Colorful Berries . . .
Posted on January 4th, 2008 by SabrinaSaxon
Alot of colorful berries remain long into winter and brighten the roadsides: Bright red sprays of Cotoneasters originally from China and the Himalayas have a light fuzz on the small oval leaves; Orange pyracantha, known as firethorns, originally from China and the Mediterranean, have small shiny oval leaves and large needlelike thorns on the stems. The native Toyon has long sprays of leathery looking red berries with large oval leaves. All provide a source of food for overwintering birds though the pyracantha does sicken birds, they can become intoxicated by the berries and then injured.
Northern elephant seals are on schedule though Pacific gray whales are not! The first seal pup on the Headlands was born December 19 in comparison with December 19th in 2006 and December 16 in 2005. Immatures and yearlings seal are the most common on the beaches about 55% of the total group. They are easily observed from the Elephant Seal Overlook at Chimney Rock. A few males have also turned up along Drakes Beach closer to the visitor center. Gray whale sitings were few and far between this past weekend as over 700 folks rode the shuttle on New Years Day and watched for whales - the days end count came down to just 4. Some biologists attribute the later traveling of gray whales to thinning ice in the Arctic which exposes more of their food sources - tube dwelling amphipods on the surface of the ocean floor - the whales are lingering longer to eat more.
The rising new moon on January 8 brings a few daylight afternoon low
