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Talent Station 1: To Begin at the Beginning

MORE RECENTLY, Bear Creek corridor has provided the gravels used to construct Highway 99 and Interstate 5. Just over the embankment there is a large pond which is the result of gravel extraction operations. You will see a number of these ponds and marshes along the trail. Today, they serve as wildlife habitat and passive treatment ponds to improve water quality in Bear Creek.

Because of the availability of water along the creek, the cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) produces a vast network of surface roots. As you travel this trail, look for the roots of the cottonwood tree breaking through the asphalt.

At eye level, look for shelf fungus, the kind that grows on the trunks of dead or dying trees and helps convert them back into soil. In addition, you may find the nests of some of the most common birds that live along the Greenway.

Look for the flat stick nest of the scrub jay, the grassy mud-lined robin's nest, the hanging basket of the northern oriole, or the numerous cavities excavated by woodpeckers and flickers.

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Drawings by Tonia Blum.
Photo by D.L. Mark.

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