- From Santa Rosa head to San Francisco south on Highway 101. Just before you cross the Petaluma River turn left down Lakeville Highway and then right back to the River. There you will find Shollenberger Park Bird Sanctuary, ( and the Rocky Memorial Dog Park.)
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- Where the Adobe Creek reaches the Petaluma River the Coast Miwok Indians lived for 4,000 years, from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Adobe Creek flows down from Sonoma Mountain. 3,000,000 years ago Sonoma Mountain was a volcano. 10,000,000 years ago the whole area was covered by the ocean. Tectonic Plates moving north from Baja to Bodega created the friction that caused the volcanic activity.
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- Adobe Creek carried the sediments from the volcano to the Petaluma River and the high tides from San Pablo Bay carried salt water sediments up the River. The River flows 14 miles to the Bay. The whole area became Tidal Mudflats that are rich in aquatic life. Grab a double handful of mud and realize that that mud contains 40,000 living organisms. Most are microscopic but many are visible. This is the feeding ground for the mud-probing shore birds and ducks.
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- In 1830 Mexico controlled this part of California. Mexico had Mariano Gaudaloupe Vallejo build a fort, Casa Granda there to protect the area from a feared Russian invasion. The Russians were at Fort Ross harvesting sea otters and sending furs back to Russia.
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- In 1837 smallpox killed a majority of the native population.
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- In 1852 Newtown was established at Vallejo’s landing. Steamer boats traveled up the river and brought prosperity to Newtown. Petaluma City replaced Newtown and the Newtown site became the city land fill. In 1995 the land fill was capped with clay and became the Dog Park.
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- Adobe Creek flows along the edge of Shollenberger Park into the Petaluma River that forms the other edge of the Park. In 1984 the creek was cleaned, trees were planted, and the steelhead population was restored. The Petaluma River is dredged every 4 years to remove sediments that keep returning with the high tides. This helps prevent the flooding that will otherwise occur.
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- The River is a tide water slough. Dredging it allowed it to become a river traveling 14 miles to the Pablo Bay. 90% of California wetlands have been drained or filled to support farmland or commerce. Preserving these wetlands is very important to hosting the bird and aquatic life of the Bay. Dedicated to this effort is the waste water treatment plant next to the park that maintains 10 ponds covering 162 acres.
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- Hiking trails cover both areas. In our 3 hour walk last Saturday Michael identified American Wigeon, Bufflehead duck, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Canvasback, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, Green-Winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, American White Pelican, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Cooper’s Hawk, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, White -tailed Kite, American Coot, Killdeer, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Glaucous-winged Gull, Herring Gull, Mew Gull, Western Gull, Eurasian Collared Dove, Anna’s Hummingbird, Black Phoebe, American Crow, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Marsh Wren, American Pipit, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer’s Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, and a Mute Swan.
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- I bet him $5 he could not list them all from memory as we ate our picnic lunch. I lost the bet.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email upon request. Some reviews are at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net. ---- “Jim Detrick” -- www.facebook.com, -- www.twitter.com, -- 707-536-3272 Thursday, March 21, 2013
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