Indian Valley Open Space Preserve is a modest slice of forested foothills on the north side of Big Rock Ridge. That significant barrier to the south comprises the main topographical influence here, casting its long shadow over Indian Valley’s web of trails and modest hills, which rarely reach much over 400 ft. or so within the preserve, although there are some steep sections. The combination of general shadiness, low hills, and intervening creeks creates ideal conditions for broadleaf mixed evergreen forest, a plant assembly given its name by some of its main constituents: coast live oak, California bay laurel, and Pacific madrone. This high level of tree and understory diversity translates into a correspondingly rich community of bird species.
The Rich Bird Life of the Mixed Evergreen Forest
This forest is prime habitat for several familiar year-round birds like oak titmice, chestnut-backed chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, and dark-eyed juncos. An understory rich with ferns and low plants provides cover for Bewick’s wrens and spotted towhees. Indian Valley is particularly fruitful for woodpeckers, from the small downy and Nuttall’s woodpeckers, to the chunky oak-specialist acorn woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers and flickers (particularly in winter), and most notably the tremendous pileated woodpecker. Indian Valley is probably the best place to see them in Novato, with some pileateds also present at Indian Tree and Olompali. What does pileated mean? A pileus was a particularly kind of classical hat, one worn by freed slaves in Rome as a sign of manumission. In the case of our woodpeckers, the point is that they have a big red cap on their heads. Does it look particularly like a pileus specifically? Probably not, but I like to think of them as wearing one. One thing that will help you find pileated woodpeckers is if you familiarize yourself with their calls. Their loud trumpeting can carry a long way and is often given in flight, so you may pick them up flying across distant hills. While you’re at it, listen for the similarly carrying calls of red-shouldered hawks, insistently repeated cries of suitably hawk-like volume and aggression.
More properly, that’s a pilos, the Greek version, as shown here in some fine 4th century BC red figure painting. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.
The great time for listening to birds, of course, is spring. In addition to the standard year-round chatter, birds in spring launch into their more complex and musical repertoire as they establish territories and demonstrate themselves as exemplary physical specimens at the highest peak of strength and vigor to which a junco can ascend. First, in January and February, listen for local residents like oak titmice and dark-eyed juncos as they start singing. These early songs are soon joined by the exuberance of Bewick’s wrens, the propulsive rattling of spotted towhees, and the melodious warbles of house and purple finches.
In March and April, the chorus grows with the addition of migratory warbling vireos and orange-crowned warblers. Both of these birds are loud, musical, and abundant, but can often be rather shy of the spotlight as far as their human audiences are concerned and they are much more easily heard than seen from their concealed retreats in the canopy. Their partner in auditory strikingness and visual nothingness is the pacific-slope flycatcher, another plain and retiring summer bird, whose distinctive up-slurred whistles are a common sound of summer woods. These three will continue to sing throughout spring and into June, when many of the earlier resident nesters have significantly toned down their vocal pyrotechnics for the year.
A few other summer birds are both audible and visible: two of particular note are the Wilson’s warbler, whose stuttering song can alert you to their presence, but whose brilliant yellow plumage and low, active foraging make them easier to see, and the ash-throated flycatcher, whose charming ker-Brick! shares some of the same pleasant squeaky quality found in quail or chickadees, reminiscent of some squeezable stuffed animals I had as a child – if you were designing some sounds to be emitted by an embraceable fuzzy thing upon receipt of an affectionate squeeze, you could do worse than to take these ash-throats as a model.
