Black Point Historic Gardens (11/18/2021)

Today my Naturing consisted of volunteering at Black Point Historic Gardens. My first volunteer gig with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Had a great time!

I visited this spot on its grand opening day a little while back. The place looks a lot nicer with all the green there now! We had a small crew that first started pulling invasive Oxalis at the top. I am really not great at pulling weeds. After an hour, I opted to chop invasive Himalayan Blackberry over on the north side. And, the small group of us went to town on that stuff!

I can’t even describe how satisfying it was. And, I am much better at it. Standing on the soft hillside, doing work with tools, memories of working on the trails at The Land back in Theatre in the Woods / AtmosTheatre days flooded in. So, I was easily comfortable doing that. We cleared like 90% of it? Looks great over there now. A Song Sparrow jumped out from the far edge we didn’t get to. Hoping it’ll find another spot since the rest will surely be gone soon.

Our volunteer leader said they waited to clear it after bird babies/juveniles would be gone. They even set aside a nest they found earlier that was very much intact. Maybe a Song Sparrow nest?

There were TONS of mushrooms, including my new favorite – Stubble Rosegill. What a handsome mushroom. And, even before we started our work, I noticed a super tiny, super white mushroom growing out of the side of a tiny spit of a tree branch. Maybe Fairy Parachutes? I swear, I’m so often delighted by mushroom common names. I hope that’s what they are.

Had a great view of Aquatic Park during weed pulling. And the cutest little group of Yellow Fieldcap mushrooms were watching over my work. A seemingly regular volunteer introduced himself to me, and he was a regular volunteer in The Presidio back in the day. In general, the volunteers there were way more friendly / interested in interacting than the times I’ve volunteered in The Presidio. I don’t know why. Smaller group? Less folks wearing masks outside? Hard to say. But, I quite enjoyed the small crews we were on. Over at the blackberry chopping area, it was the same.

I had a hard time stopping when it came time. We could’ve finished it all if we had another half hour! But, we cleaned up our mess and headed out. And, afterward I spent a little time looking for mushrooms and watching the White-crowned Sparrows on the ground and trying but failing to find the woodpecker I kept hearing. Every time I volunteer in these places, I wish I brought my binoculars. And, every time I don’t bring them because of the added weight. Gotta try bringing them next time.

Planning to return! And, maybe this will be a new weekly volunteer gig for me?

On my way out, I admired the view of the old wood ships against a very Turner-esque sky behind them. It was pretty quiet at the water’s edge. Just a Snowy Egret and a Harbor Seal hanging around. I sat for a while facing them and admired the gorgeous evening skies filled with pink-gray clouds, the mystical Marin Headlands in the distance. Pretty lovely volunteer gig out there, I must say.