March 25, 20009

New moon rising on Thursday, March 26 brings a few early morning daylight low tides:

Whale watching is wild—one day 5–10 per hour—the next day fog and wind and zip! On calm days, excellent viewing from the Lighthouse area but with recent winds and fogs, numbers have been low. They will continue northward throughout April.

Upcoming April is mostly surely "Chidodapuk"—Kashaya Pomo for "month of flowers"—as large displays of purple Douglas Iris are blooming at the Estero Trail head; spikes of creamy yellow "Red Elderberry" are seen along the roadsides, Chocolate Lilies (fritillaries) at the Peter Behr Overlook at Drakes Beach and tiny lavender Ceanothus blooms are bursting on these dark green shrubs.

Sunday, April 5, Marin County Open Space rangers will be leading a hike at Abbotts Lagoon from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Meet at the Abbotts Lagoon trailhead off Pierce Point Road—wonderful displays of poppies along the trail!

Wedding weekend ahead, on April 4th, permits for weddings have been issued for Bear Valley Picnic area (100+) and North Beach (20+).

Construction is complete on the new courtyard and walkway at Drakes Beach Visitor Center—now there is a protected space for picnicking with beach side views in front of the visitor center.

Top of Page

March 10, 20009

Spring equinox is around the corner on March 21st—the sun rises due east and sets due west—day and night are of equal length followed by sunsets arriving later and later.

A bright spot in the fish report, fresh coho spawners were detected in Scott Creek (south of the seashore) via a passive integrated transponder tag reader (small glass encapsulated tag on the fish). Spawning surveys were conducted yesterday and today to see if there are any additional spawners in the Olema and Redwood creek watersheds—no numbers yet.

Northern migrating gray whales are moving past the Lighthouse and Chimney Rock in large numbers—up to 10 an hour seen over the weekend days helped by the warm calm weather. Elephant seal numbers continue to decline though a large bull parked himself in front of the visitor center at Drakes Beach much of Saturday afternoon. Females have begun returning to feeding areas near Hawaii and males to feeding areas near Alaska. The weaned pups linger on though early summer.

A public information session on the Abbots Lagoon Dune Restoration project is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Red Barn Classroom.

A new photography show at Bear Valley Visitor Center of wildlife images from the park by Galen Leeds is up through April.

Top of Page

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 5:07 p.m.

Subject: Divide Meadow Fire

As of 5:00 pm "all fire resources are released." Overnight monitoring will occur to guard against flare ups.

Read the press release: Lightning Strike Starts Fire at Point Reyes National Seashore on March 3, 2009

Top of Page

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 4:35 p.m.

Forwarded to Park Wavelengths:

Subject: Giacomini seminar (Large File)

Download the Friends of Giacomini Wetlands March 21, 2009, Events flyer (1,158 KB PDF)

Lorraine Parsons
Wetlands Ecologist
Giacomini Wetlands Restoration Project Manager
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
415-464-5193
email

Top of Page

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 1:00 p.m.

Subject: Park Wavelengths - Lightning Strike

National park and county fire fighters are responding to a tree on fire beyond Divide Meadow caused by lightning strikes. Bear Valley Trail is currently closed at Divide Meadow while the fire is contained. We will keep you posted.

Top of Page