An endangered seabird gets help from the East Bay Parks - and a small army of volunteers

"That's why more than two dozen volunteers met one Saturday morning in late January at the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, tucked between the Oakland Coliseum and the Oakland Airport, for a day of weeding. Here, as you walk along the shoreline's paved pathways, you're apt to see both geese and airplanes take flight. David Riensche, the wildlife biologist leading this expedition, has been doing his part to save the California least tern for three decades."

"As a biologist with the East Bay Regional Park District, he's been publishing research on how much ground cover they like - sparse - and what kind of surface they prefer - crushed oyster shells mixed with sand - then setting up partnerships with Point Reyes oyster farms for donated shells and organizing volunteers like these, by the thousands, to move earth and shells, to document seagull activity, and to weed."

The Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline contains a small island dominated by cudweed, reducing visibility needed for California least tern nesting. The California least tern is the smallest North American tern, about robin-sized, and has been endangered since 1970. Volunteers gathered to remove vegetation to restore clear sight lines and safer nesting habitat. Biologist David Riensche has led three decades of work measuring preferred ground cover—sparse—and creating nesting substrate of crushed oyster shells mixed with sand. Partnerships with Point Reyes oyster farms supply shells, and volunteers move earth, document gull activity, and weed to support recovery goals.

Read at The Oaklandside