Lotion!size extremely limited to allow for Strengthen and Lengthen! Bring yourindividual attention and distancing. Body.Fee: $45 (non-res. $51) Fee: $45 (non-res. $51) Personal Trainer Reg i s t r at io n I n fo r m at ion Jayah Faye Paley Registration is required for these classes: leads a hike in Black Diamond ebparks.org/register or 1-888-327-2757 (1-888-EBPARKS), option 2 Mines Regional Preserve, Antioch See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs. 13

Sunol Wilderness REGIONAL PRESERVE sunol Photo: Akio Higuchi Wildflower Season Sunol in Bloom March 26 – May 1 WILDFLOWER SEASON Join Sunol staff at the Visitor Center as we celebrate this colorful season with a variety IS UPON US! of special programs and activities. Weekends: Sunol’s serpentine soils allow tiny Guided Wildflower Walk.............................. 10am wildflowers to thrive. Serpentine, Naturalist Guided Hikes & Programs.......... 2pm designated as California’s state rock, is found throughout Wildflower Activities............................ 10am-3pm the East Bay. Some flowers Stay tuned for more information as the season have evolved to adapt to approaches. Most programs will be available for sign-up the day of on a first come, first served these heavy metal soils. basis at the Sunol Visitor Center. Watch your step and stay on the trail as you search for flowers. Wildflower Art Contest Inspire and be inspired: Spark your creativity in nature and celebrate the season by creating wildflower themed art! Categories: nature journal pages, painting, photography, poetry A native, annual, coastal tidytips Submission: email the following Layia platyglossa information to svisit@ebparks.org: Subject: Art Submission 2022 Your name Contact information Flower Activities Category Artwork title (if applicable). • Create a flower drawing or We will be taking submissions from nature journal page. March 1 – April 16. Winners for • Make a list of the flowers each category will be announced on you find. Document April 23. An artwork recognition ceremony as much information will be held on April 30. as possible like date, location, color and size. • Use apps like iNaturalist TE D to identify flowers you discover. WA N • Dissect a flower and Plein Air Artists identify the parts Do you have a passion as shown on this for painting outdoors? diagram. Sign up to paint in the park during Sunol’s (Please note: Collecting of flowers Wildflower Season 2022! Email svisit@ is prohibited in the East Bay Parks.) ebparks.org to sign up for a time slot.14 See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs. Follow us on Facebook at Sunol Regional Wilderness!

Tilden NATURE AREA South Park Drive: Sorry for the Inconvenience! N ovember through March, this busy roadway is closed to automobile traffic to protect an amazing little amphibian: The California newt. Taricha torosa spends the dry season sequestered under logs, in rodent burrows, or perhaps in a woodrat’s stick pile home. When the rainy season comes (who knows anymore!), the newts make their way to streams and ponds for breeding. This journey is filled with potential danger! Photo: Anthony fisher Many newts leave their summer homes on the east side of South Park Drive and cross the road to reach Wildcat Creek on the west side. Before road closures, this ill-fated trek would lead to more than 1000 newts killed each year. Talk about inconvenient!Some of the hundreds of squashed newts gathered on South We thank you for your patience and for doing yourPark Drive in 1989 during the campaign to close the road. part to protect one of our favorite forest friends. TILDEN DOCENT CAMP OF THE WILD SPRING TRAINING COURSE Gummy Become a docent at the Tilden Nature Area! Get in touch with your wild side! Practice and learn ancient and useful skills. Make cordage and containers, Salamander Help with education programs, work on the cook over an open fire, and discover edible and useful Recipe Little Farm, and more. Applications required. plants. Make things! Hike and explore! Have fun! 9-12 yrs. Online: March 16 and 17, 6:30-8pm Mon-Fri: July 11-15, and July 18-22, 10am-4pmWhile newts are one of In-person: March 19 and 26, 10am-1pm Registration is required. Fee: $270 (non-res. $290)the most toxic animals Please call (510) 544-3262 for information and application. Visit ebparks.org for more information.in California, you canmake your owngummy 1. A few days before you want to make into the cornstarch, leaving a ¼–½” deep 6. Remove the measuring cup from its bath,salamanders your gummies, you’ll need to create your impression. Arrange as many impressions wipe off excess water, and carefully pourthat are salamander stamp! Shape the air-drying into the corn starch as space allows. the gelatin mixture into your molds.perfectly modeling clay into a simple salamander 4. In a glass measuring cup, combine ½ cup The cornstarch is flavorless so it’s okayedible! and allow to cure for 2 to 3 days. It is room temperature water, one packet of if a little mixes in. helpful to include a small handle. Jell-O, and two packages of unflavored 7. Let the salamanders cool and set for 2. Pour corn starch into a 9"x9" cake pan gelatin. Stir well. 30 minutes.• 3 oz box of Jell-O or small baking sheet in an even layer 5. Place the glass measuring cup in a 8. Pull the gummy salamanders from their• 2 packets unflavored gelatin at least ½" deep. Next, gently smooth saucepan and surround with enough water molds and brush the excess corn starch• ½ cup water and press the cornstarch down to create to reach halfway up its side. Slowly warm off. A pastry or basting brush works well• 1 package of air-drying a level surface. A nesting pan of similar the saucepan over low heat until the for this. modeling clay dimensions works well for this. gelatin and Jell-O mixture is fully dissolved 9. Enjoy! Gummy salamanders store well• 16 oz corn starch 3. Gently press your cured salamander form and smooth, approximately five minutes. in the fridge in an airtight container. Whats Happening at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden The Botanic Garden is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., October – May and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., June – September. Info: Visit nativeplants.org or call (510) 544-3169 for special events, classes, docent training, and Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden e-newsletter. PLANT SALES FREE WAYNE RODERICK LECTURE SERIES CLASSES THROUGH THE FRIENDS OF THE • Potting Shed: 10 a.m. to noon. Saturday mornings in March. All online Zoom REGIONAL PARKS BOTANIC GARDEN Mon. and Wed. Cash or checks. lectures are free, start at 10 a.m., and run for a Online Zoom lectures. Seating is limited! For a • Monthly, First Saturday: minimum of one hour. For a full listing of speakers full listing of speakers and topics, please visit our 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and topics, please visit: nativeplants.org Friends website: nativeplants.org See ebparks.org/calendar for upcoming programs. 15

