Autumn Walk

 

The last couple days have been gorgeous fall days, sunny and warm but not hot. Perfect for having a walk along the North shore of a small lake in the vicinity of "my" lake.

In order to get to the North shore trail I crossed the dam. I saw a dad teaching his little son how to fish while others looked quite comfortable doing their own fishing. I wonder whether this guy caught anything or this was just his way of meditation.

The trail is one of those that I could hike along for hours. 

It offered lots of shade, but also many views of the lake. The birds were busy in the bushes. I heard Northern Flickers up in the trees, the Canada geese on the water (they are so noisy), but the loudest were the Red-winged Blackbirds that were merrily chatting along. It was quite the concert!

I was quite concerned to see so much Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) like in the picture above. It is native to South America, but it has become invasive throughout North America. Unfortunately it can displace native plants and destroy their habitats. We have high amounts of Pampas grass along the slopes at the coast. It's worrying that it has "settled" here as well and I wish the park service would act and remove it before it takes over more of the area. It does look pretty though.

Some parts of the trail were quite rough and rocky.

Of course I was pleased to see crooked trees. The trunk of the Buckeye, a California native, was covered with carved-in letters, but it was also fascinating to see how the tree heals itself. 

Towards the end of the lake there were more and more cattails (Typha). I do like these plants, but they can also be problematic because, although being a native plant they do have the ability to crowd out other native species. It's a rather aggressive spreader.

I was super excited to see a Great Blue Heron behind the cattails and this was the only time I regretted not to have taken my big camera with me (sorry for the bad photo).

When I reached the end of the lake I decided not to do the loop back but go back the same way. This part is less crowded and I eventually found a bench where I could sit, listen to the birds and write in my journal.