The hills are painted with the colors of spring, and a variety of upcoming wildflower walks will make sure you won’t miss a single bloom. Spring brings native beauty to the Irvine Ranch, from the state flower, California poppy, to the whimsically-named bush monkey flower.

Whether it’s a wildflower walk or any other activity out on the landmarks, bring your camera and maybe a wildflower field guide in pursuit of the lupine, Parry’s phacelia, common fiddleneck, wishbone bush, blue-eyed grass, and chia in bloom now. The landmarks also have a large showing of yellow deerweed blooms and pink bush mallow flowers, as these are known as “fire followers,” which are more active in the years immediately following wildfires.

While taking in the natural beauty of the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks, you usually don’t stop to think too much about the path you’re on – and that’s the mark of a well-built trail. When a trail integrates seamlessly into the landscape, as if it had always been there, the experience is better for the visitor and better for the surrounding habitat.

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy kept this goal in mind when designing the new Turtle Ridge in the City of Irvine’s Open Space Preserve. The trail opened in November 2011, but it began back in 2005 as a plan to connect the Bommer Vista Point neighborhood park to the West Fork Trail in Bommer Canyon. 

Irvine Ranch winged residents like the Red-tailed Hawk, White-tailed Kite and American Kestrel are called raptors – however, during the early spring nesting season, they’re also easily monitored indicators of habitat health and recovery after drought and fire.

A new survey of raptor nesting habitats in Limestone Canyon suggests Red-tailed Hawk and White-tailed Kite are bouncing back from both the Santiago Fire of 2007 and recent drought in the region. The survey is conducted by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy with our partners, Bloom Biological Inc., and scientists are watching to see if current populations are in line with counts from last year.

“When the top of the food chain is intact, we can be more confident that the whole system is functioning, especially when we see habitat and prey specialists, such as the White-tailed Kite, rebounding as they have been,” says Co-Director of Science and Stewardship Jutta Burger. “The current survey will wrap up in May, and we are looking forward to comparing this year’s final results to those from 2011.”

If the results stay in line with the 2011 survey, it also will be a sign that rodent populations – the main diet of raptors – are healthy and that protection of nesting areas in Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks is working.

The survey is not a complete census, but rather an inventory of overall population health. In 2011, Bloom Biological reported 25 Red-tailed Hawk nests and 11 White-tailed Kite nests. The survey also documented one Bald Eagle, one Golden Eagle, one Northern Harrier, five Cooper’s Hawks, and six Red-shouldered Hawks in and around the Irvine Ranch Open Space. 

If there is a point of concern from last year’s survey, it is that the Red-shouldered Hawk population is still low. The species has not yet returned to numbers that indicate it is also bouncing back from fire and drought. Habitat loss and rodent control have dropped the county’s overall raptor population from their pre-1990s highs, however, extensive collaboration among those who share the vision of healthy Orange County open space provides plenty of reason for optimism.

“It is exciting to see our majestic hawks returning to what were empty territories after the fire,” says Burger.

Volunteers also help conduct the survey each year during the February-to-June nesting season, and some trails are closed during this time as to not disturb the nesting raptors.

However, visitors can easily spot White-tailed Kites, Red-tailed Hawks and Red-shouldered Hawks from open trails in Limestone Canyon. Northern Harriers might also be seen from the trail in the grasslands on Loma Ridge, and colorful American Kestrels may also be seen darting between the oaks or perched and holding lookout for prey. On rare occasion, migrating Swainson’s, Sharp-shinned, and even the occasional Zone-tailed hawk can be glimpsed as well.

The Conservancy offers birding hikes throughout the nesting season, but any hike can be a birding hike if you have your binoculars handy. Check out www.LetsGoOutside.org for activities and programs. 

Work will focus on Quail Hill area; community is invited to participate.

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy has partnered with the California Conservation Corps to advance an invasive plant species removal project in Irvine’s Quail Hill area. The Corpsmembers will receive training from the Conservancy in plant identification, safe use of tools and sensitive plant species, then undertake a massive removal of artichoke thistle over four days.

On April 12, the last day of the project, the public is invited to participate in the removal of artichoke thistle -- an invasive, non-native plant that threatens local native plants and wildlife. The plant flowers from April through July, so cutting the plants down now is critical to preventing the plants from setting seed. This project in Quail Hill builds on the Corps’ long history of working outdoors to improve California’s natural resources. Since 1976, Corpsmembers have provided more than 65 million hours of natural resources work statewide.