Photo Field Guide to Cypress Ridge Birds, etc.

Field Guides for Cypress Ridge’s nesting birds, migratory birds, mammals, and native plants, plus guides to special status species that are potentially at Cypress Ridge.

The sources for these field guides are a 1976 Marin Audubon Society bird field study, a 1976 plant field study by Walter Lennon, a member of the California Native Plant Society, and two Biological Resource Assessments conducted by Jennifer Berry in 2017 on behalf of Open Space Sausalito, and by Pruneske Chatham, Inc. in 2011 for the City of Sausalito in preparation for a fire hazard reduction project at Cypress Ridge. See Ecological Studies for details on these reports.

Note: images below are stock photos with the exception of the Red-shouldered Hawk and the Black-tailed Deer.


Bird Species Observed at Cypress Ridge


Year-round Birds Observed at Cypress Ridge
PhotographCommon
Name
Scientific
Name
Prunuske Chatham (2011)Jennifer Berry (2017)Marin Audubon (1976)
American RobinTurdus migratoriusPotentialObserved
Anna’s HummingbirdCalypte annaObservedObserved
Black PhoebeSayornis nigricansObserved
California QuailCallipepla californicaObservedObserved
Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorumObserved
Chestnut-backed ChickadeePoecile rufescensObservedObservedObserved
Common BushtitPsaltriparus minimusObserved
Common
Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchosObserved
Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalisObserved
FlickersFringillidaeObservedObserved
Fox
Sparrow
Passerella iliacaObserved
Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosusPotentialObserved
House WrenTroglodytes aedonObserved
HummingbirdsTrochilidaeObservedObservedObserved
Mourning DoveZenaida macrouraObserved
Northern FlickerColaptes auratusObserved
Oak
Titmouse
Baeolophus inornatusObservedObserved
Purple
Finch
Haemorhous purpureusObserved
Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatusObservedObserved
Song
Sparrow
Melospiza melodiaObserved
Spotted TowheePipilo maculatusObservedObserved
Tree
Swallow
Tachycineta bicolorObserved
Turkey
Vulture
Cathartes auraObserved
Western
Scrub Jay
Aphelocoma californicaObservedObserved
WrentitChamaea fasciataObserved

In addition, Prunuske Chatham lists the following year-round bird species as potentially present:

  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rufous-crowned Sparrow
  • Sage Sparrow
  • Western Screech Owl

Migratory Birds Observed at Cypress Ridge
PhotographCommon NameScientific NamePrunuske Chatham (2011)Jennifer Berry (2017)Marin Audubon (1976)
Orange-Crowned WarblerLeiothlypis celataPotentialObserved
Pacific-slope FlycatcherEmpidonax dificilisObservedObserved
Swainson’s ThrushCatharus ustulatusObserved
Wilson’s WarblerCardellina pusillaObserved
VireosVireonidaePotentialObserved
Yellow WarblerSetophaga petechiaObserved

In addition, Prunuske Chatham lists the following migratory bird species as potentially present:

  • Acorn Woodpecker
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher
  • Brown Creeper
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Nuttall’s Woodpecker
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Townsend Warbler
  • Varied Rush
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Mammals Observed at Cypress Ridge
PhotographCommon NameScientific NamePrunuske Chatham (2011)Jennifer Berry (2017)
Black-tailed DeerOdocoileus hemionusObservedObserved
CoyoteCanis latransObservedObserved
Dusky Footed WoodratNeotoma fuscipesObservedObserved
Gray FoxUrocyon cinereoargenteusObserved
Northern RaccoonProcyon lotorObservedObserved
Striped SkunkMephitis mephitisObservedObserved
Western Gray SquirrelSciurus griseusObservedObserved

In addition, Prunuske Chatham lists the following mammal as potentially present:

