Shell Ridge lacks the brush and vines and other shelter that ground birds and small animals need for shelter and food. The Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation sponsors a Quail Habitat Restoration Project to restore the shelter and food sources that birds and small animals need. Starting in the fall of 1996 Bob Wisecarver recruited volunteers and began the project.

We selected a gully below Bull Pond above Borges Ranch. This gully has wet ground at the bottom for much of the year and sloping sides nearby -- a good basis for constructing quail habitat. Since this area is grazed by cattle, we fenced off the gully and the pond above. We constructed several brush piles to provide a place where birds and animals could seek shelter. These brush piles are up to 10 feet long and four feet high.

That winter we planted a number of plants in the gully and above the pond. Plants such as Quail bush (Atriplex), coyote bush, toyon, elderberry, ceanothus, wild rose and others were selected for their food value and appropriateness to the area. During the spring and summer we watered the plants and weeded around them. Quail bush in particular has been successful; most plants survived and began producing seed the first year. Several bushes are now 10 feet across. Other plants have also survived and prospered. We have also planted live oaks in addition to bushes and small plants.

We also planted willows in the wettest part of the gully and around the pond. Three willows from this planting survived the next summer when Bull Pond dried up. Volunteer willows appeared after the El Nino winter of 1997-8 and fared better. We have been extending the habitat up above Bull Pond with planting and brush piles inside the fenced area. Outside the fence we have established a chain of brush piles to encourage quail to use the area all the way over to the Twin Ponds in the next drainage.

The upper pond of the Twin Ponds area was fenced in during the winter of 1998-9 bushes were planted within this fenced area. We scraped a number of 3 by 3 foot areas clear of grass and seeded them with a mixture of seeds including 3 kinds of sage, chamise, toyon, quail bush and coyote bush.

We began to see results from the project the first spring with many sightings of quail and other birds using the brush piles. This project has been a typical Walnut Creek effort: It started with a volunteer with an idea and a lot of energy, used plenty of volunteer labor and some money from Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation, and got lots of cooperation from Walnut Creek's Open Space Staff.

In the fall of 2003, we added a Quail Guzzler where thirsty quail and other birds can get a needed drink during the dry season. The Guzzler has been very successful in attracting quail, gold-crowned sparrows, and other birds.

Email us at contact@wcosf.org for more information or to volunteer.  Or click here to contact us by mail or phone.