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From the Green City
Calendar
January
Robins and cedar waxwings have migrated to the Bay
Area in large numbers. They prefer pyracantha and toyon berries; sometimes they will
eat so many berries they have difficulty flying and appear “drunk.” They are not
drunk, only overloaded.
Ferns and lichen are in their prime season: the Bay Area supports two dozen
indigenous fern species and countless lichen species. Mushrooms and toyon
are also in their prime. Winter is a great time to savor the vibrant colors and contrasts
of green mosses and brown leaf mold, as well as the dampness and smells of a rejuvenated
bioregion.
Gray whales migrate south. They are visible all along Highway One but views
from Point Lobos State Reserve and the lighthouse at Point Reyes are especially good.
Male elephant seals will congregate at Año Nuevo State Park. Tours begin
this month as females begin to pup.
Monarch butterflies continue to roost in Natural Bridges State Park in Santa
Cruz. Hummingbirds, the state’s earliest nesters, are already beginning to
breed in January.
February
Mourning doves will begin nesting in February, making a
flimsy stick nest that will hold two eggs. The babies will leave the nest at about
12 days old and will fly a few days later.
At Morro Bay State park, great blue and black-crowned night herons are nesting,
sharing eucalyptus trees with monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, and red-shoulder
hawks. Watch for warblers, particularly orange-crowned warblers who are
migrating through Northern California right now.
Flea populations are down but termites are on the rise. Termites are
extremely important to the recycling of nutrients in nature -- they make decomposition
possible! The Jerusalem cricket, a native Bay Area insect, will start coming
out at night. These three inch-long insects may look fierce but are absolutely harmless
-- in Mexico they are called “niñas de la tierra” or “children of the earth.”
Some bald eagles winter in California. Try the Lower Klamath national Wildlife
Refuge or Cache Creek Wilderness Study Area for good viewing. Sandhill cranes
will be in evidence at Pixley National Wildlife Refuge in Tulare County.
March
Spring wildflowers are blooming! Wildflowers in our region
include star lilies, mission bells, brodiaea, red maids, and
blue larkspur. Good viewing spots include Chimney Rock in Point Reyes National
Seashore, San Bruno Mountain, Edgewood County Park, and Mt. Diablo.
Redwood wildflowers are found all along the coast from Oregon to Santa Cruz.
These small flowers like the cool, wet and shady understory of the redwoods and Douglas
firs. Find adder's tongue, wake robin, giant trillium, redwood
sorrel, miner's lettuce and huckleberry. Search out these winter
bloomers at the Armstrong Redwoods State Preserve near Guernville and Muir Woods
National Monument.
Great horned owls are one of the first raptors to nest, often with babies
in the nest by early March.
Black brants will be flying into Drake's Estero in Point Reyes and in late
March many migrant birds begin returning to their breeding grounds.
Now is the time to explore the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park and marvel
at the magnolias, gooseberries, silktassels, aloes, California
currants and manzanitas.
Elephant seals can be seen birthing and weaning their young at Ano Nuevo.
April
In the undergrowth of old growth redwood trees you can't miss the
blooming rhododendrons. Their colors range from white, pink, purple or red.
Most migratory songbirds that winter in the Bay Area will have begun their
journeys to their nesting grounds and will be nesting by the end of the month.
Many snakes will be out and about during the first warm days of spring. You'll
see a variety at Mt. Diablo and at Sugarloaf Ridge.
April 22 is Earth Day.
Wild iris blooms along open grassy slopes.
Northern Orioles are back from wintering in Central and South America.
Discover loons around the shores of Tomales Bay. Great blue herons,
great egrets and double crested cormorants can be spotted as well.
Anywhere there are monkey flowers, you'll find Chalcedon checkerspot butterflies
this month. Males, smaller than females, have distinguishable red spots on the tips
of their wings.
The Slavs of Carinthis celebrate the day of the Green Man on April 23. There is a
procession in which a tree decorated in flowers and garlands is carried along with
the figure of Green George covered in birch branches. He is escorted down to the
river and thrown in to ensure rain.
July
In July, young raccoons are beginning to join their mothers
on nightly food foraging forays. They search for grubs and worms, ripe fruit, slugs
and snails.
Female stellar sea lions mate 11-14 days after giving birth. The implantation
of the fertilized egg is delayed for three to four months so births will synchronize
with the return of the pregnant females to rookeries, where they can have pups safely.
Blue and Humpback whales migrate from Hawaii and Baja California to the Bering
Sea, heading northward past California in early summer.
Gonyaulax, a toxic phytoplankton, blooms and is consumed by shellfish, resulting
in a phenomenon known as the “red tide”. Shellfish are dangerous to collect and eat
during the summer months due to this phytoplankton, so be careful.
August
This is a great time to get out to beaches to see native plants.
The sand-dune communities are truly dazzling right now.
Mourning doves will lay 2 eggs in a flimsy stick nest through August. The
eggs will hatch in 12 to 14 days. If a baby falls out of the nest, it is OK to place
it back in the nest if it is uninjured.
