November 9, 2013 - Creeping-Middle-Meteor

It was a beautiful morning with a bright blue ski so common but not missed in the Santa Cruz side of the hill.  There was a report of an 18" tree across Meteor trail.  We parked just passed the Gazos bridge and headed up Creeping Forest trail to Dool.

At Dool we decided to have lunch at Ocean View and we arrived as the prescribed burn started.  We spent the next hour watching as the fire grew and trees went up in flames.

 We finally made it to Meteor trail and did come across a small 6" tan oak across the trail and that took about 5 minutes to clear.

However, there was an 18" fir on the trail making a very narrow path.  With a couple of cuts and more time being spent on the saw the trail was widened.

 On the way back we came across slugs and Elk Clover along the North Escape Fire road.

 We put in 82 hours thanks to Dale S., Janie, Bill, Norm, Joan, Janette, Mike, Peter, and Michelle.  We are at 860 hours for the year so a great turn out in December may get us over 1000 hours for the fourth year in a row.  See you next month.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day
Acorn Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Hermit Thrush
Steller's Jay
Common Raven
Purple Finch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hutton's Vireo
Wrentit
Red-tailed Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon

August 10, 2013 - Eagle Rock

There were 10 members out on a clear morning.  It has been foggy on this side of the hill for about 5 weeks now so it was nice to see the blue sky so early in the morning.  There wasn't anything pressing on the Big Board so we decided to head up to the Eagle Rock Bridge to take another look for repairs we will be making in the next couple of months.

Eagle Rock trail from EveryTrail mapping

 

We encountered a small tree that took all of 5 minutes to clear and then another that was cleared with one cut.

 

We made it to the bridge around 11 am and after looking it over most decided to return to get ready for various activities but Janette, Dale S., and I continued to Eagle Rock doing light brushing along the way.  On the way down from the Rock, at the head of the short trail to the bench looking toward the west I saw a strange oak, at least for this area.  We looked at a couple of books and it appears to be a Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii). The habitat was right but it was a first for me in the park.

 Black Oak

 Pacfic-slope Flycatcher, immature

This was also a Trail Crew outing that night to UCSC theater to take in the Taming of the Shrew.  Although it was a very good time with good food and drink the acting was very good but the play is about 400 years out of date (that's my opinion).

 

We put in 72 hours on a typical late summer work day.  We spent an hour taking in the view of the swifts and of the San Lorenzo Valley on top of the world (and finally saw my home).  I would like to thank Dale S., Janie, Bill, Joan, Norm, Janette, Michelle, Peter, and new member Steve.

See you on the trails.

Jeff

Birds of the Day
3 Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
2 Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata
2 Black Swift, Cypseloides niger
2 Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna
2 Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
3 Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
2 Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Empidonax difficilis
2 Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni
3 Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
4 Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal), Aphelocoma californica [californica Group]
1 Common Raven, Corvus corax
16 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis
3 Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
1 Bewick's Wren, Thryomanes bewickii
4 Wrentit, Chamaea fasciata

July 13, 2013 - Redwood Loop, STS, and Basin Trails

It was a very pleasant morning as the crew starting to arrive at our 9am call of duty time.  We had 3 new people out with a total of 13.   As we were collecting a not so common Vaux's Shift flew around HQ for about 1/2 hour. First of the year for me. We moved around today starting in the Redwood Loop then over to STS south of Maddox's Cabin, and finally STS west and Basin Trail north.

We started at the Redwood loop to lay duff down under the Mother and Father of the Forest.  Years of people climbing over the fence to get near to the large trees has compacted the ground around the trees.  The duff will help hold in the moisture that drops as the redwoods collect the fog.

 Mother

 Father

Of course the signs we put up to "do not climb the fence" didn't keep the crew out nor the visitors.  Within minutes people climbed over the fence.  Oh well. Next was a report of a blockage on STS south of Maddox's cabin.  It was about a 1/2 mile hike and a tan oak snapped about 20 feet off the grown.

 Crosscut Sawing

It was a little tricky since I had to detach the tree.  When it did detach and the far end fell down my end went up and me too.  Luckily I remembered to let go.

It didn't take long to clear the trail and then we were off to China Grade to search for reported redwood down on STS west of China Grade and something on Basin Trail about 1 to 1.5 miles toward Lane Camp.  The day had gotten very warm and after hiking about a mile down STS we were not near any redwoods so we turned back to find the blockage on Basin trail.  After about a 1/2 mile Dimitriy and Sarah scouted ahead and after running about 10 minutes they returned and reported that they found nothing so that was the end of the day.

Madrone Peeling

It turned out to be a long day and we racked up 106 hours putting the year's total at 600 hours with a good chance of breaking 1000 hours for the 4th year in a row.  Keep turning out and help keep our park's trail on of the best in the state and may be the country (I don't really know if this is a true statement but I can still believe it).  I would like to thank Norm, Joan, Kathy, Janie, Bill, Dimitriy, Sarah, Michelle, Jeanette, and new members Yana, Cathy, and Susanna.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day
1  Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
4  Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Empidonax difficilis
4  Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni
3  Warbling Vireo, Vireo gilvus
2  Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal), Aphelocoma californica [californica Group]
21 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens
3  Wrentit, Chamaea fasciata
1  American Robin, Turdus migratorius
1  Black-throated Gray Warbler, Setophaga nigrescens
1  Common Raven, Corvus corax Delete
2  Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
4  Pacific Wren, Troglodytes pacificus
3  Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa
1  Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata
1  Vaux's Swift, Chaetura vauxi
2  Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2  Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
1  Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
3  Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon), Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group]

June 8, 2013 - Lodge Road

Another nice morning and the forecast was for a warm day.  At HQ Linda arrived with pie and coffee.  Some of the pie was used to decorate our shirts.

Our job was to help out Linda from the Sempervirens Fund in the upper Lodge Road area to clear trip hazards for the dedication of the Redwoods.

Most of what we did was moving piles of limbs so they were out of sight and then we spread out piles of duff.

It was a hot day and that made for a harder day but at the end there was cold watermelon waiting for us and up on Lodge Road we were treated to a cool sea breeze too.

I would like to thank Dale P., Linda, Tim, Richard, Kathy, Bill, Janie, Michelle, Peter, Janette, and new members Joan, Jules, Sarah, and Dimitriy for the 99.5 volunteer hours for the day.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day
2 Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
3 Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Empidonax difficilis
1 Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni
2 Warbling Vireo, Vireo gilvus
1 Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
10 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens
1 Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
1 Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
1 Black-throated Gray Warbler, Setophaga nigrescens
2 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon), Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group]

Totally off topic but cuter than a button was my 3 sisters.  I was in a meeting at work this week and I had to get a photo of 3 recently fledged Black Phoebes.  Mom and Dad were catching flies for them.