Peter James Fullagar: Hope Creek and Ten Taypo Trails

Heermann's Gull

Early in the morning at least 20 American Robins are on the lawn outside the cabin. Some keenly feeding on the berries of a shrub but most are working the lawns as all good thrushes would. The robin I capture on the following picture is obviously a youngster - a bird of the year.

Today we are off to the redwood forests going south of Crescent City into Humboldt County. We head down highway 101 with, of note, only a small party of 10-15 Band-tailed Pigeon crossing the road just before the Klamath River and several Ospreys spotted along the Klamath including a very conspicuous nest site at the top of a dead conifer.

Black-tailed (Mule) Deer stag in velvet

We go S on the highway then backtrack up on the Newton B Drury scenic parkway to the Elk Prairie Visitor Centre where we see half a dozen Mule (Black-tailed) Deer and 4 Elk – all at close range. A party of Vaux’s Swifts with a few Barn Swallows swoop to a fro across the relatively small clearing of prairie grassland near the Visitor Centre.

We decide to walk the Hope Creek Trail and the ajoining Ten Taypo Trail through old growth and regrowth Redwood forests with other conifers including Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce more prominent towards the back of our loop. Silent and majestic. Massive old butts and many forms of regrowth from them. Lots of signs of fire and may fireboxes. Huge trees with great stature in many cases.

Tracey counting tree rings on a felled Sequoia with the help of James

Along the Ten Taypo trail

Evidence of past forest fire

Dung-like fungus

Very little seen but Tracey claims almost constant calling from the canopy of high pitched sounds that might have been kinglets but could possibly have been insect noises. Inaudible to me! I can see nothing but we do come across a small feeding party in a moist gully that seemed to be two Pacific-slope Flycatchers and a Wrentit. No woodpeckers, thrushes, chickadee, wrens or nuthatches – and certainly no parulid warblers. Three birds and an unidentified chipmunk constitute absolutely all I note in 3.5 hours of walking these trails. Very dull on that score. On the return drive I see a Red-shouldered Hawk on a post in a meadow alongside the road just N of Klamath.

Another large Banana Slug

Sequoia sempervirens

We return to Crescent Beach carpark off Enderts Beach Road for a short stroll along the tideline and I find some groups of Heermann’s Gull, about 20 Whimbrel of the dark rump subspecies that I am reminded occur in N America; 4 Pacific Golden Plover, still pretty much in summer plumage, and a small party of 10-15 Sanderlings, all at the strandline. That pretty much sums up the day.