Regional Parks Botanic Garden Newsletter, September 2026

THE BOTANIC GARDEN NEWSLETTER
September 2026

We Welcome Max Korten, New General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District
Three Decades of Growth: Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden Celebrate Their 30th Anniversary
Donor Recognition for the West Gate Rock Garden Project
Introduction to iNaturalist, September 12, 9:30 a.m.
Cafecito in Nature con las Plantas Nativas, September 12, 10:30 a.m.
Butterfly Walks September 13
Birds in the Garden
ANNUAL FALL PLANT SALE: Saturday, October 3. Save the Date!
Free Garden Tours

Photo: California Goldenrod (Solidago velutina ssp. californica) by Sandy Steinman.

We Welcome Max Korten, New General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District

Please join us in welcoming Max Korten, appointed August 4 as general manager of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). Max Korten started out in his parks career as a young ranger in the Sierra Nevada, leading campfire talks for the U.S. Forest Service.

Max has extensive environmental experience, including 10 years at Marin County Parks, the last eight serving as director and general manager.

Korten joined the Park District as deputy general manager in October 2024. In November 2025, he was selected as acting general manager. Combining a proven track record in environmental conservation with a deep commitment to community service, Max is ready to steer the Park District toward a strong future.

See Max Korten’s bio on the EBRPD website.

Three Decades of Growth: Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden Celebrate 30th Anniversary

On a warm August 22 evening, the Regional Parks Botanic Garden served as the backdrop for a major milestone: the 30th anniversary of the Friends of the Botanic Garden.

Over 150 Friends members gathered alongside notable dignitaries, including: District General Manager Max Korten; Park District Elected Directors Elizabeth Echols, Lynda Deschambault, and Colin Coffey; Lauren Bernstein, Executive Director of the Regional Parks Foundation; Lila Higgins, Director of Education and Horticulture, California Native Plant Society; dedicated District staff; and current and former Garden staff. Delicious catered dishes and lively conversation were perfectly balanced by the peaceful melodies of a musical flute trio.

David Sherertz, current Chair of the Friends Leadership Council, and Katherine Greenberg, the organization's founder and First President, opened the program by welcoming attendees and introducing the Honored Guest of the evening, Dr. Glenn Keator. Dr. Keator played a pivotal role in establishing both the Friends organization and the Garden’s docent program. Over the past three decades, he has been a principal instructor for every docent class, while offering countless botanical talks and excursions for volunteers, members, and the public. Dr. Keator was presented with a lifetime membership in the Friends of the RPBG.

PHOTO, LEFT TO RIGHT: David Sherertz, Chair, Friends of the RPBG Leadership Council; Lauren Bernstein, Executive Director of the Regional Parks Foundation; Bart O’Brien, Director, Regional Parks Botanic Garden; Lynda Deschambault, EBRPD Director, Ward 2; Max Korten, EBRPD General Manager; Elizabeth Echols, EBRPD Director, Ward 1; Colin Coffey, EBRPD Director, Ward 7; Katherine Greenberg, founder and President of the Friends of the RPBG; Dr. Glenn Keator, Honored Guest.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the night so memorable! To join us in supporting the Garden’s mission, see the Garden website for membership and benefit information.

Donor Recognition for the West Gate Rock Garden Project

To mark the milestone of the 30th Anniversary, the Friends launched a $30,000 campaign to help fund a new rock garden and an updated entrance at the Garden's West Gate. Thanks to the remarkable generosity of supporters, the campaign fully surpassed its goal.

RIGHT: Campaign poster designed by Dr. Linda Ann Vorobik.

As of August 22, 2026, the generous campaign contributors and donors listed below provided more than half the amount needed to reach our goal.

Bristlecone
Minder Cheng
Richard L. Jones

Sequoia

Davis Hershey

Regional Parks Foundation

Manzanita

May Chen

Ronald L. Clendenen

Katherine L. Greenberg

Patricia A. Litton

Bart O'Brien

Paul A. Renard

Lloyd Santy

Robert J. Strouse

Victor K. Wong

We greatly appreciate all our donors. Your contributions will make the new rock garden and entrance a reality.

Introduction to iNaturalist, Saturday, September 12, 9:30 a.m.

Join us for an introduction to iNaturalist at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park. Learn how to document and upload your own observations, identify plants and wildlife, and support community science by reviewing and confirming observations from others, and much more!

The session includes hands-on practice in the Garden and is ideal for both new and experienced iNaturalist users who want to build their skills. Ethan Rayner, of The Watershed Project, and an iNaturalist Ambassador, will be presenting this introductory program. No reservations required; open to the public. Directions to the Garden

To get the most from the training, download the iNaturalist app and create an account in advance: https://www.inaturalist.org

Cafecito in Nature con las Plantas Nativas, Saturday, September 12, 10:30 a.m.

Paseando through the Botanic Garden is like taking a walk through the entire state of California, con énfasis sobre nuestras plantas. Join a guided walk of about 1.5 miles with bilingual English/Spanish nature interpretation provided. Terrain is uneven and includes stairs. Meet at the Visitor Center. Drop-in; no registration required. Directions to the Garden.

Butterfly Walks Sunday, September 13

Sarab Seth

Join Sarab Seth for guided butterfly walks in the Regional Parks Botanic Garden on Sunday, September 13th. Two walks are scheduled, at 1:00 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Each walk is limited to ten participants and starts at the Garden’s Wildcat Canyon Entrance. Walks are free, but reservations are required. RESERVE YOUR SPOT HERE.

Butterfly activity in the Garden drops off a little in September. There are fewer poor weather days, so there’s a greater likelihood of satisfactory butterfly walks. We can expect to see seven or eight species on each of the walks.

