The Coastside Land Trust Alliance leads monthly tours geared to educating residents about the wild flora and fauna all around them. In a departure from their usual format, this tour will be bilingual, led by Coastside residents knowledgeable about the wildlife visitors are likely to see and able to translate it so that English and Spanish-speakers can benefit from it.
Half Moon Bay botanist Toni Corelli will discuss the plant life that can be found along the stream that passes by the Safeway area. Along with her, local botanist and birder Alvaro Jaramillo will identify bird calls and discuss the winged wonders of the area.
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He will also put the wildlife into context for participants. For example, he will point out thrushes, sparrows, and two to three species of warblers participants are likely to see, and mention that those warblers are known to migrate far south as Mexico or even Guatemala in the wintertime.
'It will be nice to let (Spanish-speaking participants) know how the birds travel to their countries,' he said, 'And to give them that connection.'
He said that other wildlife known to frequent the area include foxes, but it would be unlikely to see them on this tour.
Land trust tours generally draw from 50 to 125 participants, of whom about 10 percent are children, said trust representative Shari Deghi. For the young ones, tour organizers plan a special look at the bugs and butterflies that frequent the area, said Jaramillo.
The event is free, and suitable for families. Participants are urged to wear sturdy walking shoes, dress in layers and bring binoculars. The land trust will have a limited number of binoculars available for participants, and is meanwhile welcoming donations for future tours.
'We'd love donations of binoculars,' said Deghi.
Participants should meet in front of Safeway at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 18.
For more information, call the land trust at (650) 284-5056 or go to CoastsideLandTrust.org.
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