Other Bits: Meadows, Coyote Bush, and Dark Bay Woods
Most of Indian Valley is clothed by this nice, diverse woodland, with cover and food to suit the tastes of a wide range of birds. But the preserve does have a few scraps of other habitats worth mentioning. Near the Lot 7 sports fields and the other eastern areas on College of Marin property are some relatively open meadows, with patches of coyote bush here and there. These meadows provide hunting areas for American kestrels and white-tailed kites, and the coyote bush thickets give shelter to quail, towhees, and summertime blue-gray gnatcatchers. If you hear a quirky high-pitched wheezing pouring out of the corners of an oak or shrub, look closely for this last-named bird, a notably wide-eyed and irrepressible bundle of attitude.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Indian Valley’s darkest and coolest corners, such as the Ad & Gloria Schwindt Trail near the northern end of the fire road, where the woods become dense and bay-dominated, are prime places to look for varied thrushes in winter. These mysterious robin relatives may be more or less absent in some years and quite common in others, but this is one of the best places in town to look for them. In a thrushy year, they might appear in low numbers throughout the preserve, but their stronghold is wherever things are shadowy, damp, and redolent of mystery. Varied thrushes travel to the coastal rainforests of the northwest for the nesting season, but I remember a particularly striking day one December, when some combination of warm temperature and impending rain struck the Indian Valley thrush population into their strange and otherworldly song, resonant metallic quavers echoing through the bays.
Practical Details
Bird Lists and Recent Sightings: Indian Valley is not heavily visited by birdwatchers, but it does have an eBird hotspot listing awaiting your contributions.
Getting There: Drive to the western end of Ignacio Dr, which enters the Indian Valley Campus of College of Marin. Note that most lots require paid parking Monday-Saturday while the college is in session. The small lot 7 near the ball fields at the end of the road is open for public parking, but can fill up on weekend mornings when sports events are occurring. One suggestion: arrive early at lot 7 on a Wednesday morning, tromp around for a few hours, then stop in at the farm stand (open 10–2) next to the sports fields to get some fresh produce from the on-site organic farm. Another suggestion: the flat, central Indian Valley Fire Road emerges into the quiet Indian Valley neighborhood on the northern edge of the preserve. There is essentially no car parking on this end, but it’s a pleasant bike ride from anywhere in central Novato out to this somewhat rural edge of town, and then through the preserve on the level fire road. Leave your bike by the sports fields and continue on foot to find some birds.
Getting Around: Click here for an abridged, printable pdf of this park profile. For a full trail map, see the official preserve page from Marin County Parks or come into Wild Birds Unlimited and get a copy of the indispensable Pease Press map of Northeast Marin County trails.
The preserve is bisected by the flat and relatively popular Indian Valley Fire Road. On the northeast side of the fire road, a few trails explore both shady bay forest and relatively open meadows. The south and west sides of the preserve feature numerous interconnecting trails that go up and down a series of moderate ridges. Of particular note is the Waterfall Trail, which hosts a small waterfall and generally melodious creekside walking in winter.
Rules & Access: Indian Valley is a Marin County Open Space Preserve and so is open to free public access 24 hours a day. Handy amenities such as garbage cans, restrooms, and tables can be found at the adjacent public sports fields and College of Marin campus. Leashed dogs are permitted on trails; bikes are permitted on the Indian Valley Fire Road.
Top Photo: Pileated woodpecker – Mick Thompson/Eastside Audubon. Indian Valley is probably the best place to see them in our area.
I went out to Indian Valley at lunchtime today & had a nice mostly shaded walk among the oaks. When I got back to the parking lot, I spotted some swift and fairly large birds. I initially assumed it was some sort of hawk based on size & flight. Then I noticed a shock of red. Sure enough, two Pileated Woodpeckers perched spitting distance from the parking lot. Only the 2nd time I’ve seen one (the last time was at Bon Tiempe a couple years ago). I really wish I’d brought my camera. Next time. This looks like a great hiking and birding destination. Thanks for the tip.
Nice! I see them regularly here, though it is a little hard to predict where exactly they will be within the preserve, since they can cover a fair amount of ground. If you get familiar with their calls, you will at least hear them more often than not if you spend a few hours walking around at Indian Valley. We can also see them on the more or less continuous Big Rock Ridge and Indian Tree preserves, as well as at Olompali.