Journals
Description: Ormond Beach is a wide, gently-sloping, sandy beach beginning at the northwestern boundary of Point Mugu Naval Air Station and separated from the surrounding agricultural fields by a drainage channel. The Ormond Beach Generating Station looms over all to the northeast. Just two dog walkers and two fishermen occupy the whole of the beach. Today the berm is winter cut and only a few rounded, polished cobbles decorate the foreshore.
Weather: The fogbank remains off shore and clouds shroud the mountain peak just inland. Haze dims the distant view along the beach. Lenticular clouds pile up in layers to the north at the edge of a cold front which will pass by without rain. The air is warm and calm. Waves two to four feet high break along the shore. The tide ebbs.
The Walk: The trail from the parking lot goes through a surprising variety of habitats on its short journey to the shoreline.
A cross-section of Ormond Beach
The Agricultural Fields In a drainage ditch, a Great White Egret, neck outstretched, greets us as we round the corner to the parking area. Is it enjoying the fresh watercress as salad? In the nearby plowed fields, Brewer's Blackbirds, American Pipits, and Western Meadowlarks, like gleaners, search for seeds left behind.
The Fresh Water Marsh The tallest, greenest plant at the trail entrance, the non-native myoporum now begins to bloom. Tules grow tall in the brackish water of the larger drainage channel. From the bridge we sense the movement of invisible Marsh Wrens, hear the loud, sharp kak-kak call of the equally invisible Clapper Rail, and get a brief glimpse of the usually invisible Common Yellowthroat.
Walking along the dike, the coyote brush is extremely attractive at this season with tan starbursts of seeds completely covering the plant. Also in bloom are goldenbush and frankenia with its small pink-purplish flower and rolled back leaves. Giant coreopsis looks as dead as dead can be, brown stems topped by ragged remains of dried leaves. A kingfisher alerts us to his presence with his loud rattling call and American Coots splash off the water at our approach.
The Salt Marsh On the other side of the dike is the salt marsh, the domain of the pickleweed, now in vibrant-red fall color. This is the year-round home of the darkly striped Savannah Sparrow. Visiting the wetland for winter, Least Sandpipers, Willets, Dowitchers and Killdeer probe for food. Sea lavender, a native plant similar to the common garden statice, will bloom in spring. Creeping stems of salt grass and sea fig, some with pure, bright red leaves, invade the sandy edges.
The Sand Dunes On top of the dunes, like icing running down the sides of a cake, are prostrate, low-growing plants of round-leaved sand verbena, light purple-flowered sea rocket, yellow-blooming beach evening primrose and the richly-patterned, intricately-cut leaves of the the silver beachweed. In between the rounded dunes, in the sand, are stories of the passage of the wind, the rain, and the birds, the insects, and the humans, told by their tracks and signs left behind.
The Foreshore Above the steep-sided berm, driftwood bleaches grayer in the sun. Richly-fragrant brown algae, giant kelp gas-bladders and strands of featherboa, host beach hoppers that disperse like popcorn out of an uncovered pan when disturbed. Cobbles on the sloping beach glisten when washed by the waves. A lone Brown Pelican glides serenely just above the water.
How to get there: From Highway 1, take Hueneme Road west to Arnold Street, turn left on Arnold Street and continue south to the parking lot. Always open. No facilities.
More about Ormond Beach from Southern California Wetlands Inventory
November 14, 1999, 2:30 pm
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