"As autumn leaves turn to red and gold, we’ll walk slowly through oak and riparian woodlands wandering, watching, and wondering. Monarch butterflies, sphinx moths, and native bees will be flitting, hovering, and nectaring. Trees and shrubs will be adorned with fruits, nuts, seeds, and exotic galls. Squirrels will be flying through the air or dashing into burrows, and woodrats will be resting quietly in their mansions until dark.
We’ll see dragonflies and damselflies actively patrolling the river for insects and mates, while lizards, spiders, and antlions quietly wait for their prey to come to them. We might see beavers, mink, otter, and dippers plying the Eel’s lovely pools, as migratory birds fuel up for migration in the willows. Bear scat will be everywhere, filled with manzanita berries and apples, and acorn woodpeckers will be pounding acorns into trees, getting a head start on their winter food supply."
Instructor:
Kate Marianchild is the author of Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks (Heyday, 2014). This award-winning bestseller, now in its 8th printing, is an engaging and beautifully illustrated romp through California’s most life-filled ecosystem. With passion, humor, and scientific accuracy, Kate profiles the behaviors, social structures, anatomical marvels, and interrelationships of twenty-two plants and animals commonly seen among California’s oaks.
Kate lives in a yurt near Ukiah, California surrounded by six kinds of oak and abundant wildlife. When she is not giving talks, guiding walks, or observing natural phenomena, she swims, sings, and advocates for the preservation of native plants and the myriad lives they support. To read about and/or purchase signed copies of her book, close-focus binoculars, and oak identification guides, go to katemarianchild.com.
Kate with friend.
