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December 14, 2007 — American Association of University Women (AAUW) Tour Shollenberger Park
Gerald Moore, PWA docent, led a one-to two-hour tour for 14 members of the Art & History section of AAUW.  As the group walked the Shollenberger Park trail, the history of Shollenberger, Alman Marsh, and Ellis Creek was told and landmarks indicated.  The group was updated on the wastewater treatment plant and polishing wetlands under construction at Ellis Creek.  PWA’s programs on education and stewardship of the Petaluma wetlands were discussed.  After the tour, some of the ladies lunched nearby at the Lily Kai restaurant.
 
December 1 and 8, 2007 — New plantings at Shollenberger Park
Thanks to Eagle Scout candidate, Nicholas Lourme, and the Petaluma Boy Scout Troop 74, about 250 plants, including coyote bush, wild roses, acorns, big leaf maple, buckeyes, and a variety of other shrubs have found a home at Shollenberger.  A total of 151 hours was volunteered by Nicholas, 24 scouts, several parents, and Scoutmaster Mike Jayne.
 
October l6, 2007 — Petaluma Whole Foods’ Employees Remove Invasives at Shollenberger
This morning 11 employees met at Kiosk #1, pulled on gloves, and picked up bags.  After a show-and-tell, they quickly descended on both sides of the east trail and began pulling/cutting  Bristly Ox-tongue and Italian Thistle.  Within two hours, thirty-six, 4x4-foot bags were filled with these weeds and transported to the dumpster at the end of the parking lot.
 
October 19, 2007 — Graduation Day for 15 New Docents
Fifteen applicants finished the six-week course for new wetlands docents. These graduates will be an outstanding addition to our educational program, increasing our docent staff to 37.
 

August 18, 2007 — Trail Repair in Alman Marsh
Thanks to Sabrina Hearst, teacher at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Two Rock, and 20 of her students, the low spot on the Alman Marsh Trail which floods during the rainy season is now repaired.  Peter Colasanti, a contractor who is a PWA board member & docent, guided six of the students in the trail repair.  While these students worked on the trail repair, Sabrina and the remaining 14 students removed Bristly Ox-tongue and Prickly Lettuce in a nearby meadow.  Within two hours, the trail was repaired and thirty-five, 4x4-foot bags were filled with these very invasive, nonnative weeds.  The project was coordinated by Gerald Moore, PWA Chair, and supported by Ron DeNicola, Petaluma Parks and Landscape Manager.
 

June 16, 2007 — Weed Removal Party at Shollenberger/Alman Marsh, 9:00 AM – noon PWA Board, docents, and friends mechanically removed Harding Grass seed heads using scissors (pruners) and standing thistles by gentle pulling or cutting them off at ground level.  Seed heads and thistles were bagged and put into a dumpster.
 

June 13, 2007 — PWA Docent Celebration, 3:30 – 5:30 PM
After a very exciting and busy year for the docents, it was time to get together with food, drink, and fellow docents at the Mansfields’ hilltop residence. The PWA Board and docents with their spouses/support persons had the opportunity to get to know each other a little better, catch up on the latest wetlands news, and look at thank you cards and read letters from students and teachers.
 

May 15, 2007 – Certificate of Commendation
Judy Sovel accepted a certificate of commendation from the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance for her third grade class at Petaluma’s McNear Elementary School.  The award was given as recognition for the wonderful scrapbook the class created on the Petaluma Valley Watershed and Petaluma Wetlands.  The children wrote and drew what they had learned from the PWA docents in-class and in-field activities on the science and animals in the watershed and wetlands.
  

May 9, 2007 – A New Kiosk Explaining the Weed Management and Habitat Restoration in Shollenberger/Alman Marsh
Peter Colasanti constructed and erected the new Kiosk, located beside Kiosk #1, at the entrance of Shollenberger Park.  Gerald Moore designed and installed the contents.

Early April into June 2007 – Monitoring the Tree Swallow Nests at Shollenberger/Alman Marsh
On 5 April, PWA Docent Len Nelson began monitoring the 20 swallow houses in a joint study, called Golondrinas de las Americas, with naturalists ranging from Alaska to Argentina.  This data will also be shared with PRBO Conservation Science.  Information on how the data is collected can be found under BIRD RESEARCH, “Monitoring the Tree Swallow Nests”, and a photo of newborn chicks on this Web site.
May 6, 2007 – Annual Petaluma River Cleanup
From 9:00 AM to noon, PWA joined in the Petaluma River cleanup.  Some PWA members met at the Petaluma Marina to work with other groups to cleanup the river via boats.  Some members worked at cleaning up the trails in Shollenberger Park and Alman Marsh; others met at kiosk #1 in Shollenberger to clean and inspect the kiosks. 
 
April 10, 2007 — PWA Docents Visit Bouverie
At the invitation of Barbara Carlson, a Bouverie docent since 1992 and a PWA docent, ten of our docents toured Bouverie.  Barbara enthusiastically led our docents through oak woodlands, a cascading-stream trail containing eager Red-bellied Newts, and then lunch at the gushing waterfall.  While inspecting the riparian habitat, Barbara found a Red-bellied Newt for us to hold and examine.  It wasn’t long before some of the PWA docents were carefully turning over the rocks in the creek bed and finding more newts. 
 

February thru early April 2007 – Habitat Restoration Work
Cardoon has been removed from Shollenberger/Alman Marsh, using a cut-and-paint (with Roundup) technique.  Purple and Yellow Star Thistles continue to be manually dug out and removed.  Italian Thistle and Harding Grass have been and continue to be spot sprayed with Roundup.

February 2-4, 2007 -- Flyway Festival
PWA participated in the 11th annual San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival.  Eight docents staffed information/display tables for PWA and Madrone Audubon at Mare Island.  PWA docents led three bird walks, one each morning, at Shollenberger for about 40 avid birders, providing close-up views of a number of species of migratory waterfowl.

January thru March 2007 – Planting the Natives
Over 2000 native grasses, shrubs, trees, and flowers have been planted at Shollenberger/Alman Marsh.  The natives were grown and tended primarily by John Shribbs and his students with occasional help from PWA docents and others in the native plant nursery at Casa Grande High School.  Most of the plants were Meadow Barley and Creeping Wild Rye grasses; while others included California Buckeye, Coyote Bush, Willow, California Wild Rose, California Poppy, and Yellow Monkey Flower.

January thru February 2007 -- Migratory Bird Walks Provided to Schoolchildren
Because of the increasing demands for our educational programs to schoolchildren, new activities were provided during the January and February winter months which had previously been unstructured.  A 40-minute PowerPoint presentation was shown in elementary classrooms by docents Len Nelson and Kathleen Murry, followed by a 90-minute migratory bird walk in Shollenberger by four docents, each docent leading a group of children.  The walks started at PRBO and went along the south and east trails.  Bob Dyer coordinated these activities.

January 5, 2007 – Digital Presentation on PWA at Marin Audubon’s General Meeting
Gerald Moore gave a digital presentation at the Richardson Bay Sanctuary for Marin Audubon.  The subject was an introduction, history, and overview of PWA’s activities.

 
 
Activity Archives
Activity Archives