Nature ID

habitat ~ 02/03/12 ~ Mt. Madonna County Park

2012-02-03T23:55:00.000-08:00

Mount Madonna County Park
February 3, 2012

This was an unusual hike in that I rarely go out looking for a specific flower. The last time I did this was July 19, 2010 and July 25, 2010 when we went on hunts for the federally endangered Yadon's piperia. See my fetid adder's tongue post for the cool lily that brought us out to this remote spot at Mt. Madonna. I wanted redwoods. Andy is much better at maps and GPS coordinates than I am since he's an avid trail runner. We initially hiked up the Ridge Rd. trail because of the Calflora report. There were plenty of oaks and CA bays. After a bit, I didn't think we'd find any FATs, so we backtracked and went on the Sprig trail where there were plenty of redwoods. Bingo! The last picture above is supposedly of Sprig Lake. It looks like a small creek to me, but with the lack of rain we've had this year, it's no wonder. The creek-side willows were just starting to show their fuzzy buds.

Sigh... I have to state that I don't feel comfortable hiking this side of Mt. Madonna by myself. This mountain is known for its drug activity. When we came across a couple eating an orange on the redwood trail, I excitedly asked them if they were into plants. They said, "Sure!" I promptly pulled out my camera to show them my pics of FATs. Their expressions changed. I don't think my plants were the ones they wanted. Recently in the news there was a big pot growing bust with DEA helicopters landing near the Dama dama pens. And thanks to our friendly ranger the first time we camped up here, we know there are also meth labs around. Because I'm nosey and generally inquisitive, I haven't yet decided if I am unobtrusive enough to hike safely through these kinds of areas. This is one of the reasons why I don't hike down in the Big Sur area by myself.

CA bay ~ 02/03/12 ~ Mt. Madonna

2012-02-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

California bay / Oregon myrtle
Umbellularia californica
Lauraceae

I simply want to document the seasonal changes of the CA bay and show the yellow umbels of this native evergreen tree. To read about my experience of eating ripe bay nuts off the tree, click here. To see all 3 posts about CA bay through the year, click the ca bay label. It's hard for me to believe now, but I never noticed this common tree until I started blogging. Nature ID has served me well for learning about and paying better attention to the local natural world.

fetid adder's tongue ~ 02/03/12 ~ Mt. Madonna

2012-02-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

fetid adder's tongue / slink pod
Scoliopus bigelovii
for more information click here and here
Liliaceae

Yay! Yay! Yay! It's been a while since I've been this excited about finding a plant in bloom. One of the very cool aspects about following other nature bloggers, especially fairly local ones, is I get turned onto new discoveries. Many thanks to John Wall for his recent post alerting me that fetid adder's tongues are blooming now. In fact, it was one of John's posts this time last year that the name fetid adder's tongue caught my attention for the first time. Then I started seeing other bloggers post about this stunning little lily, and I made a list o' links for my online archive. So, I've been waiting a whole year to see FAT blooms in person. To actually read anything informative about FAT, such as flower parts and its relatively limited distribution, check out the two links in the ID section above "for more information."

I'll continue this post later, but right now I want to get outside to enjoy the beautiful, sunny 64°F!

ps 02/05/11 - For the record, the temperature in Monterey reached 72.3°F on Saturday. I spent most of yesterday morning researching FATs and ran out of time to finish this post. I usually give myself a time limit for creating a post, which hopefully explains why I often feel the need to edit and postscript my crappy writing. However, this time, I got a bit obsessive with finding my own information. I looked at over 240 online pictures (from flickr and CalPhotos, both linked in the common names above). I even created a spreadsheet of the photographic collection data, excluding those without flowers, without location information or specific dates, repeats from the same trip from the same person or from the same hiking group, cultivated plants, and misidentified and potentially incorrectly dated photos. Yep, that's definitely obsessive, and no, I rarely do this for any post on Nature ID.

Perhaps, I should have looked into FATs a little more before heading to Mt. Madonna with the belief that if I didn't get out last week, I would miss my opportunity to see this lily bloom for another year. I truly felt a sense of urgency to get my butt and camera to the nearest redwood grove ASAP. I'm not sure how I got that impression. Come to find out the earliest published record of FAT blooming is December 15 from A California Flora and supplement 1959 & 1973 by Philip A. Munz and David D. Keck. Since I don't have that book as a reference, I found something even better (for me anyways), a flickr photo by G. Dan Mitchell dated December 18, 2009. The latest believable seasonal online reference I found is a flickr photo by Michael Graupe dated March 29, 2008, even though I also found a few photos claiming they were taken at the end of April, May, and even August. While published bloom times vary from January to February or February to March, I found this information to be too vague. From my own photographic survey, I figure the peak bloom period occurs from the last 10 days of January through February and into the first 10 days of March. Well, gee, I guess I didn't need to be in such a rush after all.

For some miscellany...

Several online blogs, photos, and sites commonly state one has to get down on hands and knees to spot this 2" tall lily. Bah! The ones shown in my photos above were easily 6" tall from ground to sepals, with some in the area even taller. I was actually quite surprised by how big they were.

We were undecided between going to Mt. Madonna (Santa Clara Co.) or Nisene Marks (Santa Cruz Co.) for the nearest redwood groves, so I looked at Calflora before we left and discovered they've added a cool new location closeup feature to their site. While redwood forests are the most common habitat, they can also be found in chaparral and other areas, as Katie from PhyteClub shows.

Oh, I included the pic of the banana slug munching on a seed pod above, because I had a good laugh when I found a gardening site state the seed pods are "virtual gastropodic picnic baskets." Unfortunately, I was unable to capture a picture of a tiny fly that checked out several flowers. It didn't look like any of the fungus gnats I've found referenced as pollinators, but it did look like it fit perfectly in the center grooves of the sepals with its head positioned under the anthers. And, no I didn't catch any fetid whiff while I was so close observing the fly.

wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

gray whale ~ 01/21/12 ~ Rec Trail

2012-01-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

gray whale
Eschrichtius robustus
for more information click here, here, and here

Yep, these are not the best pictures. It's really challenging to get decent photos of whales, btw, at least with my slow, poor-zoom, point-and-shoot. You can see the mottled back of the whale just to the right of the man in the second picture. This whale was incredibly close to the shore and was moving north around the Peninsula. Considering Nature ID is essentially my personal nature journal, I wanted to record the date and species of this particular whale sighting. I borrowed a marine mammal book from a friend that had cute little graphics of how one is supposed to distinguish between different cetaceans based on the shape of their spray. Ha! A couple times a year I spot various whales in the distance from home, mainly thanks to numerous whale watching boats that circle around any whales in the Bay like sharks. This time, it was thanks to a crowd of folks on the Rec Trail all pointing their cameras that we thought to stop and look. It's been a few years since I've seen a gray whale so close to the shore. The last time (unfortunately, I never recorded when), I was able to run alongside a close-to-the-shore gray from the Monterey Bay Aquarium all the way through Cannery Row, past the Plaza Hotel, and to San Carlos Beach. I've included numerous links above, because there seems to be some conflicting online information about the status of gray whales.

sunrise ~ 01/19/12 ~ at home

2012-01-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

sunrise from home
January 19, 2012

We had a lovely amount of rain off and on since Thursday ~4:15pm, the same day this sunrise picture was taken. By Friday night with help from the wind, our salty, ocean-mist covered windows finally had some cleaning. I really should park my car outside the garage so I can take advantage of nature's free car wash.

