• equo1a Bulletin of the Sequoia Audubon Society San Mateo County Volume 49, No. 1 eedles September, 1998 This Month's Program From the President Tom Ryan, chief biologist Welcome back to another year of the San Francisco Bay Bird with Sequoia Audubon! In forth­ Observatory will tell us of his ex­ coming issues of the Sequoia Nee­ periences searching for and sur­ dles you will read announcements veying Least Tern colonies along of the various activities and pro­ Mexico's west coast from San grams we offer throughout the year. Bias Nayarit south to Manzarillo. For those of you new to our organi­ His talk will be il­ zation, these include monthly meet­ lustrated with slides. ings with a featured speaker (subjects all relate to birds and nature), a full slate of field trips, our chapter-sponsored Christmas Bird Counts and Meetings are the - ....... second Thursday of the birdseed sales. I am pleased to announce that Sue Cossins has agreed to month at the San Mateo chair our Program committee, and will undoubtedly come up with an in­ Garden Center on the teresting schedule of speakers. Alameda at Parkside at I urge newcomers and old-timers alike to become more involved 6:30PM. Hwy.101 with your Chapter. There are numerous opportunities, both large and small, easy and more challenging. Being more involved gives you the chance to meet interesting people, learn about birds and the environment Next Month's Program and make a difference in our ever-more threatened world. Please call me The program is still being developed or any of the other officers listed in the Needles if you would like to A t but is expected to tie in with next month's know more about Sequoia and how you might become a part of the group • ~ .. field trip to look for migrating hawks in that makes our chapter possible. Marin County. The subject is expected to See you at the September meeting. be Identification of Raptors Overhead. Writers Wanted In the opposite column, you'll find, along with Francis Toldi his greeting, a plea from our President for you to get involved. Having done this newsletter for more than fif.. teen years, you may perhaps excuse me if I some­ times take a proprietary attitude or occasionally take a deliberately provocative stance to try to arouse your interest. Having said that I now apologize that during the last year, two letters to the editor did not make it into these pages. This was not deliberate. Somehow both letters got misplaced and didn't get to me until much too late for publication. This is not my newsletter, It is yours and we welcome any input from you. Letters and articles on birds, birding, conservation or on Audubon in general are welcome and solicited. -The Editor !;jefJU<ti4. ?fH~~ ,;;;.1<uel';ll U (6 ~ ~1~ r;,.. ~6#t#UI't[;:,./ i'~, -.( .;:t;.cc14-Ut~ 4-d C., I!U~"Ml~t-. /JIU'4e!W4~. ~~ dUt.d ~.ef ~ fUVr. I'M'tic·,oc 114o~f<~.!~·~/ 'i'C:C·C!l<·""'·':; .d Sequoia Audubon Society 1 September, 1998 lions inhabit the scrub in amazing numbers. Surprisingly, some The S A S Calendar forest and riparian species such as Pygmy Owl, Saw-whet Owl September and Screech Owl are known to nest in and use the scrub. The scrub is threatened by developmental pressure, frag- A mentation and grazing. In some areas -- particularly in Southern • THURSDA'Y, SEPTEMBER 3-BOARD California -- fire suppression can lead to spectacular reactions. OF DIRECTORS MEETING at the Audubon Office at 7:30 Fire is natural to the coastal scrub and regular fires maintain a PM. All Rlembers are welcome to attead. healthy ecosystem. When fire is suppressed it can lead to a buildup of dry woody undergrowth that will fuel much larger THURSDAY, SEPTEMMR 10, G:EN.ERAL MEKTING at and hotter fires that can do severe damage to man-made struc- the San Mateo Garden Center on the Alameda at Parkside at tw'es, and to the underlying soil as well. 6:30PM. One of the finest and most attainable local examples of the coastal scrub ecosystem can be found along the Hazelnut Trail SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20- HALF MOON BAY - Over in San Pedro Valley County Park in Pacifica. The Hazelnut the years this area has proved to be a reliable "warbler trap" Loop, using portions of two other trails, is a relatively easy 5 with errant eastern species showing up in the trees, shrubs and mile round-trip from San Pedro's parking lot. grasslands around town. We will be looking for possible va­ grants and for regular migrants in these local hot spots. We will meet at 8 AM at the Half Moon Bay Coffee Company Cafe on Rain Forest Woes the southeast comer of Stone pine Rd. and main St. one block south ofHwy. 