May 2, 2022
10:00 to 13:00
My Restoration Ecology class visited various sites in Marin County today on a field trip where Sarah Phillips introduced us to some of her salmonid restoration sites. Sarah is an alumna of SSU, and now works with the Marin Resource Conservation District.
Our first bird of the day was a Wild Turkey, seen crossing the road while driving to the first site: some riparian habitat along Lagunitas Creek near Taylor Park Road. While Sarah was giving an orientation to the area, along with Eric Ettlinger from Marin Water, I managed to snap a few photos of some invertebrates, and capture some bird calls with Merlin, including Warbling Vireo and Wilson’s Warbler. We also found this gorgeous teddy bear apparently abandoned along the side of the road. I was tempted to rescue it, but there’d been a lot of recent rains, so it was a bit dirty. Plus, possibly haunted. But the bear did seem to enjoy hearing about the restoration projects.
Next, we made a brief stop at the Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area, where I noticed a Chestnut–backed Chickadee coming and going from a nest cavity in a tree beside the parking lot.
At our first site along San Geronimo Creek, we were able to visit a restoration installation on private land, and the landowner (who was working in his yard) invited us to go down into the creek for a closer look. I didn’t go into the creek, but did manage to see and hear some wildlife, most notably a scruffy California Scrub–jay (to be fair, it was a bit rainy that day).
Our final site was a place called Roy’s Riffles, also on San Geronimo Creek. Here, I spotted some Violet–Green Swallows, a Black Phoebe, a California Towhee, and – the exciting moment of the day – some students found a hatchling Western Pond Turtle crossing one of the dirt paths. It made me super happy to discover that these turtles were able to breed at this site. Plus, few things are more precious than baby pond turtles.
It was a great day, and in addition to seeing some fantastic creek restoration sites, I saw an heard a lot of birds. The Merlin app is really helping me learn the local bird songs.
Species List
Wildlife seen: Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Common Raven (Corvus corax), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus), Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla), Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens), Nuttall’s Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii), Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis), Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica), Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina), American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans), California Towhee (Melozone crissalis), Common Pill Woodlouse (Armadillidium vulgare), Darkling ground beetle (Eleodes sp?), Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), Blue Dock Beetle (Gastrophysa cyanea), Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata), Black-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus melanopygus)
Plants and fungi seen: Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus), French Broom (Genista monspessulana), Broad-leafed Pepperweed?, Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major), Pacific poison oak, Western Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), Big-leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum), Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), Broadleaf Forget-me-not (Myosotis latifolia), California Buckeye (Aesculus californica), Lace Lichen (Ramalina menziesii), Red-flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum), Italian Thistle, Common Cowparsnip (Heracleum maximum), Ponderosa Pine?, Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa)
Let me know what you think!