Aramburu Island Sanctuary- Winter Planting Madness

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This year marks our 6th and final year of grant funded management of the Aramburu Island Sanctuary. The 17-acre island was created in the early 1960s by dredge spoils and fill from nearby development. Following the Cosco-Busan oil spill in 2007, Audubon staff observed that the majority of birds in Richardson Bay were using Aramburu Island as a refuge from toxic waters. Seeing this need for habitat sparked the plan for an enhancement project. Audubon and its partners spent two years fundraising, planning, and permitting the project. The Enhancement Plan was designed to improve a variety of habitats by removing non-native invasive plants and planting native species. To date, Audubon has planted over 35,000 plants on Aramburu. This last year, winter 2016-2017, we hope to plant another 3,000 native plants on Aramburu with the help of 1 staff and A LOT of volunteers (November-March)!

If you choose to come back and help with the planting of these plants:

Visiting Aramburu Island Sanctuary offers volunteers a great opportunity to view resting and foraging shore and waterbirds. We were even lucky enough this year to be home to killdeer, black-necked stilt and even black oystercatcher nests and chicks! The company is always friendly, the views of San Francisco Bay are amazing (depending on fog) and not much can compare to spending outside on the Bay.

Here are the dates for upcoming volunteer events in our Spend a Day on Richardson Bay program-

9am-1pm Saturdays-

Come help our final planting year on Aramburu Island Sanctuary:

Jan 14th

Jan 28th

Feb 25th

Mar 11th

Mar 25th