More meteor showers follow the end of daylight savings time this weekend. The Taurid meteor shower peaks on Monday, Nov. 4, with about 10 meteors an hour. Look in the eastern sky for the constellation Taurus, the bull, before midnight. Luckily, the thin sliver of a quarter moon will not overshadow these falling stars.
The first tantalizing raindrops have cleared the air and dampened fallen leaves. As the landscape becomes more exposed, the nests of dusky-footed wood rats, also known as pack rats, emerge from their leafy cover. These cone-shaped piles of sticks are usually built near water sources. I see them near White House Pool and along Limantour Road.
As leaves fall, it also becomes easier to notice the frosting of lichen dripping from trees, which is sometimes confused with Spanish moss. Lichen is a combination of algae and fungi that live together symbiotically. It has three forms: crustose, which lies flat on surfaces; fruticose, which looks like little bushes growing out of surfaces; and foliose, which hangs down off trees. The common foliose form we see is the grey-green lace or fishnet lichen, Ramalina menziesii. It is used by nesting birds and snacked on by deer. Our other common fruticose lichen is the grey-green “old man’s beard,” Usnea sp.
Early-morning weekend pops of sound remind us that duck hunting season has opened and hunters may be out over portions of Tomales Bay.