Volume 35 * Number 2 Summer * 2012 Point Lobos Foundation
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Volume 35 * Number 2 Summer * 2012 Point Lobos Foundation Route 1, Box 221789 Carmel, CA 93922 (831) 625-1470 www.pointlobos.org President Cooperating Association Sandy Hale Liaison Eric Abma Vice President Lynne Miles Point Lobos Magazine Editorial Director Secretary Dida Kutz Bill Eckert [email protected] Treasurer Copyeditor Jay Sinclair Charles Schrammel Assist. Treasurer Photo Contributors John Drum Chuck Bancroft Fred Brown Directors Lisa Cook Fred Brown Dave Evans Steve Dennis Dida Kutz Stan Dryden Tim Neece Skip Flohr Paul Reps Sharon Hoffman Pat Sinclair Jeff Johnson Augie Louis Cover: Coyote Features Kathy Petty courtesy Chuck Bancroft. Stella Rabaut Coastal Scrub Habitat: Cindy Walter Thank you, Tim Neece, for the Not Fit for Man or Beast? 6 inside cover redesign. Ruthann Donahue Docent Administrator Goodbye and Good Luck to Lisa! 8 Stan Dryden Sandy Hale Fund Development Coordinator A.M. Allan Ranch 9 Lisa Cook Augie Louis Docent Coordinator/School Departments Group Coordinator Melissa Gobell A Message From the President 3 Sandy Hale Use your smart phone to visit our website. Observations 4 Point Lobos Magazine is printed on recycled paper and pub- lished four times per year by the Point Lobos Foundation. Quotes From the Docent Log 11 Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved. PDF versions available Compiled and edited by Rick Pettit at www.pointlobos.org Memorial and Tribute Gifts 15 The mission of the Point Lobos Foundation is to support interpre- tive and educational programs that enhance the visitor’s experi- ence, and to assist California State Parks in preserving Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Message from the President Sandy Hale With continued budget cuts, State Parks is forced make the docent library a more to make do with fewer rangers and lifeguards. useful resource for docent edu- Increasingly, the face of Point Lobos is not a ranger cation. but a park aide at the entrance kiosk or a volunteer A number of docents are docent. They are the unsung heroes of Point Lobos. helping bring new technology Every visitor to the Reserve is likely to encoun- to bear on interpretation and on the docent program ter a docent —leading a walk, at the Information generally. Paula Johnson has taken ownership of Station or Whalers Cabin, or walking a trail. What several technology challenges faced by the docent or- folks do not realize is how much behind-the-scenes ganization (e.g., internet access for the docent center). effort docents put in to assure a rewarding visitor Pauline Troia has helped many non-techno-savvy experience. Here are a few examples, meant not to docents get comfortable using the new docent web cover all docents worthy of mention but to highlight site. She even makes house calls! the range of docent support of the Reserve. A few Rochelle Dolan, Sue Nogare, Carol Marquardt docents such as Paul Reps spend so many hours and Spence Meyers, Marty Renault, Sue Miller, in extra service at the Reserve—scoping, protect- Stefeni Luman, Audie Housman, and other docents ing mothers and pups during seal pupping season, provide a broad range of unseen support, including photographing, etc., —that some have been accused assuring that all time slots at the Information Station of living there. They enthusiastically share their pas- and Whalers Cabin are filled; maintaining supplies, sion for the wonders of Point Lobos with multitudes publications and merchandise at those locations; pro- of visitors every month. moting and supporting public walks and trail walks; Pat Sinclair and her training team have taken our keeping our binoculars and scopes in good working new-docent training program to ever-higher levels order; etc. to assure that new docents are prepared to effective- Wayne Cipperly and others are regularly out with ly and appropriately interact with visitors. sprayers, combating invasive plants throughout the Carol Bloner and her colleagues have reinvig- Reserve. Carol Bloner, Ron Lema, and others help orated docent continuing education programs, State Parks maintain Whalers Cabin and its collec- arranging stimulating speakers for the docents’ tions. Rick Pettit and others help with trail mainte- monthly meetings and discovering educational op- nance. portunities throughout the region. Docents such as Kevin Shabram and Celie Placzek Paul Gallup and his AV team, Ron Lema, and have used their considerable photography skills to others support the monthly meetings and other take most of the photos for the docent website and, events. Fred Brown videotapes monthly presenta- in Celie’s case, to document the effectiveness of the tions and posts them on the docent website, pro- prescribed burn at Mound Meadow. viding