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Old Point Reyes Schoolhouse Homework Report
by Karen Gray
April, 2006 - I am delighted to announce that springtime is blanketing the rolling hills and ranch lands, the sand dunes and woodlands of Point Reyes. A spectacular wildflower bloom is coming on strong. Scenic Coast Route One is edged in brilliant California poppies as it winds its way past the Schoolhouse Compound and up along Tomales Bay.
The pasturelands along the way are that verdant green that just knocks your socks off. Wild mustard and radish, blue-eyed grass, buttercups, pink mallow and bright orange indian paint brush are all appearing on the roadsides. The buds are setting on the buckeye trees. Soon their lacy candles of cream colored blooms will perfume the watercourses. The coast live oak are in flower sending out clouds of rich yellow pollen on the wind.
On the Old Point Reyes Schoolhouse Compound the songbirds have returned to build their nests in the gardens: western tanangers, wrens, finches, sparrows, chickadees and warblers. Hummingbirds are at my feeders in contentious groups. The regular pair of mocking birds is back to nest along with their cousins the blue jays. The flycatchers are back. The red shouldered hawks returned to their nest in my cypress trees this winter for the 30th year (,,,that I have lived here. They've probably been returning for as long as the trees have been mature - maybe 100 years.) Their young are now soaring over the Compound calling. The kestrel is back on the wire hunting the grassy hillside next to the gardens. I am still waiting for the pair of kites to arrive. The colony of large eared bats behind the barn doors is doing fine. The great horned owls also returned to their nest in the cypress trees over the barn. Their soft midnight hooting is newly mingled with the call of coyote across the road in the hills of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Pairs of Canada geese are flying over the Schoolhouse Compound daily on their way to Tomales Bay.
Nearer to the ground the long-thwarted honey bees are hard at work around the blossoms of the herbs and fruit trees. What a long rainy season it's been for them. The Schoolhouse chickens are laying again after their molt. My new rooster is passionately persuing his destiny now, beginning to crow long before sunrise. (Anyone who tells you they can sex chicks is engaged in wishfull thinking. Mine were all supposed to be hens.) A new batch of garter snakes is hunting the gardens and sunning on the path midday. The grass on the hill is so tall and lush that the grazing deer are nearly lost from view in the twilight. They have a fawn or two in tow. The California quail dash furtively over the ground through the hedgerow, wary of the cat who lives next door and hunts gophers in the grass.
Further afield, pairs of osprey are settled on their large nests with young and fishing Tomales Bay. Small calves and lambs are out on the hillsides with their herds. Road cyclists are also out in herds, their brightly colored costumes contrasted against the pastoral landscape as they pedal their way over long distances in the sunshine.
Sunshine. Warmth. Longer days. Starry nights. It's springtime. Let the celebration begin!
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