Berries for Birds: A Beginner’s Plant Id & Habitat Walk (Rancho Canada del Oro)

Fall is the time when seeds and fruit of many native plants ripen and mature. This coincides with the start of the wet season, maximizing the potential for germination and propagation of the species. The fruit and seed bonanza sustains a wide variety of wildlife, including many types of birds and mammals. Some fauna play a key role in the dispersal and improved germination of these plants.

Join Arvind Kumar and Ashok Jethanandani on this beginner’s plant id and habitat walk to look for a variety of native berries and fruit such as oak acorns, bay laurel nuts, buckeye nuts, holly-leaved cherries, and a wide range of berries: madrone, manzanita, toyon, poison oak, coffeeberry, honeysuckle, elderberry, redberry, and snowberry.

Beginners interested in plant identification are welcome; prior knowledge of native plants or botany is not required.

Note: we will focus on the wildlife value of these fruits, not on their edibility for humans. Picking plant material of any kind is prohibited in Open Space Authority lands.

Wear good hiking shoes. Bring a hat, a bag lunch, and plenty of water/fluids. Drinking water is not available in the preserve. Dress in layers, and appropriately for late fall weather. Heavy rain cancels.

We will do the Mayfair Ranch Trail-Longwall Canyon Trail loop. The distance covered is 4.3 miles with 500’ of elevation gain.

Meet in the Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve parking lot at 10 am. The address is 4289 Casa Loma Rd, Morgan Hill

RSVP is required to join us for the walk. Space is limited. No drop-ins please.