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| A pair of American avocets hunts the muddy shallows along Coyote Creek. |
I biked up to Mt. Tam on a beautiful spring day -- yesterday! It was my first ride there in the new year, but it did not feel like January as I pedaled in a t-shirt and observed hounds tongue blooming in the woods and white maids showing off along the roadsides.
On the way up I stopped to watch black-necked stilts, greater yellowlegs, and American avocets foraging in the marshy area around Coyote Creek, with mallards and wigeons bobbing along the creek, and numerous snowy egrets and a few great egrets hunting, resting, or preening as the tide came in. I also saw a western grebe working the creek as I rode home, a species I don't think I've seen there before.
Up on the mountain I pulled off the road to hike to my cams and noticed signs of recent turkey-scratching on the ground. Just as I leaned my bike against a tree to lock it up, I caught some movement in the woods: one tom turkey, then a second guy perched just off the ground to get a little higher perspective.
In the woods on the way to the cams I saw that the bear's head log was still producing new fruitings, while the oldest ones were finally decomposing. The forest duff was still moist, but just crunchy enough that I couldn't tread silently. I wished I could have seen the varied thrush before they saw me and flew away. They are one of my favorite birds on Mt. Tam, both for their coloration and the unusual sound of their brief call. Also for their furtiveness, which makes them difficult to photograph.
On the way to Cam 2, my nose picked up the most amazing scent filling the air. I looked around for its source and soon realized it was coming from the flowering bay laurel right in front of me. The scent provided the most enjoyable forest bathing I could remember, including the countless other times I've walked in the scent of bay laurel. I don't know why that tree, or the particular circumstances of the moment, were so special, and I'm curious to see if I'll get a repeat performance on my next visit.
A few video clips from the cams.
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| Get Your Stilts in a Row |
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| Perched Tom |
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| Proliferating Stalactites of Bear's Head Fungus |
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| I pulled my bike off the road to see if I could track down a pileated woodpecker in the nearby woods when a few deer decided to cross West Ridgecrest. |
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| Pileated Woodpecker Working on a Madrone |
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| Slicing Through the Mud |
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| Keeping an Eye Out |
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| Probing the Depths |
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