Birds of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

Last January a friend and I went to Gray Lodge Wildlife Area to see the much talked about hundreds of thousands of snow geese. On that trip I saw exactly one snow goose on that trip. Still in search of the snow geese a friend and I took made the trip up to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge last weekend with much better results.

Nearly all national wildlife refuges I've been to look pretty much alike. Large marshy areas, some grasslands, some open water and a narrow dirt road passing through it all. As I started driving through the Sacramento National Wildlife Area I had a sense that I'd seen all this before. But then we started seeing the birds. Hundreds of pintails, a hundred shovelers, a few widgeon, dozens of gadwall, a hawk passing over head here and there. Then the snow geese came in to view. Hundreds of thousands of snow geese. They seem to like to hang out together in very large flocks. At one point an enormous flock filled the sky, a storm of thunderous white wings and lots of honking.

Once we had seen the hordes of snow geese I felt the trip and my current birding goals were fulfilled. But of course we stayed on and I was pleasantly surprised in seeing a bald eagle and peregrine falcon. We stopped briefly at the Colusa Wildlife Area on the way home to make the trip complete. Throughout the day we saw lots of other great birds,probably at least a million, including tens of thousands of white fronted geese. A complete list follows:

Waterfowl: Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Greater White Fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Ross's Goose, Cinnamon Teal, Green Winged Teal, Eared Grebe,
Other Water Birds and Shorebirds: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White Faced Ibis, American White Pelican , Double Crested Cormorant, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer
Raptors: Northern Harrier Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel
Gallinaceous Birds: Ring-Necked Pheasant,
Rails: American Coot, Common Moorhen
Other Birds: Black Phoebe, American Crow, Western Scrub Jay, Red-Winged Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Golden Crowned Sparrow

What happens at a trail work day?

A year or two ago a Sierra Club friend of mine suggested I might like to join him on an East Bay Regional Parks trail work day. The promise of a free lunch was enticing so I agreed. I've now participated in several trail work projects and each one has been very enjoyable, though one or two would have been more pleasant had the weather been a bit cooler! And so I found myself waking up at 7:00am on Saturday morning to head to Crockett Hills Regional Park for the Bay Area Ridge Trail Service day sponsored by REI. I chose to volunteer at Crockett Hills because it was a place in the East Bay Regional Park District I had never been to before. Not all the workdays I participate in have the level of involvement from REI that this one did, but the event is pretty much the same. If you've ever thought about joining in a trail work day but wanted to first know more about what it entails read on!

After getting just a little lost I arrived at Crockett Hills around 8:30am. REI was sponsoring this particular workday so there was an REI tent where all volunteers had to sign both an REI waiver and an East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) waiver form. I also filled out an all important raffle ticket with high hopes of winning a backpack. After completing the registration I grabbed some coffee and pastries while waiting for the rest of the volunteers to arrive. While waiting I chatted with a few friends I knew from past work days and met a few new people as well.

Once the expected volunteers were assembled the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, EBRPD and REI all gave a few words of thanks. An EBRPD employee then described the different projects of the day - clearing thistle, installing new fenceposts, and trail restoration. He also introduced the tools we would be using and said a few words on their safe use. The volunteers divided into groups according to which project we each wished to work on, I chose trail restoration in order to see more of the park.

Past trail restoration projects I have participated in at the EBRPD, involves smoothing out trails torn up by winter rains and cows, obliterating shortcut trails or as in this case more clearly defining a new trail. In all these cases the work involved is similar, rough ground needs to be hacked out and graded using two tools - the McLeod and the Pulaski. The McLeod is a long handled tool with a large hoe like blade on and a tined blade like a heavy duty rake on the other. The Pulaski combines an axe and adze in one. It's strong head can be used to dig through very hard, dry soil.

At Crockett Hills the group working on trail restoration piled into a van and an EB Parks employee drove us and our tools up to the section of the park we would be working on. We got out of the van high on a grassy hill overlooking the Carquinez Strait. For this trail we would work mostly with the McLeod though a few Pulaski's were available for areas the dirt was particularly hard. I pulled on my gloves, picked up my McLeod and headed over to the trail area. The EB Parks employees explained that the grassy track we could see cutting across through the hillside was a fairly new trail. Over the winter little use and wet weather would cause the grass to grow up and the trail would likely disappear into the overgrown hillside. So our job was to scrape away the grassy surface of the trail to expose the bare ground underneath, converting the green path into a recognizable brown trail. The group of about a dozen spread out along the trail a couple arm widths apart and went to work.

