June 3, 2022
Our last day at the Bodega Marine Lab, we had only a single workshop session in the morning, and then would be heading home. A thick fog had rolled in while we were tidepooling, which made the landscape eerie and beautiful, especially along the BML road, which is a great place to drive slowly and look for wildlife.
My first sighting along the road was a California Quail sitting on a sign near the main gates. Then, I saw a small shape in the middle of the road, nearly obscured by the fog: a Brush Rabbit. When I pulled over to take some pictures, more of them appeared, crossing the road in front of me. I think there were probably 7 or 8 altogether, more than I’d ever seen before at one time. Very precious. My other notable sighting was an extremely cooperative Columbian Black-tailed Deer who was standing right at the edge of the road. I was able to pull the car up within a few feet of her to get some great photos. So pretty.
At the lab, I had the pleasure of seeing another doe and her two fawns when they walked right behind our lab classroom during one of our breaks. Brewer’s Blackbirds, Barn Swallows, and Pacific Harbor Seals were also present, as they’d been on the other days. I was able to get some photos of a nesting swallow, and right before I left the lab, I finally spotted the Eurasian Collared-Dove that I’d heard calling earlier in my trip, perched amongst the trees in the center of the circular drive.
As I left on the BML road, I took my time and took as many photos as I could of the great wildlife I saw along the way. Not long after I started down the road, I saw a Columbian Black-tailed Deer buck cross the road up ahead of me. When I made my way to the place where I’d seen him cross, I found him foraging not far from the road. After watching him for a while, I looked around to see that there was another buck nearby. And then another, and another – four altogether. I suppose this was a bachelor herd, and may explain why we hadn’t seen them individually throughout our stay. Another favorite sighting here was a plant that I’d noticed the previous evening, but hadn’t been able to stop for a closer look until today: Cobwebby Thistle. It’s very strange – obviously a thistle, but an almost silvery grey color foliage, with bright pink flowers – and reminds me of something that belongs in a book by Dr. Suess.
I had one more big treat along this road: a family of California Quail. Of course, I’d been seeing them on and off over the past few days, but today, I noticed the female crossing the road ahead of me, and I realized that she was not alone. She was accompanied by the TINEST little babies I’d ever seen!! They must have been very recently hatched, as they seemed impossibly small. And cute. Unfortunately, I had to take my photos through the car’s windshield, so they aren’t great, but those tiny babies and their mama were so adorable. Right after they were across the road, the male brought up the rear.
As I left the BML property, I wasn’t quite ready to head for home, so I thought I’d pull off the road next to the bay for a few minutes. I didn’t see a lot of things, but I did get to see a lone Western gull swimming , a pair of Mallard, and an American White Pelican dipping its bill into the water to catch fish.
This was a great trip. The workshop was genuinely useful, I met a lot of people face-to-face for the first time that I’m looking forward to working with in the future, and of course, I had some amazing wildlife sightings.
Species List
American Great Egret (Ardea alba egretta), American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani), California Quail (Callipepla californica), California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica), Coastal Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreus), Cobwebby Thistle (Cirsium occidentale), Columbian Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor), Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), Pacific Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina richardii), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Western Gull (Larus occidentalis), White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Let me know what you think!