News, personal, and online stuff have been a bit... erm, different in the past week. I'd like to think I'm not the only one experiencing this. I've been wanting to update my indices and correct past blog posts, but blogger has been temperamental. Then, I'm still trying to find the right balance of what personal notes to share on Nature ID. Am I sharing enough to make a post interesting, or am I sharing too much (better known as TMI)? And, I won't even get started with the news.

Like the sunrise of a new day and like the declarations for a new year, it's comforting to believe starting fresh and new can actually happen. Here's a great time-lapse video of Yosemite to remind me and perhaps you, too, how the daily conditions of humans are truly insignificant compared to the larger picture: http://io9.com/5878091/this-time+lapse-video-of-yosemite-is-staggeringly-beautiful.

habitat ~ 01/16/12 ~ Garland Ranch - Garzas Creek

2012-01-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

Garland Ranch Regional Park - Garzas Creek
January 16, 2012

posted 01/19/12 - I never thought I'd say this, but I need lots of rain to help pull me out of this year's winter doldrums. Sure, just about everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere would think this sunny warm weather we've had here on the CA coast is a blessing, but I'm feeling parched. Hopefully, we'll get some rain by this afternoon.

This was the biggest hill I've hiked in quite a while, and I'm still feeling some soreness in my thigh muscles. I'm fascinated that the slippery downhill was somehow more difficult than going uphill. I don't have many specific pictures to post, because the hike was its own reward for a change. I wanted to see Veeder Pond, which truthfully is actually a vernal pool. Compare how dry it is now to only 3 1/2 months ago on October 1, 2011. There's a fire tower on the highest hill in the first picture, and there's the Carmel Valley Village airstrip in the second picture, which was utilized as temporary housing for firefighters during the 2008 month-long Basin Complex Fire. In 2008 there were hundreds of fires across CA. I really hope we're not looking at another intense fire year for 2012. Most notable from our hike was an owl we saw fly right by us near the vernal pool. I also noticed dropped leaves on the ground from silver bush lupine, which I believe may be due to the lack of rain, and yellow blooms on CA bay.

monarchs ~ 01/14/12 ~ Monarch Grove

2012-01-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus

I don't like to repeat myself on Nature ID too often, but I felt these photos deserved the story they tell. On our way home from the movies (the new Sherlock Holmes film - I've been agog for all things Sherlock lately and have been thoroughly enjoying reading ACD's stories, too), we figured it was such a warm and sunny day that it might be a good time to check out the monarchs in our town's monarch park. We were quite surprised to see so many cars packed outside of the PG Adult School that we drove around to the lesser known access trail. Maybe it was the holiday weekend and the pleasant weather that brought out the visitors in droves?

Come to find out the monarchs are not clustering in the non-native eucalyptus trees in the sanctuary like they often do. Instead, they were primarily located in the neighboring motel yard. This is the first time I've seen monarchs clustered on native trees here in CA, like the Monterey cypress shown in the pictures above. This winter has been filled with a variety of local news and controversy about our overwintering monarchs. Last month, hundreds were found dead on the ground without abdomens and without any satisfactory explanation as to why. Then, there's been the continuing conflict of over-pruning the eucalyptus by the City to avoid another million dollar lawsuit, donors purchasing spendy eucalyptus trees to supplement the pruned trees, volunteers obtaining winter flowering plants, researchers pulling out plants placed by the volunteers, and tubs and tubs of plants purchased that now are left neglected and dying. Sheesh! The petty politics of this town sometimes gets me down. At the very least, it was great to see so many tourists simply enjoying the wonder of a wintering cluster of monarch butterflies.

cherry blossoms ~ 01/14/12 ~ Monarch Grove

2012-01-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

ornamental cherry blossom
Prunus sp.
Rosaceae

Cherry blossoms in January!?! Since I started Nature ID in 2009, I have been attempting to be mindful that what I observe has its limitations, most likely based on my poor understanding of what is what, or based on when I am actually outside to observe whatever it is that strikes me as unusual, or based on my poor memory. When I first saw these blossoms, I kinda figured this year's mild winter weather must have something to do with it. Is it global warming? Maybe not. I remembered seeing a recent post by Marie at 66 Square Feet about cherry blossoms that are typical in New York City in December, a place that often gets decent snow in the winter (I've been there for work and have been stranded due to flight cancellations, so I remember the place well from first-hand experience). I have also commented on John at Sinbad and I on the Loose blog stating that I believe I'm noticing local flowers more this January simply because the weather is warm and I'm actually outside to see the beauty. So then, when I started writing this post and looked through my labels, I found I already have a couple posts of other ornamental cherry blossoms in January. Hmph! Truth be told, blossoms could be about 10 days early this year, but I can't really say or proffer the cause. I now am aware that different species bloom months later like our neighbor's unidentified April Prunus, whereas our native cherry species blooms in June. It's been helpful to have the actual dated records on Nature ID to remind me of the seasonal changes, rather than relying on my fickle memory.

black-crowned night heron ~ 01/08/12 ~ Coast Guard Pier

2012-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax

For quite a while I've wanted to capture a picture of an adult black-crowned night heron during daylight hours. I've seen them regularly near the Coast Guard Pier, adults and juveniles, but I've never had a camera on me when I spot them. It's been almost 3 years ago since we often found a black-crowned night heron while grunion greeting in the middle of the night. We named him "Charlie" and knew if we saw him on the beach, we would have good luck finding grunion. The above picture is an unusual angle, because I was leaning over the railing of recently built restrooms at the boat docks. The actual Coast Guard Pier is once again closed this winter due to additional pier maintenance. They claim it'll be open to the public come February, but I suspect it won't open again until at least June.

elephant seal ~ 01/08/12 ~ Hopkins

2012-01-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

northern elephant seal
Mirounga angustirostris

It looks like a sandy sausage, eh? I almost didn't post this, because I have much better pictures of elephant seals down at Piedras Blancas near San Simeon. However, I wanted to note the unusually large size of these beached elephant seals near home. In the past week or so, I've heard their distinctive grunts at night, even over the roar of the winter waves. While we've had some elephant seals at Hopkin's West Beach (I like to affectionately call it seal beach) in the years past 9 years, these are the largest males I've ever seen here. I'm fairly sure we have harbor seals all year round on this beach (those rock-looking slugs in the lower-left of the last photo above), but the appearance of a couple elephant seals seems to be seasonal and new.

