On the Ranch
Reema Hammad and Paula Harvey are our Public Access/Education staff. Recently they chatted with one another about taking people out on the Ranch.
Reema: I love seeing guests’ faces when I take them to Antelope Canyon in the Antelope Valley in the spring and they see magnificent fields of monolopia and phacelia, then they walk up the road to the big rocks, and see poppies and lupine growing around the outcroppings. They’re excited and in awe at the beauty and breadth of the flowery fields. Some have no words to express how they feel.
Paula: I know what you mean, Reema. Every time we go out on the Ranch, we discover new things and are always treated to wonderful surprises. I get such satisfaction when I bring a class of students out to the blue oak woodlands of White Wolf, the Bear Mountain Picnic Area, or Big Sycamore Canyon for the first time and they learn how to do basic nature journaling. Then I have them do some creative writing, and they are inspired and amazed at their newfound ability to write. They gain so much confidence and it makes my job so fulfilling.
Reema: And you know what else I love to do, Paula? I love going out in the field with you and scouting areas for upcoming trips. Remember when we went up Haul Road before sunrise that day and took a side road and came up on that herd of elk?
And then we explored Winters Homestead, with its old olive trees. It’s such a great site for photography workshops.
This place is so enormous, with 422 square miles of wilderness, I have yet to see it all, and I want to show people all of it. I always feel like my day is complete when I show my guests a burrowing owl, a small herd of pronghorn, a golden eagle, a condor.
Or those special plants like the adobe lily in the Tejon Hills, the jewel flower on both sides of the Ranch, and that amazing calico monkeyflower in Joaquin Flats.
Paula: Yes, and the first day I took our intern Magaly out for a cross-Ranch tour, we saw three condors, a couple goldens, four pronghorn, and I said her, “Well, I did my job for the day!”
You know, Reema, you and I have the best jobs, taking people out on the Ranch, teaching them about it, the plants, animals, its history; you teach photography, and I teach science through nature journaling. We’re so lucky to be able to bring the wonders of this place to the public. And our guests go home renewed, with new knowledge, and a reverence for preserving and protecting our wildlands.
We look forward to seeing you all out on the Ranch so you can experience this wonderful place yourself.
Tejon Ranch Is Key to Habitat Connectivity
Recent conservation linkages help keep wildlife moving freely.
By Conservation Science Manager Mitchell Coleman
Long-term newsletter subscribers and Tejon visitors know that it is not just the Ranch’s colossal size – 240,000 permanently protected acres – that make it so valuable for conservation.
The conserved lands on Tejon sit at the confluence of four of California’s major ecological regions: the southern spine of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the eastern extent of the Coast Ranges, the northwestern extent of the Mojave Desert, and the southern terminus of the San Joaquin Desert. These four ecoregions smash together in the heart of Tejon, creating a unique blend of ecological systems.
Some quick plant stats: this includes more than two dozen major vegetation communities, over 10% of California’s native plant taxa, 60% of California’s plant families, more than 70 special status species, and nine endemics (not occurring anywhere else) – all in 0.25% of California’s land area. The state is already a botanical hotspot – making Tejon a hotspot within a hotspot! That’s not counting wildlife, which is both abundant and diverse on Tejon. Let’s not get started on geology…
These statistics are staggering, but they’re still not the only reasons Tejon Ranch is so important for conservation. A third reason, now gaining more traction in conservation science and policy, is habitat connectivity. Modern conservation focuses just as much on habitat as it does on individual species – if not more. Certainly, individual species are still vitally important, and each deserves unique study, attention, and if necessary, protection. We can thank the Endangered Species Act, for example, for saving many species, including the iconic California condor. The fact remains however, that without protected and managed habitat, our efforts to save threatened and endangered species would not be nearly as effective, climate change notwithstanding.
Case in point, one of the leading causes of global species extinction is habitat fragmentation. Many native habitats and species now exist in a patchwork within a wider “ocean” of anthropogenic (human-caused) disturbance. These protected “islands” might persist for a time, but without a means of movement for migratory taxa, gene flow, and the like, odds are, they will “submerge” one at a time. The good news is that when we link up these islands into a larger “continent” of conserved habitat, the odds of submergence decrease dramatically. Hence the contemporary focus on habitat connectivity. As it stands, Tejon Ranch is critical property for maintaining connectivity between adjacent conserved lands, both public and private.
