Late Winter Musings on the Hill

The Beauty of Bare Branches

Winter brings the opportunity to see the structure of certain  trees—the revealed framework of trunks and branches upon which the adornments of foliage and flowers follow in the spring.

Native deciduous trees are the exception in our mild coastal climate.  Unlike the broadleaf forest of the east where the winters are cold, our mild climate with the long dry summers favors broadleaf trees which are evergreen. “Evergreen” is not quite accurate, because though deciduous trees shed all their leaves at once, broadleaf evergreen trees shed and replace leaves gradually. Every leaf on the coast live oak is replaced over a three year period.

In Strawberry Canyon, where greenness persists throughout the year, you have to look to spot the few deciduous trees.  Bigleaf Maples and California Buckeye are two species you can see along Centennial Drive. A Bigleaf Maple has been planted below LHS next to the cattail pond, its pale gray branches a tracery against the winter sky. And next to the lawn, a yellow willow has begun to display the white, soft catkins we called “pussy willows” as kids. Willows manage to find their way to wet spots and are a reliable indicator of the presence of water in our dry land.

The loveliest deciduous tree of all grows along Strawberry Creeks just above the Haas pools—the White Alder (Alnus rhombifolia). Beginning in December, the tree with its horizontal branches, is elegantly decked out with male catkins which dangle from the branches like pendants.

In the Canyon and on the surrounding hills, there are no native conifers. The redwood grove across from the UC Botanical Garden was planted in the 1930s. Coast Redwoods were native in the East Bay Hills only in Redwood Canyon where second-growth trees replace the giants that were logged out in the 1850s. Other conifers like the Monterey pines, Monterey cypress and a variety of north coast conifers were planted over the years, many by the UC Berkeley Forestry Department.

Berry Bacchanal

Nothing brings vitality to the scene quite like a flock of robins and Cedar Waxwings descending on the last of the fall crop of berries. It’s been speculated that they wait until the berries are fermented before beginning their late feast. The high spirits, the jostling for position, the splatter of half-digested fruits does suggest a bacchanal. The smaller elegant waxwings with their swept-back crest and black mask are eclipsed by the raucous, portly robins who either inebriated or over-excited by this fruity largess slam into nearby windows without apparent injury. Such exuberance and unrestrained high spirits infect the local birds who raise their voices to add to the cacophony.

Soon the robins will pair off, sing their cheery early morning song and build their mud nest, hopefully hidden from the rapacious intent of ravens and jays.

The Cedar Waxwings will continue to rove in their bands, surrendering their nomadic life only long enough for a brief breeding season in the northwest before resuming their wandering ways.

A Goodly Storm

These February storms are especially welcome because soon the rainy season will end yielding to the long dry season. But not yet.

This morning after a week of only clouds, the welcome rain has returned beginning with a rising south wind full of delicious wet smells and energetic gusts. Every storm has its own way of arriving, its own duration and intensity, and its own final chapter.

his storm is a part of a low pressure area off the coast that appeared reluctant to make a landfall. Some storms come suddenly, with a front of clouds that quickly sweeps over the Marin Hills moving on to the south and east with the rain short-lived. Other storms are preceded by a thin layer of high cirrus clouds bringing a halo to the moon. Some storms are mostly wind. Certain storms linger, drenching the Bay Area. Some storms appear to simply collapse with dissolving clouds followed by the return of ground fog that can plague the inland valleys blowing their icy breath over our hills. Other storms are followed by a clarity enhanced by strong northwest winds that whip lingering clouds into brilliant hard-edged cumulus towers.

Storms originating in the region of the Hawaiian Islands are warm and carry a heavy cargo of moisture.  Others born in the storm cradle in the Gulf of Alaska dust our highest hills with snow.