92. Cliff Richer LEADER AL JAMARILLO 712-1272 Slash and bum clearing of the rain forest for agriculture continues unabated and in this year of El Nifio, it has been exag­ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27- BEGINNERS' TRIP TO gerated by unusually dry weather in Central America. Forests MOUNTAIN VIEW FOREBAY- This area affords some of which once burned only by continuous assistance from farmers the most varied shorebird and waterfowl wintering habitat in a became tinderboxes. Wildfires raged unabated across Mexico small area and in every year it has produced a surprise bird or and clouds of smoke drifted as far north as Kansas City. The two. The trip will involve walking on level well-defined paths. situation was further aggravated by a lack of forest fire-fighting We will meet at 8;30 AM at the foot of San Antonio Rd. near capacity in countries which never before had a need for such the entrance to Mountain View Shoreline Park. To get there, skills. take Hwy. 101 to San Antonio Rd. and take the San Antonio Rd. I also became aware of an- e (North) exit. Follow San Antonio Road for a short distance until other threat to this habitat this it makes a right angle tum and becomes Terminal Road. Stop summer. r tuned in late to some and park as close to the intersection as feasible. radio talk show where the guest, LEADER ROBIN SMITH 325-3306 proclaiming himself an ecolo- gist, was promoting his firm as a consultant on "sustainable" de­ Coastal Scrub velopment of the rain forest. The Unappreciated Habitat What was terrifying to me was · this "expert's" advocacy of in­ Cliff Richer troducing non-native plants to The vegetation that dominates the area between our coast replace the natural growth of the and the coastal mountain ranges is generally referred to as rain-forest and obtain the coastal scrub. In some areas it is relatively thin, with expanses "maximum yield" from poor of grass separating stands of larger plants. In others it is so soils. thi~k as to be virtually impenetrable. A spectacular array of The one thing this "ecologist" ignored was ecology. At vanous thorny bushes, stinging nettles, prickly seeds and poison no time did he ever mention the impact of any plant -- native or oak can make it seem aggressively hostile. When dry, it poses introduced-- on other plants or on wildlife. He even defended an explosive fire hazard. blue gum eucalyptus, claiming that Californians simply didn't yet, diminutive jungle is home to a truly amazing ~d ~s know how to use this tree properly. The only negative feature fecundity of arumal and bird life. Birding can be both frustrat­ he saw in the blue gum was as a fire hazard. He advocated the ing and rewarding. The sound of the scrub is the Wrentit with ~egul~ harvesting of eucalyptus for firewood and eucalyptus oil, its loud bouncing call. Both Spotted and California Towhees t~onng the fact that the blue gum is not particularly good for are commonly heard. California Quail, White-crowned and etther use and there is no ready market for either of these prod­ Song Sparrows, Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds, California ucts in California. ~ashers are some of our common breeding species. Yet, these If this man represents any kind of trend in forest manage­ btrds are much more often heard than seen in the thick growth. m~nt, firms like his, masquerading under environmentally Black-tailed deer, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, rabbits and friendly names, could pose as great a danger as traditional slash hares, mice and voles, snakes and lizards and even mountain and bum techniques. September, 1998 2 Sequoia Audubon Society Turbulent Mixing & Resource Supply Mono Lake Update Research Projects to Phytoplankton El Nifio ful­ Marine Science Institute filled its promise at Mono Lake University of California Santa Barbara at Mono Lake as Mono Lake and the Mono Basin continue to attract scientific researchers. ~~-llf~~~_.., it reached its Oxygen Isotope Concentrations ~.-....._.... ,. highest level University of Southern California since 1972. The Mono Basin Geomorphology, Lee Vining Canyon Bighorn Sheep ..~ lake surface is Sedimentology, Biogeography & White Mountain Research Station ·'~~,_ now 6384 feet Paleoclimatology above sea level. and The Trust for Public Land has pur­ Sand Dune Genesis Studies Management chased the historic Conway Ranch prop­ California State University Hayward erty north of the lake. The land will be Stream Restoration Studies Agreement at Los passed on to Mono County once the California State University Humboldt county can raise enough funds to repay Banos the Trust. The county plans to restore ri­ The Importance of Mono Lake to A landmark agreement to coopera­ parian and wetlands habitat and to use it Eared Grebes Nesting in British tively manage lands within the Grassland for a fish hatchery.