Birding 101, December 9, 2012

Point Reyes Field Seminar: Birding 101 with David Wimpfheimer, Sunday, December 9, 2012

David Wimpfheimer leads birders near the Visitor Center

Now that we've completed our fifty miles of "challenge" hikes, we can turn to other modes of exploration... such as Point Reyes National Seashore Association Field Seminars. So many classes are offered each season, and we sign up for so few! In December we took "Birding 101."

Anyone who's followed the Marmots blog will have noticed frequent references to birds that we wish we could have identified. After writing a number of descriptions like "little grey-brown birds that went tit, tidit, tididididididit," we thought it was time we brushed up our birding.

The class was postponed from December 2 because of rain. The new day was gorgeous-bright. We just about killed ourselves getting out of the house and across the bay to arrive at the Visitor Center at nine. Once we were at Point Reyes at nine in the morning -- actually nine in the morning, 9:00 A.M. on a glorious sunny Sunday -- it was a little hard to go indoors for a class. But that was the plan, after all. Happily, not that much of the class took place inside.

For "Birding 101," I'd sort of been expecting stuff like bird topography and taxonomy. Like finally getting straight what tail coverts are, and what makes a passeriform bird, and why do so many common names cover many different genera, and -- well, on mature reflection, for that stuff I'd really have needed Birding 101, as in a semester-long college course. This was a hands-on orientation to birding. We learned basics of methods and materials--what you need to go out into the field and find birds and maybe identify them: look at the bird, not at the book (we knew that); find the bird with the naked eye, then bring up the binocs (we knew that, but don't always do it); birding binocs should have at least a 4:1 ratio of objective lens size to magnification (didn't know that); get the best binoculars you can afford (no comment).... Soon enough,. we moved on to the real way to learn birds: go out with a real birder.

It had been a long time since we'd gone out with a real birder -- and that's precisely why we still don't know much. In this day-long class we went out twice. After introductory discussion, we walked around near the Red Barn where the class took place, staying probably within a quarter mile, and seeing and hearing an amazing number of different birds. (List below.) We were reminded that, if you pay attention, and if you know what to look for and where to look, the area of the park near the Visitor Center, which we tend to think of as a mere staging ground for our real nature explorations, is full of excitement.

After lunch and a slide show, we packed into cars and headed for Birder City: Abbott's Lagoon. There we walked out to the beach and back again and saw what we could see. Once again, this was a whole lot more than we would have seen by ourselves. Many of our fellow-students were pretty knowledgeable, so someone was always pointing out something. In fact, the day was so eventful and information-packed that I ended up feeling over-stimulated--not what I usually look for in a nature outing, but so worth it!

Our only gripe is that the sequel, Birding 202, is scheduled for a Saturday, which our religious observance precludes our attending. We're always so happy when the trip we want falls on a Sunday.

Species seen, heard or otherwise inferred in the Red Barn area:

White-tailed Kite
Red-shouldered Hawk
California quail
I forget which resident owl species was held responsible for the vole bones
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Red-breasted Sapsucker (inferred from drillings on sweetgum trunks)
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay

small rodent bones rain-washed from owl pellets

Western Scrub Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Fox Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Pine Siskin

 Species seen, heard or otherwise inferred by at least one class participant at Abbott's:

coyote

Looking across the lagoon

black-tailed deer, including a stag with a rack
Brown Pelican
Pied-billed Grebe
Coot
White-crowned Sparrow
American Bluebird
Yellow-rumped Warbler (pals around with bluebirds in "guild")
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Pacific Loon
Horned Grebe
Common Merganser
Bufflehead (male)
Greater Scaup
Burrowing Owl
Savannah Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-tailed Hawk
Kestrel (harrassing the red-tail)
Common Raven
American Crow
opossum (tracks seen in wet sand near the far bridge)

Practical lessons for road and trail: 
Go birding with a birder.
 

Abbott's Lagoon: opossum tracks (hind foot ahead)

Abbott's: Class members returning from outer beaches

Abbott's: Class members returning by the far bridge

Trails Challenge Wrapup, November 30, 2012

For six glorious months in 2012, we had a solemn duty to run off to Point Reyes at every opportunity. We did that eleven times. We sampled at least one trail in each of the designated "Five Habitats" while also racking up 51 trail miles: In the process, we learned a little both about the territory and about our own current physical abilities and limits.

What stands out:
-Taking a familiar trail up Mount Wittenberg and coming down on a new one to us, the extra-lush Meadow Trail;
-The complex estuarine shorelines on upper Estero Trail;
-Finally getting past Bass Lake to the Alamere Falls overlook;
-The deep-woodsy stillness of south-end Ridge Trail;
-Maybe most of all, a quiet half-hour or so spent just sitting on a bench at the top of Bucklin Trail, taking in our surroundings. We've resolved to make "just sitting" a regular practice, whether out "in nature" or at home with Hanukkah or Shabbat candles.

After all this, we still may not be able to tell a crow from a raven, but at least we finally know our way around Point Reyes. At least Alice, the map maven (see October 21 "Bull Bleep" hike), does. I never used to be able to remember where Abbott's Lagoon was, or how to reach the Limantour Road, or the difference between the two roads that go northish from the Visitors' Center. Now I have all that in my head. And I even know which side of Creamery Bay Bull Point Trail is on.

We've also learned about some other parts of the park we want to see in future:
-We want to visit the burial place of Representative Clem Miller, the park's legislative sponsor, somewhere near Arch Rock.
-We found out there are actually some redwood trees within park limits--but apparently they're in the off-trail wilds south of Pablo Point.
-We learned the safe way to reach the Alamere Falls beach, via Wildcat Camp, and we want to do that.
-We want to climb Teixeira Trail, the one that we failed to get to twice. It starts out with a ford, so we'll plan to do it in the dry season.
-When the tide tables are favorable, we want to visit Sculptured Beach. If the tide tables are really favorable, we could see tidepools.

What we really want is to cover all 150 trail miles. No deadline, just an intention. On the face of it, we can't do it. There are places in the park we just can't get to, since our limit now is about eight miles a day and our backpacking days are over. But maybe we could still do ten miles on a summer day, with careful planning and pacing. And maybe we could still pack in for a campout if we didn't bother with a tent. We'll see.

Our trail summary, by habitat:

Ocean Shoreline: Limantour Spit Trail, Coast Trail (Palomarin to Alamere Falls)
Coastal Scrub: Abbott's Lagoon Trail
Estuarine Wetlands and Waterways: Estero Trail / Sunset Beach Trail; Estero Trail (loop including Muddy Hollow Trail / Glenbrook / Muddy Hollow Road)
Grasslands / Pastoral Zone: Tomales Point Trail, Bull Point Trail (two attempts before we found the actual trail)
Coniferous Woodland: Inverness Ridge Trail, Mount Wittenberg Trail / Meadow Trail, Ridge Trail from Palomarin.