Elfin Forest Activities by Jean Wheeler

Saturday, March 1: 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 sturdy shoes, long pants and sleeves, and park at the north end of 15th.

Second Wednesday Walk — March 12, 10:00 a.m.: What Will the Rains Bring? Assuming that we have gotten SOME rain by early March, Vicky Johnsen’s 2ndin the Elfin Forest will focus on searching out the Springtime flowers. Join her on this treasure hunt for the golden, white, lavender, red and blue plant jewels of the Elfin Forest.

Third Saturday Walk-- March 15, 9:30 a.m. – Animal Tracks Walk Join Evan Albright, an animal track expert, in learning who is “tracking up” the Elfin Forest. Visitors will learn how to tell the front feet from the back feet of a raccoon, and how coyote and dog tracks differ. Evan will also demonstrate how to find other signs that a wild resident of the Elfin Forest has passed that way. Attend this walk and develop an awareness of the comings and goings of the Forest’s animal, bird and reptile inhabitants – something we wouldn’t readily see while walking along the boardwalk.

Walks begin on the boardwalk at the end of the 15th15th Street (16th 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 Santa Ysabel in Los Osos, avoiding driveways and mailboxes.

Manzanita Bells

Coming Up in the Elfin Forest

We’ve had a little rain in February, but are still way behind our usual totals even for this month. This means we are still in deep drought for this rainy season, following low rainfall last year. The light rains have brought some greening of our wonderfully drought-tolerant shrubs, but there are still way too many dead brown leaves and bare branches.

Ceanothus

Ceanothus (buckbrush or California lilac) shrubs have responded best to the limited rains, as seen in the photo I took in mid February, but they are nowhere near as abundantly flowered as in years with normal rain. Taken on the same day is the picture of almost the only manzanita with flower bells I could find. Most manzanitas are not even showing flower buds. The fuchsia-flowered gooseberries (also photographed this February) do have some flowers. If you’ve seen them or pictures of them in other years it is pretty obvious their flowers are not only far less numerous but individual flowers are also noticeably smaller this year.

Anna's Hummingbird

Male hummingbirds can be seen climbing high above the shrubs and doing amazing courtship dives, pulling out in J-shaped curves at the bottom. We watched one for quite a while on our Feb. 12 walk with docent Vicky Johnsen. The bird rested between dives on a high branch, and I was lucky enough to get his photo as he turned with the sun flashing bright red on his crown and gorget. We worried that he and the lady he wins will have a tough time feeding themselves and a clutch of babies through this spring with the limited supply of nectar the flower shortage foreshadows.

Thousands of geese, ducks, and shorebirds will be ending their winter visits in the estuary this month, and a number of bird species will also be leaving our chaparral and pygmy oak groves. Departures will include Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Fox Sparrows, and Golden-crowned Sparrows.

March is a good time to catch views of them before they leave and spot species arriving to replace them for the spring and summer nesting season.

Say's Phoebe

The Say’s Phoebe pictured is a flycatcher who will be leaving for the spring and summer. Its relative, the Black Phoebe, is a year-round resident. Arriving for the summer we can expect two more flycatchers--the Western Kingbird and Pacific Slope Flycatcher. The Hermit Thrush will be leaving, but Swainson’s Thrush will migrate through our area, and we are within the southern end of their summer nesting range. All five species of swallows listed for the Elfin Forest left for the winter between August and October of last year, but we can look for them to return in March. Of course our year-round birds remain here, such as Lark, Savannah, Song, and White-crowned Sparrows; both California and Spotted Towhees; Anna’s Hummingbirds; Bushtits; Blue-gray Gnatcatchers; Wrentits; California Quail; California Thrashers; and Western Scrub Jays.

Enjoy the exciting changes of this spring season in the Elfin Forest, and marvel at the way our resident plants and wildlife are coping with the stress of this severe drought. Like their ancestors, enough survive years like this to multiply gloriously when the drought ends and copious rains return, hopefully by early next autumn.