We are beyond excited about recent acquisitions made by The Nature Conservancy immediately north of Tejon, which we can now officially call the Randall Preserve. This 72,000-acre preserve comes close to connecting the conserved lands on Tejon Ranch to the southern border of Sequoia National Forest – known as the “Tehachapi Linkage.” Taking a step back, we can see the full picture. From the Los Padres National Forest adjacent to the coast, up across Wind Wolves Preserve, onto Tejon Ranch, and linking along the Randall Preserve, there is now nearly contiguous protected habitat from the coastal mountains to the Sierra! Mountain lions, black bears, condors, innumerable plants and reptiles, amphibians, birds, and more stand a better chance at weathering the future. Welcome to the neighborhood, TNC!
Panofsky-Wilson Preserve Update
Biological resource surveys and stewardship keep preserve on track.
By Conservation Science Manager Mitchell Coleman, M.S.
The Panofsky-Wilson Preserve (Panofsky) is the only property owned by the Conservancy. It was donated in 2015, and in the last two years we have ramped up our science and stewardship activities there tremendously.
Our efforts prior to 2020 focused almost exclusively on plant surveys and invasive plant stewardship. Part of this increase in effort comes down to Panofsky’s relatively small size (~30 acres) – making ease of access far simpler (there being no need to caravan in vehicles). The smaller size also allows for more detailed work. Having a heightened sense of focus on this one area has yielded some interesting results!
Photo: Looking northeast across the Panofsky-Wilson Preserve and riparian vegetation of Caliente Creek, June 2020.
Panofsky is located on the northern border of Tejon Ranch in the Tehachapi Mountains. It sits in the Caliente Creek watershed, supporting mature riparian vegetation including Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and willow (Salix sp.), along with bladderpod (Peritoma arborea), elderberry (Sambucus nigra), scale broom (Lepidospartum squamatum), and various oaks (Quercus lobata, Q. douglasii) in the adjacent uplands.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bobcat (Lynx rufus), and feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are commonly observed. Moreover, Panofsky also contains naturally occurring stands of the federally and state endangered Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia basilaris ssp. treleasei), as well as the San Joaquin coachwhip (Coluber flagellum ruddockii), a California species of special concern. The preserve is within the range of the endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which is frequently observed in the skies above.
Photo: A consortium of biologists from McCormick Biological, CSU Bakersfield, and the Southwest Field Herping Association, checking a herpetofauna coverboard, Panofsky-Wilson Preserve, March 2021.
In 2021, we conducted several biological surveys at Panofsky, all focused on non-plants: ground beetles, limbless lizards, bats, and birds.
Between January and May 2021, Dr. Kip Will from the UC Berkeley Essig Museum conducted the first-ever invertebrate survey at Panofsky, focusing specifically on carabid (ground-dwelling) beetles, as part of a wider survey across the southern San Joaquin Desert. His survey results were quite diverse: 26 species from this one beetle family!
While the richness of beetle species at Panofsky is somewhat remarkable, it does make sense. After all, there are over 350,000 known species of beetle, a fact which made J.B.S. Haldane remark that the “Creator has an inordinate fondness for beetles.” 2021 was a drought year, which significantly suppressed biological activity. Kip anticipates that future trips in (hopefully) wetter years will more than double the observed species.
Photo: Dicheirus dilatatus, a species of carabid beetle. Photo by Joyce Gross.
In March 2021, an array of herpetofauna coverboards (initially placed in November 2020 by the good folks from McCormick Biological) was checked for the presence of silvery legless lizards (Anniella sp.) by a consortium of folks interested in that clade (a group of organisms evolved from the same ancestor). Silvery legless lizards belong to a larger group of limbless lizards.
Often confused for snakes, legless lizards have independently lost or reduced use of their limbs through time. They can be distinguished from snakes by several characters (e.g., external ear openings, lack of forked tongues, etc.).
Anniella expert, Ted Papenfuss from UC Berkeley, has long been interested in the Caliente Creek watershed – where Panofsky is – because it is the one region where three species of silvery legless lizard could potentially co-occur: Anniella stebbinsi (southern California legless lizard), A. pulchra (northern California legless lizard), and A. grinnelli (Bakersfield legless lizard). Previously, only A. stebbinsi has been observed at Panofsky. The coverboards checked in March revealed a dearth of lizards: a single A. stebbinsi.
