Emerald California

A wet winter has gowned California in emerald sprinkled with gems of many colors.  Before it could return to its "Golden State" of brown grasses we headed over to the coast and Point Reyes National Seashore.

Told that the Chimney Rock trail was a good place to see wildflowers, that was where we headed.  It didn't disappoint.

Blue gems were the Lupine, Douglas Iris and Blue eyed grass.

 

Among the yellows were, of course, plenty of California Poppies along with Mule Ears and Yellow Bush Lupine.

To represent the pinks we saw Checkerbloom, Cow Clover and Beach Morning Glory.

I mustn't forget the Indian Paintbrush.

This is a sampling of what we saw on one of several walks we took.  I'll show you more of Point Reyes in another post.

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Our World Tuesday

Some Local Birds

It really isn't necessary for me to go out to the rice fields as I did for an earlier post.  We have wetlands right here in Sun City and Jules and I took a walk there to see who we could find.

Northern Flicker

Many birds were perched in the trees at the edge of the wetlands.

Don't know who this little guy is but it sure is cute.

I'm pretty sure this is a yellow-rumped warbler.

Nothing unusual about these two, robins and hawks can be found everywhere.

Blue Heron

It is the birds of the wetlands that I most enjoy.  Growing up in Los Angeles I had little contact with birds like these.

female bufflelhead

pied-billed grebe

It was a cloudy day and this group was on the far side of a pond so it was hard to get a good shot.  In addition to the ubiquitous mallards I spotted northern shovelers, American wigeons, and green-winged teals.

Green-winged Teal

Of all the birds I saw that day, the one below would be worth the walk even if I had seen nothing else

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This green heron was hunting just a few feet from the path.  He slowly rotated allowing me several views.

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Find more birds at Wild Bird Wednesday.

Winter Visitors

One nice thing about living in Lincoln California is the proximity to both urban conveniences and rural habitats.  Jules and I recently took an 18 mile loop in search of the birds that winter in the rice fields west of town.  We were almost too late, last week I heard a flock of sandhill cranes as they flew over my house on their way from Lodi to their northern breeding grounds.

Our first encounter was not waterfowl  but a hawk, hard to tell from the angle but I think it is a red shouldered hawk.

He didn't want to pose so we moved on.

We found a rice field with tundra swans and white fronted geese.  Many rice farmers keep their fields flooded in the winter providing habitat for the wintering birds.

I love looking at the swans but I had also hoped to see a flock of snow geese but all I saw was this lone goose swimming with the swans.

So we said goodby to the birds of the rice fields.  Spring migration is starting and I don't know if we will get out there again this year.

This is a view of my world, you can find more views of our wonderful world at Our World Tuesday.

See more birds at Wild Bird Wednesday.

Fall Color in Yosemite

We missed the fall color in the high country but a visit to Yosemite at the end of October made up for it.

I'm afraid my images don't do justice to the beauty.

Some of the best color was "drive by" in places I couldn't stop or easily walk to.

Maples were yellow, gold and orange

Dogwood were turning from pale green to yellow to scarlet in the valley sun.

They were more purple up in the Sequoias.

Dogwood is a double delight with their white flowers in the spring and their fall color.

It was a delightful visit to one of our favorite places.

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Along Moonstone Beach

Moonstone beach is a wonderful spot to stroll.  Whether one stays on the boardwalk along the bluff or ventures down to the water's edge it is well worth a trip to Cambria, California.

Up on the boardwalk you can get a great view of the ocean and beach.  There are several of these driftwood structures down on the beach.

I wish I knew what this plant is.  They were common along the boardwalk, some not quite finished with their bloom others dried out.

The cypress trees along the walk had lovely mature cones.

Jules found the footing too uneven to venture onto the beach so I went alone to view its treasures.

Tide pool always lure me to explore.

I saw lots of anemones

but only one seastar.  This one was covered with snails and hermit crabs occupying snail shells.

If you find yourself in this part of California try to make time to walk along Moonstone Beach.

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Where are the Wild Things?

Before I show you the wild things I want to get on my soapbox.We are fortunate in this country, we have parks and wilderness areas where we can go and experience nature.  Places where we can pretend that the modern world doesn't exist. While most of public lands are open to modern vehicles and equipment, these things have been excluded from wilderness lands.

Unfortunately, my own Congressman, Tom McClintock wants to change this.  His bill, HR 1349 would permit mountain bikes in wilderness lands.  Not only would bikes damage trails, they would disturb the very nature of wilderness.  If this passes I can't help but wonder what would be next, motorcycles?

Enough politics, let's find some wild things!

Our National Parks and our designated wilderness areas offer homes and refuge to a wide variety of wildlife.  Yellowstone offers habitat to a wide variety and one can see more large animals in a day in Yellowstone than most people will see in a lifetime.

I was surprised, then, to see nothing more than some squirrels while visiting the geothermal areas with my family, but I had already made plans to go back with Jules after the rest returned to their homes and I knew where to look.

We saw Trumpeter Swans in several places but it seems fitting that this one was in Swan Lake.

My destination, though, was Lamar Valley on the road to the road to the Northeast Entrance.  Our first sighting was of mountain sheep, right along the road.

Then we saw a herd of pronghorn.

I like these delicate looking animals and I was glad for my 400mm lens and new EOS 80 D which allowed me to get not great but decent images without invading their space.

Next, we encountered a herd of bison.  This guy was scratching himself on a rock, not far from the road.

I was a bit disappointed not to see wolves or elk as we had on a previous visit.  Many people know about Lamar Valley and the turn outs were full of people watching the animals.  Most were wise enough to respect the wildness and keep their distance.

  As we were leaving the park the next day I couldn't resist taking a picture of this blue heron.  We have plenty of them around here but I always enjoy seeing them.

Not the best image but one of my favorites, a shot of these bison along the Yellowstone river.  It is rutting season for this species and it was interesting to watch them square off against one another.

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The Interdependent Web of Life

Before moving here to Lincoln Hills I never gave thought to the interdependent web of life.  As I walked our open space trails, observing the change of seasons I became aware of cycles.  The first thing I noticed was the flowers.  Of course in spring there were many blooms but as Spring changed to Summer and Summer to Fall I noticed that there was always something in bloom, something to feed the pollinators.  The pollinators depended on the succession of bloom and the plants depended on the pollinators to reproduce. When I heard about the problems caused by monoculture, the growing of a single crop on large tracts of land, I understood.  Once that tree or crop has bloomed it is a desert for the native pollinators.

Recently I noticed another instance of the interdependence of nature.  

Before the grass grew high we often saw egrets hunting in the grassland.  As the grass grew high the egrets disappeared, we wondered why

Then the homeowners association had sheep brought in to eat and trample the grass as a fire control measure.

Then the egrets were back.  With the grass beaten down they could more easily find the voles.

Voles they needed to feed their chicks.

Voles, rabbits and mice eat the grass and multiply.  In nature deer would come, eat and tramp down the grass (probably not as efficiently as the sheep) making it easier for birds of prey and coyotes to find a meal. 
Nature has a balance, a balance that we too often disturb.  The use of sheep to graze the grass helps to restore that balance.  The sheep are moved every couple of days, leaving plenty of grass for habitat but reducing the fuel for fires.
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