Flora & Fauna

Looking for a list of the plants that grow in the reserve? Click on the link below for the list as well as photos... enjoy. [ Plant Communities  ]   Wildfire Safety Landscaping Number one on the fire department's list for protecting your home from the threat of wildfire is defensible space immediately surrounding your home. Use the link below to for a full list of recommendations from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for a defensible home environment. [ Wildfire Safety Landscaping.pdf  ] (PDF - 64 kb)   Interested in how native plants were used by early people? Click on the link below for an article on ethnobotany. [ Ethnobotany  ] (PDF - 1 MB)   Below is a link that will open up a smaller window on top of this one. Once open it will allow you to view a slide show of some very beautiful images taken in the reserve....enjoy. [ Plants of the Lagoon ] (No plugin required) [ Plants of the Lagoon ] (Flash version - flash plugin required)

Below are two links to slideshows of the Lagoon that will open up a smaller window on top of this one. Once open it will allow you to view a slide show of some very beautiful images taken in the reserve....enjoy. [ Birds of the Lagoon  ] (No plugin required) [ Birds of the Lagoon  ] (Flash version - flash plugin required)   Birds of San Elijo Lagoon and Adjacent Shoreline [ click here ] (PDF format 2.6MB)   BIRDS OF SAN ELIJO LAGOON   Bird use at San Elijo Lagoon has been one of the most studied biological elements of the lagoon and reserve and, due to abundance, variety, and high visibility, the component most noticed by the public. More than 319 species have been recorded at San Elijo Lagoon and Cardiff State Beach. Over 106 of these species are rare to uncommon migrants. Additional migrant species potentially occur, particularly offshore. Numbers of individual birds range into the thousands when considering migratory shorebirds and waterfowl, into the hundreds for pelicans and cormorants, coots, gulls, terns, swallows, warblers, and sparrows. Such numbers and diversity are attributable to geographic/physical factors of location, variety of habitats and ecotones, and variety and abundance of food items.   The mild climate of San Elijo accommodates large numbers and varieties of birds. Resident species, transient migrating species en route between lower latitude wintering grounds and higher latitude breeding grounds, wintering species migrating from elsewhere, and breeding species that winter elsewhere can be found during the year. The coastal location and maritime influence on weather, varied topography and soils, estuarine influence of both fresh and salt waters create a diverse assemblage of plant types and habitats. These habitats, in turn, provide a wide variety and abundance of food items such as submerged vegetation, seeds and flowers, benthic invertebrates, fish, aquatic and surface dwelling invertebrates, terrestrial invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small and large mammals, and the remains left thereof, allowing a vast array of niches to be exploited.   Urbanization of Southern California has resulted in loss of habitat and habitat degradation. Accumulation of toxins from past and current industrial and agricultural products, including continued use elsewhere of chemicals banned in the U.S., together with historic, and, in some cases, continued hunting and persecution, have produced endangered species. Several sensitive, threatened, and endangered species rely on San Elijo. More than 105 species of concern have been documented at San Elijo, including 33 of the 81 to 93 species that breed around the lagoon. The federally endangered brown pelican roosts and feeds regularly in the lagoon, the light-footed clapper rail is resident, and the least tern nests, forages, and roosts around the lagoon each summer. Least Bell's vireo presence has increased in recent years with nesting along Escondido Creek. The federally threatened snowy plover, California gnatcatcher, and state endangered Belding's savannah sparrow nest and are present throughout the year. The recently delisted peregrine falcon is a regular visitor. Bald eagles and willow flycatchers forage in the Reserve occasionally. In the past, wood stork, black rail, sandhill crane, and bank swallow have been documented in the lagoon, and cactus wrens were once abundant in adjacent sage scrub.   To better document current bird use of the lagoon, monthly bird counts are conducted by volunteers of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.

Email info@sanelijo.org

| Return to our main page |