Pasadena Audubon Society
Carrizo Plain Field Trip
The Essentials
A Carrizo Plain Reader
The Essentials
Saturday-Sunday, February 15-16; 8 a.m. Saturday - Noonish Sunday
Birding Leader: Mickey Long
Organizer: Judy Bass, 626 798-7442 before 9:00 p.m., email (preferred) judybass@earthlink.netPossible Sandhill Cranes, Mountain Plover, Mountain Bluebird, lots of raptors including Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks. Definite close-up looks at the San Andreas Fault.
Meet Saturday morning in Maricopa at the intersection of Hwys 166 and 33. Start from Pasadena early Saturday morning, or spend Friday night in Taft or Maricopa (check AAA book for motels). We’ll spend Saturday night at the 13-room California Valley Lodge, with dinner and breakfast at the Lodge. Book by calling Kenny at 805 475-2363.
Please bring FRS radios if you have them. Have a full tank of gas, also lunch, water and snacks for two days when we meet – there are no services on the Plain. Car-pooling is encouraged. Prepare for any kind of weather – hot, cold, windy, etc. Rain will definitely cancel this trip, so please send Judy your phone # for notification the day before if necessary.
A Carrizo Plain Reader
Three Agency Sites with Tons of Information
The All-Inclusive BLM Carrizo Plain National Monument site. Be sure to click all the buttons. Some of the good stuff like the bird list doesn't show up on the main menu. This link to the
Guy L. Goodwin Education Center has current weather [link], road conditions, wildflower and wildlife watching updates.
"The Carrizo Plain, 100 airline miles (160 km) from Los Angeles, is an area by-passed by time. Soda Lake, its centerpiece, is a glistening bed of white salt, set within a vast open grassland, rimmed by steep mountains. The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species, is an area culturally important to Native Americans, and is traversed by the San Andreas fault, which has created and moved mountain ranges, carved valleys and is marked by a subtle alignment of ridges, ravines and pools."
The not-as-informative The Nature Conservancy of California Carrizo Plain Project Overview site.
"In 1988 The Nature Conservancy, along with federal, state and county agencies, recognized the importance of preserving this vast area. The Conservancy’s first purchase was of 82,000 acres from an out-of-state land and oil company. Later, we sold or gave the land to our partner agencies, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the California Department of Fish and Game. Since then, the partners have continued to buy more land, increasing the Carrizo Plain National Monument to 250,000 acres. The three organizations jointly manage the natural area, which was named a national monument on January 17, 2001."
The helpful Sierra Club San Luis Opisbo Carrizo Plain National Monument site
"Pocketed between the coastal ranges of eastern San Luis Obispo County lies the austere, yet inviting, Carrizo Plain. Here in this remote part of California where ravens dip and rise with play of the wind and wildflowers color the hills each spring, it's still possible to look out over hundreds of miles of open space and to watch stars spread across a dark sky. If you're lucky, you may even trade glances with a curious kit fox before she ducks underground."
Birding Reports, What Others Have Seen, When and Where
Rare bird announcements for Kern County, CA
Kern County birding lists birding hot spots with specific road directions and species to be seen
"Taft/Maricopa Area – (LeConte’s thrasher country) Interspersed throughout the saltbush scrub this elusive thrasher can be found early in the morning singing from the tops of the bushes. The best season is spring when the males are most vocal. Several good spots to find the birds are along Kerto Rd., Petroleum Club Rd., and Honolulu Rd."
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory Report from Carrizo Plain and Morro Bay
"Between the waves of rain we managed to get three solid days of birding (February 20-22) in throughout San Luis Obispo county on Friday (scouting), at the Carrizo Plain on Saturday and Morro Bay on Sunday. We totaled 152 species for the weekend. "
Birding America's Birding the Carrizo Plain
"On my recent winter trip, I went back to Carrizo as "a birder". I discovered that when it is really dry, there are no cranes wintering at Soda Lake (which in dry conditions is all soda, and no lake). Give a click for some views of Soda Lake. But I also discovered a wealth of beauty and birdlife. That's Painted Rock above. It provides nest sites for prairie falcons, and its donut shaped interior is covered with native american rock art."
Other Animals and some Plants
Land of the Giants, Kangaroo Rats on the Carrizo Plain; Text and Photography by B. Moose Peterson
Coast Range Plant Communities, see specifically West Side Central Valley Grasslands
An unusual poppy, Eschscholzia rhombipetala, found at Carrizo Plain
Got an extra day? Try these side trips!
The Wallace Creek Interpretive Trail, a geologic guide to the San Andreas Fault plus Self-Guided Geologic Auto Tours Pamphlet all available online
Tom Schweich's
Ecological Sites along California Highway 58Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge
"Bitter Creek Refuge was purchased to preserve and protect foraging habitat for the California condor. The refuge habitat is primarily grasslands with some pinyon pine-juniper community, scrub oak, and Bitter Creek riparian habitat ... Young condors released in California since 1992 occasionally use this important historic area for foraging and roosting."
"The Wind Wolves Preserve is one of the best places in Southern California to observe large mammals, and will soon open to the public on weekends for hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, and camping."
Odd Things You Might Want to Know About
Controversy: MoJo's June Hell Raiser and Why is Roy so upset with the BLM?
Mike Hudak's Photo Gallery of Livestock Production on Western Public Lands showing the envirnomental impacts thereof
Books to Read
Earthquake Country by Frank Iacopi; gives much information about the San Andreas Fault as it cuts throught the Carrizo Plain
In Condor Country by David Darlington; out-of-print, tells about searching for the condors in the days when they were still around
A Key to Vascular Plant Species of Kern County, California, and A Flora of Kern County, California by L. Maynard Moe and Ernest Twisselmann; the Natural History section at the beginning of the Flora is the best geography available; it discusses the landforms, geology and soils, climate and weather as well as the plant communities of Kern County
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URL: http://www.PasadenaAudubon.org/carrizo.html | Email: paudubon@yahoo.com