Calendar

Named The Flower Moon because of wildflowers blooming in this time of year, May’s full moon provides the perfect light for nighttime discovery on The Reserve.   Join us for a moonlit adventure, exploring canyon trails bathed in moonlight.

Interpretation Level: Medium
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 8 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Thursday, May 23.

Take a leisurely walk with a naturalist guide through the hills and canyons of The Reserve and become a detective on an arthropod scavenger hunt!   Join us on this family-oriented search for creeping, crawling, and flying insects & other arthropods.  See how many you can discover!  Enjoy the spring scenery as you learn about the importance of these beautiful, wondrous creatures.

Interpretation Level: Medium
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 6 and up

Please note: participants must be registered by 4:00 pm on Friday May 31.

Reservations are not necessary for this event.
This nature-themed lecture is held in association with the monthly meeting of Caspers Park Foundation (CPF) volunteers. Meeting starts 9:30am followed by an informative lecture (10:00am).

TOPIC:  Co-existing with Coyotes
June speaker: Laura Coley Eisenberg, Executive Director, The Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo

This event is presented by the Caspers Park Foundation. For information regarding this event, please contact the Caspers Park Foundation. For more info, email: moc.liamgnull@noitadnuoFkraPsrepsaC or call 949-923-2210.

FREE: At the entrance kiosk, mention that you are attending a CPF meeting.

Orange County Stars

Visitors traveling to sparsely populated areas are usually delighted to discover how many more stars are visible than at home. If you’ve not yet caught a glimpse of the Milky Way, come out to The Reserve for Astronomy Night where you can still view many more celestial phenomena than elsewhere in urbanized Orange County!

Enjoy an evening outdoors, as you gaze into the heavens, learn the constellations, and peer through the telescopes of our volunteer astronomers.  Reserve astronomers are all volunteers who enthusiastically share their telescopes and expert sky knowledge with you.  In the event of cloudy skies we will have a presentation prepared while we wait to see if the clouds break.   (BRING: Warm clothing, Red cellophaned flashlight, binoculars, optional beach chair.)

Interpretation Level: High
Difficulty Level: Easy
Ages: 8 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday.

Volunteer to spend a few hours in beautiful surroundings helping make The Reserve trails accessible to our visitors. Join the crew dedicated to protecting our native ecosystems by maintaining trails and eliminating weeds. Volunteer efforts make an impact! Drinks and snacks provided. (BRING: Work gloves if you have them).

Interpretation Level: Low
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 10 and up

Please note: participants must be registered by 4:00 pm on Friday, June 7.

Join us as we learn all about Orange County rattlesnakes: how to identify them, where they live, and what to do if you encounter one. Local herpetologist Steve Bledsoe, a member of the North American Field Herping Association, will do a power point presentation about these unique creatures. Live snakes will be on display and local herpetologists will be on-hand to answer questions.

Ages: 8 and up

Participants must be registered or on the wait list by Wednesday, June 12 by 2:00 pm.

Get outdoors and create memories this Father’s day.  Join us for a Walkabout, inspired by the Aborigines but made for family fun. With a docent as your guide, Dads and kids will not only “walkabout” the trails but will work together to complete tasks, overcome challenges and solve puzzles in an effort to complete their journey.

Interpretation Level: High
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 6 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday, June 14.

Learn about the intriguing world of galls! Chemicals produced by certain insects, arachnids, nematodes (parasitic worms), fungi, or bacteria may cause plants to produce abnormal tissue growths known as galls. These can be found on buds, leaves, flowers, twigs, and roots.  Sizes and shapes are varied; many are surprisingly beautiful.  Learn more about galls, the native plants they are found on, and the creatures whose activities create them.

Interpretation Level: Medium
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 8 and up
Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday, June 28.

Join Volunteer Astronomer Avinash Agrawal for this astronomy lecture. Immerse yourself into a world where atoms are big and galaxies small, where time runs faster and we travel to the beginning of it all. Come enjoy and learn about planets, motion, time, space and much more.

Ages: 8 and up

Participants must be registered or on the wait list by Wednesday, July 10 by 2:00 pm.

Bats are one of the many mysteries of nature.  What kinds of bats live at in Orange County? Take an evening walk with bat biologist Stephanie Remington to find out! Ms. Remington has surveyed Orange County bats in habitats ranging from suburban neighborhoods to the local wildlands. You will experience "bat detectors" which convert ultrasonic bat sounds to frequencies audible to humans, as you learn more about the natural history of local bats.

Interpretation Level: High
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 10 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday, July 12.

Experience summer in the quiet wilds of The Reserve.   Summertime is full of sweet smells, bird songs, rustling trees, animal tracks, butterflies, insect chatterings and wild flowers.  We will take advantage of the cool early summer morning on this Break of Dawn walk down Gato Road.    We will pass through grasslands, coastal sage, and oak woodlands.   Start your day with the peace and beauty of nature.

Interpretation Level: Moderate
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 8 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday, July 19.