Here are a couple decent local elephant seal links with original information:
http://elsealnotes.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantseal.org/

habitat ~ 01/07/12 ~ Frog Pond Wetland Preserve

2012-01-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

Frog Pond Wetland Preserve
January 7, 2012

Last week Graeme of Imperfect and Tense blog fame in the UK asked me if dragons and damsels were on the wing this time of year in my region. Hmm? The last time I remember seeing odonates was back on December 10, 2011 at Los Padres Dam, although I was unable to capture any pictures of them. Then, I realized I tend to notice when things are present, but I often neglect to consider what may be absent. This will be something I'll try to keep in mind this year.

As promised like a virtual hiker clear across the globe, off we went on a dragon and damsel hunt at the one local spot I felt sure would have them if they were indeed out in January. Normally, January can be quite stormy here, but so far we've have an extremely mild winter with barely a drop of rain mid-December. Sorry, Graeme, we had no luck in finding dragonflies or damselflies. However, I haven't given up, yet, and will keep my eyes peeled for them.

So often we don't feel like getting in the car on weekends, unless the promise of a good hike is in the offing. It was really nice to get out for a short hike a couple towns away (only 15 minutes by car) on a lazy Saturday when we probably would have taken a walk on the Rec Trail from home. The Frog Pond was the clearest I've ever seen it. There were coots, mallards, and various song birds, which made for a very soothing hike and a nice change of pace from the constant sound of crashing waves at home.

habitat ~ 01/02/12 ~ Palo Corona Regional Park

2012-01-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Palo Corona Regional Park
January 2, 2012

For the new year, we wanted to do a new hike. Heading south past Carmel, this is the first big hill one sees from Highway 1 before reaching Point Lobos. In the spring, the green is quite spectacular. I've wanted to frolic around these hills for the past 8 years, ever since I used to work on this side of the Peninsula and take walks during lunch. Through a complicated partnership, Palo Corona was acquired back in 2004, but it was only opened to the public this past year and with advanced permit reservation. Hmph! As I've mentioned before I'm adverse to planning hikes or camping trips in advance due to my typical rain curse. However, this winter season has been particularly dry, and we had overcast conditions with no rain for our reserved hike. While not very far as the crow flies from home, it was markedly windier and colder than at home in the shelter of the Monterey Peninsula on the Monterey Bay side.

The official MPRPD site (linked below the pictures above) is impressive, but it doesn't offer a decent statement of how limited the publicly accessible areas currently are. I found better information on the Big Sur Land Trust site, a new blog I found, and a series of Flickr photos. It's obvious there has been a ton of money dumped into this property, especially compared to our increasingly neglected State Parks. The mere couple miles of trail to Animas Pond (shown in the 4th pic above) are lavish and disturbingly odd with thick, freshly laid DG (decomposed granite, a popular trail covering in our area), more fancy schmancy benches and picnic tables than you can shake a stick at (with only 21 permits allowed per day, why would they need so many every 100 yards or so?), and not to mention the numerous signs and gates stating "not open to the public" or with complicated handicap loopy locks. The views of Carmel Bay (extends from Pebble Beach to Point Lobos) and the chichi Quail Lodge Golf Club are prominent once you get up the hill away from the many cows, which we had the pleasure of watching get fed hay from the back of a truck. I look forward to when more trails are opened.

Oh, I also saw my second bobcat! It hurried away before I could get my camera out of my pocket. Didn't I say now that I've seen one, I will see them all the time?

ps 02/07/12 - For a great video of what the hike to Inspiration Point (0.6 mile before Animas Pond) looks like, check out Walkifornia.

monkeyflower ~ 01/02/12 ~ Palo Corona

2012-01-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

monkeyflower
Mimulus sp. (aka Diplacus sp.)
Phrymaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae)

Andy and I joke with each other regularly about how we're getting old. Despite his increasing amount of grey in his beard (and ear tufts... snicker) and my having gained a few extra pounds, we're mostly referring to our older mindset. I'm feeling more and more fixed in my opinions. This monkeyflower reminds me of this. I've never seen one so reddish-orange, and it was obviously purposely planted near the interpretive signs. The wild growing monkeyflowers on this same hike were the typical buttery orange color of Mimulus aurantiacus that I've come to expect to be blooming somewhere near here all year round.

I have some issue with planting "natives" when, in fact, they may not actually be native to a specific area. Town Mouse and Country Mouse had an interesting post recently making the distinction between native plants and native garden hybrids. With native planting so popular here in CA, I've often wondered how "native" is defined, especially when I spot plants in gardens that are obviously from SoCal (Santa Barbara south to San Diego), several hundred miles south of where I live. It might as well be in a different country, but we all know political and natural boundaries do not coincide.

I've tried my best to ID this particular plant and I'm at a loss, partially due to botanical names being changed left and right. I had to laugh when Las Pilitas Nursery stated, "The botanists over the years have called it all sorts of names, with no cross references, very confusing. Botanists need to get a life!" My best guess is that this is a cultivated hybrid. The closest visual matches I've found have been: CalPhotos 1 (most significant for the local cultivated description), CalPhotos 2 (showing how the experts can't seem to agree), San Diego Sunrise from Las Pilitas, and Sunset Monkeyflower from Camissonia's Corner (a garden blogger from SoCal).

miniature lupine ~ 01/02/12 ~ Palo Corona

2012-01-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

miniature lupine
Lupinus bicolor
Fabaceae

Phooey. Just a few minutes ago I posted this as sky lupine and commented on how it's the earliest in the season I've ever seen it in bloom since I usually see it from March to May. So, that got me wondering if my ID was correct. I now believe this is miniature lupine, aka annual lupine. I've found differing information to distinguish the 2 species - hairs or no hairs, that is the question. Does anyone have pointers about these 2 lupine spp.? Sigh, does it seem like an odd winter for you, too?

sunrise ~ 12/29/11 ~ at home

2011-12-29T05:21:00.000-08:00

sunrise from home
December 29, 2011

Heavy sigh. I have pictures from Christmas Day of mushrooms and questions about why branches of Monterey pine and coast live oak have been chewed away, but I haven't felt up to researching and finding IDs and such. In some ways 2011 has been the hardest and the best year for us. I like sunrises. Each day, they provide a promise of a clean slate and a chance to experience something new. Wishing a great 2012 for everyone!

