“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” – Mary Oliver
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – If you haven't treated yourself to a walk at beautiful Rodman Preserve in a while, you need to head to the great outdoors to view the wildlife, woods and wetlands of the preserve and nature education center.
Rodman Preserve is located at 6350 Westlake Road in Upper Lake.
Walks commence at 8 a.m. each Saturday June through August, and 9 a.m. September through May.
The Rodman Preserve's volunteer docent will guide you along the preserve's undulating trails near wild wetlands replete with herons, egrets and grebes, up through a gentle rise of oak woodlands chock full of woodpeckers, raptors of many descriptions, deer, ground squirrels – and more!
I recently had the pleasure of hiking with the land trust's knowledgeable docent, Katherine Lindsley.
During the one and a half hour walk we were fortunate enough to see a vast variety of avian species: great blue heron, grebes, red-headed acorn woodpeckers, flycatcher, nuthatch, white egret, vulture, red-tailed hawk and more.
We spied a family of deer browsing on the grasses and the ground squirrels scolded us as we walked by their dens and mounds.
The ground under the oaks has been “rototilled” by the active critters, providing just the right conditions for an oak woodland nursery to take hold.
Rodman Preserve is one of the Lake County Land Trust's important land resources.
The Lake County Land Trust is a local, charitable nonprofit organization which is instrumental in preserving and protecting Lake County's diverse land resources, such as forests, parks, wetlands and wildlife habitats.
According to the Lake County Land Trust's Web site, “The LCLT is purchasing the 31-acre Melo property in the Big Valley Wetlands as an effort to protect portions of the last remaining significant habitat on Clear Lake."
Wetlands are vital to our precious lake to clean and filter the water, as well as provide habitat for nesting birds, such as grebes.
The tule plant, once vital to Indians who lived on the lake for thousands of years, needs to reestablish itself along the lake's perimeters to once again become nature's filter at the water's edge.
The Lake County Land Trust holds an annual benefit dinner to raise funds for important projects.
This year it will be held at the Lodge at Blue Lakes on Oct. 8. The dinner is not to be missed, and will include schmoozing with friends, music, a great silent auction and a tasty meal – all set on sparkling Blue Lakes.
For more information on Rodman Preserve and the Lake County Land Trust visit http://www.lakecountylandtrust.org/ .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.