Ryan Veillette
Starting in 2002, a long-term photo-monitoring project was established at SMER in conjunction with our bird point count locations. The goal of this project is to create a photographic record of the reserve.
At each location photos are taken facing north, south, east, and west. A four-foot piece of PVC pipe is used to mark center of the location and act as a reference in the photo. A photo guide has been created so that from year to year pictures will be as similar as possible. Photos are taken each year starting in October.
The project was started by Ryan Veillette. Mark VanScoy is now the photographer.
The reserve has been broken up into 4 categories based on dominant vegetation type and other distinguishing features.
- Oak Woodland refers to a short section of abandoned road that parallels Stone Creek. The vegetation along Stone Creek has been classified as coast live oak riparian forest.
- River refers to sites that are located along the 5-mile stretch of the Santa Margarita River that is within the reserve boundaries.
- Scrub Trail, also known as the Insect Trail, is a two-mile trail that runs along the Northeast boundary of the reserve. The trail passes through both coastal sage scrub and mixed chaparral vegetation.
- Scrub identifies the locations that are located long the SMER roads. The vegetation at these sites has been classified as missed chaparral and coastal sage scrub.
Use the Photo Monitoring Explorer to see and compare locations.
