I’ve spent several days scanning the Overlook Trail and Montini Preserve properties for the invasive Yellow starthistle (YST). Although it’s still early in its season, it’s clear that it has essentially been eradicated from these two properties. I will still be looking for it this season and next, but I’ve pulled so little so far it seems nearly pointless. After over a decade of fighting this scourge, I expected to be able to celebrate this major accomplishment.
But I can’t.
Enjoy the wildflowers on the trail. . .and identify them! The Hikers Gallery at the kiosk has the Spring/Summer wildflowers in bloom pictured with their names. Thank you Dan Noreen and Roy Tennant for putting up this display.
You guessed it, yet another invasive species post. You can check out right now if this doesn’t appeal. I would be the last person to fault you for it. For those of us who do it, we recognize it as the obsession that it is. We don’t expect anyone else to be so afflicted Like, EVER.
If you’re still here, this is what’s happening. I’m laser-focused on pulling all of the Yellow Starthistle I can possibly find, as it is blooming now, and racing into seed. And yet we have a window of opportunity to make a serious dent in it this season. We are down to just some areas along Norrbom Road, and after hitting it hard last year, the impact is very evident. I’m finding much less than last year in these areas.
This affords us the opportunity, for the first time ever, of potentially pulling every single plant we see.
That’s why I’m fired up, and going out there every day I can, and pulling every single plant that I can, no matter how small. Because that’s how you reach your goal. Because that’s what it takes to completely eradicate an invasive species from 200 acres of public lands.
If you can’t do what’s required to come in hot, then you have no business taking this on in the first place. Just trust me on that.
We are thoroughly in snake season now, with rattlesnake sightings up dramatically this year. That news made me dismayed that I had yet to see a single one, despite being on the trail (and off) every day. All that changed today, when I saw two in one place (see photo). One appeared to be my old friend “Big Jo(e)”, which has a characteristic dark coloring and at least ten rattles. The other snake was new to me, with a distinct greenish hue and also a large number of rattles. It is the one coiled in the picture. I guess now I have to come up with another name!
The location where they were sighted was off the trail to the left when going up Holstein Hill trail, just prior to the wide wheelchair turnaround spot, also called “Coyote Point.” Since one snake subsequently slid into a crevice in the rock wall, it’s possible that there is a den there, so be extra careful in that area.
Meanwhile, keep your eyes open anywhere on these properties and stay safe out there!
Sonoma Overlook Trail • Montini Open Space Preserve 