VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center

04/07/2026

Two beautiful days in the forest, gathered with a circle of curious and fun- loving foragers 🌿✨

We explored the abundance of edible spring plants all around us, with stinging nettle shining as the star of our wild feast ⭐️🍃

Together we created:• Fresh wild salad• Nettle soup• Nettle pesto with pasta• And a delicious nettle cake! 💚😋

We ended under the cedar trees, celebrating one if our birthday girls, Kathy 🌱🎂—sharing food, laughter, and the magic of nature.✨

Grateful for this community, this land, and the wild foods that bring us together 🌎💚

04/04/2026

Another incredible outing with VMF’s Julian Young Birders’ Club. This morning we ventured along the Kelly Ditch and Fern Trails in William Heise County Park.

We were shocked by the number of bird species there were. We saw (and heard) wrentits, acorn woodpeckers, spotted towhees, scrub jays, ravens, crows, violet-green swallows, black-headed grosbeaks, turkeys, mountain chickadees, turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks, yellow-rumped warblers, Bewick’s wrens, lesser goldfinches, American goldfinches, song sparrows, and a hooded oriole.

Of course we couldn’t help but to splash cool creek water on faces just before making our way back.

Beautiful day!

Suzie Meyer
Engagement Coordinator
Volcan Mountain Foundation

03/23/2026

Today, staff and volunteers removed bull thistle at VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center. It's very satisfying every time that I see the root get pulled-out of the soil, knowing that I've prevented its future reproduction, growth, and competition with native plants.

One bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) flower head typically produces between 100 and 300 seeds, and since a single plant can produce one to over 400 flower heads, the potential seed production can be in the thousands.

Our continued commitment to reduce its spread has helped the forest significantly. There are areas where we have removed bull thistle that are not showing signs of new growth.

Another great day on Volcan.

Suzie Meyer
Engagement Coordinator

03/22/2026

Another great day on Volcan Mountain. Naturalist, educator, biologist, and Chair of VMF's Conservation Committee Sharyl Massey gave an incredible presentation on raptors at VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center. She discussed the remarkable adaptations of each genus and their unique predator behavior.

Did you know that ospreys are the only raptor who can get entirely submerged in water while hunting fish? While almost all birds of prey have a third eyelid to protect themselves from dust and wind as well as to keep their eyes lubricated, Ospreys also use this translucent third eyelid (nictitating membrane) like goggles to see clearly under water and to keep their eyes protected as they dive.

They also have oily feathers, which act as a waterproof coating to allow them to rise from the water without becoming waterlogged. Their unique talons and wing shape are also designed for their specialized hunting method.

Sharyl also brought a barn owl (an ambassador from Sky Hunters) who participants got to see in-person! Afterwards, we went to a viewpoint on VMF's Sky Island trail to see raptors in flight.

What a day!

Suzie Meyer
Engagement Coordinator

03/16/2026

Julian Pathways Club WILD on the mountain again learning about foraging spring edible plants! Miners lettuce, chickweed, just to name a few, that we all enjoyed with balsamic maple syrup dressing and tortilla chips. Our character counts word for the day was “service” so we also pulled up invasive mustard plants, and didn’t forget to add a few to our salad too! 🥗🌱😊🌿😋

03/01/2026

Another wonderful day at VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center. Mark Jenne from the San Diego Mycological Society gave a great presentation on the unique lives of mushrooms and how they benefit ecosystems.

Afterward, we dispersed into the forest and collected mushrooms to bring back to the class for identification.

The world of mushrooms is fascinating. Did you know that the mushroom dating scene happens underground? After their spores are released into the air and later germinated in the soil, they become haploid threads (called hyphae) that release pheromones to signal their presence to potential mates in the soil or wood.

Another fun fact: button, cremini, and portobello mushrooms are the same species just harvested at different stages. Button is the youngest (toddler); cremini is the teenager, and portobello is the adult.

