Nature walks open to older adults – The Pajaronian

WATSONVILLE—Thanks to a partnership between the Watsonville Senior Center and the Watsonville Nature Center, 22 older adults acquired a detailed-up view of Struve Slough, and its birds and crops Monday through the Senior Nature Walk, a program that launched in November.

Led up by Nancy Porto, a bilingual conservation outreach coordinator for the town of Watsonville, the roughly 90-minute strolling tour not solely introduced into focus chicken and plants, however it additionally gave the group a breath of recent air train as they strolled the favored slough path close to Ohlone Parkway and Harkins Slough Road.

“As soon as I saw the notice for this walk for seniors, I knew it was for me,” mentioned Leah Berman. “I mean, what a great opportunity to get exercise and learn more about nature.”

Porto was joined by Jessica Correa from the Bird School Project of Soquel. Correa offered massive coloration photographs of herons, hawks, a double-crested cormorant and different birds to assist the group establish birds alongside the stroll.

“The wetlands are a true treasure for Watsonville,” Porto mentioned in English after which in Spanish. “The wetlands are important because they are in the middle of the migratory flyway. Here, we can see birds that travel between Canada and South America.”

Red-tailed and pink-shouldered hawks, osprey, northern shovelers, snowy egrets, cinnamon teal, mallards and nice blue herons are only a  sampling of birds typically noticed at space sloughs. 

The group labored its approach alongside Struve Slough beside Westridge Business Park and took a water break at a trailhead behind the previous West Marine. There, Katie Nunez, older grownup providers supervisor on the Senior Center, coordinated transportation for among the group in a big van. The van gave them the selection to return early, about halfway by way of the stroll.

“These tours are a great way to show people the different settings on our six sloughs and six and a half miles of trails that connect them,” Porto mentioned. 

The Senior Nature Walk meets the final Monday of every month at 1:30pm. For data, go to cityofwatsonville.org.