Shorebird Loop Trail

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Click for map.

Under the Humboldt County shelter-in-place order, we are allowed to get outside for exercise with the caveat that "social distancing" is mandatory. They also define the physical distancing that is being referred to as social distancing. I have a permit for more Lost Coast Trail exploration, but realized I still have some closer exploration I could do. I found two trails to try out on the wildlife refuge. For my first hike, I went for the Shorebird Loop Trail which includes another Redwood EdVenture Quest. Due to COVID-19, the gate is closed, but there is a large dirt lot just outside it and the sign on the gate only states the visitor center and bathrooms are closed. Trails are still open. Since that visitor center is more than a mile away, that does mean I'll be walking more to access the trail than I will on the trail itself. Well, I need plenty of walking.

gate blocking the road — No public vehicle entry at this time.

There's a few other cars in the lot, so I expect I'll see a few other people. The paved road is lined by flowers and ditches and the freeway. It's a relatively quite freeway, at least. There are people along the way. One enjoying the sunshine with a gentle sprawl in the road and others walking. That social distancing is easy to maintain even around the sprawled fellow.

wild onion bells — The lovely white bells of these wild onions.

There's a turnout with a cluster of signs along the way. Well, it's real easy to stop while walking, so I go over to have a look. It says that not all those Canada geese out there are actually a Canada goose. Here, they get an Aleutian goose or two too. It is a triumph because it was declared an Endangered Species in 1967 (one of the first) and off the list in 2001.

turnout along the way — A field provided for the Aleutian goose, which eats a lot of grass.

flooded field — The fields have a bit more water in them than was apparent at first. The building on the right is the visitor center.

more flooded fields — Once turning away from the freeway, there is field on both sides. This is the hunting area. I'm confused because the sign before said that late season hunting was a tool for local farmers to haze the birds from eating the grass meant for cows and to the grass in places like here. Wouldn't a hunting area here then haze the birds from here?

Finally at the visitor center, I can get started with the planned hike. First, I want to get the information for a mystery type geocache. There's a note in the visitor center window to ask them about their geocache. It's not really an option at the moment, so I ask c:geo. It only knows about the one which has no indication that it is theirs.

trail marked — One passes through the opening in the visitor center and down the ramp as marked by the hiking sign.

hills and lake — A little of the surrounding hills. Birds cluster by the shallow island.

ducks with their rears in the air as they float — Another bit of water is full of ducks feeding.

After sorting out bearings, the first few stops are about what was here before. Canals and dykes were built to ready the land for ranching on one side, an old barn that is now habitat for bats and owls is on the other. The instructions to continue on seem to be leading me down a road marked no entry, but if I ignore these spurs, it becomes easy.

flow control on a canal — The canals remain, but the doors on the locks have been removed.

home for bats and owls — The barn is actually quite a large building.

The trail provides stops designed to allow the hiker to get closer to the birds. The first includes a sign identifying common raptors and water foul that might be around. I hear plenty of song birds, too, and finally spot one.

song bird on cattails — One little singer clings to a cattail.

cattails chopped down — The cattails get sort of mowed away at certain times of the year.

lots of water and the northern coast — Closer to the bay and there gets to be more and more water.

sleeping ducks — A little early for the evening rest.

Getting further and further from the freeway, I can still hear it more than the waves on the far side of the sand spit across the bay. I'm still having fun watching the birds.

sheep with wings — One of the signs proclaimed, "Sheep with wings!" There they are.

swimming ducks — A set of four ducks launch into the water near a snowy egret.

Raptors get a lot of attention with the water foul. I've seen a few, but one in particular captures my attention for a while. The wings seem narrower than the average hawk. Might it be a peregrine falcon? That's one of the options the sign gives.

bird coming low across the path and giving quite a look — The bird floating upward on the wind, then swinging low across the path is a northern harrier.

higher and still giving a look — The northern harrier as it swings high again.

The Quest brochure tells me there can be otters in the large pond, but there are none today. It brings my attention to the wind, which is cold and from the north. It is making me uncomfortably cold even in the bright sun. At the furthest point as I ponder the thin lines of trees on decaying dirt that was once Teal Island, I can finally hear exclusively the waves rather than the cars. This is the place to be.

These lines of dirt, some still enough to have trees, are what's left of Teal Island.

Teal Island and the sand spit — More of Teal Island remnants against the south sand spit. A few snowy egrets are over there.

bucket from a dredge called Jupiter — There is also a remnant of the dredge that helped turn the salt marsh to cattle grazing.

The end of the Quest has a box with a log to sign. I wonder if it doesn't do double duty as that geocache I couldn't ask about. It even has a stamp and pad, so could be a letterbox as well. I don't wait too long before continuing around the loop. There are warm spots where there's enough bush to block the wind, but usually there isn't enough.

bridge and path — This bit of land is also obviously built up and bolstered by rocks along the edges. Gates and things exist by the bridges.

A spur trail heads on over to a ramp to nowhere. It's not part of the loop, but I figure why not check it out. It gets high over Salmon Creek and has a bunch of information signs. It's not all that high, but it's still a slight change in perspective.

cormorants on remnant rock edge of Teal Island — Cormorants are out there drying their wings.

trees on the spit — The view from up high. I still can't see the egrets it says nest in the far trees.

strolling shore bird — The sandpipers is surprising to me. I only expect it on the sand.

I head around again, completing the loop.

pair of ducks with giant bills — The northern shoveler has a bill like a shovel. Even more so than other ducks.

two sitting low in the water and one landing — Cormorants sitting low in the water as another joins them.

snowy egret relecting — Another snowy egret. Sometimes they seem to space out evenly across the fields.

song bird on a fence — Another of those elusive song birds I can constantly hear but not see.

And once back to the visitor center, I have a long walk back. I never saw anyone else while I wandered the paths quite slowly, so I guess I kept my distance perfectly. They are quite wide paths and generally have room to step off in most places, so distancing would not be a problem even if there had been someone. There's about three pairs coming up the road as I head out.

soggy trees — A lot of the edge of the road is a water filled dip with trees dangling over.

There were clearly people working about the place, but I can't get my patch from them. The visitor center is closed, after all. A little wait, and there is still a prize.

pair of patches — The prize is the patch on the right.

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