As the summer meteor showers trail off until the November Leonids, a number of planets will become more visible in coming weeks. We shall hope to see the red sparkle of Mercury emerge low on the western horizon just past sunset this week.
More berries are ripening, though not species used as much by humans. Red-barked madrone trees have long sprays of pastel berries, and smaller snowberry shrubs have small white berries. The blue elderberry shrub at the bottom of Fox Drive is covered with sprays of fruit—and feasting house finches and sparrows.
If you are seeing flashes of white on the reservoir as you zip by, these are the white pelicans that spend the fall and winter here. Unlike their brown pelican relatives, which feed by diving into the water to scoop up fish, white pelicans will float along and scoop up without the dive.
Time to observe the cycle of one of the “charismatic megafauna” of the area: tule elk. The rut, or breeding season, has begun and is especially visible at Tomales Point. Like northern elephant seals, elk have a dominance hierarchy in which the toughest or alpha males gather groups of females, called harems, for breeding and then defend them from other males. Behaviors to watch for include head butting until one male withdraws, and the males’ bugling sounds to frighten away other males.