Volunteer PROGRAM 2950 Peralta Oaks Court Oakland, CA 94605-0381 ebparks.org Earth Day is Friday April 22! F or over 50 years people across the globe have celebrated Earth Day on April 22. This year is no exception, and we are going to focus on an easy way to contribute: COMPOSTING! An Environmental Protection Agency study found that food is the biggest ingredient in American trash. They estimate that 35 percent of the average garbage can is filled with kitchen scraps — scraps that could be composted and diverted from the landfill altogether. And keeping food out of landfills is important! Organic waste in landfills generate methane gas that is emitted into the atmosphere, something that doesn’t happen to scraps that are composted. Methane is a harmful greenhouse gas that increases the rate Doc Quack (wildlife biologist) of global climate change. Volunteer Programs Fortunately, many of us here in the Bay Area benefit from city and county Registration: ebparksonline.org or 1-(888)-327-2757, option 2 run curbside composting programs. Despite these services, it's estimated that Information: ebparks.org/about/getinvolved/volunteer/quack or (510) 544-2233 about 95 percent of food scraps nationwide are still thrown away. Instead of wasting this “black gold,” compost your scraps to put them to good use and WILDLIFE VOLUNTEERS – “MEMBERSHIP MEETING” (#43141) to benefit the environment. at East Bay Regional Park District Administrative Offices, Oakland What to compost: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get nose- • Yard trimmings: Including grass clippings, leaves, garden trimmings, palm to-nose with wildlife? Now is your chance to hear about fronds, small branches, small quantities of unpainted/untreated wood. our science-based, hands-on, wildlife management • Food scraps: Including fruits, vegetables, and coffee grounds for all compost activities while having some fun and possibly joining containers. our team! Physical labor is involved with this project. • If using a curbside bin: Add cheese, meat, seafood, bones, and shells. All ages welcome and parent participation is required. Sign-up deadline: March 1 – AVOID liquids or oils/grease. (Small quantities of oil/grease on a paper Sat, March 5; 10 a.m. to noon towel are okay in the compost.) • Food-soiled compostable paper: Including paper towels, napkins, coffee filters, RAIL RESCUE RANGERS (#43142) pizza boxes, greasy paper bags, waxed paper/cardboard, and unlined or BPI- at Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary/ Crown Memorial State Beach certified paper containers. During this hands-on adventure you’ll help create habitat for the federally – NO aseptic containers (e.g. foil-lined, shelf-stable soup or soy milk cartons). and state endangered Ridgway’s Rail. We will remove non-native plants, pick up trash, and plant wildlife-friendly vegetation which – NO poly-lined paper (i.e. any paper lined with plastic, including most tea will restore the upland areas of the Roemer Bird bags and wrappers, oatmeal packets, and some paper plates, cups Sanctuary for rails. Physical labor is involved with this and milk cartons). project. By participating, you’ll earn your “Rail Rescue Just remember — food doesn’t go in your garbage! Composting is a great way Ranger” patch. to reduce our impact on nature and make some great soil in the process for All ages welcome and parent participation is required. a greener future. Sign-up deadline: April 15 Contribute to Earth Day ... Join us for a Volunteer event! Sat, April 23; 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.16

Activity Guide Regional in Nature - Townnews (2024)

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