accessible knowledge for continued docent Ann Muto spearheaded formation of a poetry improvement. group that has become a model for docent interest Barbara Grace and other docents are spearhead- groups that enable docents to deepen their knowledge ing a docent effort to provide tours for people with of a particular area of interest, such as photography or disabilities to let them enjoy our easy access trails. Native American culture. Mark Fisler, Paul Mason, and others have ex- Finally, management of the docent program has panded our school outreach programs, with empha- been strengthened under Docent Administrator Stan sis on underserved schools. Reid Woodward and Dryden. Ed Clifton created the model for filling criti- other docents are continuing the specialized school cal positions in the docent organization. He also has programs on birds, geology, and Native Americans taken on editing the docent newsletter and continues that Reid and former Ranger Chuck Bancroft started to draw multitudes to his talks on geology and other many years ago. subjects. Lynne McCammon and her team of docents dili- This is but a small sampling of the hard work that gently carry out a Reserve-wide monthly otter count, the docents do, out of the public eye, to help visitors rain or shine. experience and learn from the wonders of Point Eileen Fukunaga and Paula Johnson work to Lobos. Next time you see a docent, thank them. SUMMER 2012 3 Observations by Sparky Starkweather, State Park Squirrel Fall has fallen, winter back fish and regurgitate their catch for the young. has withered, spring For a number of years now the Canada goose has sprung, summer is has found great nesting sites around the Reserve. almost here, and baby Whalers Cove, the Pit, Moss Cove, and Weston birds are showing up Beach are good places to watch for them. Each everywhere! Once the morning I can hear the in-bound flight and the Bird Island Trail reopens honking as they pass overhead. A large num- with the completion ber of geese can also be found at Odello West. of the all-access remodeling, the views from Weston Beach is also a wonderful place to sit and Pelican Point will be magnificent. For years the just watch the killdeer and their chicks. The killdeer Brandt’s cormorants have nested on the inner will use a scrape or depression in the rocks to lay islands as well as the Big Island. Before the use their eggs. The spotted eggs are perfectly camou- of the pesticide DDT, brown pelicans were the flaged and well hidden in the rocky beach. Three dominant nester at the islands. (We all know the eggs hatch into long legged runners. They scurry story about the change in populations. Oh why from one place to anoth- didn’t we listen to Rachel Carson?) Hundreds and er with parents watch- hundreds of cormorants will cover the islands. ing dutifully. If danger Their nests are just far enough apart that they approaches the parent can’t steal from each other but close enough that will feign a broken wing they can offer some protection against the ever- and lure you away from present Western gulls looking for a free meal. the nest of the kids. Many years ago at Carmel Point in the eucalyp- Keep your distance and tus trees near Tor House there was a major nesting use binoculars so you site for black-crowned night herons. As more homes won’t disturb them. Killdeer Chick were built the birds departed looking for a new Mallards nest in the place to call home. The herons found that new home cover of vegetation along at Point Lobos. A number of years ago there were the waterways at Odello West and near the Carmel eight nesting sites. Recently I’ve only been able to River mouth. They can be seen in Whalers Cove and see five. Some of the nests are on the back-side of the of course at all the water hazards at the nearby golf islands so you have to watch the birds in flight and courses. The young venture out in neat little flotillas see where they go. The babies look like little dino- following the parents learning to dabble for algae. saurs but they quickly change into earth-colored ju- One of the more disturbing nesters in our area veniles. Working their way back and forth from the is the starling. These imported English birds are tide pools and other exposed pools the adults bring Black-crowned Night Herons Brandt’s Cormorants Killdeer Nest 44 Point Lobos Magazine Images by Chuck Bancroft. Mallard with Ducklings Canadian Goose Goslings found in huge numbers everywhere. They are very “punk” like. The kids grow up all too quick- cavity nesters using the holes from other nest- ly and fly away to begin their new adventures. ing birds to raise their young. I’ve seen trees with Wherever you walk in the Reserve or elsewhere woodpeckers, red-winged black birds, and star- around the peninsula carry your binoculars; look lings all using the same area.