With the turn of a wrench, the first water is let loose. Only a trickle right now, one day it will lure flocks of Tricolored Blackbirds and create a riparian area in an otherwise very dry environment.

Building surrogate habitats, that’s what the Audubon network is doing in Kern County. I had the pleasure of visiting Kern Audubon and Kerncrest Audubon at the Bob Powers Gateway Preserve. The chapters are joining forces to create a place for Tricolored Blackbirds to call home. Through the help of an Audubon California grant, two ponds are being created. When it’s complete, the restored site will produce seven acres of bird habitat. 

During my visit, the group turned on the water pump for the first time. The last time water was on the site was 2012. That year there were 50 pairs of nesting birds. The years that followed were dry and the Tricoloreds left. It never truly resonated with me what water can do to a landscape until I witnessed this. Birds are lost without water and I’m taking this experience with me as we gear up for election season. Birds need us to be their voice, remember to vote for birds in November. Learn more here.

Thank you to Harry Love (President, Kern Audubon), Brenda Burnett (President, Kerncrest Audubon), Dan Burnett (Treasurer, Kerncrest Audubon), Bob Barnes, Bruce Vegter, and Steve Spradlim (all board members of the Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation),  Reed Tollefson, Sean Rowe (Kern River Preserve), and our new Tricolored Blackbird coordinator, Samantha Arthur for taking me out. You are doing great work and I look forward to returning when the birds are there.