This is likely another result of the drought. As burrowing animals which prefer a moist substrate, the lizards were probably much deeper in the soil during the 2021 survey. Moisture draws them closer to the surface. The next survey will take place later this month, stay tuned for the results!
Photo: California Legless Lizard (Anniella stebbinsi), Panofsky-Wilson Preserve, March 2021. Photo by Todd Battey.
Aside from invertebrates, bats are the least understood taxonomic group on Tejon (and elsewhere, too). This is in part because, as you might guess, bats are nocturnal, so only emerge at night – making them difficult to detect and identify. Accurate bat surveys are almost impossible without the use of sophisticated equipment.
A local group of bat experts, called the Kern Bat Working Group (led by Erika Noel of McCormick Biological), studies bat populations in the Kern County area. In April, they used some of that high-tech equipment to do the first-ever bat survey on Panofsky.
Bats communicate using high pitched chirps that are mostly inaudible to humans (we can only hear their very lowest-pitched vocalizations – the juiciest gossip is reserved for higher frequencies). The neat thing about bat calls is that each species has an identifiable range based on vocal frequency and speed. By using acoustic equipment that can detect these frequencies, a diagnostic chart for each species can be made. Plug those charts into specialized software, and “bam,” you can identify which species of bat you are detecting (that makes it all sound very simple, which of course, it is not).
The Kern Bat Working Group set up several acoustic monitoring stations and left them running for a week. They detected 10 species. Like Kip Will’s beetle survey, this was more diverse than anticipated. The group plans to return this year.
Photo: Acoustic monitoring equipment used to survey for bats on Panofsky. Left panel: A sonar microphone used for detecting bat calls. Lower right panel: The acoustic detectors which store and manage the data. Upper right panel: A laptop with specialized software that can recognize each bat’s unique vocal diagnostic (each blue signal is an individual chirp).
In June, Rachael Smith and Bailey Friedman, American Bird Conservancy biologists cooperating with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, conducted a bird survey at Panofsky. This effort coincided with the Breeding Bird Survey we did on Tejon, although we didn’t include these observations in that dataset because Panofsky is off the designated Breeding Bird Survey route. They observed 18 species during their survey, perhaps most notably, Phainopepla (the “gothic” cardinal) – a rarely observed bird species.
Photo: A 2017 photo of a Phainopepla. Photo by Chris Gardner.
Aside from species surveys, we have also been hard at work planning more invasive plant treatment/native plant restoration at Panofsky, as has been done in years past. Sadly, as drought conditions became more intense in the summer of 2021, the immature riparian vegetation in the ephemeral stretches of Caliente Creek began to dry out, with widespread canopy dieback and mortality. Invasive plant taxa, particularly tamarisk (Tamarisk ramosissima), continued to be a concern as well, thus, there is a pending plan with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to help treat the invasives and enhance the native condition of the creek. Overall, the ecological health of Panofsky has deteriorated since 2020, and the planned management actions taken over the next few years will be beneficial.
Photo: Like the very first photo in this article, looking northeast across the Panofsky-Wilson Preserve and riparian vegetation of Caliente Creek, June 2021. Note the widespread canopy dieback and mortality of the poplars and willows since June 2020.
Many thanks to our collaborators for contributing their expertise at Panofsky this year! Check out the 2021 survey data here!
Meet our newest board member
Lucinda “Cindy” Starrett joined the Tejon Ranch Conservancy board in December 2021. She is a senior partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham and Watkins, a member and former chair of its Environment, Land Use and Resources Department, and a former co-chair of the firm’s Global Project Siting and Approval Project. Cindy’s practice includes approval processes for real estate development, and sports and infrastructure projects, including university master plans, as well as related environmental and transactional matters. She also works closely with the Climate Change Practice Group.
Deeply committed to supporting charities, Cindy serves on the board of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and has co-chaired its benefit concerts. She is a founding board member and past chair of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation and serves on its Executive Committee. Cindy co-chaired fundraising for the Ambulatory Surgery Center at the Orthopedic Institute for Children. She has also served on the board of Abode Community Housing and is a pro bono land use advisor for Abode projects.
Why do wildflowers grow where they do?
By Science Director Emeritus Mike White, Ph.D.
Most people are interested in when wildflowers are going to bloom, but a closer look at where they bloom is just as interesting.
First a little wildflower ecology 101. The wildflowers at Tejon can be divided into two broad categories: annuals and perennials (bulbs).
