KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – If you are a birder or just interested in nature, grab your binoculars and camera and join Clear Lake State Park docent and volunteer Brad Barnwell on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Meet at 9 a.m. at the visitor center parking lot.

Finally the best season of the year has arrived.  

With the shorter days and longer shadows, the campers disappear, the mornings turn brisk, the leaves change to yellow and gold, the lake level drops and the algae and waterweeds die and sink to the bottom of the lake.  

With the lowering of the lake level, the mudflats and gravel bars along Cole Creek and Kelsey Creek are exposed, providing food foraging areas for migrating shorebirds.   

With this seasonal change, one can expect a boom in the baitfish numbers, which can bring the “fish eaters” to the park in large numbers.  

The “fish eaters,” those birds that have a primary diet of fish at this time of year such as herons, egrets, mergansers, cormorants and pelicans, are coming in as expected.  

The gravel bar at the mouth of Kelsey Creek can have 75 to 100 American White Pelicans sitting on the bar, along with cormorants and occasional terns.  

The banks and trees along both Cole and Kelsey Creeks are starting to fill with Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets as they sit and watch the creeks for a meal.  

It is only a matter of time before the Eared Grebes and Common Mergansers show up to dine on the increasing numbers of fish exposed to predation in the low water created by the dropping lake level.

The two-hour walk will be at a slow pace and cover about two miles of paved road and established trails as well as 200 yards of wet trail and mudflats.  

Participants should bring binoculars, water and wear shoes suitable for walking on the mudflats as well as established trails.

Park entry fees are waived for those participating in the walk.

Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.