Respect Tomales Bay – East shore roadside update

Click the words above “Respect Tomales Bay – Eastshore roadside update” to view this entire post.

The last update of this sort from 13 March may be found here.

Almost 3 months has passed with lots of interesting itmes to share.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

The capsized boat first reported here is still laying upside-down, leaking who knows what else into the bay.

As of 25 March, still laying there in the bay. Behind the first house south of Hog Island Oysters. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

As of 25 March, still laying there in the bay. Behind the first house south of Hog Island Oysters.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

On the weekend of 9-10 April, Grassy Point pullout was filled to capacity with these cars. When I stopped to clean up the area, I sadly discovered someone had tossed two live ochre starfish into the road. Both were now quite dead. Starfish have been hammered by a virus the past few years all up and down the Pacific Coast and are only recently starting to rebound.

.

Grassy Point filled to capacity all weekend. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Grassy Point filled to capacity all weekend.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Dead Pisaster starfish tossed into the road. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Dead Pisaster starfish tossed into the road.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Another dead Pisaster starfish tossed into the road. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Another dead Pisaster starfish tossed into the road.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Yes, that is a "disposable diaper" in the foreground. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Yes, that is a “disposable diaper” in the foreground.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Local opinion ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Local opinion
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Between the almost always open and overflowing dumpsters at Tony’s Seafood

11 April, 2016 Tony's Seafood Garbage bins ©Richard James - coastodian.org

11 April, 2016 Tony’s Seafood Garbage bins
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

11 April, 2016 Tony's Seafood Garbage bins ©Richard James - coastodian.org

11 April, 2016 Tony’s Seafood Garbage bins
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

And the dumpster at Nick’s Cove (AKA Miller Boat Launch) seen here on 31 May , also almost always open and overflowing, there is no end of food to attract ravens and gulls to scatter trash everywhere. I am told by County Parks that residents of Tomales and Marshall have been caught dumping household trash in these bins more than once. Full bins mean fishermen make an even bigger mess on the weekend, some of which is blown back into the bay. Please Respect This Place.

Dumspter at Nick's was so full, after it was emptied, this remained. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Dumspter at Nick’s was so full, after it was emptied, this remained.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Dumspter at Nick's was so full, after it was emptied, this remained. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Dumspter at Nick’s was so full, after it was emptied, this remained.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Sloppy filleting  of a halibut, left to attract coons and ravens.

Sloppy filleting of a halibut, left to attract coons and ravens.

.

Here is Nick’s launch dumpster the following weekend

Dumpster at Nick's on Saturday morning 4 June. County man called in to get it picked up to make room, no truck came, more trash dumped on the ground. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Dumpster at Nick’s on Saturday morning 4 June. County man called in to get it picked up to make room, no truck came, more trash dumped on the ground.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

Each weekend I pick up the area around the boat launch, sometimes twice. Often I see fishermen unloading all they brought with them which they no longer want, carrying it to the small dumpster. The dumpster that is almost always overflowing, often with countless aluminum beer and soda cans. Last weekend I saw one such man carry at least 25 beer cans over to throw away. “Hi, you know you could take those home and recycle them” I offered. His gait steady, his tired voice replied “I know all about aluminum cans, I work in a can factory”. “Then you know how much electricity is required to make a new can?” Puzzled look. “The more electricity we use, the more CO2 we dump into the atmosphere, the more acidic the ocean becomes, the less fish you have to catch”. Blank stare as he dumps the entire bag of cans onto the over-filled bin, some of them spilling onto the ground as he turns and walks back to his boat. And so it goes…

.

Roadside fishermen still have no respect for the Bay they love to visit.

9 June, Roadside fishermen still leaving lots of trash, bait boxes and now boxes of kindling. They are burning treated wood, no wonder their judgement is impaired. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

9 June, Roadside fishermen still leaving lots of trash, bait boxes and now boxes of kindling. They are burning treated wood, no wonder their judgement is impaired.
©Richard James – coastodian.org


How about we ban fires along this stretch? Bob, is that something you could get rolling? From what I have seen, there is a high correlation between those that build fires and those that leave a mess.

.

Grassy Point visitors seem determined to out-disgust the roadside fishermen at Tony’s.

31 May, Some visitors burned pallets full of nails on the bank above the bay, leaving hundreds of nails and the remains of their bottles they seem to have tried to BBQ. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

31 May, Some visitors burned pallets full of nails on the bank above the bay, leaving hundreds of nails and the remains of their bottles they seem to have tried to BBQ.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

Today (10 June) I stopped by to pick up Grassy Point and found a very large, fresh pile of human excrement deposited on the beach below the wide spot. When I say on the beach, I should say in the bay, as it was well below the high water mark covered with strips of brown cardboard stained a different shade of brown. Whoever left the portable BBQ box along with the rest of their picnic items scattered about seems to have disassembled the box to use as TP.

