Anyone driving in coastal parts of San Diego County will notice that the road embankments are covered in a creeping succulent with pink flowers. It's a South African native called Carpobrotus edulis, Ice Plant, or Hottentot-fig and here in California it has become highly invasive. It's a common belief that ice plant helps stabilise dunes and other coastal soils, but I learnt today that this plant, which is able to hold a large amount of water and thus weighs heavily on these soils, actually destabilises slopes and accelerates coastal erosion. This morning, 4 November 2017, I joined the San Diego Audubon Society as a volunteer to help plant San Diego natives on a stretch of coast that was once covered in Ice Plant.

Flat-top Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
Black Sage (Salvia mellifera)
California Sage (Artemisia californica)
San Diego Sunflowers (Bahiopsis laciniata)
Box Thorn (Lyceum californicum)
Laurel Sumac (Malosma laurina)
Lemonade Berry (Rhus intergrifolia)

This is the go to mix of native species for most coastal scrub habitats in the San Diego area.

We also took the time to remove three invasive fennel plants, making space for more natives to be added.

Of course, an outing with the Audubon Society wouldn't be complete without a few bird sightings. We enjoyed watching a large flock of Marbled Godwit and Willet, wings flashing as they took off, circled and then settled back down into the water all together.