Melted snowpack from the Sierra Nevada creates waterfalls in side canyons
of the mountains, where tributaries of the major river systems drop over granite
outcroppings as they enter river gorges. By mid to late summer, these frigid waters
warm up just enough to provide the ideal respite from the summer sun.
Blackberries begin bearing fruit this month. These plants thrive where vegetation
has been disturbed, including along dirt paths and roads up and down the California
coast, making them easily accessible for picking.
Poison oak is bright red in late August and September. It grows in a wide
variety of habitats. Watch for distinctive compound leaves with three gently lobed
leaflets turning to their fall foliage colors at this time of year.
October
It is safe to begin pruning trees in October because tree-nesting animals
such as squirrels and birds have completed their nesting cycle for the year.
If you have a dead tree that is not in danger of falling on something, leave it standing
for wildlife to use: acorn woodpeckers drill holes in dead trees to store
acorns for the winter.
In October, acorns are ripe, providing food for a myriad of wild animals:
squirrels, band-tailed pigeons, black-tailed deer, and scrub jays are some of the
species that feed heavily on acorns.
Fall colors proliferate in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Along Highway 49 from
Grass Valley toward the Gold Country, observe the red, yellow, and orange leaves
of the redbud, dogwood, and California black oak trees. At higher altitudes, maples
begin to shed their leaves, and the aspen groves along the mountain passes will be
showing their colors.
Migrating raptors such as ospreys, peregrine falcons, and hawks are seen at
Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands, off Conzelman Road and at Sweeney Ridge, south
of San Francisco. These raptors fly over the Golden Gate and down the peninsula.
The fruit of the leafless California buckeye tree will be ripening on the
branches.
The Jerusalem Cricket will be in evidence this month. The crickets live under
rocks and in burrows. Though they have large jaws, they are virtually harmless unless
threatened. When distrubed, the crickets make rasping sounds by rubbing their legs
on their abdomen or they tap their abdomen on the ground.
November
November and December are the best months to prune trees and bushes
to avoid disturbing nesting birds or squirrels: hummingbirds will begin nesting
in January, squirrels in February, with everything else nesting in the spring,
summer and early fall.
Migrating songbirds are returning to the Bay Area: robins, cedar waxwings,
yellow-rumped warblers and gold-crowned sparrows will be seen in large numbers
in our neighborhoods.
Gulls have returned to the coast from their summer nesting grounds in inland
areas of the country.
California gray whales begin passing northern California on their way to Baja
California. After spending the summer feeding off the Alaskan Coast, the whales begin
their twelve-thousand-mile journey to the warm waters of Mexico, where they breed.
Gray whales are spotted during their winter and spring migrations along the Marin
Coast, at Ocean Beach and in the Monterey Bay.
SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge, near the east side of the Dumbarton Bridge in Fremont,
attracts almost one million birds to its mudflats this winter. Species such as pintail
ducks, mallards, egrets, herons, and endangered California
clapper rails are sighted each year.
Brown pelicans head south to the breeding grounds on the Channel Islands.
They will return to the Bay Area by early spring. Look for them at Sonoma Coast State
Beach.
November is the prime month for mushroom hunting along the northern California
coast. If you want to eat the mushrooms, consult an authority first.
December
Likely the most recognizable insects in North America, monarch
butterflies migrate toward the coast. They winter along the northern and central
California coast. During the day they look for nectar, and at night they roost together.
These beautiful insects return to the same sites annually. View them at Natural Bridges
State Beach near Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and other parks.
Migrating waterfowl will have returned to the Bay in large numbers. Surf scoters,
a kind of duck, will form large rafts on the Bay. They are easy to identify: the
males are black with white patches on the head and an orange bill.
The hawk population rises in the Bay Area because of the migrating hawks that
will pass through or spend the winter.
Anna’s hummingbirds live in the Bay Area year round, so it is not necessary to remove
hummingbird feeders for the winter. The best formula to use in feeders is 1 part
white sugar to 4 parts boiled water.
Monarch butterflies winter along the northern and central California coast.
During the day they look for nectar, and at night they roost together. These beautiful
insects return to the same sites annually. View them at Natural Bridges State Beach
near Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and other parks.
From the small goldenbacks to the large western chain fern, twelve
species of fern inhabit the lush fern canyons in redwood country during the wet season.
Observe them in Fern Canyon in Point Reyes or in Van Damme State Park.
Also luxuriating in the moisture, the docile banana slug comes out during
the daytime in the redwood forests. Banana slugs fertilize soil and help disperse
seeds and spores.
Thanks to: California Academy of Science's Naturalist's Almanac by Monica
McGee, Jake Sigg of the California Native Plant Society, Susan Heckly of the Lindsay
Museum and Leslie Saul of the Insect Zoo and Bob Barzan and the 1999 Earth Rites
Pocket Almanac. To receive your own 1999 Earth Rites Pocket Almanac, send $1 to White
Crane Press, P.O. Box 170152, SF, CA 94117.
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