Montrose Settlements Restoration Program

03/13/2018

The eggs at the Sauces Canyon bald eagle nest are starting to hatch! Tune in to watch it!

There is a pip on one of the eggs at the Sauces bald eagle nest. A hatch should occur within the next 1-24 hours. http://www.iws.org/livecams.html

10/25/2017

Great new graphic showing our exciting rocky reef restoration project that will restore rocky reef habitat!

09/27/2017

07/29/2017

The Ventura County Star highlights our restoration work on Scorpion Rock. Over 9,000 native plants were planted on this rock from 2007-2012 with the hard work of many partners and volunteers. Today, Scorpion Rock is providing excellent nesting habitat for seabirds.

http://www.vcstar.com/story/news/speccial-reports/outdoors/2017/07/29/tiny-seabird-makes-comeback-channel-islands/504768001/

03/21/2017

Spring has sprung on the Channel Islands! This is the view from Scorpion Rock off of Santa Cruz Island looking east towards Anacapa Island. MSRP began restoring seabird habitat on this offshore rock in 2008. It used to be covered with a thick layer of non-native iceplant that was unsuitable for nesting birds. Look at it now!

Photo credit: Katy Carter, California Institute of Environmental Studes

03/21/2017

A new species discovered on Santa Barbara Island! Congrats to Andrew Yamagiwa of the California Institute of Environmental Studies for the find!

The recent rains have created a gorgeous wildflower landscape on the Channel Islands, and along with the first day of spring, came a lovely surprise in the form of a newly discovered flowering plant.

03/16/2017

As have many of you, we have been intently watching the Bald Eagle pair at Sauces Canyon on Santa Cruz Island. We are disheartened to see that the most recent eggs broke yesterday. We do not know why the eggs keep breaking, but will continue to monitor the nest and further investigate the cause. We will attempt to collect prey samples and eggshell fragments and analyze them for contaminant levels and eggshell thinning. Although this is an unfortunate situation for this pair, we are encouraged by their successful nesting in 2016 and the continued recovery of the Bald Eagle population across the Channel Islands. Thank you to all the dedicated web cam viewers for your observations and concern for the pair.

~Institute for Wildlife Studies, Montrose Settlements Restoration Program, National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy

02/28/2017

Join us for an open house on Thursday, March 2 from 6-8pm to learn more about our proposed Palos Verdes Reef Project!

We are looking for your comments on this project so contact us at [email protected] and send us your thoughts.

Palos Verdes Reef Project: Open House and Public Review

02/12/2017

Such an amazing find on Santa Rosa Island! The person who discovered the mammoth skull was Peter Larramendy, on the seabird biologists that works on the Montrose restoration projects. The skull is named "Larry" in his honor! If you are local, stop by the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum and check it out!

"Larry" the mammoth has been officially unveiled at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History! Initially discovered in 2014 on Santa Rosa Island, this amazing find represents a paleontological mystery - too big to be a pygmy mammoth and too small to be a Columbian mammoth, scientists will be working hard to learn more about this fascinating specimen. Join us at the museum every Monday and Saturday in February, from 1-5 pm, to watch the preparation of the skull and learn more about this discovery! (NPS Photo)

02/11/2017

Thank you to Patagonia and the California Institute of Environmental Studies for your support of the Scorpion Rock seabird habitat restoration project off of Santa Cruz Island! Congrats team!

Thank you so much Patagonia Great Pacific Ironworks for your help in restoring Scorpion Rock this year! We are excited to get to work!

12/06/2016

Today Mexico declared the Baja California Pacific Islands as a Biosphere Reserve. With this action, all of the islands in Mexico are now protected! We are proud partners with Conservacion de Islas in restoring seabirds to these islands. Viva las aves!

07/14/2016

SEABIRD TIP OF THE WEEK: We are wrapping up our seabird campaign for the summer. Please help us protect all of the nesting seabirds of the Channel Islands by sharing this information with your friends and family!

CHECK out the Seabird Protection Network

Photo Caption and Credit: Summer by Monte M. Taylor (http://www.tsuru-bird.net)