Suzie Meyer
Engagement Coordinator

02/06/2026

VMF’s Outreach Coordinator, Suzie Meyer, was fortunate to participate in the San Diego Tracking Team's quarterly track and sign transect conducted at VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center. Results of each transect are shared with the Wildlife Conservation Board as part of VMF's grant reporting.

Led by Terry Hunefeld, who holds specialist and two professional wildlife tracker certificates, the team started in the morning when the sun casts the right amount of shadow to see animal tracks clearly. We slowly made our way through three separate transect sections: one forested, one open, and one with a mix of conifer forest and chaparral.

We saw mountain lion tracks, which Terry casted. He said that it's important to cast wildlife tracks even if they're not perfect (and, perhaps, especially when they're not perfect) because it's an opportunity to study them at different levels of their degradation.

Other fun wildlife evidence that we saw include bobcat s**t, skunk digs, acorn woodpecker granaries, and markings on trees made by sapsuckers as well as deer tracks going in all directions.

We also saw 40 woodrat nests — all within a half-mile on the trail! They were in such close proximity to one another that I imagined that the woodrats all came out at night to hold community forums and social parties.

Conducting track and sign not only provides important evidence of wildlife but it also shows us a piece of their unique and beautiful life story.

01/07/2026

Yesterday, I met Sharyl Massey (VMF Board Member and Chair of the Conservation Committee) at VMF's Volcan Mountain Nature Center to scout-out locations where we thought some invasive plants might be growing.

Our planned short scouting session turned-out to be the most wonderful and unexpected mushroom walk. From Jack-O-Lanterns (Omphalotus olearius) to honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea), the forest was alive with these special decomposers that popped-up from the rich, moist soil after the rain.

Like excited children, our sense of discovery heightened when we realized that the mushrooms were growing everywhere, and so we walked slowly through the forest — hunched-over, careful not to miss nature's show of this wild world of mushrooms.

Photos by Suzie Meyer

12/07/2025

The Julian Young Birders Club had an absolutely amazing day. We went to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to show our young birders how different bird species adapted to the desert ecosystem. Luckily, we saw a bird’s nest on top of a cholla — an example of how birds protect their eggs and young in this environment.

We enjoyed the visitor center and afterwards went for a walk on the Palm Canyon trail where something unexpected happed.

In the near distance, we saw six bighorn sheep walking down a ridge on the left and two big rams coming down the chin of Indian Head on our right.

We watched it all unfold as they met in the middle along the trail. They munched on plants, played, and butt horns. We couldn’t believe how close they were to us as we sat watching them in silent awe.

11/10/2025

Julian, CA – The Volcan Mountain Foundation (VMF) has been awarded a $400,000 grant from state agencies to expand initial forestry treatments and perform forestry maintenance on more than 94 acres as part of VMF’s Volcan Mountain Nature Center Forest Resilience Project.

Today, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in coordination with the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County (RCDGSDC), announced the grant.

“This funding enables expansion of our critical, ongoing, science-driven work to improve forest health and wildfire resilience across a landscape with unique conservation values,” said Volcan Mountain Foundation President and Executive Director Eric Jones. “San Diego’s montane community has high species diversity, supported by a variety of habitats such as coniferous forests, chaparral, and woodlands. As a nonprofit land trust, we work to protect against habitat loss due to wildfire and longer-term climate change factors.”

The landscape has served—and will continue to serve—as a research laboratory for ecologists studying all aspects of forest health, a source of inspiration for artists, and a living classroom for 1,200 schoolchildren each year through the Volcan Mountain Foundation’s outdoor education programs, as well as up to 800 adults annually through various outreach, volunteer, and education events.

The Volcan Mountain Nature Center Forest Resilience Project is Phase 2 of a multi-year, $2.43 million stewardship effort that began in January 2024 and runs through March 2028.

[read more… volcanmt.org/pressrelease ]

10/26/2025

Janice and Kathy promoting VMF’s Club WILD program for students 4-6th grade!
Julian Pathways, Inc.

10/12/2025