After a big day of eating turkey and hanging out with the family, it’s time to flex your arms and legs and work off the second helping of stuffing! Head out to Point Reyes. Here are some great things to do:
See if the fish are spawning; check for updates and tours at SPAWN (Salmon Protection And Watershed Network)
Check out the terrific local artists at the semi-annnual Open Studios (see map below)
For many folks who come and visit the Point Reyes area, Tomales Bay is a near-perfect retreat. Quiet, peaceful and full of animals. But the wetlands at the south end of the Bay were turned into ranch land some 60 years ago. But after years of planning and months of work by the National Park Service, today saw the high tide breach the levees that formed the ranch land.
The NPS has a goal of keeping the Point Reyes area as close to “natural” as possible and this project will bring back much habitat to the wetlands, especially the fish (sturgeon, steelhead, chinook and coho salmon) and birds (almost half of the North American bird species pass through the area).
If you want to see the restored areas, here is information from the NPS web site:
Where can we view the restoration area?
The restoration project area can be viewed from several vantage points in the Point Reyes-Inverness area. Some of the existing trails may be temporarily or permanently closed during construction, however, most trails will be reopened once construction is completed. Trails and viewing points include:
Lagunitas Creek spur trail: Southern portion of East Pasture adjacent to Point Reyes Station. Trail can be accessed from entrance to Green Bridge County park along State Route 1 just east of the Green Bridge. This trail winds through riparian habitat in the Green Bridge County park and then follows the edge of Lagunitas Creek out towards White House Pool area. During construction, this trail will be temporarily closed, and it will be rerouted slightly as part of Phase II work.
White House Pool County park: On the south side of Lagunitas Creek, the County of Marin Parks and Open Space District manages a small park on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (Levee Road) that has a path that winds through riparian habitat as it follows the edge of Lagunitas Creek. Parking may be found at an on-site parking lot. This park provides several locations to view the restoration project area across the creek.
Olema Marsh Trail: On the opposite of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard or Levee Road is Olema Marsh. A trail starts in the parking lot from Olema Marsh and crosses the top of the shutter ridge as it follows the east side of the marsh, eventually ending at Levee Road. Olema Marsh is one of the areas that will be restored as part of Phase II. The trail will be closed temporarily during the construction period.
Tomales Bay Trail: For those wanting a longer walk and grander vistas of the restoration project area and Tomales Bay, the Tomales Bay Trail provides beautiful views of much of the Tomales Bay watershed. The trailhead is located off State Route 1 just north of Point Reyes Station. There is a small parking lot. The trail is approximately 1 -1.3 miles long. In future years, this spur trail will be extended to provide better views of some of the northern portions of the East Pasture and the shallowly flooded flats that attract hundreds of shorebirds and waterfowl in the fall and winter.
West Pasture North Levee path (Temporary): The northern portion of the West Pasture and adjacent undiked marsh can currently be viewed at a small informal spur trail that occurs on the West Pasture North off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. This path will be closed during construction starting September 1 and will not be reopened. In the future, the Park Service will develop a viewing overlook area to enable residents and visitors to view the newly restored marsh.
[UPDATE: Here is a photo from NPS taken by Robert Campbell. It shows the extent of the new Giacomini Wetlands (560 acres). This area in the photo has been diked for over 60 years until last weekend.]
The National Park Service publishes a newsletter about events, closures, natural history, and cultural history at Point Reyes.
Riots of fall colors with the autumnal equinox this week - check out brilliant red poison oak along Limantour Road. The new moon rises Monday, September 29 with higher than usual daylight tides 5.4 - 5.9 feet in the afternoons. Other fall delights - the continuing presence of humpback whales off the Great Beach, splashing and breaching; the fall bird migration is underway - blackpoll warbler at the Lighthouse and some redstarts.
A young bat has been stopping in at the Lighthouse over the past few weeks, lingering in the fog signal building, an unusual siting for this spot.. The overall bat population in the park remains healthy, 325 Townsend’s Big eared bats were counted in the annual survey last week at their roost in Olema Valley. Traditionally, roosts were inside cavities of old growth redwoods and hillside caves; as these roosts disappeared they have moved into old barns and attics.
Large fish observed under the green bridge in Point Reyes are not early salmonids - they are carp; look for the noticeable scales and the fact they are ‘out in the open’ not seeking deep cool waters to hide. They are native to Eurasia and like slow moving shallow streams with lots of organic matter to root around in.
Marin County Open Space rangers will be exploring the “Pond Life of the Palomarin Area” on Sunday, September 28th between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm; meet at the Palomarin Trailhead off Mesa Road near Bolinas.
A planned closure of the Olema Marsh Trail is now posted for October 6th (originally slated for September 22) as part of the Giacomini Restoration. Trail staff are working with Marin Conservation Corps groups on reconstructing the Abbotts Lagoon Trail; the reroute of Greenpicker, Rift Zone and Estero Trails. These are not closed but you may see the crews at work.
Prescribed burns may occur this week on Wednesday (24) and Friday (26), off Limantour Road west of the Hostel and off Highway 1 near the Randall Trail to manage fuel loads and reduce exotic plants.