Little by little as I hacked away at the ground with the hoe side of the McCleod blade the ground appeared underneath the grass. The tined side of the blade was then used to rake away grass and smooth out the train. The ground was hard but not impossible to dig through having been softened a little bit by the fall rains. The progress was slow going at first but seemed to progress quicker as the morning went on. Trail work days provide lots of opportunity to converse with the people working next to you. Most of the people who participate are outdoor enthusiasts, I enjoy talking with the other volunteers and almost always learn about new hiking places in the Bay Area and beyond. Though scraping the ground with a McLeod is hard work the time passes pleasantly with good company, and fantastic views. Everyone works at their own space, as soon as I finished one spot I moved down to the end of the line to start again. After a few hours, looking back across the hillside to where we started I could clearly see a defined trail marking our group's efforts.

We had restored the trail most of the way around the side of a hill and almost all the way to the trail junction when the EB Parks leader said it was almost noon and time to head back for lunch. When our group arrived back at the Crockett Hills staging area lunch was laid out for us - Chipotle Burritos! EB Parks, the Bay Area Ridge Trail and REI again thanked all the volunteers and raffled off a few backpacks (I'm still hoping to win one day). Each volunteer also received a shirt from REI.

After lunch it was time to say goodbye and depart for the drive home. I always enjoy the trail work days. As a frequent user of local trails I like contributing my time to help keep the parks maintained. The hard work is good exercise and gives a sense of accomplishment at the end of the morning. Through work days I have also visited parks that I had never been to before and now want to go back to. Winter rains are on their way, this year's trail projects are over. Check the EB Parks website for the 2011 work schedule. I hope to see you there!

Oakland Running Festival

Sometime last summer I read that Oakland was having a marathon on March 28 of 2010. Fun I thought, I'd like to volunteer. Then I read that the event was in fact going to be the Oakland Running Festival which included a half marathon. Thirteen miles, that sounded like something I could do, so I registered for my first race ever the Inaugural Oakland Half Marathon 2010. Then I started running. Just around Lake Merritt at first, 3.2 miles and a short walk from my house. Occasionally I tried a longer run of five or six miles with a friend. None of it felt very good, running was hard and I got a lot of stomach cramps. Winter came and it rained, I went to New York over the holidays and it snowed. When 2010 came around I saw I only had three months to train for running twice as far as I ever had before so I started to take the whole thing more seriously.

In January I started running twice during the week my regular three miles and a slightly longer run on the weekend. I concentrated on breathing and the stomach cramps stopped. I wrote down my runs in a notebook which helped solidify my commitment. My regular runs turned into five miles from three and the long runs on the weekends reached ten miles. In the middle of March along with two friends I ran a test route of the half marathon, a full thirteen miles. Two hours and twenty five minutes, not very fast but I did it. I re-evaluated my goal of running in two hours fifteen minutes and decided I would be happy with eleven minute miles which would put me at two hours twenty four minutes. A half marathon is a lot harder than I thought.

Saturday March 27 the running festival kicked off with a fitness expo where runners had to pick up their bibs, T-shirts and race packets. I arrived with a friend at 9:30 and stood in a long line waiting to get it, the line to register for the race was even longer. We finally got our bibs, I was number 4060 what a great number! The t-shirts were nice too but the most amazing thing was the crowd. This was definitely a big event for Oakland. That evening I went to watch the twilight 5K and cheer on the runners at Lake Merritt. A small glimpse into what the race would be like on Sunday it was very exciting. Back at home I set out my running clothes, put the timing tag on my shoe, packed a bag of warm after race clothes and attached my bib to my shirt. At that point I realized I had forgotten to pick up safety pins, and after scouring my house only found three so one corner of my bib was attached by staple.

Sunday morning the alarm clock blared at 7:15am. I got up, put on my race gear, had a banana, a few Gu Chomps and some tea. A friend and I headed up to the start area around 8:00am. People were milling about near the Start Line at Frank Ogawa plaza. We dropped off our bags at bag check, got some powerade and Clif Bar samples, had our picture taken at the start line, met another friend then it was time to line up. My two running friends and I lined up at the front of the eleven minute mile pack as we decided that was the pace we were going to try to beat. Mayor Ron Dellums gave a little speech, the national anthem was sung, a horn blew and we were off.

