Old and New RRAS Volunteers Support the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

​On Saturday February 1, 2020, 11 people from Red Rock Audubon and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked on bird habitat maintenance activities at Pond 1 of the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.   From 8 am to noon, the volunteers worked and accomplished the following:
  

​Branches from dormant Gooding's willow (Salix goodingii) trees on Pond 2 were cut to create willow poles for planting.  Twenty four of these willow poles were planted along the north side of Pond 1, where quaibush (Atriplex lentiformis  was removed in December of 2019.  Each willow pole was caged to protect the willow from herbivores such as rabbits and ducks. 

​They watered all plants that were planted away from the water in previous years and hand dug watering holes for these plants.  They pruned all the desert willow trees growing around Pond 1.  

​On the island, two volunteers pruned several Gooding's willow and removed unwanted vegetation growing around them.  They also removed several cattails that has self-seeded on the island as this is a non-desirable plant at this location.  

​Several people picked up trash around the pond, including a young couple teaching their daughter about giving back to the community.  
 
Previous volunteer efforts are paying off.  Alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), a bunch grass, and yerba mansa (Anemopsis californica), a flowering forb, that were planted in December of 2019 have started to grow.  
 
Written by Chrisitana Manville and Nancy Chang
Photos by Nancy Chang