habitat ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak County Park

2011-12-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

Jacks Peak County Park
December 25, 2011

For the record, I'm not sure if this County Park was officially open on Christmas Day, but we took one of several little-known trails up the hill. It starts off as coast live oak woods then gradually turns into Monterey pine forest as the elevation increases. In a couple spots, freshly fallen trees blocked the old trail. I was impressed with how soft the new trail was around these disturbed areas. It felt very spongy on the feet, as if I were walking underneath redwoods. I've heard this area is called a closed-cone pine forest from a blogger who recently shut down his blog. I wasn't aware of this term before. Despite the lack of fire, it looks like the Monterey pine has no problem reseeding itself. Jacks Peak has one of the few remaining native stands of Monterey pine in the world. We also looked for where the proposed zipline will be placed, which has caused quite a controversy among the prominent older folks in our area. The views are absolutely stunning from the summit of Jacks Peak of both Monterey harbor and "the mouth of the Valley" as us locals refer to it, which is really the east side of Carmel and whose main claim to fame is Clint Eastwood was once mayor. The zipline would be thrilling and perhaps a nice tourist attraction. However, I can't say I'd fork out $100 for the experience, especially since I live here.

wavyleaf soap plant ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak

2011-12-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

wavyleaf soap plant
Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. pomeridianum
Asparagaceae (formerly Agavaceae, Hyacinthaceae, & Liliaceae)

Edited 01/03/12 - I originally posted this as a sprout of Fremont's star-lily, but thanks to my commenters, I've corrected the ID above. It's been a goal of mine to track the seasonal evidence of both death camas, aka Fremont's star-lily, and soap plant, especially in areas where they literally grow from the same spot of ground like at Jacks Peak. I've made a fuss about how several online sites have them mixed up, and I've admitted I get them confused, too, when they only have green leaves - the flowers are too distinctive to ever get them mixed up. I've now concluded that death camas is an early flowerer compared to 3-4 months later in the season soap plant.

Monterey pine and coast live oak ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak

2011-12-25T05:18:00.000-08:00

Monterey pine
Pinus radiata
Pinaceae

coast live oak
Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia
Fagaceae

This post is for Cindy of Dipper Ranch based on her recent comment. I wish I had better pictures of how the ends look chewed. I noticed before at Jacks Peak that tips of Monterey Pine litter the trail. This is the first time I noticed tips of coast live oak also on the trail. To me they look like they've been chewed off, but I don't really know. We haven't had any wind storms lately, so I don't think that's the reason. It just seems a bit unusual to find tips of trees on the forest floor. Maybe a pruning-happy tree squirrel did this? Anyone have any ideas as to why this happens?

poinsettia ~ 12/24/11 ~ Monterey

2011-12-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

poinsettia / flor de nochebuena
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Euphorbiaceae

Have you ever seen a 2-story tall poinsettia? While several neighborhood yards have blooming poinsettias that are the size of bushes, this is the tallest one I've found. Poinsettias originate from Mexico. Today we went for a sunny afternoon walk just so I could take a picture for Nature ID. Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!

habitat ~ 12/17/11 ~ Fort Ord - BLM Creekside entrance

2011-12-17T23:55:00.000-08:00

Fort Ord Public Lands - Creekside entrance

December 17, 2011

Truth be told, we didn't actually park at the Creekside entrance for this evening hike. We used the old dirt pull-off on Reservation Rd., which we once used regularly before the BLM built a fancy parking lot with pit toilets on Creekside Terrace, shown in the 3rd photo above.

Speaking of the 3rd photo and 4th photo, that's not the pretty shimmer of water in the distance; it's the extensive plastic that farmers use to cultivate strawberries. Strawberries have been Monterey County's most valuable crop for the past 3 years. I had a friend who recently worked at a small organic farm. Even though they didn't use methyl bromide or methyl iodide, they used several hundred pounds of plastic every year. It was a huge expense for them to dump the plastic at the local waste management, but it was "better" than burning all those plastic chemicals to be released into the atmosphere, which according to my organic farmer friend so many other farmers choose to do to save on costs of dumping plastic. There seems to be something inherently wrong with plasticulture. Needless to say, I've long ago not purchased strawberries, be it cheap supermarket, on the side of the road, or expensive organic farmers' market. I believe the environmental costs are too great for such a small fruit. However, I will eat them if they're offered to me. Hmm, maybe I'll try growing strawberries in my mini-balcony greenhouse... which, guess what, is covered in reused greenhouse plastic?

Monterey manzanita ~ 12/17/11 ~ Fort Ord

2011-12-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

best guess Monterey manzanita
best guess Arctostaphylos montereyensis
Ericaceae

I believe all of our local manzanitas start blooming in the winter. The above pictured plant is the first to bloom for the season that I've noticed at Fort Ord. According to Calflora, there are 120 spp./ssp. in CA, which makes ID rather challenging. This is my best guess based on the 7 recorded spp./ssp. at Fort Ord. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows how to distinguish between the different types of manzanitas.

wedge-leaved horkelia ~ 12/17/11 ~ Fort Ord

2011-12-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

wedge-leaved horkelia
Horkelia cuneata
Rosaceae

Again, another fresh bloom and leaves alongside dry seeded parts from this past year. Looking back, I haven't done much hiking in December to have noticed these kinds of flowers before. Ah, I love living on the coast of CA where wildflowers can be found in winter.

habitat ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

Los Padres Dam

December 10, 2011

This hike was all about contrasts. The reservoir seemed fairly full, but the spillway was bone dry and the Carmel River was very low. Once past the dam, the Carmel River Trail hugs the hills, from sunny to shady, repeatedly. There were dry areas still recovering from the 2008 Basin Complex Fire and other areas which seemed extra lush and green for this time of year. One side of the trail could have chaparral yuccas, chamise, and dried grasses, while the other side could have newly sprouted fiesta flowers, ferns, grasses, and mushrooms. We went through stands of trees to open meadows. Evergreen oaks, madrones, CA bays, and toyon were mixed in with deciduous oaks, CA buckeyes, bigleaf maples, and CA sycamores. Buckwheats, CA fuchsias, CA goldenrods, cudweeds, telegraph weeds, and a variety of other Asteraceae were setting seed and showing fresh blooms. I saw very few insects or hummingbirds that could pollinate the flowers, but I did spot a couple bumblebees, a honkin' huge tachinid fly, other smaller flies, damselflies, and dragonflies. We thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors in December.

I may want visit Los Padres Dam again in January or February. We don't often go there, because it can get blazing hot by May (although the numerous river crossings are refreshing), the trails are not well maintained further in (with loads of poison-oak), and it takes an hour to travel the 25 miles inland (which is almost beyond my patience to drive for a hike). I've found very few nature-related sites about the Los Padres Dam area. It's a very popular access point for the northern area of the Los Padres National Forest, so most of my search results have been from hard-core hiking sites. To see what backpacking is like in the area, check out this fellow Tony's pictures.

stinging lupine ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

stinging lupine
Lupinus hirsutissimus
Fabaceae

My brain has totally taken a holiday. When I'm usually working on this blog early in the morning, it's now dark out, and I've been feeling like I would rather be back in bed. But, that's just a lame excuse... For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what this plant was and posted it on Flickr seeking ID help. Doh! I should have known it was a lupine of some sort based on the leaf shape, yet I was more focused on the prickly parts. True to its name, they do give a mild sting when touched, like a poke with a small needle that stays stuck. Andy and I both discovered this when we took a closer look and feel of the plant. While I suspect this plant would normally grow where I found it, Wikipedia states these grow in places that were recently burned. I wonder how much the 2008 Basin Complex Fire on this trail encouraged the presence of this particular patch of stinging lupine.

