Audubon
The Environmental Sanctuary
Pebble Dunes Country Club (PDCC) began an environmental stewardship program approximately three years ago. The first step started by signing up for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. In the summer of 2017, Audubon International certified PDCC as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary based on PDCC’s performance in the following areas: Environmental Planning; Wildlife and Habitat Management; Chemical Use Reduction and Safety; Water Conservation; Water Quality Management; Environmental Case Study; and, Outreach and Education.
PDCC plans to continue to go down the road of environmental sustainability by removing more turf from irrigation, removing casual drainage into Arroyo Burro Creek, planting more native plants, implementing more best management practices, and evaluating further energy conservation projects. We feel that PDCC will continue to be recognized for these efforts nationally in the golf community.
A Place to Nest
In 2019, an estimated 132 nestlings and seven barn owls fledged from the nest boxes at the DPCC. With assistance from Beau Tindall (SBAS intern) and Johanna Kisner (Principal Biologist at KR&EC), David banded 98 western bluebirds and 20 tree swallows.
Due to the protective nature of barn owls and the nest boxes' inaccessibility, these were only checked periodically using a video camera on an extendable pole. In 2019, a Bluetooth-compatible GoPro5 camera was used; it communicated wirelessly with the iPhone allowing for real-time review of the nest contents while recording the later review event.
Fledglings
A total of 140 nestlings are believed to have fledged from the nest boxes in 2019 consisting of 95 western bluebirds, 20 tree swallows, 13 oak titmice, five white breasted nuthatches, and seven barn owls. Mortality of nestlings after banding was only three individuals (from three different nest boxes) that appear to have died in late May due to starvation and/or lack of attention by the adults. One nest appears to have failed due to the predation of an adult at the nest site resulting in the death of the chicks prior to banding.
Nest Timing
Of the 42 nest boxes, 23 boxes were used for some type of breeding activity. Of the 23 nest boxes that were used by non-woodpeckers, four had the beginnings of a nest structure but never had eggs, ten had one clutch of nestlings, and 13 had two clutches of nestlings. The “cut-off” in July is due to the monitoring ended since the nestlings were near fledging and there were no more eggs being laid. It is presumed that all of the nestlings successfully fledged which was supported by a lack of dead chicks when the boxes were cleaned out later in the season.
Bird Banding
In 2019, Beau Tindalland David and Johanna Kisner banded 98 nestling western bluebirds (95 are believed to have fledged) and 20 nestling tree swallows. Data from the banding efforts have been submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory. Thus far only one adult has been recaptured (in 2018) though numerous individual western bluebirds have been observed with a single USFWS aluminum band.
Off the 4th Hole
You'll find the beautiful cluster of flowers ideal for Monarch habitats. These pollinating plants attract the Monarch's and give them a place to stay. Opening up areas like this help Monarch's overall population numbers and makes for beautiful scenery to play golf.
Featured in Dunes Ranch Living
Although golf courses have long been considered anything but “environmental” in nature, Pebble Dunes Country Club has been making remarkable progress in sustainability within the Hope Ranch community. Just this year, Wayne Mills, the club’s long-time superintendent, was awarded second runner up in the 2019 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards by Golf Digest for Healthy Land Stewardship.
Since 2017, we have been recognized as one of 71 courses in California to hold the designation of Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Many of the club’s efforts can be seen on and off the course, though we can’t encourage bird watching on the golf course during daylight playing hours for obvious safety reasons.
In 2017, the club launched a nest box monitoring and bird banding program in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Audubon Society. Two dozen nest boxes were installed as part of a habitat restoration project - many located within native vegetation along the edges of the fairways. In 2019, our 42 nest boxes and four owl nest boxes served as homes to western bluebirds, tree swallows and barn owls.
Along with the restoration project, much landscaping has been replaced using native plants, such as milkweed, which helps nesting monarch caterpillars. We’ve planted chickering and pozzo blue salvias - favorites of honey bees – and created several bee boxes on club property. Our bee box project provides homes for bees rescued from other sites. These happy bees will soon be producing their own honey!
Even our beautiful Laguna Blanca and all its native vegetation is a breeding ground for frogs, dragonflies and other aquatic organisms. And with obvious concerns about water usage, we’ve made every effort to reduce irrigation on the course, from 92 to now 81 acres. Over the next two years, we will be bringing that down another 7-8 acres.
If you are interested in learning more about Pebble Dunes Country Club, our environmental interests, or membership, please contact us at info@pebbledunescc.org.