Photo: California goldfields, here with California poppies, can carpet sandy desert soils. Also found in this community is one of the few native annual grasses that occur on Tejon, small fescue (Festuca microstachys).
In the Mediterranean climate of California, winter rains trigger germination of annual wildflower seeds in the soil, which grow into mature plants that flower, set seed, die, and drop their seeds into the soil, then wait for the next rainy season. Annual plants get all their water and nutrients from the soil they grow in and the water it holds. They survive the dry season or drought years by remaining as a seed in the soil.
Photo: California poppies, sky lupine, and popcorn flowers are common in relatively flat sandy areas of the San Joaquin Valley.
Perennial plants, on the other hand, remain alive through the dry season with an underground bulb or tuber that stores water and nutrients. The bulbs send out leaves after the onset of winter rains and then a flower stalk that sets seeds, which fall to the ground the same way an annual’s do. However, bulbs can also propagate themselves by dividing – budding off bulblets. Like annuals, perennials rely on water and nutrients in the soil, but unlike annuals, they have their own underground storage structure, which helps them survive when conditions for growth and flowering are not appropriate.
Photo: Yellow hillside daisies and purple Phacelia are clay soil lovers in the Antelope Valley. This is a unique community of plants found on clay soils derived from ancient lakebed deposits.
Being an annual plant or a perennial with an underground storage structure are adaptations that allow these plants to thrive in environments with uncertain amounts of rainfall. Why do we care about all of this? Because when these plants thrive, we get wildflowers!
Photo: California poppies and Coreopsis cover slopes with sandy soils derived from these eroding granite boulders.
So back to why wildflowers grow where they do.
While wildflowers get their water and nutrients from the soil, the amount of water and nutrients depends on the type of soil and where it is located (for example, its elevation or amount of rainfall, slope, and aspect – the direction the slope faces). Different species of wildflowers are adapted differently to these environmental conditions.
Photo: Common goldenstar, a relative of the lily family, is common across a range of habitats including valley grassland, oak woodland, and yellow pine forest.
For example, our grassland/rangeland research has shown that different “communities” of plants (a community is a group of species that tend to co-occur) can be found in distinct ecological sites on Tejon. An ecological site is an area of land that has a unique combination of physical features that create unique environments for plants.
Photo: Brodiea and the goldenstar in the previous photo are perennial bulbs that grow together in clay soils, often with nonnative annual grasses.
Plant communities that are dominated by different wildflower species create the mosaic of colors that we see painted across the landscape. That mosaic is a product of the weather and underlying environmental variation that occurs across a landscape such as Tejon. These communities are a preview of what we might expect in this year’s wildflower show, if we are lucky.
Photo (right): Blue dicks (a perennial) and the rare Tejon poppy (an annual) on the unique Pleito clay soils of the Tejon Hills.
Photo (above): Buttercups (yellow), blue-eyed grass (purple), and death Camas (white) are all perennials found in a unique marsh habitat in the Antelope Valley.
Long-tailed Weasel: Ten Years, Two Sightings
This mammal is harder to find than the American badger.
By Science Director Emeritus Mike White, Ph.D.
I had lots of very cool wildlife observations during my time at Tejon Ranch.
Sightings of mountain lions, condors, eagles, pronghorn, and badgers were always special because they are relatively rare. However, one of my most memorable observations was of a long-tailed weasel in the grasslands of the Tejon Hills, my only observation of a long-tailed weasel in my 10 years on the Ranch. As far as I know, my observation and another by Conservancy volunteer Vince Chafin, are the only two observations of long-tailed weasels on Tejon Ranch by the Conservancy. Given how much time the Conservancy has spent investigating the Ranch, that is a rare animal indeed!
The long-tailed weasel (Neogale [formerly Mustela] frenata) is a member of the weasel family of mammals (called the Mustelidae). It is related to the American badger that I wrote about in a previous article. It is the most widely distributed member of the weasel family in the Western Hemisphere.
A habitat generalist, it occurs across California except for desert areas. Taxonomically, the long-tailed weasel evolved approximately two million years ago from a larger bodied ancestor, likely in response to the increased availability of rodents and other small mammals as northern forests transitioned to more open grasslands.