Likely sightings include cabbage white (Pieris rapae), California pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor hirsuta), field crescent (Phyciodes pulchella), fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus), mylitta crescent (Phyciodes mylitta), and umber skipper (Lon melane). Acmon blue (Icaricia acmon), common checkered-skipper (Burnsius communis), field skipper (Atalopedes campestris), woodland skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) are all possible.

Umber skippers are usually seen in good numbers in September (and October). It is common to see courting pairs.

We added four species to the Garden’s checklist from March through June this year. Maybe it’s time to add another one? Two of the five species added in 2024 and 2025 were seen for the first time during a butterfly walk!

Where to Look Right Now (If You Can’t Join the Walks):

The best spot right now is still the area around the large circular bed in the Channel Island section. Expect to see acmon blue, cabbage white, field crescent, fiery skipper, mylitta crescent, and umber skipper, as well as California pipevine swallowtail fly-bys.
The Santa Susana Tarplant (Deinandra minthornii) bushes near the entrance are a huge magnet for grass skippers: primarily fiery skippers, but there can also be field skippers, woodland skippers, and umber skippers mixed in.
In the next few weeks, more and more asters will come into bloom along the creek near the Sea Bluff end of the long bridge, and that will become an excellent spot, too.
California pipevine swallowtail adults can be seen in many parts of the Garden, including the area around the large California pipevine (Aristolochia californica) plant on the east side of the long bridge. There are still many caterpillars on the plant, but the new growth of leaves is disappearing fast, which will make the caterpillars harder to find. There are several chrysalises on the long bridge, and on the Chrysalis Shed (on the upper path, just south of the Channel Island section).

Binoculars help a lot for sightings, especially close-focus ones. Please bring binoculars if you have them. Want a virtual walk? See the butterfly pages on the Garden website.

ABOVE, LEFT: Cabbage white. ABOVE, RIGHT: Mylitta crescent

ABOVE, LEFT: Field Crescent. ABOVE, RIGHT: Umber skipper.

Photos by Sarab Seth. Please note: the photo credit for last month's anise swallowtail was incorrect; the photo was by Jack Hayden.

Sarab Seth is a butterfly photographer and docent at the Botanic Garden. Sarab's monthly Garden butterfly walks will continue through October.

Birds in the Garden

Elke Glendenning

Each spring the western flycatcher arrives from Mexico to spend the summer here and breed. This small, olive and yellow colored flycatcher has a peaked crown, two whitish wing bars and a teardrop-shaped eye-ring. The Garden is a perfect summer home as it provides food, water and shelter.

Towards the end of March, the male western flycatcher’s faint, three part song could be heard in the Garden. They sing to find mates and mark their territory. In mid-June I noticed a female western flycatcher building a nest which she continued to do over the next three days. The males do not participate in nest building. Their nests are constructed of moss, lichens, the bark of coast live oak and valley oak, veins of sycamore leaves, grasses and spider webs, which can all be found in the Garden.
LEFT: Adult western flycatcher

Several days later the female western flycatcher could be found sitting on the nest for long periods of time—presumably incubating the eggs! This is also a task done solely by the female. The male would often be perched nearby calling from a large oak tree. Three weeks later the young had hatched and both parents were busy collecting and delivering food. Their diet consists mostly of insects including beetles, wasps, bees, flies, moths, caterpillars and spiders.
RIGHT: Western flycatcher with wasp

Initially the nestlings were not visible, but, after a week, four beaks could be seen opening for food from the the parents. By mid-July the nestlings were plump, fluffy balls of feathers sitting high up in the nest. Sometimes they would flap their wings—an activity called “wing exercising”—as they prepared for their first flight.

One morning I arrived and only one nestling remained in the nest! The parents were continuing to deliver food to it every few minutes. The nestling was exercising its wings and then began to hover briefly over the nest.

I held my breath, hoping all would go well. It hovered over the nest and then hover-hopped to the ledge on which the nest was built. About 20 minutes later it tumbled off the ledge and awkwardly flew to a railing where it perched perilously. The parents continued to feed it every few minutes. Eventually it fluttered up into the safety of a large oak tree where it joined its sibling.
LEFT: Female western flycatcher delivering food to nestlings.

Now whenever I see a western flycatcher in the Garden, I wonder if it’s the one I was lucky enough to witness fledging. I also wonder if it’s the last time I’ll see them before they make their way south to Mexico. What a wonderful gift to have watched the beginning of their lives!

RIGHT: Two western flycatcher fledglings the day after leaving their nest.

All photos were taken in the Botanic Garden by birder and wildlife photographer Jack Hayden.

Elke Glendenning is a Garden Greeter at the Botanic Garden and a California Naturalist. She is currently enrolled in the California Academy of Sciences/GGBA Master Birder Program.

BOTANIC GARDEN ANNUAL FALL PLANT SALE: Saturday, October 3

Save the date for next month’s annual Fall Plant Sale! Highlighted species will be listed in a separate issue of the newsletter at the end of September. Members have early admission to the sale at 9 a.m.; public admission starts at 10 a.m. Become a member now for early admission.

Garden Tours

You're invited to our free, docent-guided tours. Explore the Garden sights with us on Saturdays and Park District holidays at 2:00 p.m., and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. There will be a 2:00 p.m. tour on Labor Day, Monday, September 7. Meet at the Main Gate Visitor Center; no need to sign up.

You can request a free docent-led group tour. Here is a description of the types of tours offered. Please request your tour at least 4 weeks in advance by completing the Group Tour Request Form.

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THE BOTANIC GARDEN NEWSLETTERSeptember 2026