Mt Tamalpais & Mill Valley Air Force Station
November 1, 2023
(37.9235° N, 122.5965° W)
Elevation = 2571 feet
https://ebird.org/checklist/S153866942
https://ebird.org/checklist/S153561239
Site Description:
Mt Tamalpais, also known as Mt Tam, is beautiful mountain in Marin. It is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, and is filled with shrubs, grasslands, chaparral, and trees. Something that stood out to me was the amount of serpentine soil that’s present. Due to the serpentine soil which lacks nutrients, the trees at Mt Tam tend to mature at only a few feet tall. The weather was pretty cold at first but then it gradually got warmer. The views from the top were beautiful.
Species Account:
Acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Acorn woodpeckers are medium sized birds that have a straight bill beak, red patch of feathers on their head, and are black and white all around. The can often be seen clinging onto trees and pecking, all while using their tail for support. The thing that stood out to me was their call, they sounded like they were laughing, like a clown, as Professor Paul said. It’s interesting how most websites consider them to have clown faces. In terms of distinguishing male and female birds, males tend to have a red cap, while females tend to have black caps, with the red only being on the back of their head. So, the bird in the photo I’ve included above is male, just like the one we saw on our trip. In terms of behavior, they tend to live in groups, and hoard and wedge acorn into holes which they make in tree trunks. The tree which we saw the bird on had multiple holes on it, which is actually one of the reasons we were looking at the tree, as that was a sign that the bird was there. It kept pecking at the tree without stopping which honestly was admirable, they are hard working birds. In summary, they are bark foragers that tend to eat insects, nest in cavities, and live in open woodlands. Something cool is that they don’t build nests in these cavities, but that the digging causes wood chips to develop and collect at the bottom of the cavity, providing the needed support for their eggs.
Narrative:
I was pretty excited to go to Mt Tam, mostly because I knew the view would be amazing, but also because me and Fiza always call Tammy Mt Tam so we knew she wouldn’t stop hearing us call her that today haha. The ride to Mt Tam was pretty bumpy, me and Fiza and Tammy kept getting thrown around in the back but it was fine because it felt like being on a roller coaster. The drive there involved driving through a forrest of some sort, which was kind of cool because there wasn’t much sunlight that was getting through the trees and it caused the place to look kind of whimsical and dark. Once we parked, I noticed that it was cold and that I was the only one who didn’t bring my jacket. At first I was worried but thankfully it got warmer by the minute so it ended up being fine. Right off the bat I noticed how there were MANY Steller’s Jay, which was cool as I don’t ever remember seeing that many. There were also huge groups of passenger pigeons, which threw me off because I’ve never seen that many up close. We then went to another part of Mt Tam which was cool because we saw lizards and another nice view. We also got to take a class selfie which was cute!
Sources:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Acorn_Woodpecker/lifehistory
https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/mount-tamalpais