4 - An Intimate View of Coastal California

WAYSIDE DESCRIPTION: This panel is to the right of the previous wayside and faces south west out over the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

PANEL TITLE: An Intimate View of Coastal California

TEXT: A collage of habitats. This setting of wind, waves and rocks inspires us to appreciate the watery world's relationship to the continent's edge. On clear days, you can view an expanse of forty miles up and down the coast and look inland toward the crest of 2,640-foot high Mt. Tamalpais. Other times, enshrouded in fog, you can only imagine the coastal edge while you smell the briny air and listen to the rhythmic waves rolling against the cliffs far below.

The California coast includes a puzzle-like collage of natural habitats: rocky coastline, sandy beaches, coastal scrub, coastal prairie grasslands, willow-lined streams, rocky outcrops, a scattering of native oak and pine trees, tide pools along the water's edge, and a variety of marine habitats. Each habitat has its own particular, best suited, plants and animals.

IMAGE LAYOUT: This panel features three photographs of wildlife in its bottom right hand corner.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: Furthest left is a photo of a bird with long, brown wings stretched high overhead flying in profile. The wings are longer than its body is long, though it has a long yellow beak.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: The central photo is of a small bird with brown and white feathers perched on a branch in front of green leaves. He has a brown body and white neck with a dark stripe along the crown of his head.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: The photo on the right is of a large mammal with a reddish-brown coat, walking on all fours over a white rock. From left to right they are examples of a brown pelican, a white-crowned sparrow and a coyote.

CAPTION: This land of various coastal habitats is the home of numerous animals, most of which are small, quiet and reclusive.

TEXT: Hidden Life in the Brush and Rocks. Listen to the white-crowned sparrow as it sings from a miniature forest of coyote brush, while the scrub jay sounds an alarm at our intrusion. Brown pelicans glide above the water. Swallows swoop after insects. Coyotes prowl for mice. A bobcat hunts where the shy brush rabbit hides.

TEXT: Nature's Colors. In spring and summer, a tapestry of flowers blanket these rugged bluffs and rolling hills: pink seaside daisies, gum plant in gaudy yellow, pastel tints of Wight's paintbrush, golden sticky monkey flower, and purple bush lupine-names as colorful as the hardy plants themselves.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: Above the text is an artist's colorful illustration of the northern coastline at Muir Beach Overlook teeming with life. A flock of brown pelicans fly westward over the ocean in the top left corner, while in the foreground a bobcat peers over hillside at a red, white black towhee bird perched above a cluster of whitish pink seaside daisies with yellow center. Coastal scrub plants half-hide an orange and black monarch butterfly in the bottom right corner, and behind it, a coyote steps out among green leaves. In the distance a black turkey vulture hovers over the cliff, while a red-tailed hawk soars upwards with the green hills that extend to the north.