More about Anstine
The Anstine-Audubon Nature Preserve is an eleven-acre site located within the County of San Diego adjacent to the cities of Vista and Oceanside. It is managed as an open space area by San Diego Audubon.
The property was previously owned and occupied by John and Lois Anstine (pronounced 'an-steen') from the late 1940's to the late 1990's. During this time they added to the house and built other structures, manipulated the creek and created a pond, and planted and maintained flower beds and a small fruit orchard. In the mid-1990's, Mr. Anstine asked San Diego Audubon to manage and maintain the property as open space. Mrs. Anstine passed away in 1988 and Mr. Anstine passed in 1999.
Three native plant communities occur within the boundaries of the Anstine Preserve - Coastal Sage Scrub, Southern Willow Riparian Forest, and Coast Live Oak Woodland. Non-native and disturbed conditions are also present as a result of habitat removal, construction, and other human activities on and off site. Since 1999, nearly one-hundred species of plants, eight species mammals and six reptiles, and more than one-hundred species of birds, have been recorded on the site.
