Saturday, August 14, 2010 The full moon rises August 24. The Taos call it the Autumn Moon with the autumnal equinox just a month away. Early dashes of fall color are poison oak vines trailing up trees with large clumps of white berries which will become winter food. Late summer is all about elk! Park volunteers have reported a variety of activities, like bugling and thrashing around with antlers—the annual mating rituals. The rut is in full swing at Tomales Point. Volunteers are there on weekends with binoculars and spotting scopes to assist with viewing. Marin County Open Space rangers will lead a hike at Tomales Point on August 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. A juvenile gray whale seems to have settled in at the Lighthouse with regular sightings over the past few weeks. It could be a calf separated from its mother on the return migration or just a teenager enjoying some food and "me time." As the eastern population of the Pacific gray whale continues to grow, we have had regular summer sightings of gray whales in Tomales Bay and off the Point. Snowy plover season has entered the home stretch. Fifteen recorded nests this year with 42 eggs and 18 hatched! They continue to hang in there! A permit for a wedding on Limantour Beach has been issued for Saturday, August 28 for 25+ people; no congestion is expected. Crews will begin thinning trees along the Bolinas Ridge Trail just beyond the Randall Trail intersection as of August 16 as part of a fuel reduction/fire safety project. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015