Snowy Plover docent adventures at Abbotts Lagoon
On August 6, the day’s Snowy Plover Docent assignment was at Abbotts Lagoon Trailhead. I was joined by veteran docents, Joan and Heather, and a new docent, Liz. Heather is also a volunteer for Trail Patrol so she set off on the trail as our first roaming docent. We forgot to bring the table from the storage area so Joan went back to Bear Valley headquarters for it. That left Liz and I to greet visitors and talk about snowy plovers. Besides answering questions about plovers, we got questions about the trail, requests for directions, and other general questions such as where is the best place to spot a bobcat. As luck would have it for the person asking, Abbotts Lagoon pastures are a great place to spot a bobcat!
Many visitors reported seeing the Abbotts Lagoon river otters but the best story was about Megan Isadore who runs the River Otter Ecology Project. She was at the lagoon with a group earlier in the morning and one of the otters came right up to her. She is clearly loved by the otters!
Matt Lau, the program director stopped by to check in and gave us an update on plover statistics — it’s shaping up to be one of the best years in recent history for plovers: 22 chicks had fledged and another 8-11 were on the beach as of August 5.
Around noon, I headed out on the trail to have lunch in my usual spot, perched at the top of the hill overlooking the lagoon. The seaside buckwheat had mostly dried up and the bumble bees that had feasted on their flowers in July were mostly gone as well. I had a great view of birds on the lagoon.
I continued out to the beach, talking to visitors along the way about snowy plovers and just saying “hello”. On my way back, I stopped at the vibrant yellow gumplants which were flowering like mad and covering the area near the lagoon bridge. I was looking for bumble bees and bugs but was thrilled with what I saw — a Point Reyes Silverspot butterfly! I got a video and some photos and then I left the butterfly at peace to enjoy gathering nectar.
A few feet away on the bridge I looked down and noticed a river otter resting in the water near the shore crunching something loudly enough to get my attention. Here’s a short video of the noisy eating otter. It’s always a good day when I see an otter at Abbotts Lagoon (or really anywhere!) I pointed the otter out to a couple of nearby families who were thrilled to see it.
As I headed back to the trailhead, I got my third treat of the day - a single Elegant Rein Orchid blooming along the trail. The tunnel-like area after the bridge where the bank is high on the right side of the trail seems to have many beautiful flowers. I’ve spotted Checker Lily in this area in the spring. Keep your eyes open here for special flowers.
I returned to the trailhead and finished out the day. Altogether, docents had spoken to more than 200 visitors. It was a good day.