CA buckeye ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

California buckeye
Aesculus californica
more information
Sapindaceae (formerly Hippocastanaceae)

I wanted to show how big our CA buckeye seeds get, much larger than the native buckeyes (A. glabra and A. flava) and introduced horse chestnut (A. hippocastanum) seeds I found when I lived in Ohio. During our hike, we had a fun time rolling the prolific seeds down the ravines to see how far they would go; it was like rolling bocce jacks over a rough terrain.

I'm surprised I don't have additional seasonal posts of the CA buckeye, considering it's noticeably one of the first trees to sprout leaves in late winter and one of the first trees to drop leaves in late summer, which I read somewhere was due to lack of water. I'll have to rectify this posting deficiency. For much better information than I could ever provide, check out Clare's buckeye post at Curbstone Valley Farm.

CA goldenrod ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

California goldenrod
Solidago velutina ssp. californica (formerly Solidago californica)
more information
Asteraceae

During this hike, I felt like I was in some kind of seasonal time warp. It is December after all. Here's another cheery flower that really should have finished blooming by now. Calflora shows there are 16 spp./ssp. of Solidago in CA. However, I'm fairly confident of this ID based on the leaf shape and the way the flowers are clustered on one side of the stem.

green lynx spider ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

western variation female green lynx spider on cudweed
Peucetia viridans on Pseudognaphalium sp.
Asteraceae

That's quite a large egg sac she's protecting! She's about 1" or more in size but not very green, eh? While searching for an ID, I looked at other Oxyopidae, and none seemed to match as well as P. viridans. It helped to read that this spider can change color depending on the season or surroundings. As I was getting in close to take pictures, I got a whiff of the lovely scent from the cudweed. Green lynx spiders are not the only things that utilize cudweed blooms; Cindy at Dipper Ranch found American lady caterpillars tucked into her cudweed.

CA fuchsia ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T07:05:00.000-08:00

California fuchsia / hummingbird trumpet
Epilobium canum (formerly Zauschneria californica)
Onagraceae

I was pleased to find CA fuchsia blooming out in the wild in December. It's a cheery Christmassy color. I didn't know the seeds would be fluffy. Actually, I rarely find it growing wild because of my hiking location choices and time of year I most often hike (spring). I doubt I'd recognize this plant if it weren't in bloom. I should have taken better pictures of its leaves. The CA fuchsia is a very popular native plant with gardeners these days, and I often see it used in landscaping around town and on CA garden blogs, like Camissonia's Corner and Sierra Foothill Garden. I didn't see any hummingbirds feeding on it, but I know they're around. I should point out the CA fuchsia is not a real fuchsia; it's a willowherb.

bobcat ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Do you see it!?!
(click any Nature ID pic for a larger screen view)

Let's zoom in a little closer.

bobcat
Lynx rufus
more information

Oho! Very exciting! Finally! Today I saw my first wild bobcat... and got some crappy photos of it. It's too bad that moments after we decided the log tucked in among the tall dried grasses had moved and really was a bobcat, a large dog came bounding down the trail towards us. During a 4-hour hike, we only met one other group of hikers. Per our typical trail luck, this 2nd group was loudly chatty to each other and oblivious with a loose dog that I was somewhat concerned would bite me before I could continue taking crappy photos.

This bobcat didn't seem too disturbed by their barking dog, nor did it seem to be in much of a hurry to depart the scene. After we pointed out to the other hikers the presence of the bobcat, we took a side trail to see if we could follow it. We didn't find it again, although we spotted an agitated CA gray squirrel high in a tree chirping out a high-pitched alarm call that seemed to spread through the trees.

For much better pictures of local subspecies of bobcats, check out other CA nature bloggers John Wall and Nature of a Man. I've been so keen on seeing a bobcat out in the wild that I've even collected a list o' links from various other bloggers on bobcats. I feel like I could easily retire this ol' blog with a sense of completion. It's as if Christmas came early for me this year.

common yarrow ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

2011-12-10T03:44:00.000-08:00

common yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Asteraceae

posted 12/29/11 - When I started this blog 2 1/2 years ago, I focused on colorful, sunny flowers and animals that were already familiar to me. It's been a real joy learning more about my local natural world. My learning curve was a sharp incline at first and then it flattened out, partially due to blogging fatigue and partially due to my hesitancy to show off how much I don't know.

Without flowers, I'm often at a loss as to what a plant is. It's time for me to start looking at leaves. Once again, thanks to Flickr and Nature of a Man blogger randomtruth, I received help for the ID of this very common plant.

The white blooms in the last picture are either longstem buckwheat (Eriogonum elongatum) or naked buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum). I had several pictures of this buckwheat, but none of them turned out very well since my point-and-shoot couldn't find a focal point. Once again, I should have looked for the leaves to be able to distinguish between the 2 spp.

silent Sunday

2011-12-04T06:34:00.000-08:00

Pacific chorus frog ~ 11/28/11 ~ at home

2011-11-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

Pacific chorus frog
Pseudacris sierra

I have been remiss in posting updates on the various animals I tried to raise this past year. This is what I believe is the first frog to fully metamorphose from the eggs I received from a friend back in May. I seem to be missing 2 individuals out of 16 that hatched. Whether they died (I found no evidence of this) or escaped from the aquarium (I have seen trails of duckweed on the rim of the aquarium), I can merely guess. One only had 3 legs at some point, and I'm not sure if this is it with a fully grown 4th front right leg. I'm surprised at how small the frogs are compared to the relatively beefy tadpoles. This tiny one had actually lost its tail completely a week or so ago. I've been so preoccupied with other things that I haven't kept as good of track on the development as I would like. I'll have to look through e-mails to get some of the developmental dates correct.

ps 12/11/11 - It's nice to see other nature bloggers post about their own tadpole rearing experiences. So far, Julie Zickefoose is the only one I've seen.

pss 12/15/11 - I'm not sure if I should be repulsed or fascinated... I noticed this morning that a tadpole died, and the others are huddled around it and feeding like a pack of carnivores or scavengers.

habitat ~ 11/24/11 ~ San Luis Reservoir

2011-11-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area
November 24, 2011

