Time to talk of other things ...

 Monitoring steelhead trout along Steven's Creek Photo credit:  stevenscreektrail.org On my bike ride today I came across a team from Fishbio.com installing an RFID counter on Steven's Creek and it piqued my interest. A super helpful engineer explained that they were replacing the RFID on behalf of Santa Clara Valley Water Authority to count the migrating steelhead trouts.  I decided to do my own research and here's what I found ... Credit:  stevenscreektrail.org Central California Coast steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), larger and more silvery in colour, are a type of rainbow trout native to the South Bay that spawns in fresh water and at age two swim to the Ocean. To complete their life cycle they journey up the creek to spawn once again - that's if there is water in the creek. The lifespan can be 10 years under favorable conditions meaning the adults can potentially make many trips in their lifetime. Until 1935, steelhead trout from San Francisco Bay journeye...

 Bike trail from Mountain View to Alviso/Sunnyvale The 8 mile route: Start biking toward Shoreline Park along Mountain View Steven's Creek, continue on to Moffett Bay Trail, that loops behind Ames Moffett field and ends at the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Treatment plant. Next bike into the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge along Guadalupe slough.  Though the trail continued further after 8 miles, I decided to turn back and retraced my path back to the start - but not before capturing this short video Open skies One can truly enjoy a tranquil bike ride under wide  open  blue skies, right on the edge of the South San Francisco Bay - a place synonymous with the unending hustle and bustle of the Silicon Valley. Water birds Birders know that winter time is a good time to spot water birds including the migratory American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos )   with snowy white plumage and black flight feathers (visible only when the wings are spread) ...

  Bike trail from MV to Palo Alto Airport “When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” ~ Sherlock Holmes author, Arthur Conan Doyle, Scientific American, 1896 On an overcast day in January, I decided to explore the trail to the Palo Alto Airport on bike. The 8.7 mile route : Start biking from Mountain View toward Shoreline Park along Steven's Creek Trail, continue on past Shoreline Park, then on to the Byxbee Marshfront Trail to Palo Alto Regional Water Control Plant. Bike past the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, along the NW fence of the Palo Alto airport (PAO) runway to the end. Bird watching: Winter is a great time to spot migratory birds in the 2000 acre Baylands Nature Preserve, home to the endangered clapper rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. The Duck...