MARTINEZ SHORELINE PARK
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Park Description:
 The Martinez Regional Shoreline Park is one of a dozen East Bay Regional parks. This one is located adjacent to the Carquinez straights with a mile or two of marsh trails with good views of the straits, bridge, harbors as well as birds and flowers. Shorebirds are usually plentiful. Picnic tables, bathrooms and other amenities are also available. Note, as of this date, there are more trails than marked on the map, as well as a few other omissions.
 
Hike Location: here

Park information: here
Park maps: here

Cost: No fee

Plant Index: here

Hikes at this location: This is our first one. More coming.

Trail Description:
Mostly open grassy marsh, with a tree lined park near the center.  There are natural delta tributaries spanned by several bridges, and one man made pond popular with shorebirds.

Blooming Plants Not Photographed:
NN=Non Native
Alkali Heath (Frankenia salina)
Bird�s Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) NN
Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis)
English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) NN
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) NN
Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) NN
Jaumea (Jaumea carnosa)
Lippia (Phyla nodiflora) NN
Narrow Leaf Cattail (Typha angustifolia)
Ox Tongue (Picris echioides) NN
Pacific Gumplant (Grindelia stricta var. angustifolia)
Pepper Grass (Lepidium latifolium) NN
Salt marsh Dodder (Cuscuta salina)
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) NN
Statice (Limonium latifolium) NN
Stinkweed (Dittrichia graveolens) NN
Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) NN
 


Seaside Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum): Native perennial. Usually grows in coastal areas.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Looking over the marsh on the Boardwalk trail.

 


Spearscale Orache (Atriplex triangularis); Seed pods on the native annual.		  
Spearscale Orache (Atriplex triangularis); Closeup.

 


The parks "Arch Bridge" makes an excellent bird observatory... each can watch the other.

 

 

 


 Cut leaf Plantain (Plantago coronopus): Non Native annual or biennial that usually limits itself to coastal areas..		  
Western Dodder (Cuscuta californica var. brevifolia): This is a parasitic native that uses Gumplant as a host.

 

 


View from "Pickleweed trail" across the straitsl to Benicia.
 		  
Alkali Mallow (Malvella leprosa): Native perennial. Local relative to the Hibiscus. The bud.

 

 

 

 


Alkali Mallow: The bloom. 		 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Crossing one of the inlets on "Pickleweed".

 

 


Salt Marsh Sand Spurrey: (Spergularia marina): Native annual that likes alkaline soils.
 		  
Australian Saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata ): Non native perennial forming a ground cover.

 


All that remains of the Otto Daeweritz, beached by the captain in 1935.

 


Australian Saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata ): Non native perennial forming a ground cover.
 






 

  
Big Saltbush ((Atriplex lentiformis): A California native; but not native to Martinez. This was planted.

 

 


Looking through the scope at Black Crowned Night Heron in a pine. Something we would have completely missed except for a kindly tip from a local		  
Pepper Grass (Lepidium latifolium): Seed heads. This is a very aggressive weed from Europe that can overtake native plants.