The 9/9/2008 Park Wavelengths newsletter points out that the recent warm weather means you may be able to catch breaching minke and humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises from Limantour Beach. Get out there! Here is the rest of the newsletter:
The full moon rises on September 15 at 2:13 am. This moon brings some very high afternoon daylight tides between 5.7 and 6.3 feet so plan beach excursions early in the day. The autumnal equinox follows on the next Monday, August 22nd as we begin to lose a few moments of daylight each day.
Warm weather had created excellent marine mammal viewing from Limantour Beach. Breaching minke and humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises were observed across the weekend from the beach along with many loons and common murres. It is possible some type of ‘bloom’ of food associated with warmer water temperatures is drawing in the feasting crowds although we often see humpbacks and blues at this time of year. Large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters are feeding off Abbots Lagoon. On Tomales Bay, a die off of moon jellies has washed in many blobs of clear jelly with the trademark white crescents. These are a favorite food for sea turtles. Unfortunately, plastic bags in the water can mimic the drifting jellies and are eaten by turtles. The indigestible bags block absorption of nutrients and food and can cause malnutrition and death for the turtles. A reminder, the brown colored Lions Mane jellies can cause an allergic reaction if you brush against; a sting was reported from Drakes Beach last Saturday. Avoid them on the beach!
Snowy Plovers hung in there this year, final numbers approximately 16% survival rate; 33 birds hatched and five fledged. Some of the nesting area was disturbed by clean up for a shipwreck that washed ashore at Kehoe Beach; cautious Dad Plover managed to shield the last three from this disturbance.
Excellent year for berries all round, the latest fruit is Blue Elderberry, large dusky dark purple-blue clusters are draped over Bear Valley Road and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard especially in the San Geronimo Valley. Buckeye nut pods are appearing as the leaves are dropped, the green balls can be seen on the trees.
Coastal Clean Up Day is coming up on Saturday, September 20th. Meet at Limantour Beach at 9:30 am to clean up trash and enjoy the day.
A permit has been issued for September 14th for the annual “Piper On the Ridge” event on Mount Vision Road; The annual event features a bagpiper greeting the rising full moon and begins approximately 7:00 pm. Free, but no dogs permitted: check on whether extreme fire danger may close the road.
PG + E will be working in the pastures off North Beach for the next few weeks, restringing lines over the fields; no affect on services or traffic is expected.
If you spend enough time in Point Reyes or in Northern California, you will fun into the iceplant. This plant looks harmless enough, but in fact, there is two-year program to remove this South African invader around the Point Reyes Lighthouse. As described by the new blog from students at the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center,
One of the largest concerns with Iceplant today is actually what it was brought here to do in the first place: stabilize soil.
Iceplant mats are great for stabilizing loose blowing sand, but it turns out that this isn’t going to earn it a gold star. In dune habitats, stable sand hurts native plants and animals adapted to live in a more free dune life.
A note from the National Park Service for Point Reyes visitors:
Please keep an open eye for two highly invasive plant species that are currently in very low abundance in our park:
Oblong spurge (Euphorbia oblongata), yellow flower in the pictures, is an upright perennial with alternate leaves, growing up to 3 feet tall. Its tiny flowers are surrounded by yellow petal-like bracts in spring and summer. This deep-rooted species can form dense colonies that outcompete native and rangeland plants.
I know of 4 populations in the park (SFD on Olema Hill across from the Bolinas Ridge trailhead; adjacent to the Palomarin trailhead parking lot; on McFadden Ranch; and in the Olema pasture across the creek from the campground, between Bear Valley Rd and the creek corridor. A large patch grows at the SFD edge of private property in Inverness.
Purple star-thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa), purple flower in the pictures, is an annual to perennial thistle with long sharp spines below its purple (or white to pink) flower heads. Not currently flowering (though it could begin to flower very soon), it is distinguished from yellow star-thistle by the larger, wider lobed leaves. Young leaves can be grey with cobwebby hairs while older leaves are hairless and 4-8″ long.
There’s a patch on Genazzi Ranch and last week I removed 5 plants on SFD on the east side of the road between Inverness Park and Inverness.
If you or visitors find any other populations, please report to me: the location (as exactly as possible, including distance from trail or road), approximate number of plants and/or patch size, and whether they are flowering. Feel free to remove them as well. Purple star-thistle can be knocked down to ground level and if not flowering, disposal isn’t an issue. Once it starts to flower, please dispose of the flowering heads. If you want to remove oblong spurge, please wear gloves and long sleeves (like all Euphorbias, they contain a toxic milky sap that’s especially damaging to eyes) and bag and throw out all flowering plants.
For many folks who come and visit the Point Reyes area, Tomales Bay is a near-perfect retreat. Quiet, peaceful and full of animals. But the wetlands at the south end of the Bay were turned into ranch land some 60 years ago. But after years of planning and months of work by the National Park Service, today saw the high tide breach the levees that formed the ranch land.
[UPDATE: Here is a photo from NPS taken by Robert Campbell. It shows the extent of the new Giacomini Wetlands (560 acres). This area in the photo has been diked for over 60 years until last weekend.]
If you spend enough time in Point Reyes or in Northern California, you will fun into the iceplant. This plant looks harmless enough, but in fact, there is two-year program to remove this South African invader around the Point Reyes Lighthouse. As described by the 
Please keep an open eye for two highly invasive plant species that are currently in very low abundance in our park:
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