The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) has a busy weekend planned for Dec. 10 and 11.
Naturist Michael Charnofsky will lead a three-mile hike to view the annual rainy season clustering of ladybugs at Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Dec. 10. Ladybugs cluster in trailside shrubs during colder weather and one of their favorite places locally seems to be where the Stream and Prince trails cross in Redwood Park, according to the EBRPD.
Hikers should meet at the park’s Canyon Meadow Staging Area. For more information, call 510-544-3187.
Two naturist programs are also scheduled for the Sunol Regional Wilderness on Dec. 10.
From 11 a.m. to noon, there will be a guided, one-mile Sunol Stroll starting at the visitors center to observe how the park changes as the weather grows cooler. Then, from 1 to 1:30 p.m., naturalist Erica Stephens will lead a “Bird Talk ‘N’ Draw” session at the visitors center. All ages are welcome and drawing supplies will be provided.
For information on either Sunol program, call 510-544-3243.
Also on Dec. 10, mistletoe and hot cider will be the main attractions for a program from 1:30 to 2:30 pm, at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. Visitors can enjoy a free mug of cider while learning how mistletoe grows and why it is associated with love. For information, call 510-544-2797.
On Dec. 11, naturalist Maeron Yeshiwas will lead a “Winter Survival Hike,” from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont.
Yeshiwas will explain how native animals locally and their distant ‘cousins’ in the arctic adapt to survive during winter. The program is open to all ages, and participants should meet at the visitors’ center at the end of Patterson Ranch Road, off Paseo Padre Parkway.
For more information on the Coyote Hills program, call 510-544-3220.
Also on Dec. 11, the lost community of Somersville, once one of the largest towns in Contra Costa County, will come back to life through historic photos, maps, and clues from the landscape during a program from 10 to 11 a.m., at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, in Antioch.
Participants should meet in the preserve’s uppermost parking lot on Somersville Road, 3.5 miles south of Highway 4.
Parkgoers on Dec. 11 can also participate in a “Bio Blitz” from 11 a.m. to noon, at the Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley, collecting information for a scientific database. The idea is to see how many different plants and animals can be found throughout the park. All ages and levels of experience are welcome, and participants should meet naturalist Wyatt Moore at the visitors’ center, located at 69 Big Break Road.
Lastly, naturalist Kevin Dixon will lead a hike at Round Valley Regional Preserve from 1:30 to 5 p.m., on Dec. 11, in search of the park’s resident birds of prey.
Participants must be at least 9 years old for the five-mile loop hike on the Miwok and Hardy Canyon Trails, and children must be accompanied by an adult. The staging area will be off Marsh Creek Road, about 5.2 miles west of the intersection with Vasco Road. Registration is not required.
For more information, call 510-544-2751.
All the programs are free, although there may be parking fees at some locations.