Worry not, no photos were recorded, but I did scrape it up best I could and pack it out.

Please Respect This Place.

Three images of beauty to remind us why we all need to be mindful of how we treat our planet, as well as sometimes gently remind those around us to do the same.

Dunlin ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Dunlin
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Marbled Godwit ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Marbled Godwit
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Brown Pelican in ground effect. ©Richard James - coastodian.org

Brown Pelican in ground effect.
©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Respect our Tomales Bay” here.

See other posts featuring The Birds of Tomales Bay here.

Save our Tomales Bay – 42 East shore roadside trash update

Click on the words above “Save our Tomales Bay – 42 East Shore Potpourri” to see this entire post

Tomales Bay is so beautiful, people come from all over to enjoy it in a variety of ways.

South of Tony’s Seafood is a popular spot with the roadside fishing crowd. Read past posts on this here and here.

They seem to have improved their habits lately and are packing out most of what they bring with them.

But some are still in need of some education on how to respect a place as special as Tomales Bay

©Richard james - coastodian.org bottle empty, why recycle it when you can smash it on the shore of this gorgeous bay.

©Richard james – coastodian.org
bottle empty, why recycle it when you can smash it on the shore of this gorgeous bay.

.
As always, click on an image to see a larger version of it.

Further north is a place the wind-surfing crowd calls Grassy Point.

Windy days you can see some high speed surfing near here.

Unfortunately, some people seem to think that once they are finished consuming a beverage or meal, or engaging in other activities, all they have to do is toss anything they don’t want along the shore of the very beauty that brought them here.

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org These two were responsible up to a point.

©Richard James – coastodian.org
These two were responsible up to a point.

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org Such respect for so beautiful a place as Tomales Bay.

©Richard James – coastodian.org
Such respect for so beautiful a place as Tomales Bay.

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org Cormorants and Pelicans resting, keeping warm

©Richard James – coastodian.org
Cormorants and Pelicans resting, keeping warm

.

Back to the road south of Tony’s, we see more of the same

©Richard James - coastodian.org

©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org

©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Further north, just above Hamlet we find where some thirsty motorists decided to change the spark plugs in their ride. Too bad they felt the need to dump their trash along the shore of beautiful Tomales Bay.

©Richard James - coastodian.org That ramen cup below the orange cone was home to a sleeping garter snake I rudely awoke. My first snake sighting of 2016 and a very early start to spring. I declare it spring upon seeing my first snake in the wild.

©Richard James – coastodian.org
That ramen cup below the orange cone was home to a sleeping garter snake I rudely awoke. My first snake sighting of 2016 and a very early start to spring. I declare it spring upon seeing my first snake in the wild.

.

IMG_3290

.

Tomales Bay brings me much joy, that is why I spend so much time cleaning up the messes I find made by others. I show respect for something I cherish.
Seeing what I’ve shown you above, ask yourself, “What can I do to protect this place that brings me joy?”

Let’s end this post on a more upbeat, beautiful note with some close-ups of a juvenile hermit thrush hopping on the rocks in search of food at Nick’s boat ramp.

Don’t for a second think I knew that it was a hermit thrush, much less a juvenile.

I am a bird enthusiast, not a birder.

One of a cadre of experts I rely upon, Keith Hansen clued me in to the species, as well as the pale-tipped upper wing covers of a juvenile hermit thrush.

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org

©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org

©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

©Richard James - coastodian.org

©Richard James – coastodian.org

.

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – Request for boaters to remove ice plant from Tom’s Point

Hello all,

In my travels around Tomales Bay monitoring and removing the trash (most of it new and legacy oyster farming trash), I have come across several large plots of invasive ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis) that need to be removed.

Plan to put your boat in at Nick’s Cove (AKA Miller Boat Launch) and paddle north a little over 2 miles to the southern shore of Tom’s Point.

Folks from Audubon Canyon Ranch will meet us there with bags and gloves and lunch!

We’ll spend a few hours pulling out as much of this plant as we can, break for lunch, then work a little longer to wait for the flood tide to help us back to Nick’s.

Date TBD, it will be on a weekend. Likely late June or July after the 4th.

IMG_5338.crop.cc.cw

Bring

$5 to pay for your parking permit
Clothing to wear while onshore, pulling plants
– long sleeve shirt, long pants, hat
light hiking shoes
sunscreen
water
snacks

Please write to express interest [richard@coastodian.org].

Once a firm date has been selected, I’ll contact all interested parties with details.

.

IMG_5162.crop.cc

Views of Tomales Bay, bobcat butt and tennis balls

Click on the title of this post to read it and see a related header image.

After the sad event of the first day of the year, I took my boat up to Nick’s Cove and went for a paddle.

As I walked around picking up trash on a tiny Tomales Point beach, I turned a corner and found myself 20 feet from a small bobcat with it’s back to me, tearing apart a hawk it had just killed. Another hawk on the ground nearby lifted off, leaving me with the wind and a hungry cat that did not know I was near. I dropped down and began quickly to pull my camera from its’ bag. Not quickly enough. The cat turned and proceeded to stare right through me.

