Blog Posts by Tinman
Here are blogged musings from our volunteers. Depending on how you access this collection, it will include posts about a specific site or about general issues. Click on the title bar of a post in order to open it up.
June 2008: The Mad Sprayer Strikes Again [Edgehill Mt]
Mon, 23 Jun 2008, 6:01pm, Tinman said:
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The ehrharta grass has been remarkably under control this season, perhaps due in part to the aridity of the past few months. The native bunch grasses are doing very well indeed, though, despite the drought.
What was most striking this month was the extensive obliteration of all plant life on the upper slope above the fence:
We first observed this last year, and we’d hoped that this wouldn’t reoccur…but it has. Clearly someone is spraying herbicide over this area, and expending a large amount of time, effort, and money in doing so.
The various potential suspects living at the top of the hill have all denied any involvement, though not everyone has been contacted. It’s hard to see who else might have any reason at all to bother with the area, particularly given how steep and crumbly the slope is. It is quite a challenge just to walk up there, much less lug around heavy spray equipment.
So what’s the harm of spraying there since the upper slope is mostly weeds? Well, there were some native plants (mostly melic grass, but also some wildflowers) that are now dead. And the slope is such a great erosion hazard that denuding it is very bad thing.
The good news is that the Mad Sprayer has consistently stayed above the fence and out of the long-standing park areas where we’ve been working lo these many years. The bad news is that we have no real likelihood of detecting, much less stopping, him. Damn.
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More Bird Reports [Mt Davidson]
Sat, 21 Jun 2008, 5:54am, Tinman said:
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From PaulS, one of Mt D’s most adroit birders:
This morning at Mt. D. I observed 4 juv. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS from 7:30-7:40. The bluebirds, in spotted juv. plumage, first appeared near the utility box at the summit clearing and then proceeded to move around between eucalyptus trees and shrubs in the area of the upper Ravine. They occasionally called while perched. At 7:40, the group took off, circled once, then flew off to the west above the euc forest. This occurrence is unprecedented for the season and location. The 3 prior records of W. Bluebird at Mt. D. involved fly-overs in the late September/October time period (9/01, 10/02, 9/07). While this group of 4 may have recently fledged in the Presidio (assuming nesting has occurred there this year), I’m guessing they were post-nesting dispersers from south or east of SF.
Other observations of local interest:
- Olive-sided Flycatcher 2
- Pac.-slope Flycatcher 1 (called a few times in the “Bowl”)
- Steller’s Jay 1
- Br.-head. Cowbird 1 m., 1 f. (a few show up at Mt. D. around this time very year)
- Lesser Goldfinch 10+
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