Wikipedia Eurasian Wigeon
Wikipedia: Blue Winged Teal
Photo by Jean Wheeler:
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Wikipedia Hermit Thrush
California Bureau of Land Management: Morro Manzanita
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By Jean Wheeler
The volunteer work party known as the "Weed Warriors" will meet this month from 9 am to about noon on November 7. Anyone is welcome to join in to help pull obnoxious invading weeds and work on projects to reduce erosion. Wear comfortable shoes and long pants and sleeves. Park at the north end of 15th Street in Los Osos. Please avoid blocking driveways and mailboxes.
El Moro Elfin Forest 2010 Calendar
SWAP is selling The El Moro Elfin Forest 2010 Calendar, featuring quality photographic images accompanied by informative text. We also feature a flower of the month to look for when visiting the Elfin Forest. You can buy the calendar for $15 at Los Osos Rexall, Volumes of Pleasure Bookstore, Los Osos Flower Market, Miners Ace Hardware in Los Osos, Los Osos Chamber of Commerce, San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, and The Photo Shop on Marsh Street in San Luis Obispo. You can also call 528-1911 or 528-0392 or look for our members selling them at tables around town - at the Baywood Park Oktoberfest on Sunday November 25, for example. Every calendar purchased helps to protect the Elfin Forest.
What's Underfoot? Soils!
That's the title of our Third Saturday walk from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on November 21. Have you ever heard the term "Baywood Fine Sand?" It's the name of the predominant soil in Los Osos, as well as in the Elfin Forest. Soil scientist Jim Brownell will describe local soils and talk about the influence of soils on the plants that grow in them - how sandy soil both benefits and stresses Elfin Forest plants. This is an excellent walk for gardeners. Park at the north end of 15th Street (16th Street for wheelchairs) off Santa Ysabel in Los Osos. Walks begin on the boardwalk at the end of the 15th Street sand path. Wear comfortable shoes and long sleeves and pants to avoid poison oak and mosquitoes. Please park carefully, avoiding driveways and mailboxes.
Besides docent-led events, visit the Elfin Forest any day to experience the quiet natural beauty of this small wilderness area. Park at the north end of any street from 11th through 17th streets off Santa Ysabel in Los Osos. Take a sand path to the boardwalk or the wheel-chair accessible entrance at the boardwalk entrance at 16th Street.
Rejoice, Bird Lovers!
The fall migration season is upon us again! This month watch from Bush Lupine Point along the boardwalk as the Estuary fills with shore and water birds migrating through or arriving for their winter vacation here. Dabbling ducks to look for include Mallards, Northern Pintails, Gadwalls, American and Eurasian Wigeons, Northern Shovelers, Teal (Blue-winged, Cinnamon, and Green-winged), and Scaup (Lesser and Greater). Also try to spot divers such as Ring-Necked, Canvasback, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, and Ruddy Ducks. Horned, Eared, Pied-billed, Western, and Clark's Grebes are arriving and will remain until March or April. Three thousand or so Brant Geese should arrive this month, some en route farther south and many to spend the winter feeding on the eel grass in the bay. Shorebirds, like Sandpipers, Dowitchers, and the American Avocet, also reach peak populations in winter, with birds arriving from shorelines farther north that won't support them in winter.
The Elfin Forest also plays host to brush or woodland birds migrating through or wintering. Fox, Lincoln's, and Golden-crowned Sparrows join our year-round resident White-crowned Sparrows until March or April. Ruby-crowned Kinglets also settle in for the winter. American Robins and Hermit Thrushes replace our summer Swainson's Thrushes after those depart southward. Yellow-rumped Warblers peak in these months and Say's Phoebe joins its year-round relative, the Black Phoebe, for a winter visit. A dawn or dusk walker in the Elfin Forest may be lucky enough to see, or more likely hear, a wintering Short-eared Owl. Passing through in small flocks are Cedar Waxwings, Western Tanagers, and Pine Siskins.
November is minimal in colorful flowers, but a few of the species which normally do continue to show some blossoms in October and November are California Sagebrush (white), California Asters (pinkish to white petals and yellow central disks), Coyote Brush (white male and yellow female flowers), and the Seaside Golden Yarrow. With over two inches of rain in the mid-October storm, the forest will be green already when November arrives, so look for the early winter flowers such as California Peony, Fuchsia-flowering Gooseberry, and Morro Manzanita to break into bloom especially early this year.
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