Jean Wheeler |
Elfin Forest Activities
by Jean Wheeler
Saturday July 5:
The volunteer work party known as the "Weed Warriors" will
meet from 9 am to about noon. Anyone is welcome to join in
and help pull obnoxious invading weeds and work on
projects to reduce erosion. Wear comfortable shoes, long
pants and sleeves, and park at the north end of 15th
Street in Los Osos. Ron rewards his warriors with his
delicious homemade cookies as the morning’s labors
conclude!
Second Wednesday Walk
July 9, 10:00 a.m. – Elfin Forest Habitats
Join Vicky Johnsen for her 2nd Wednesday morning ramble.
Her topic today is "The Elfin Forest Habitats: Hobbits would
love this place...or would they?" Come along and find out
for yourself.
Third Saturday Walk July
19 – Weather and the Elfin Forest
John Lindsey, the PG&E Weather Man
based at Diablo Canyon, will give a fascinating walk and
talk about the effects of weather on the plants and animals
of the Elfin Forest. John, an authority on coastal weather,
will help us to understand why the topography of San Luis
Obispo County plays an important role in where rain falls,
and how much or how little. This will be an excellent mini
course in meteorology, and will give us an edge in
discussing that universal topic – the weather. Walks begin
on the boardwalk at the end of the 15th Street sand path.
Park at the north end of 15th Street (16th Street for
wheelchairs) off Santa Ysabel in Los Osos. Please park
carefully, avoiding driveways and mailboxes. Wear
comfortable shoes, long sleeves and pants to avoid poison
oak and mosquitoes.
Besides docent-led events, visit the Elfin Forest any
day: 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,
avoiding driveways and mailboxes.
Coming Up in the Elfin Forest
Chamise |
The impact of our state’s three years of drought with the
past year recorded as the driest ever can be seen in a
noticeably greater number of dead and dying shrubs in the
Elfin Forest than we usually see. Yet far more abundant
numerically and visually dominant are the green shrubs still
blanketing most of our fossilized sand dunes. They reveal
the incredible resilience of our Mediterranean shrub
vegetation. Most shrubs "greened up" promptly after the very
late and meager rains and even came into flower. Flowers on
many came much later and less abundantly than usual, but
they continue to make a welcome display even well into this
dry and hotter than usual summer.
Deer Weed |
Most black sage and dune buckwheat shrubs have opened a
number of white flowers, though the shrubs are not so
completely covered in white as usual. I’ve noticed that with
less competition, brilliant white spikes of blossoms at the
ends of chamise branches are showing up even more vividly
against the green backdrop than in most years.
Oak Moth |
Yellow-orange flowers on sticky monkey-flower bushes,
deerweed, and California poppies are punctuating the Elfin
Forest pallet with their vivid hues. Blue flowers have shown
on the low-growing shrubs known as wooly star along the 15th
street sand trail. Some of the silver dune lupines near Bush
Lupine Point have also opened their blue flower spikes, but
that species has been very hard hit by the drought, with
many dead shrubs separating the survivors along the cliff
tops overlooking the estuary.
"Flying Flowers" are the butterflies common in early summer.
Usually continuing to fly into July are Acmon Blue
butterflies attracted to deerweed, Variable Checkerspots
seeking sticky monkey-flowers and Gabb’s Checkerspots around
California poppies. Anise Swallowtails are also seen in the
Elfin Forest even though their host plant, anise, is not a
native within the preserve. Gray and Hedgerow Hairstreak
butterflies may also still be seen in July. But the most
numerous butterflies currently are the light brown oak
moths.
Reptiles are most active in the warmest months, so be on the
lookout for the slithering of elusive Garter, Gopher, and
California King Snakes. But the easiest reptiles to spot are
Western Fence Lizards doing their amusing pushups along the
toe rails of the boardwalk. And look for tracks of animals
in the sand
next to the boardwalk, especially in early mornings, when
raccoon tracks are very commonly seen.
Black Phoebe |
Squirrel |
There are still a lot of water birds visible on the estuary
from Bush Lupine Point or Sienna’s View in mid- summer.
Among waders, willets remain very common. Also resident all
year are Great Blue and Black- crowned Night Herons, along
with many Snowy and Great Egrets. Some ducks remain through
summer even though most members of their species have gone
north to summer nesting areas. Year-around resident American
Coots become even more noticeable as the duck population has
plummeted. Five species of swallows may be seen only in the
summer. Most of our raptor species are here all year.
Many chaparral and oak woodland birds are busy raising
young—such as hummingbirds, flycatchers, wrens, warblers,
sparrows, thrashers, finches, Black Phoebes, scrub jays,
blackbirds, and quail.
So a stroll around the Elfin Forest boardwalk rewards us
with colorful scenes and activity even in the middle of
California’s long dry summer after the worst drought year on
record.
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