Boulder on the Beach – Urban Wildlife in Goleta, CA

My first impression of Goleta, California was from a train journey up the California Coast about 10 years ago. I didn’t see the town, but just after we passed it, I watched a dolphin playing in the surf. It was a vision of wild freedom that stayed with me long after my train journey ended.

When a house sitting opportunity in Goleta came up this winter, I jumped on it. Watching that dolphin play gave me the impression that Goleta was a small central California type of town. I was wrong.

Goleta seems more like southern Cali than central to me. I quickly discovered that it is not a small town.  The dark, dense wall of smog I hit when I crossed over to the western side of the Sierras should have been my first clue. Loaded with big box stores and shopping malls, Goleta is a suburb of Santa Barbara and a college town. It reminded me of Boulder, Colorado, with a beach.

The good news is that even though it is an urban area, there are incredible opportunities to observe wildlife. Just north of the home I was housesitting in was the butterfly preserve.

Ellwood Mesa is one of the most important Monarch Butterfly habitats in California. But Monarch Butterflies are in trouble. Populations throughout California have declined 97% in 20 years. Tens of thousands of butterflies used to overwinter in the Goleta Grove. Peak season estimates for the grove now number only about a thousand.

There is no single cause for this dramatic decline. One contributing factor, though, is California’s ongoing drought. The 2011-2016 drought cycle killed many of the eucalyptus trees that the butterflies depend on for their winter roosts. Nearly 1,000 eucalyptus trees on Ellwood Mesa died due to the drought conditions. The gaps left by the dying trees allow too much wind to reach the butterfly roosts. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to see these butterflies before they all disappear.

If I walked south instead, I could walk in the North Campus Open Space Restoration Project. This is part of the Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve, an Audubon Important Bird Area. Thousands of birds migrate through the Reserve. Western Snowy Plovers, an endangered species, nest here. Sora rails have been seen at the ponds, and Burrowing Owls live on the uplands. These are just a few of the many species of birds to be found here. The Reserve is mostly undisturbed land, quite a rarity this far south in California. It includes many different types of coastal habitat. I found the birdwatching fabulous.

It was great even if I didn’t make it to the reserve. The California Coastal Trail runs along the beaches and bluffs. I observed a pair of Harris Hawks, unusual for this location. They seemed to have a nest on the cliffs below the bluffs. Many times I stopped to watch a Great Egret hunting in the meadows near the Butterfly Preserve. Clouds of finches sang to me from the trees. I was even photobombed by a hummingbird while photographing the bees in the eucalyptus blossoms!

Most people would think Goleta was a pretty nice little town. But this Alaska girl needs a bit more space than most folks. I got claustrophobia. Big time.

Part of it was the place I was staying in. Housing costs are rather outrageous in the area, so my housesit was in a studio apartment, shared with 2 bunnies, a cat, a lizard and some fish.

That wasn’t the main reason for my claustrophobia, though. Give me a decent bed and a table to work off of and I’m pretty much OK. The location was ideal for a home in Goleta. It was the last apartment building before the green space. It was just a short walk to the beach, the stroll along the bluffs, the bird refuge, or the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. So many choices!

What stressed me out was too many other people living in close proximity,  so many apartments so close together. It was walking on trails where I was never out of sight of others, not even for a moment. I walked everywhere, because if I drove I was immediately inundated with heavy traffic and shopping malls.

On my first walk to the trail on the bluff, I noticed graffiti scribbled on one of the trees. Then there was the beach. There’s a reason they call it Coal  Oil Point. It’s probably the best place on the California coast to drill for offshore oil, so the sunset view was marred by drilling rigs. Naturally occurring tar balls wash up on the beach. Even though I knew it was natural, as I picked my way across the sand. the black deposits screamed “oil spill” to me when I looked out at those rigs.

Both the City of Goleta and UC Santa Barbara are working hard at restoration and providing quality wildlife habitat. They’re doing a great job. I even heard that the closest oil rig was being decommissioned and should come down within a year. I really appreciate the work they’re doing, and I am thankful that I had this opportunity to experience this special place before all the butterflies are gone.

I’m glad to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here. I need a place that’s a bit more wild. How about you? Do some of you share my claustrophobia in urban areas? Or maybe you have the opposite temperament. Are any of you more comfortable in the city and uncomfortable in a land that is too isolated? Let me know in the comments!