The Raiderettes cheered the runners out of the start gate along with a small crowd along Broadway. We passed through downtown where people leaned out of their windows cheering and banging pots and pans. Then through Chinatown, more cheering. It was pretty amazing that all through the city people came out to watch and encourage the runners, clapping, yelling, ringing cowbells etc. At Jack London Square my awesome neighbor had a sign with my name on it, at a lonely corner near the port the A's fan club set up to holler at the runners, the Crucible set up a n arch of fire to run through, along Mandela Parkway a local restaurant gave out sample pastries and juice, in West Oakland someone passed out oranges, under a highway overpass the Raider pirates and gorillas high fived everyone. People lined the course along Lake Merritt and all the way to the finish.

All the positive energy transferred to my feet and I ran a bit faster than expected. One of my friends had a watch which could give us split times on the miles so I knew I was doing well. I found it much easier to run with big mile posts marking the way. After mile four it was only nine more miles, I'd run nine miles enough times that I knew I would finish and I felt stronger than any of my previous runs. By mile seven I could feel my legs starting to get sore but I was over halfway. Around mile ten we came to Lake Merritt, I had run around the lake so many times in the last few months I could have done it in my sleep. Knowing I was nearing the end I put all my energy into increasing my pace. After the lake the course went up a small hill which felt like a mountain, my other two friends had pulled away from me by then but I knew I was still ahead of my goal. One last turn and the finish line was in sight, it seemed so close and yet so far. I finally saw the clock which said two hours nineteen minutes. I ran as fast as I could to get cross the line before it turned to two hours twenty minutes and I did.

My official time according to the timing chip was two hours sixteen minutes twenty six seconds. A pace of ten minutes twenty five seconds per mile, much better than my goal. I can't wait to do this race again next year. Everyone who organized the event, everyone who ran, everyone who came out to watch should be very proud to have been a part of the Oakland Running Festival. I can't imagine any race ever being as great as my first!

A Gem of a Day

At 8:45am on Monday I headed out for a day of hiking near Mount Tamalpais. You never know what adventures the day holds when you step out of your door in the morning. At the trailhead for Cataract Falls six of us started out on a hike and journeyed through a day of wonder.

We hiked along a stream with many waterfalls.




















And even more waterfalls.




















We consulted a map on which way to go.














We hiked through woods, marsh and meadow. We hiked in rain. We hiked in sun. It was hard to believe we were just minutes from San Francisco.














After the hike we drove to Stinson Beach. The Air National Guard was airlifting parts for a new crane to the Farallon Islands.




















A man from the Department of the Interior talked with us about the Farallons. He wondered why everyone was taking pictures of his truck.














On the way back to Oakland we drove through rainbows.















For dinner the six of us went to Sura Korean in Oakland. A Korean woman in our group ordered family dinner for us. We had lots of little dishes with tasty food in them, and a few big dishes too.














Our last stop was for frozen yogurt. We all agreed Monday was a very special day filled with twelve hours of natural beauty, great company and unexpected adventure.

The Handmaid's Tale

After many years of having it on my to read list I finally checked Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale out of the library. There's not much I can add to the volumes of critiques and analysis already written about the novel. It's a wonderfully crafted book and so well written I was so absorbed in the story I didn't notice the writing. The narrator however is very well aware that she is narrating a story and occasionally says things like "I made that up" or "I wish this story were different". As the narrator interjects these reflections the reader gets another glimpse into the narrators mind and heart. The Handmaid's Tale well deserves all the praise bestowed upon it. The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a future, totalitarian theocracy within the borders of what was once the US, Atwood calls this speculative fiction which gives her a means of exploring themes without the restraint of realistic fiction. A lot of people would consider this science fiction, and the book did win the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987. I thought it notable that in the Oakland library the book was shelved in the Fiction section and not in the Science Fiction section. Speculative fiction by other authors more known for science fiction or fantasy such as Ursula LeGuin or Philip K. Dick are shelved in the Science Fiction area. I think these genre labels are rather nebulous and am glad to see that Margaret Atwood seems to have accomplished the feat of having her non realistic work taken as serious literature.