Weston
1946
Journal
2
Jan. 26, 1946 - Las Trampas Canyon, Contra Costa Co., Calif.
Left M.V.Z. at 8:05 a.m. on Zoology 136 field trip.
Dr. Miller, R.W. Fox, M.C. Ramage, F. Felice, G. Lawrence
and myself present. Driving out to St. Marys College we turned up Las Trampas Canyon. By
the college, at the reservoir there, we saw several
pied-billed grebes, ruddy ducks and coots.
Driving about a mile up the canyon we parked
and at 8:45 a.m. began slowly walking upcanyon.
The vegetation in this canyon consists of live
oaks, laurels, big-leaf maples, alders, buckeye,
in the form of trees. Snowberry, bracken fern,
braechia, blackberry, poison oak, make up
the main part of the undergrowth. The general
trend of the canyon is north-south. We work
upcanyon going south. The canyon is rather dark
and humid, especially the west side which is
covered
enclosed by a closed woods. The weather today
is exceptionally good. Not a cloud cloud is to be
seen in the sky. Only drawback is a irregular,
cold
sometimes quite strong wind blowing downcanyon.
Working slowly upcanyon I see titmice, steller jays,
both
dubly and golden-crowned kinglets, varied thrushes,
hermit thrushes, lush-tits, juncos, Calif. jays,
all in the trees. In the undergrowth I see wrentite,
brown towhees, spotted towhees, and a Hutton vireo in
a low live oak (6+ ft high). At 9:30 a.m. we change
direction and climb far up on open short-grass