Clear weather and mild temperatures brought 20 participants to the 10 Bridges and Salt Creek field trip led by David Ledger on this Saturday morning. The ¾-mile 10 Bridges Trail, from Sunflower Drive to the Sacramento River Trail, is a wide trail with a slightly steep climb on the return trip. Primarily oak woodland, there was considerable buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus) and yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum), and scattered toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). The Salt Creek Trail, which we accessed a short distance upstream from the Sacramento River Trail, is fairly rough and narrow in a riparian area and follows a shaded north face, where we found considerable goldback fern (Pentagramma triangularis), maidenhair fern (Adiantum jordanii), and a few liverworts (Asterella californica).
Photo by John Sears
On this field trip, we concentrated on learning some common plants and birds that reside in the greater Redding area. The plants included buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus), whiteleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida), yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum), mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides), blue oak (Quercus douglasii), interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni), knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata), gray pine (Pinus sabiniana), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), among others. While these plants were well known to many CNPS members, many others did not know them. As a bonus, we found two hoptrees (Ptelea trifoliata) that were leafing out.
Asterella californica.
Photo by Ren Redlich.
Photo by Ren Redlich.
Blooming plants included Pacific hound’s-tongue (Adelinia grandis), gumweed (Grindelia camporum), wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), and a few redbud (Cercis occidentalis), but little else. However, we saw many other plants just waiting for warmer weather to break out in bloom. This will be an excellent area to walk in mid to late March, when the wildflowers should be near peak bloom.
Photo by Ren Redlich.
Photo by Ren Redlich.
Combining birding with identifying plants was difficult, but we did see California Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, Red-tailed Hawk, Anna’s Hummingbird, Oak Titmouse, Western Scrub Jay, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, House Finch, Wrentit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dark-eyed Junco, and Western Bluebird. Thanks to George Horn for leading the birding, and to John Sears and Ren Redlich for taking many photographs.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the field trip, the camaraderie, and the scenic creek views. We only had to dodge a few mountain bikes and five or six runners. Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable walk. ~David Ledger