Growing up, I was obsessed with two things: horses and nature (to be fair, I am still pretty interested in both). As luck would have it, I lived quite close to Westwind Barn and its neighbor, Byrne Preserve. I began taking riding lessons at the barn when I was about six or seven, and soon I was looking for any possible excuse to return.

Down by the creek below Westwind Barn in Los Altos Hills, habitat is flourishing again. In just three years, our staff and volunteers have transformed a creekside area below Westwind’s horse paddocks and stables into a thriving mosaic of native vegetation.

Have you been to Byrne Preserve lately? If you have, you may have noticed the many butterflies at the preserve. John Metcalfe, a recent graduate of our California Naturalist program, has created a guide for identifying these important pollinators in a very localized and easy to use way.

Paul Heiple is a champion of restoring local ecosystems. For over 20 years, he’s been building a legacy of stewardship by educating others about the natural world. This month, we are celebrating his retirement from Grassroots Ecology.

Last month, Grassroots Ecology staff and community members explored Byrne Preserve at night, viewing the oak woodland for the first time in the ultraviolet spectrum. We carried small ultraviolet flashlights that allowed us to examine the world that we cannot see with the naked eye.