For a moment I thought it was going to come after me. Its’ eyes were fixed on me. Each with a dark black iris, ringed by bright yellow. Two black moons transiting two bright suns. A pair of solar eclipses. Both locked on me as it stood over the kill, feathers pasted to its’ chin and face. It seemed to wonder for a brief moment if I were prey or predator. I wondered, too.

All the while, I kept sliding my camera up and out as I asked in my mind for it to hang around for picture or two.

It was having none of this. Dropping its’ head, it grabbed the bird in sharp teeth, gave me one last icy stare and quickly turned to slide up the steep brush covered hill.

Upon walking a few hundred meters north, plucking plastic off the beach, I found three other large piles of feathers. I now call this beach, Bobcat buffet beach.

Bobcat butt

Bobcat butt

Kayak loaded with plastic

Kayak loaded with plastic

Kayak loaded with plastic

Kayak loaded with plastic

Marbled godwit near Walker Creek

Marbled godwit near Walker Creek

Hog Island behind  narcissus

Hog Island behind narcissus

Narcissus covering a hillside on Tomales Point. In January!

Narcissus covering a hillside on Tomales Point. In January!

Brant on the wing, Tomales Bay

Brant on the wing, Tomales Bay

Here are some images from a different paddle from Chicken Ranch nearly to Point Reyes itself during a high tide.

Great egret

Great egret

Bufflehead

Bufflehead

Brown pelican and some gulls at the club

Brown pelican and some gulls at the club

Lone pintail

Lone pintail

The dacha

The dacha

One days' haul. There was much more, this was all that would fit on my tiny kayak. That is my new spare paddle, with my new pet decoy pintail behind it.

One days’ haul. There was much more, this was all that would fit on my tiny kayak. That is my new spare paddle.

Mickey Mouse lawn sprinkler, pintail and two sandals atop oyster grow-out bag. I thought I had snuck up on the bird so I made a picture. Only when I had a look on my camera did I realize I'd been duped. Not the first time.

Mickey Mouse lawn sprinkler, pintail and two sandals atop oyster grow-out bag. I thought I had snuck up on a live bird so I made a picture. Only when I had a look on my camera did I realize I’d been duped. Not the first time.

Nearly fifty tennis balls and only one shotgun shell found. Maybe it is not the duck hunters we need to worry about. Rather, those renegade tennis players. I traded that new quart of 20-50 for a dozen kumamotos. Yum!

Nearly fifty tennis balls and only one shotgun shell found. Maybe it is not the duck hunters we need to worry about. Rather, those renegade tennis players. I traded that new quart of 20-50 motor oil for a dozen kumamotos. Yum!

Speaking of tennis balls, I picked out the best tennis balls from the pile I have gathered over the past 3 years and brought 500 to the humane society of Novato for their guests. That’s right, 500. I likely have another 300-400 in poor shape. They were very happy to get them and assured me they would not let them get into a creek, nor the ocean. After telling them of the large number of irresponsible, sometimes very hostile dog owners that run their dogs off leash at Point Reyes, especially in endangered Snowy Plover habitat, they also assured me that they teach responsible dog ownership at the humane society.

I am told there are about two thousand snowy plovers left along the Pacific coast, perhaps five thousand world-wide. Five thousand! According to the humane society web site, there are approximately 78.2 million owned dogs in the United States. The beaches of Point Reyes are one of the few places where Snowy Plovers attempt to breed and keep their numbers from reaching zero.

Unconditional love. Isn’t that a big reason why humans “own” a pet? Coming home to a face happy to see you no matter what. Who can argue with that? Well, think of all the love and appreciation of those plovers, humans and other species that come after us for keeping one more species from becoming extinct. Ceasing to exist.

I am well aware that not a single dog in the West Marin area chases birds. Their owners have told me so, again and again. But, when people from out of the area bring their pets here and see the locals running their well-behaved dogs off-leash, guess what? That’s right, lots of paws and noses scurrying over the sand. The same sand that is home to precious few endangered plover nests for a few months each year. Nests so tiny and well hidden, neither you nor your dog would know you just stepped on it.

Three Western Snowy Plover eggs in a scrape (nest)

Three Western Snowy Plover eggs in a scrape (nest)

Many, if not all of us out here are here for the beauty of the place. Please try to enjoy that beauty in a non-destructive way that all of us, humans, as well as non-domesticated critters included can live with.

A link to the rules regarding pets at Point Reyes National Seashore can be found here.

I am off to go visit my five pet white sharks now. They prefer to live in the sea, off-leash. We have a long-distance relationship that is working so far. I love them out there, knowing they are being sharks. And they love me here on land, trying to not destroy the place quite so quickly as many humans seem hell-bent on doing.