Page 60 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2018

Laguna Environmental Center lagunafoundation.org 900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa, Pre-registration required for classes. 707-527-9277
Jul 7 ~ How Waterways Wrote Our History - The North Bay up to the 1800s. $12, 3-4:30p
Jul 8 ~ Dragons in our Watershed - A Field Survey of Laguna Dragonflies. $25-$50 Sliding scale, 9:30-4:30p
Jul 12 ~ The Laguna is Home to the California State Lichen - These organisms are found all around us. $12, 7-8:30p
Jul 14 ~ How Waterways Wrote Our History - The 1800s to Present. $12, 3-4:30p
By Date
Volunteers Needed
Jul 12,26 Aug 9 ~ Trail Crew - 9-1p, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, 2605 Adobe Canyon Road, Kenwood, john@ sonomaecologycenter.org
Photo by Kathy Turner
Thru Jul 30 ~ Landpaths Owl Camp - Fill out the Volunteer Interest Form. Landpaths, 618 4th St. #217, Santa Rosa, Jessica Holloway, landpaths.org
Ongoing ~ Sonoma Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District - 707-565-7366, Receptionist, sonomaopenspace.org/get-involved/ volunteer
Ongoing ~ Jack London and Sugarloaf Ridge State Parks - Trainings are specific to park. 707-938-4827, Susan St. Marie, sstmarie@jacklondonpark.com
Thru Sep - Closed for the Summer
Rehabilitation Project - Sonoma Overlook Trail. overlookmontini.org
Jul 7 ~ The Bird Rescue Center - Meet a few of our resident Raptor Ambassadors. FREE, 10-1p, The Bird Rescue Center, 3430 Chanate Road, our physical location is on County Farm Dr., Santa Rosa, 707- 523-2473, birdrescuecenter.org
Jul 11 ~ The Bat Lady - Meet bats and learn about their value. FREE, 11-12p, Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, 707- 869-9004, sonomacounty.libcal.com
Jul 14, Aug 4 ~ Volunteer Workday - Critical post-fire restoration work. Volunteer, RSVP required, 8:30-12p Pepperwood Preserve, 2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Dwight Center, Santa Rosa, 707- 591-9310, pepperwoodpreserve.org
Jul 23 - Jul 28 ~ Point Reyes Adventure Camp II - Backpacking camp for youth in grades 10 - 12, 415-663-1200, ptreyes. org, summercamp@ptreyes.org
Aug 1 ~ Russian River Chamber of Commerce Mixer - Meet Clean River Alliance staff, volunteers and tour the park, Downtown Guerneville by the footbridge. 5:30-7:30p, 707-322-8304
Stewards of the Coast Stewards Office, 17020 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville
Jul 4,11,18,25, Aug 1,8 ~ Wellness Walks - Enhance Physical and Mental Well-being. FREE, 10-11a, Armstrong Woods
Jul 14 ~ Pond Farm Docent Led Tours - Learn the history of this cultural site. $16 members, $20 non-members, 9:30-12p, Stewards Office
Jul 15 ~ Exploring the Intertidal Zone Field Seminar - Lively session of tidepool exploration. $16 members, $20 non-members, Children FREE, 8-12p
Jul 22 ~ Forest Bathing Walk - Explore the health benefits. $16 - $20 non-members, 10-12p, Armstrong Redwoods SNR
Jul 28 ~ PR/AED Training - Certification is valid for 2 years & meets AHA research guidelines and infant components. 9-11:30a
Sugarloaf State Park sugarloafpark.org 2605 Adobe Canyon, Kenwood, 707-833-5712
Jul 7, Aug 4 ~ Healthy Parks - Healthy People - First Saturday Hike. FREE; 10-12p
Jul 14 ~ Yoga Hike - Breath work and guided meditation. $20, Includes parking if registered online, 9:30-12p
Jul 28 ~ ParkRx - Forest Therapy walk - Maximize the health benefits and stress reduction. $0-$20, 9:30-12:30p
The Sonoma Sea Gull Scene
their personal boundaries boldly and loudly. This will attract his mate, and together they will choose a nest site, usually on a large offshore rock or sea stack.” They choose their nest site by walking around gagging in different places. If they both gag in the same spot, this is where they decide to build the nest. The female lays 2 or 3 eggs in this nest. Both the male and female will brood the eggs and the young chicks for several weeks. The speckled eggs are camouflaged in the nest. The chicks are also camouflaged against their rocky environment with speckling.
By Lisa Hug
We all like to go to the beach on a hot summer’s day. We also associate a
day at the beach with the presence of “seagulls.” When I was a child growing up in Ohio my family would occasionally go to Lake Erie in the summer. I always felt like I was in a really exotic place because I was surrounded by ‘seagulls.”
As these chicks grow, they get too big to sit passively in the nest. They trample it to shreds as they compete for food and flap their wings to strengthen them for flight. They often will play together with chicks from surrounding nests. They will play “tug-of-war” with sticks that they find, toss feathers around and chase each other about. Play is a sign of intelligence, and these gulls are very smart. They recognize human faces. Biologists that studied Western Gulls on the Farallon Islands in the 1970s and 1980s found that they could get gulls to react differently to them, by wearing different masks in their presence.
I say “seagull” in quotes because there really is no such thing as a “seagull.” There are lots of different kinds of gulls – just gulls, without the “sea.” In fact any time we go to the beach, we may encounter any one of about 10 different kinds of gulls in this area. We have California Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and even Iceland Gulls. But the real characters of the Central California Coast are the Western Gulls.
In Bodega Harbor, each channel marker will have its own nest. The Western Gulls choose sea stacks offshore and channel markers as nesting sites to protect the chicks from predators. If they nested on the mainland, they would be vulnerable to coyotes, bobcats, foxes and other predators.
Sure, these gulls can be annoying. They
can steal foods from your picnic table
when you are not looking. They can leave
unsightly droppings on your car –seemingly always right in the center of your windshield. And, they can be very noisy. But, what would a trip to the beach be without all the gulls around? I know I would be bored without them.
The next time you go to the ocean in the summer, check out the Western Gull nests on all the rocks offshore. They are very amusing. They are easiest to observe from Bodega Head.
Western Gulls are characterized by their very large size. Their back is very dark gray and their legs are bright pink. Their light brown eyes are encircled with thin, red, eye rings. Most of the other kinds of gulls that visit our area are smaller and lighter gray.
Western Gulls typically live about 13 years, and start breeding when they are about 5 years old. Most birds will mate for life. In early spring, the males strut around their territories with their heads held high, advertising
60 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 7/18
NATURE CALENDAR cont’d in page 61