Tour guide

Tours are given for the public and special interests groups. In the accompanying photo, we are admiring the South American Puya in bloom. Special events include Hummingbird Day where we see the spectacular aerial courtship flights of Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds

The Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden was established in 2011 as my first volunteering activity. We planted a selection of native California plants species which offer a near year-round nectar source, as well as some plants that are food plants for caterpillars.

Around 30 Butterfly species have been recorded at the Arboretum

California Naturalist Program (CNP)

I took the California Naturalist Program in 2014 and since then have assisted in some field trips and led sessions on choosing binoculars for birding and other forms of wildlife watching. I post some of my observations on iNaturalist.

Nest box trail

With the help of Linda Anderson, 12 nest boxes were placed in the Upper Arboretum in 2015 (and later 2 in the Main Gardens) to encourage Western Bluebirds to breed. Up to 9 pairs have nested each year, along with ash-throated flycatchers, violet-green swallows and tree swallows. Before then, Western Bluebirds were infrequent visitors to the UCSC campus.