FIELD NOTES Doug Bell LOCATION: Golden Gate Hill, 4 miles southwest of Mokelumne Hill, Calif., Calaveras Co., CA. (3/4 mi. E Highway 26) Time: 7:45 - 11:30 AM Weather: clear, sunny, warming Date: April 25, 1987 Maren and I started from our car parked on highway 26 to hike up the hill in the general direction of the communication tower. This side of the hill is open grass with scattered blue & live oak. Many Western Kingbirds singing and flycatching. Red-tail on high power pole, Kestrel flew over road. Some starlings. We made it up to the service road goin to tower. Trees, shrubs thicker here, with digger pine and other conifers interspersed. Some manzanita on the western side - saw Lesser Goldfinch, Rufous-sided Towhee, heard Black-headed Grosbeak singing. Plain Titmouse. on our southern slope livelrils, and Rock Wren singing. Thick Chapparell & Manzanita on hill top. Over the top and down to the rocks. Maren thought she saw what might have been a large falcon disappear before the hill, but there certainly no falcons about as we clambered down to the middle rock through a grassy meek in the chapparell. The rocks as a whole on Golden Gate Hill are quite variable, with many small pinacoles. But there are 4 main rock faces, each of about 100 - 120 feet in height. The rocks are reddish hue and solid in nature, but chunky. Each cliff has numerous spalts and fault cracks running verticallly thru it. It doesn't look like there are that many suitable ledges for falcons to nest on, but maybe somewhere in a fault would be sure. These rocks are the only substantial cliffs, aside from those over near Jackson, which are visible in the whole San Andreas area. They afford a beautiful view off to the S & SE, and SW.