This is not exactly "Over the River and through the Woods"; it's more over the reservoir and through the valley to family's houses we go. Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day! Since most of my extended family still lives in the Central Valley, this is the usual route to go see them or to pass through to Yosemite. No, we didn't stop, nor have I ever stopped since it's usually very windy through Pacheco Pass. I figured my picture from the car and this blog is a good enough excuse to actually look up information on this reservoir and the surrounding area that I've passed many, many times since I was a kid and never even knew the name. If Wikipedia is correct, the San Luis Reservoir is "the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States." Who knew? In the distance are numerous wind turbines, which are situated on another CA State Park property, Pacheco State Park. Thanks to revenue from the wind turbines, Pacheco is one of the few State Parks supposedly with enough funds for maintenance. What a great idea! Both State Park embedded links above have decent historical information.

ps 01/04/12 - Based on comments below, found this article from Forbes on endangered CA condors and wind turbines. Something to think about.

habitat ~ 11/19/11 ~ Garland Ranch - Garzas Creek

2011-11-19T23:55:00.000-08:00

Garland Ranch Regional Park - Garzas Creek
November 19, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! Garzas Creek is going to become my must-do pre-Thanksgiving hike. It's one of the only places around Monterey that has large, native, crunchy, deciduous leaves to tromp through and feels almost like the autumn most people expect in North America. The area along the creek is absolutely gorgeous!

Andy is training for a 50K trail run, so he sped off while I casually took a short loop. We planned to meet up at our favorite restaurant Jeffrey's at Carmel Mid-Valley for lunch. Thanks to a couple of hikers with a dog that liked to jump on me (I had muddy footprints all over me!), I veered off to the redwood trail to avoid them. I worried I wouldn't get back in time to meet Andy, but I am so glad I took this new-to-me trail. The trail loops back to the creek for some of the most scenic spots.

As the sign says, the seasonal foot bridges were taken out the Monday before my hike. I asked a fellow if the creek was passable. He was confident that it could be crossed at the 4 intersections along the trail. Note to self: do not take the advice of a 6 foot tall man with walking sticks if a creek is passable. While I love rock hopping, it helps if you don't have muddy shoes and aren't needing to pass over wet rocks. I managed just fine once I found a couple large sticks to help me balance. After my very grouchy previous week, this hike really helped cheer me up. It was food for the soul, and I am thankful for places like this.

snowberry ~ 11/19/11 ~ Garland Ranch

2011-11-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

common snowberry
Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus
Caprifoliaceae

I have yet to notice the pretty pink flowers of the snowberry. However, the bright white, small marshmallow-looking berries are so easy to spot, especially when most of the leaves have dropped. The other species of snowberry at Garland is the creeping snowberry (Symphoricarpos mollis), which according to the USDA is only native to CA and NV. To me they look nearly identical in photos, except for the obvious difference, one is erect and the other creeps along the ground. I'll try to keep a look-out next year for the flowers, which, if my books are correct, should bloom in the spring.

CA bay ~ 11/19/11 ~ Garland Ranch

2011-11-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

California bay / Oregon myrtle
Umbellularia californica
Lauraceae

After a full year of thinking about it and posting about it back in July, I finally had my first taste of a California bay nut. Well, actually, being the piglet I am and wanting to compare, I tried 3 bay nuts. I was so excited I didn't get a picture of the first one, but it was reddish and squishy like the first photo above. The flesh had the texture and taste that reminded me of a cross between a firm avocado and an unripe mango, mild, slightly sweet, and with only a hint of bay. The second one I tried was a bit greener yet also soft. I barely nibbled it before I spat it out. It had a very, very strong bay flavor. It left a burning tingle in the back of my throat, similar to the effect I get when I eat fresh mangoes - I've already looked it up, CA bays are related to avocados but not mangoes. Hoping to try another ripe bay nut, I ate a third that was somewhere in between. Had I been prudent, I would have simply saved them and waited until I got home to taste them; for the rest of my hike, my throat tingled and every exhale tasted like bay. My stomach was not a happy camper by the time I finished my hike.

Interesting to note the seed of the first ripe one was very dark, whereas the seed of the second green one was a much lighter color. In the third photo I also want to show there are buds on the evergreen CA bay already. And the last picture shows a very large and mature CA bay tree.

ps 02/06/12 - I initially posted the last picture believing the large tree was an oak (Quercus sp.) next to a smaller CA bay. The significance of this is that the CA bay serves as a host to a pathogen that causes sudden oak death, which also affects tanbark oaks (Notholithocarpus densiflorus). For a very informative blog post about SOD, check out Randy at Way Points. I'm always amazed at the things I learn from fellow bloggers. During another hike at Garzas Creek on 01/16/12, I took a second look at the large tree and realized I had been mistaken about its ID. I've still got a lot to learn about trees.

bigleaf maple and CA sycamore ~ 11/19/11 ~ Garland Ranch

2011-11-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

bigleaf maple (left) and California sycamore (right)

Both these deciduous trees are native to California and provide lovely autumn colors. They can be quite tall, so it's difficult to compare the shapes of the leaves when they're too high to examine. It's taken me until this hike, when the forest floor is littered, to truly distinguish the leaves. For the longest time, I thought Garland only had one native large-leaved tree, that being the bigleaf maple. I was wrong. Considering the place used to be a ranch, I figured any sycamores I found were non-native. I've corrected past posts to reflect my new understanding, like last November's Garzas Creek habitat post.

bigleaf maple
Acer macrophyllum
Sapindaceae (formerly Aceraceae)

Notice the 5 deep lobes of the leaf? The vertically grooved bark, often covered in moss or lichen, reminds me very much of walnut trees. Other eastern North American counterparts are red maple (Acer rubrum), silver maple (Acer saccharinum), and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Despite what the USDA PLANTS database shows, the silver maple is not native to CA.

western sycamore / California sycamore
Platanus racemosa
Platanaceae

What originally confused me about the leaves is the CA sycamore's can have 3 or 5 lobes. I can usually recognize sycamore bark by its sickly, puzzle-like look - yep, that's my own highly technical description. Its eastern North American counterpart is American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis).

bigleaf maple

In a previous post from this summer, I showed how big the CA sycamore leaves get, which can be considerably larger than the bigleaf maple. Happy fall!

ps 11/29/11 - I'm glad I don't have to deal with the differences between sycamore maples and field maples like they do over in the UK, The Squirrelbasket and Loose and Leafy.

habitat ~ 11/12/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough - NERR

2011-11-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

Elkhorn Slough - National Estuarine Research Reserve entrance
November 12, 2011

First off, let me say that Andy and I had a lovely afternoon walk at Elkhorn on a very overcast day. This slough is one of my top 5 places to enjoy the outdoors in Monterey County. We had planned to go the day before for the holiday, but major rains kept us mostly indoors. I seem to have a rain curse anytime I plan on hiking or camping ahead of time, hence why I'm a bit superstitious and tend not to plan ahead for such things. They raised their entrance fee from $2.50/person to $4.00/person. It's still a small amount to pay for the pleasure.