  • Brush Rabbit

Native Plants (Prushke Chatham)
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name
California Bay LaurelUmbellularia californica
California BlackberryRubus ursinus
California OatgrassDanthonia californica
California Sagebrush Artemisia californica
Coast Live OakQuercus agrifolia
Coyote BrushBaccharis pilularis
OceansprayHolodiscus discolor
Purple NeedlegrassNassella pulchra
SnowberrySymphoricarpos albus
Sticky MonkeyflowerMimulus aurantiacus
Sword FernPolystichum munitum
ToyonHeteromeles arbutifolia
Wood FernDryopteris arguta

Native Plants (Sausalito Environmental Action)
Walter Lennon of the California Native Plant Society conducted a plant survey of Cypress Ridge in September 1976. He identified 145 species of plants from 47 families including these California native plants:
Arroyo Willow, Bee Plant, Blueblossom Ceanothus, Blue-eyed Grass, California Bay Laurel, California Blackberry, California Buttercup, California Hazel, California Honeysuckle, California Mugwort, California Poppy, California Sagebrush, California Strawberry, Checkerbloom, Coast Live Oak, Columbine, Common Rush, Common Sunflower, Cow Parsnip, Coyote Bush, Flowering Currant, Lupine Bush, Monkeyflower, Morning Glory, Narrow-leaved Mule Ears, Ocean Spray, Pearly Everlasting, Seaside Buckwheat, Sky Lupine, Snowberry, Sword Fern, Toyon, and Yarrow.
 

Special Status Species Potentially at Cypress Ridge


Potential Special Status Birds
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name SourceStatus
Great Blue HeronArdea herodiasChathamCalifornia Species of Special Concern
Little Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii brewsteriiBerryDeclining, possibly threatened, insufficient data
Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax trailliiBerry

Potential Special Status Insects
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name SourceStatus
Long-Horned Elderberry BeetleDesmocerus californicus dimorphusBerryThreatened
Mission Blue ButterflyIcaricia icarioides missionensisBerryCritically Imperiled (T1)
Monarch ButterflyDanaus plexippusBerry, ChathamApparently Secure (G4)
Obscure BumblebeeBombus CaliginosusBerryThreatened-Vulnerable
Western BumblebeeBombus OccidentalisBerryThreatened-Vulnerable

Potential Special Status Mammals
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name SourceStatus
California MyotisMyotis californicusBerry
Hoary BatLasiurus cinereusChathamWatch List, Apparently Secure (S4)
Long-eared MyotisMyotis evotisBerryVulnerable (S3)
Pallid BatAntrozous pallidusChathamVulnerable (S3)
Townsend’s Big-Eared BatCorynorhinus townsendiiChathamImperiled (S2)
Western Red BatLasiurus blossevilliiBerry, ChathamVulnerable (S3)
Yuma MyotisMyotis yumanensisBerryApparently Secure (S4)

Potential Special Status Amphibians
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name SourceStatus
California Giant SalamanderDicamptodon ensatusBerryNear Threatened
California Red-legged FrogRana draytoniiBerryThreatened-Vulnerable
Coast NewtTaricha torosaBerryCalifornia Species of Special Concern
Foothill Yellow-legged FrogRana boyliiBerryNear Threatened

Potential Special Status Plants
PhotographCommon NameScientific Name SourceStatus
Blue ElderberrySambucus mexicanaBerryCalifornia Species of Special Concern
Franciscan thistleCirsium andrewsiiChathamImperiled (G2)
Marsh microserisMicroseris paludosaChathamCalifornia status: Rare (1.B.2)
Oregon PolemoniumPolemonium carneumChathamRare in California, common elsewhere (2B.2)
San Francisco CompionSilene verecunda ssp. verecundaChathamCalifornia status: Rare (1B)
San Francisco Popcorn FlowerPlagiobothrys diffususChathamCalifornia status: Endangered (1B.1)
Seaside TarplantHemizonia congesta ssp. congestaChathamCalifornia status: Rare (1B.2)

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Cypress Ridge in the 1800s. Sausalito Historical Society

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