Countdown to wildflower ignition
It’s not a sissy thing for a guy to like wildflowers, women will tell you.
For one thing, it’s a near sure thing for a date. Have even a remote idea of what you’re looking at and your life has a chance to get way better.
Wildflower blooms are a testament to the start of spring and all things good in nature. For those with cabin fever, the arrival of wildflowers and what they represent is one of the most anticipated events of the year. It can work for anybody.
This year it’s like a long, slow-burning fuse. After the latest round of rain in the Bay Area and snow in the Sierra, temperatures by mid-week are projected to hit the high 60s in the East Bay hills. As March advances to the official first day of spring on the 20th, and bright sun washes over the landscape, that fuse will ignite.
Then it’s ka-boom: High soil moisture followed by warm, sunny weather can be the magic formula for wildflowers. Peak ignition will be early April for most areas.
In the Bay Area, the best prospects over the next six weeks are in many areas of the East Bay hills. In addition, there’s hope in west Marin, at the Chimney Rock Headlands, Muddy Hollow and Limantour at Point Reyes National Seashore, and in the foothills above the Santa Clara Valley and beyond, to the east, at Henry W. Coe State Park.
The wild mustard has been blooming for a month in many areas. The intensity of wild mustard often foretells the blooms to follow. If so, this could be a year for what we call “super blooms” for the East Bay hills.
Blooming mustard has fired off on Lime Ridge, on the west flank of Mount Diablo, on nearby Briones Regional Park and in many other areas in the region.
“That has brought in the first pollinators to feed on the nectar,” said field scout Brian Murphy. On Thursday, he found a sprinkling of blooming golden poppies in Tice Valley near Walnut Creek, yet cold weather, and more rain this weekend, has muted the early blooms.
For weeks, we’ve seen rafts of wild mustards on the foothills above the Santa Clara Valley from Morgan Hill to Mission Peak, and on the San Mateo County coast on the west-facing slopes of Highway 1 in pockets from Moss Beach to Pigeon Point.
Many of the parks in the East Bay Regional Park District could go technicolor with wildflowers, said Robert Doyle, superintendent of the park district. The inland areas heat up sooner, and that’s where to look as March transforms the landscape into spring, Doyle said. He predicted Round Valley, Morgan Territory, Black Diamond and Brushy Peak as the top parks for poppies, larkspurs and blue-eyed grass.
The last time the East Bay hills were as saturated as they are now was spring of 2006, when in mid-April two spots were like nothing I’ve ever seen, with infinite miles of blooming goldfields: in remote San Antonio Valley on Mines Road, and along the Ohlone Wilderness Trail from Rocky Ridge up toward Rose Peak. Up on Rocky Ridge, it was so amazing that it felt like being on a different planet. For now, Del Valle Regional Park (and the trailhead for the Ohlone Wilderness Trail/Rocky Ridge) is still closed by flood damage.
The wild cards are Chimney Rock Headlands at Point Reyes, Antelope Valley State Poppy Reserve and Death Valley National Park.
Chimney Rock Headlands are located south of the Point Reyes Lighthouse. If you get it right, dozens of species of wildflowers — I’ve seen as many as 90 — can be blooming in a mile of trail here. The most common are poppies, wild iris checkerblooms and pussy ears. Because of the headlands’ exposure to wind, once the rain stops and warm weather arrives the soil can dry out quickly, and the wildflowers go kaput. It can be best-of-yourlife amazing — or a dud.
At Antelope Valley near Lancaster, rangers expect the first poppies to bloom in significant numbers in midMarch, peak at the turn of the month, and be pretty much done by mid-April. Late winter moisture mutes the best blooms here, so rangers expect “moderate blooms.”
Death Valley, because of the distance to get there, is even a bigger wild card. Last year, from late March through early April, Death Valley had a super bloom. The odds of a second straight year seem slim, and most are predicting an average year, which is still a good thing, with peak timing similar to Antelope Valley.
As spring arrives, if you plan a trip into the foothills above the San Joaquin Valley, be sure to pick a route on one of the more obscure country two-laners. Long after you forget much of the trip, you will likely remember the fields of blooming fiddlenecks, likely this spring as warm weather takes over the land.
It all is starting now with the blooms of wild mustard and golden poppies in the East Bay hills. Pick your favorite spot, light the fuse and stand back.
Blooms, fish and wildlife
As March transitions to spring, the reservoirs will settle out and green up, and warm weather will launch fish and wildlife. When the redbud blooms in the foothills, that’s when the bass bite can be sensational. When water clarity improves and the oaks fill out, the trout stage according to water temperature and start biting, too. At the same time, birds will hatch out their chicks. In time, by region and elevation, wildlife will give birth to this year’s crop and find unlimited food available from the fantastic fresh vegetation in a land reborn.
City coyotes
John Kavanagh’s home backs up against the San Francisco Golf Club, where he’s sighted coyotes on a weekly basis for three years. Wrote John: “In the summer, the coyotes have howl fests right after sunset. By the mixture of the various howls all at once, my wife and I guess there must be about 10, 15 coyotes at least in the group howls. And, even though I thought they were solitary animals, I’ve watched them walk down the fairways three at a time.”
Sightings
Richardson Bay, Part 1: Many are now riveted by the young male bald eagle in Richardson Bay, and Paul Bragstad reports he’s sighted and photographed the eagle hunting coots along Strawberry Shores off Mill Valley. There is no sign yet of the larger, younger juvenile female that was with him last winter. Richardson Bay, Part 2: Jack Ryan also sighted this bald eagle near Harbor Point, and confirmed he believes it is likely the same bird as last year. First flight: Watching first flight of juvenile birds is one of the most amazing sights in nature, and Joyce Bartlett on the south Peninsula, watching a hummingbird nest outside a window, saw two juveniles fledge last week. Otter surprise: At Sausalito Yacht Harbor, John Hamilton and Jim Linderman sighted two river otters on a float, likely the result of lower salinity in North Bay waters from heavy sustained freshwater pushed from rivers to delta to bay. After decades of sailing on the bay, they are the first otters either of them had seen in the bay, said John. I take it as a good sign.
Q&A
Q: It would be nice if California had a few good-sized lakes for human/sail/or even electric-powered boats. — Gary Costigan A: California has 190 lakes with no boat ramps, many with campgrounds, ideal for SUVs with a kayak on top. This is the year, with all of the lakes full, to hit the road with your camping gear.