Greetings!
Change is in the air. Fall arrives with the Autumnal Equinox on September 23. Butterflies and birds are migrating though the park. Groves around the Bear Valley Visitor Center and at the Point Reyes headlands are busy with twitters, flashes of color, and a steady stream of curious birders. Poison oak offers a bit of crimson to the landscape. While these cycles occur every year, there are always differences too. As the old saying goes, “You can never step in the same river twice.” Every encounter with a river – or the Point Reyes National Seashore – is bound to be different from any you have had before.
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Last Friday, September 13, we celebrated the 57
th anniversary of the date in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy signed the Point Reyes National Seashore Authorization Act. It would be almost two more years before the park would officially be open to visitors, but the eagerness of the public to venture into this amazing land in the months after the signing brought thousands of visitors.
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Tuesday, September 17, marked the anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution in 1789. Here in Bear Valley near the visitor center, 26 people from 16 different countries were sworn in as the newest citizens of the United States. It was a great experience to cheer on these energized and happy people celebrating a new start.
Isn't it time for you to discover something new here? I encourage you to step up to your knees in a new river. In our Field Institute this month, you can get up to speed on learning the autumn birds or you can literally get into the water in a kayak and see the starlit sky reflected by bioluminescent sparkles in the bay. Bring your family camping, ride a horse, get out on a beach at dawn and perhaps see the otters before they head for the hills. And then tell us about it -
share your stories and photos! Happy adventuring.
Yours in the wild,
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Todd Plummer
Development Director
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Coastal Cleanup Day
Saturday, September 21, 10am to 1pm at Drakes Beach
This is a family friendly event. Participants should bring sunscreen, lunch and/or snacks, and their own water bottles, work gloves, and bucket. The PRNSA Bookstore at Drakes Beach sells merchandise and some pre-packaged food and drinks. Please dress in layers and be prepared for cool, coastal conditions. For more information and to register, please contact Fiona O'Kelly by
email
. Registration for single participants or families is optional but recommended. Please register if you will be bringing a group of participants.
More info.
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Young Naturalist Raises Over $5,400 for PRNSA and the Park
Audrey Orum of Mill Valley, California, loves nature and wants to study seals when she is older. She and her family have been visiting and supporting the seashore for years. Audrey had an opportunity earlier this year to spend a few hours observing elephant seals with Sarah Codde, Park Biologist (pictured at left). It changed her life. Check out Audrey's story in our
Seashore Stories
feature below.
Also, as part of a home school project, she is compiling an herbarium of pressed plants that are commonly found around the Clem Miller Environment
al Education Center. When it is finished, Audrey will donate the collection to our library at the Center so that future campers and students can learn from her labeled specimens.
As more youth are standing up for the climate and protecting the environment
, Audrey asked her friends and family to make a gift to PRNSA on her behalf for her Bat Mitzvah.
Incredibly, Audrey’s efforts and outreach to her loved ones resulted in donations in excess of $5,400 to help support our mission.
Audrey, thank you for your dedication and enthusiasm! You are our young steward of the month.
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My Day with a Seal Biologist
by Audrey Orum, Age 12
As we watched, the harbor seal made its way out of the water, sleek, shining, and beautiful. It waddled its way over to another member of the group and lay down, tired from a hard day‘s fish hunting. Hello, my name is Audrey, and recently I had the amazing opportunity to join Point Reyes National Seashore’s marine mammal expert in monitoring the harbor seals in the Bolinas area. This was truly the chance of a lifetime for me, and I saw things I will never forget. I saw a mother seal furiously defending her newborn pup from a flock of seagulls trying to eat its afterbirth. I saw the red harbor seals that can only be seen a few places in the entire world. I saw watchful mothers taking their pups for their first swim, the pups oblivious to the fact that this underwater novelty was soon to be the place where they felt most at home.
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This experience has widened my horizons, and I hope that in the future I will be able to ensure the survival of this beautiful species. I would once again like to thank the Point Reyes staff, especially Sarah. True heroes do not wear capes. True heroes are everyday people with a mission to make a difference in this world.
Harbor Seal photo by Galen Leeds
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Upcoming Field Institute Classes
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Visual Birding Like a Pro!
Saturday, Sept. 21 - 10am - 4pm
Beginning and intermediate birders will learn from PRNSA Nature and Science Educator Jazzy Dingler in the classroom and in field-based instruction during the Fall migration. Fine-tune your observation skills and learn to narrow the possibilities to the most likely species, ultimately pinpointing the correct ID. With time and practice, you too can bird with confidence like a pro!
More Info
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Bioluminescence Tour of Tomales Bay
Tuesday, Sept. 24 - 7pm - 10pm
Join our friends at Blue Waters Kayaking for an evening expedition on Tomales Bay. Traveling in tandem kayaks, Blue Waters' trained naturalists and experienced professional guides we lead us in search of the otherworldly display of bioluminescent dinoflagellates.
More Info
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Light & Color at Point Reyes
Friday, Sept. 27 - Sunday, Sept. 29
Learn how to observe and analyze
different qualities of light and color in nature and how they translate into painting. We will discuss reflected light in shadow, atmospheric color and light, time of day, and break down the behavior of light and water.
Accommodations included at the Historic Lifeboat Station.
More Info
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Every Folk
Clem Miller Environmental Education Center
October 17 - October 20, 2019
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Every Folk
is a three day all-inclusive sleep-away camp for adults to learn fiddle tunes and folk music while also exploring dance, herbalism, craftwork, and food. By practicing these inherited arts and skills, we deepen our connections to the past and build community. The event organizers are independent and not affiliated with PRNSA.
More info.
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Thanks to those of you who have joined our new program. When you join us, you will receive one of our sleek, new reusable tote bags.
Your monthly donation helps sustain our year round conservation and environmental education programs and bring more faces out to the Seashore. Go green and join our rising tide! Become a
High Tide Monthly Supporter
today. It is the easiest, and greenest way to show your love for the park!
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