It has a brown back, white belly with a yellowish tinge, a distinctive, black-tipped tail, and in the southwest, a white mask. The coat of some populations will turn white in the winter, but the tail retains its black tip. Long-tailed weasels are reported to range in size from 12 to 22 inches, with over half of that length their tail, and weigh 3 to 9 ounces. Males are larger than females, up to twice their size.
Weasels are carnivores, preying on a variety of small mammals, gophers, ground squirrels, reptiles and amphibians, and insects. They can consume one-third of their body weight in prey each day. Relentless predators, they hunt both at night and during the day, searching for prey along small mammal runways and in underground burrows via scent, sight, and sound.
They are also good climbers and swimmers. Young weasels are taught by their mothers to hunt and can kill prey on their own after a couple of months. Long-tailed weasels typically kill prey via a bite to the base of the skull. Long-tailed weasels themselves are preyed on by foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and other weasels, such as martens and fishers.
Long-tailed weasels are thought to use home ranges of 25 to 100 acres, but there is also evidence that a mated pair may require as much as a square mile (640 acres) of habitat. It appears that they are territorial and will often aggressively defend their territory.
Long-tailed weasels live in dens underground beneath stumps and rock piles, often using multiple dens for various activities. They typically do not construct these dens, but use the burrows of other species. The nest chambers of long-tailed weasels are lined with grass, leaves, and the fur of their prey. They are quite vocal and emit a variety of squeaks, squeals, trills, and purrs.
Mating occurs once per year in July and August, and kits or pups are born the following April or May. Litters are typically four to nine (average six). Both parents care for the kits. The family breaks up and the kits disperse in the fall. Young females become sexually mature in their first summer and males in their second summer.
As predators of rodents and other small mammals, long-tailed weasels play an important ecological role, and are just one in a long list of species that Tejon Ranch supports.
Long-tailed weasels are also super cute! I encourage everyone to get out to the Ranch and keep your eyes peeled for the elusive long-tailed weasel!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Panofsky-Wilson Preserve - Spring Event
Saturday, February 19th, 2022, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Join us for a day of exploration of the Tejon Conservancy's Panofsky-Wilson Preserve in Caliente. Enjoy the verdant spring on the preserve, come out and enjoy the picnic area, we will have a nature walks and kids' activities. This Event is Free!
Big Sycamore Canyon Hike
Sunday, February 20, 2022, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
This hike in the High Desert features diverse flora and fauna including native grasslands, oak/sycamore woodlands, and if we are lucky, a glimpse of pronghorn in the Mojave flatlands. Because close-proximity travel is necessary, this hike is limited to vaccinated individuals only. Proof of vaccination will be required.
Tejon Ranch Photo Tour
Saturday, February 26, 2022 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Photo Tour on Tejon Ranch. Because close-proximity travel is necessary, this event is limited to vaccinated individuals only.
Tejon Canyon Hike
Saturday, March 12, 2022, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
This Moderate 6 miles up and back hike through Tejon Canyon, which was the historic route used by early explorers to cross the Tehachapi Mountains. We will hike along a dirt road, adjacent to Tejon Creek Through beautiful Sycamore and Willow riparian and oak woodlands, and incense cedars. Limited to vaccinated guests only.
Learn about volunteering at the Conservancy!
Saturday, March 26, 2022 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM
Come to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy office to find out the many ways you can become our hero as a volunteer. Meet with the friendly staff and people who are already volunteering doing plant and animal surveys, stewardship projects, helping with hikes and tours, vehicle inspections, and even glamorous and dramatic office activities!
the infectious parlance of cow country
A few Western expressions
Belly-wash - A slang name for weak coffee.
Fancy fluff-duffs - Anything fancy from food to finery. At some of the range dances, the ranch women would make doughnuts, bake pies, and other fluff-duffs "jes to let the boys know they wasn't eatin' at the wagon."
Kidney pad - The contemptuous name the cowboy gave the little riding saddle used by an Easterner. Also called a kidney plaster.
Put a kid on a horse - In ranch country, when any errands are to be run or any messages to be sent, it was a common practice to put a kid on a horse to do the job.
From Western Words: A Dictionary of the Old West by Ramon F. Adams (Hippocrene Books, 1997). Published with permission.
VIDEO: We don't know yet what our wildflower season will be like this year but let's look at some from previous years.
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Tejon Ranch Conservancy E-News produced by co-editors Tim Bulone and Susan Chaney. If you’d like to contribute to E-News, please let us know.