Don’s Musings

McCreery Lake Life

Last Saturday I visited Joseph D. Grant Ranch County Park. I started my short hike in Grant ranch near Grant Lake, took the Lakeview Trail to McCreery Lake, and then circled back. McCreery Lake is teaming with life this time of year. On the lake you’ll find ducks, turtles, dragonflies and other insects, while on the banks lizards scurry about, and turkeys are gobbling and strutting around. It’s one of the best places in the south bay to see turtles. Almost every time I visit I find one or two turtles sunning themselves on a large branch that has fallen in the water. You need to be quiet and approach the banks slowly if you want to get a closeup view of the turtles. They are very aware of their surroundings and if you approach noisily, they will quickly jump in the water and submerge.

Calero County Park

On Sunday I made it over to Calero County Park. I hiked up the Los Cerritos Trail past the Los Cerritos pond to the Pena Trail and followed it up towards the Javelina Loop trail. For me, this was quite a steep climb! Whenever you hike in Calero you will encounter equestrians in significant numbers, and this day was no exception. One equestrian woman I talked to near the top of Pena Trail asked me if I found anything interesting to photograph, and I replied with “just some birds and butterflies”. She then told me that around midday on Easter Sunday, she had spotted a mountain lion near the horse trough on the Javelina Loop trail.

Some Goals for the Summer

Ok, this got me to thinking - my pictures of lizards, snakes, horses, flowers and butterflies can be rather boring. But a picture of a mountain lion? Now, that would be rare and interesting. So, I’ve set a new, possibly crazy goal for the spring and summer seasons - I’m going to try take a picture of a mountain lion in one of our south bay parks or preserves. I’m throwing in a secondary goal, since I spend significant time in Grant County Park which has large populations of wild boar, I’m also going to try to get a picture of a boar herd. Now, these may be stupid and/or dangerous goals, but I’ll approach this seriously and do some research before embarking on this effort. I don’t intend to get too close, just close enough to capture a good image through my 300mm lens. I don’t know how successful I’ll be but the effort itself will lead me on some new hikes in new areas, and that alone will make it worthwhile.

Spring and early summer is the mating/nesting season for many of the inhabitants of the South Bay Parks. Turkeys are everywhere, and the males are showing their tail fans to impress the females. Around my neck of the woods, Santa Teresa County Park is a great place to see turkeys. Even closer to home, the “unofficial” Coyote Los Alamitos Canal Trail that runs behind my house in the Santa Teresa Foothills is also a good spot to see the amorous gobblers (more on that unofficial trail below). Here is a Quicktime video of some of these turkeys that I took on the canal trail.

Geese and Ducks are also in the mating mood, and during last weekend’s stroll around Almaden Lake I encountered numerous fowl sitting on eggs. Almaden lake is also a great place to see egrets and other birds. There is a small “bird sanctuary” island in the middle of the small lake, and if you are patient it’s a good place to take pictures of birds in flight as many of them fly frequently between the island and the shore.

Meanwhile, over at the Palo Alto Baylands, the Barn Swallows are busily building mud nests in the rafters of the visitors’ center. It’s quite a sight to see as hundreds of swallows swarm back and forth between the visitors’ center and the mudflats where they gather up the mud used to build their nests. I believe the birds actually swallow and then regurgitate the mud at the nest. See the photo below. If you’ve never seen this spectacle before I strongly

encourage you to visit the Baylands in the next few weeks.

I also want to take a moment here to discuss the unoffical Coyote Los Alamitos Canal Trail. The San Jose

water department has an easment alongside the canal for this land, but most of it is owned by private individuals. The trail is posted with several “no trespassing” signs but if you visit the trail on the weekend you will see that literally hundreds of joggers and bike riders readily ignore them. I’ve found this trail to be a very accessible place to see wildlife. In addition to the turkeys shown in the video link above, I’ve encountered snakes, rabbits, bobcats and hundreds of lizards on my evening walks or bike rides.

There are several reasons often given for why the city has not been able to make this a legal trail. One of the primary reason usually touted is that the residents who live along the

trail value want to preserve their privacy. This is a totally bogus argument since the trail is already heavily used and making it official would assure that it is maintained and patrolled on some regular basis. My backyard is only about 100ft from the trail and I would strongly welcome the city turning it into an official trail that I could enjoy without concern that I am breaking the law.

Ronad Horii has a web page with lots of information about and pictures of the Coyote Los Alamitos Canal trail.