What's that saying, "Ignorance is bliss"? It wasn't until I blogged about the prolific invasive plant species that I started getting grumpy about our visit. I looked into the history of Elkhorn Slough. In the past 140 years, the place has been built, ditched, diked, dairied, diverted, farmed, channeled, mounded, and is now being utilized as an outdoor laboratory. Then, I started reading about all the research that is going on there. Instead of being encouraged, I got depressed. Out of numerous not-so-fun to report items, DDE was circumstantially linked to a caspian tern colony crash in 1995. When was DDT banned here in the US? 1972! So, 23 years later the stuff is still killing non-target life? I wouldn't be surprised if Monsanto's Roundup ends up being this century's DDT. It's used everywhere, including as a management tool against invasive plants - to be fair, the agricultural runoff into watersheds overshadows any minimal use of herbicide at reserves. However, just because everyone uses it, doesn't mean it's good - think fossil fuels, plastics, cigarettes. Dang, we humans sure can eff things up! How will Elkhorn Slough be in another 140 years?

Oh, I should mention that pretty pink plant is the native red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum). Since the one I photographed is obviously introduced and tended like a garden plant, I have it labelled as both a native and a garden plant.

ps 11/23/11 - This post really got me thinking about what exactly are my views on conservation, restoration, gardens, and research in the 21st century, so I've been keeping an eye out for more information. I found Biodiverse Gardens' book review of Rambunctious Gardens interesting.

belted kingfisher and western gull ~ 11/12/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough

2011-11-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

belted kingfisher and western gull
Ceryle alcyon and Larus occidentalis

Phew! I'm done posting about non-native invasive plants for this hike. I realized I had neglected covering the most obvious weeds at Elkhorn Slough and needed to rectify the situation. In a similar vein, considering this estuary has so many birds, I always try to post at least one bird photo from an outing, even if it's crappy - I'm talking about the photos, not any particular bird... but now that I think about it... Unfortunately, many of the birds are far enough away that my little point-and-shoot can only cough up fuzzy, zoomed-to-the-max shots.

We came across two hikers with large binoculars, loudly ooing and awing over the various birds across the water. It was quite entertaining to hear their excitement. I overheard they were looking for a belted kingfisher that they thought had left the area. I casually looked down and pointed out, "Is that the kingfisher you're looking for?" As Andy and I walked away, we chuckled how sometimes people are so focused looking through their binoculars that they're unable to spot the bird nearest to them. And, in the relative quiet away from the hikers, we thoroughly enjoyed the amazing afternoon bird chorus that carried across the water. I wish I could have recorded it for this blog. For an incredible blog that does have various animal recordings, check out The Music of Nature.

ps - I'm considering organizing Nature ID birds a little better than I have. At this point, I'm undecided if I should do Order or Family, like is featured at BirdWeb, or more loose groupings based on shape, like is featured at Bird Friends of San Diego County and whatBird.com. For you birder followers out there, I'd appreciate hearing your opinion. Thanks!

wild radish ~ 11/12/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough

2011-11-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

wild radish / cultivated radish
Raphanus sativus
Brassicaceae
more information

Well, knock my socks off! Hello? I had no idea the wild radish I frequently see around here is the same species as the radish I buy at farmers' markets and the grocery store. Did you know that? I even grew one this summer in my mini-greenhouse after a stocky sprout came up from my too-soon-to-use compost. I'm laughing, because the whole time I was perplexed thinking, "Hey, this looks exactly like what I see growing out in the wild." I should note, there is another species of radish that grows wild at Elkhorn and is aka wild radish / jointed charlock (Raphanus raphanistrum).

The second photo above is the exact area where last year I noticed a heavy dose of herbicide to knock down the poison hemlock. I'm sorry to say that at the time I was very critical of the reserve's generous use of herbicides. I had quickly edited the post, which now doesn't reflect what I was reading at the time. I'll admit to being ignorant of lots of things. Through following blogs, my opinions about land management practices have been changing. Bree at the now defunct Land Steward had two really good posts, what restoration means to me and weeds. I still think the marketing departments at major pesticide manufacturers do too good of a job at pulling the wool over people's eyes, ears, and mouths. However, given the choice between invasives versus reintroduced natives... well, I do like seeing native flowers... but at what costs?

poison hemlock ~ 11/12/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough

2011-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

poison hemlock
Conium maculatum
Apiaceae
more information

While poison hemlock gets very little mention on the recently revised official Elkhorn Slough site, in my humble opinion, it is the single most dominating weedy species on their coastal, publicly-accessed grasslands. There are massive stands of it, not only in the expansive area it encompasses but also in height. Andy was kind enough to provide a size comparison for me to show it readily grows to 8 feet tall at Elkhorn.

Per my m.o. for Nature ID, all these photos were taken on November 12, 2011. This means the typical blurb repeated everywhere from books to online that C. maculatum flowers from April to July is not entirely correct. It's obviously flowering here in November, so it's no wonder it's such a productive plant. The flowers and leaves remind me very much of Queen Anne's lace and garden carrots.

I was sorry to see Land Steward ceased blogging about Elkhorn Slough. In fact, I discovered several blogs that featured Elkhorn Slough have stopped abruptly in the past two years, which makes me wonder if all the staff and volunteers were asked to stop blogging about their experiences. I now receive weekly, glossy, sugar-coated e-mail updates on what is going on there. It's too bad; I preferred the nitty-gritty and personal perspective of the reality of land management.

Did you notice the other unwanted resident in the first photo, a cucumber beetle?

Oop, I guess I should also note that there are other hemlocks out there besides the ones in the Apiaceae, aka carrot family, such as those in the pine family like Tsuga spp.

harding grass ~ 11/12/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough

2011-11-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

harding grass
Phalaris aquatica
Poaceae
more information

Sigh... off the beach and back to drier land. My brain has to switch some serious gears for Nature ID. I occasionally overlook the fact that Elkhorn Slough used to be a farm. I'm often so preoccupied simply being in awe of the estuary, or looking for birds close enough to photograph, or seeking out native plants, which, pardon the expression, is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The official Elkhorn Slough site has a nice write-up on this common grazing grass.

habitat ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand State Beach

2011-11-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

Morro Strand State Beach
November 3, 2011

When I first started Nature ID back in May 2009, Andy I were visiting San Luis Obispo County a little more frequently than we do now, and my blog subtitle was "from the Central Coast of California." Thanks to school and changes in our lifestyle, we stay closer to home in Monterey County these days, so I've re-subtitled Nature ID to reflect the change of location focus.

However, it's only been 3 weeks since I last visited this beach on October 12, 2011 in Morro Bay, about 125 miles southeast of Monterey Bay. The weather couldn't have been more different with a high of 67.5°F compared to the 92.8°F previously.

