Shollenberger, a springtime delight

If you haven’t been to Shollengerber Park lately, you must go—and soon. While the ducklings paddle behind their mums. While Canadian geese honk and preen. While swans guard their cignets, barely visible through the reeds, and red-winged blackbirds burst into the sky like thoroughbreds out of the gate. You must go. Other season have their own beauty, when the sky is brooding and bleak or the land is parched and brown. But nothing compares to the birdsong and bustle of springtime with so many species carrying on as they’ve done for centuries. Even the beetles in the grass cavort like clowns. To walk through it, to listen and watch as the sun shines and the water ripples gently in the breeze is one of the great delights of the North Bay. And it’s free. You must go.

The entrance to the park is at Cader Lane just off of South McDowell in Petaluma. For more information about the park, see an article I wrote for examiner.com, Shollenberger Park, a haven for wildlife and people.

 

Shollenberger Park, such a fine place to go

Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park, opened in 1995, has long been a popular spot for nature lovers. And it continues to grow more enticing. An adjoining trail cut along Alman Marsh and stretching to Petaluma’s Marina was added in 2003; the Petaluma Marsh trails were opened in the summer of 2009, adding length and variety to a hike through this birder’s paradise.

With the addition of the Petaluma Marsh trails, which run around a state-of-the-art recycled water project, the area now comprises 250 acres of wetlands. And in this peaceful place, where dogs on leash are welcome, there is much to appreciate.

The wildlife is ever changing. All manner of birds—150 species, according to the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, are the stars here. Depending on the season, you might see thousands of Canadian geese waddling in and out of the water or bulrushes afire with red winged blackbirds. The variety is stunning: ducks, hawks, doves, hummingbirds, grebes, terns, plovers and sandpipers—the list goes on. Mammals such as jack rabbits, pocket gophers and river otters also thrive in this environment.

I’ve made a modest slide show to accompany this article that you can find at www.examiner.com/examiner/x-7978-Sonoma-County-Examiner~y2009m10d6-Shollenberger-Park-a-haven-for-wildlife-and-people.

 

What’s up with Gravity Hill?

Just posted this tidbit at examiner.com, thought I’d share it here, too:

Here’s something off the beatin’ path in Penngrove, Calif., that just might give you the willies if you’re in the area and have the time to go there: Head way up Sonoma Mountain on Lichau Rd. When you reach an iron gate on the right with a wrought iron sign that says “Gracia Santiago,” slow down because just ahead is a small descent that gradually slopes into a little bowl that then ascends once again.

It looks like an ordinary, graceful dip in a beautiful country road. But it’s not. Instead of barrelling through the little bowl, stop the car at the bottom of the incline. Then (traffic permitting) take your foot off the break. Your car will begin rolling backward up the hill you just came down.

No kidding. My husband, Jim, and I read about it in an article by Chuck Lucas in  “Penngrove Proud,” a lovely, full-color, glossy quarterly devoted to all things Penngrove, and we drove up there at dusk to try it out. To read Lucas’ article, as well as the current and back issues of “Penngrove Proud,” visit www.penngroveproud.com.