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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The earth reaches aphelion on Friday, July 3rd—the moment in its orbit when it is farthest from the sun. A lunar eclipse occurs on Tuesday, July 7th, peaking at 2:38 am. Late watchers will barely notice the tiny shadow on the moon. Very early morning low tides correspond to the eclipse:
| Tuesday, July 7 |
6:02 am |
-0.7 feet |
| Wednesday, July 8 |
6:34 am |
-0.6 feet |
| Thursday, July 9 |
7:04 am |
-0.5 feet |
| Friday, July 10 |
7:36 am |
-0.3 feet |
Common murres have been laying eggs and hatching them on the rocky Lighthouse cliffs but encountered a new challenge this year—sea lions jumping onto the rock and smashing through the eggs. The sea lions are hauling out, part of their daily routine in warming up. Murres can lay another egg—re-nest; researchers are watching the phenomenon and are not sure how it will affect the overall murre population.
The great blue herons are BUSY nesting at Bear Valley—not going "bust" as noted in the last wavelengths!
Easy way to distinguish between the two pine species on the peninsula: Monterey (three syllables) have three needles; Bishop (two syllables) have two needles! The Bishop pines are seen through Tomales Bay State Park and along Inverness Ridge. The Monterey pines are easily noted on the Estero Trail—remnants of an old Christmas tree farm.
New artwork on display at the Bear Valley Visitor Center—butterflies and insects by Mollie Brown.
All park visitor centers are open on Friday, July 3rd, the federal holiday, and as usual on Saturday, July 4th. Fireworks are not permitted in Marin County and in Point Reyes National Seashore.
A special presentation by aerial photographer Robert Campbell is scheduled at the Red Barn Classroom at park headquarters on July 4th from 1:00–4:00 pm.
Annual seal protection measures are lifted today—kayakers may use Drakes Estero and all boaters may use South Blue Gum beach until next spring.
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Thursday, June 18, 2009
How quickly the June 20th summer solstice has returned with a whole week of early morning daylight low tides:
| Tuesday: June 23 |
6:11 am |
-1.9 feet |
| Wednesday, June 24 |
6:58 am |
-1.9 feet |
| Thursday, June 25 |
8:22 am |
-1.1 feet |
| Friday, June 26 |
9:21 am |
-0.4 feet |
Jellies are washing up on park beaches; they are susceptible to temperature changes in the upper layers of water. Tomales Bay State park rangers have been finding dinner-plate-sized, ice-tea-colored "Lions Mane" jellies on their beaches. These may have tentacles that sting and cause an allergic reaction.
Nesting bird season has brought healthy reports from spotted owl monitors and lots of noise from the nesting great blue herons at Bear Valley. The herons have been bust snatching gophers and flying them up to the rookery in the fir trees.
The annual Butterfly count at Point Reyes is coming up on June 29th; teams will be meeting at the Red Barn Classroom at 9:30 a.m.; pre registration and a $3.00 fee are required via .
A permit for a 1/2 marathon has been issued for this Saturday, June 20 with runners through the Limantour Beach trails in the morning. A wedding permit has been issued for Drakes Beach after 5:30 p.m. on June 20. No congestion expected.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Forwarded to Park Wavelengths Subscribers:
Subject: Trail work at Kelham Beach
Starting on either Tuesday or Wednesday, June 9 or 10, there will be work to construct treads from Coast Trail to Kelham Beach. This work will involve some trips with the RTV (a 4-wheeled ATV so it's safer) by the Trail Crew to bring materials out to an area within the wilderness of the Seashore, all applicable permits were obtained, a minimum tool form filled out in the planning phase. The work could go on for about a month, although not every weekday, probably 1–2 trips per day.
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
NOAA Fisheries is currently conducting aerial surveys of harbor seals along the coastline using a fixed-wing plane. The exact day of this week is weather dependent, they need clear weather; the low flying plane will be flown at about 600' along the coast.
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