Construction of two miles of long-planned trails within Fullerton’s West Coyote Hills will wait just a bit longer until the timid gnatcatcher completes its breeding season

But then, once the federally protected birds are nested, work on the paths that have been anticipated for years will be full speed ahead, officials said.

Putting up trail fencing and signage and performing some erosion control work remains to be completed along the windy trails that will thread the 72-acre Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve, said Alice Loya, Fullerton’s deputy director of parks and recreation.

While the work began late last year, some construction approvals for completing the paths weren’t obtained in time to beat the gnatcatcher’s mating season, she said, which runs from the end of February through early August.

“They’re very shy birds, and they’re very fragile,” she said. “So they don’t mate if there’s a lot of commotion going on. So for that reason, you can’t do construction during gnatcatcher mating season.”

Hikers also aren’t allowed in the construction site or any of West Coyote Hills during the ongoing season, but the trails are expected to be finished in the fall, when a ribbon cutting will mark the official welcome for walkers and nature lovers, Loya said.

Chevron-owned Pacific Coast Homes, which was once approved to build up to 760 houses on the 510-acre West Coyote Hills, is constructing and funding the trail work, coming through on a promise included in a 2015 agreement between the company and the city. Among a host of other public benefits, Chevron agreed to construct another eight miles of trails and build a $2.8 million interpretive center in the Robert Ward Nature Preserve.

The agreement also opened up the opportunity for Fullerton to purchase some parcels where homes were planned to keep them as open space.

Fullerton closed escrow earlier this year on 24 acres of the former oil fields, parcels that could have accommodated 76 homes. With the purchases from Chevron, which were obtained with private and government grants, Fullerton has now set aside a continuous 217.8 acres for open space east of Gilbert Street — including the nature preserve.

West of Gilbert sits another 137 acres in parcels that could be used for housing, and officials have expressed interest in buying those, too. More than 100 acres is already set aside by Chevron for open space on the west side.

It took Fullerton years to finalize the purchase of the 24 acres near the nature preserve, Loya noted, and when the deal finally went through in December, community members were eager to get on newly built trails that have been promised for years.

Now that it’s finally becoming reality, she said, “residents are really excited.”

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