My friend Jennifer, who is also a regular commenter on Nature ID, loved my sand dollar shots. Since she had never really been to Morro Bay, I thought it'd be a good idea to play hookey from our responsibilities and do a girls' trip. And, yes, she found many, many sand dollars, not to mention added new bird sightings to her brother's Birdpost site.

Heavy sigh... Morro Strand State Beach is on the list for closure in the coming year along with 69 other CA State Parks. Unlike back in 2009 when Mr. Terminator proposed closing 80% of CA's 278 State Parks, this year's threat of closure feels realistic and more serious. While I can see them closing and fencing off the campground, I just can't imagine any agency being able to keep people off this awesome 3-mile beach. With no restrooms, no refuse containers, or other maintenance and management, I predict the quality of this beach will quickly go downhill. Public-private partnerships have been organized to attempt to fill the gaps throughout the state, but it takes a cadre of folks willing to volunteer their money, time, sweat, and expertise. Randy at Way Points has been vocal with his posts about Trail Closure at Garrapata and Henry Coe gets a Reprieve. I'm surprised other CA nature bloggers I follow haven't said much on this very important and relevant topic. Save Our State Parks seems to me to be the best organization out there spreading the word.

terns ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-11-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

royal tern
Sterna maxima

edited 11/11/11 - These were the funniest looking birds I've seen in a long time, like gulls with clown outfits on. It's too bad we lost sight of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival leader who pointed out the surfbirds for us.

I originally posted these as all being elegant terns, but I was unsure and considered royal terns as an option. I asked if anyone could help me tell the difference between the two species, because I was pulling my hair out thinking they all had to be either elegant terns or all royal terns. I tried to convince myself the variations I spotted were due to some being younger birds. As I've blogged before, I'm aware I often make the incorrect assumption that similar looking things near each other must be the same. Thanks to commenters Neil and Jennifer, I agree there are actually two species of birds hanging out together. Neil provided an excellent link to the San Diego Natural History Museum Focus On Royal and Elegant Terns. Thanks to you both!

royal terns with 1 elegant tern 2nd from right
S. maxima with 1 Sterna elegans 2nd from right

The royal terns have white tops of the heads, like a man balding on top, and thicker, pumpkin-colored bills. They look stockier than elegant when standing side by side.

elegant terns with 1 royal tern 2nd from left
S. elegans with 1 S. maxima 2nd from left

The elegant terns have heads with black hoods that touch their eyes, thinner, sharper bill, and slightly smaller overall size. Note the yellow legs of the juvenile elegant tern.

mixture of elegant and royal terns

Now, can you spot the differences above? With all the variations in plumage within a species, depending on time of year, age of the bird, and sometimes sexual dimorphism (other birds), I hope my confusion can be easily understood. Now that I know what to look for, the differences seem obvious. It'd be more of a challenge distinguishing these terns in their breeding plumage. I'm just glad a caspian tern (Sterna caspia) was not in the mix, too.

Somehow it's comforting to know other people have a hard time IDing these terns, e.g., Ben's Blog - In Search of Nature, Birds, Butties & Bugs, and John Wall's Natural California (does he have a mix of both species, too?).

barnacles ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-11-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

leaf barnacle / goose barnacle among acorn barnacle
Pollicipes polymerus (formerly Mitella polymerus) among Balanus glandula

thatched barnacle
Semibalanus cariosus

I'm trying to get outside of my comfort zone and ID things I know very little about. Many people would recognize a barnacle, but I think few would know particular species. Indeed, as I was researching, there seems to be conflicting information about the identity of some very common barnacles. I may change the embedded links as I look into this some more.

sea anemones ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-11-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

sea anemones
Anthopleura spp.
more information

As a kid, whenever we'd go to the beach, my mother would repeatedly warn me to never step on sea anemones, because she believed they would sting. Now, I don't step on them for fear I could crush these seemingly delicate animals. I learned through the links included in this post that both ideas, stings to humans and being delicate, are incorrect.

I should note not all sea anemones are in the Anthopleura genus. The two species I have identified below just happen to be in the same genus.

aggregating anemone
Anthopleura elegantissima
more pictures

The aggregating anemone is known to clone itself, hence why they're often found in dense clusters. The Walla Walla site linked in the scientific name above shows some incredible pictures of the dividing process. This anemone also has green algae (zoochlorellae) or dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) living symbiotically in its gut lining. The Monterey Bay Aquarium site has fun information on the aggregating anemone, but it states "Anthropleura" with an extra 'r', which is incorrect. Anthropleura was an ancient giant centipede.

sunburst anemone / solitary green anemone / starburst anemone (scroll down for pics)
Anthopleura sola
more information

I was lucky enough to get a decent picture of this anemone slightly open to see the lines on the oral disk for a positive ID.

Two additional similar looking species found in our area are the moonglow anemone, aka burrowing anemone (Anthopleura artemisia), and the giant green anemone, aka solitary green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) - which I believe is shown in the first photograph above, but there is no way for me to know for sure.

For much better photographs of anemones and other tide pool life, check out John Wall's Natural California. It's extremely difficult to get decent pictures through moving water. Most of my attempted shots ended up being lovely reflections of the clouds above.

surfbird ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

surfbird
Aphriza virgata

Surfbird, huh? So, where's the surfboard or the, um, computer with internet connection? I would've never been able to identify these birds, let alone even spot them, if it weren't for the help of a total stranger.

My friend was asking me about marbled godwits that we saw, which for the life of me I could not remember their name even though I had been on this beach only 3 weeks before and blogged about it. So, I took to asking random strangers, especially ones carrying massive cameras and binoculars, if they knew the birds. The first couple I asked replied in a thick accent, "Ve ar' not vrom around hair." The second couple I asked ended up being leaders of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival. Bingo! As I was absorbed taking pictures of anemones in the rocks they called us over to look at the surfbirds. Really, since they are actual birds, their name should be "surf bird" as two words.

From a distance, I'm sure I'd get them confused with a lot of other shorebirds, including black turnstone (which were also picking at the mussel-covered rocks for food), least sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), western sandpiper (Calidris mauri), red knot (Calidris canutus), and pectoral sandpiper (Calidris melanotos). As a note about the pectoral sandpiper, even though several reputable books and Cornell's All About Birds site show they are not ever here in CA, both the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival site and Don Roberson's Monterey Birds book show they are recorded migrants in our area.

cancer crabs ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-11-03T02:22:00.000-07:00

rock crab carapaces
Cancer spp.

The interior of Cancer carapaces are amazingly colorful. These almost look like they've been filled with Easter egg dye and sand.

This post was very challenging to research, hence it's link-laden. According to the California Department of Fish and Game, we have 9 species of Cancer crabs. I used an old edition of Light's Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast sent to me by Steve at Blue Jay Barrens (Thanks again, Steve!), which listed only 8 species and keyed 6 of those.

I'm attempting to ID based solely on the carapaces, which is the most common body part I saw washed up on the beach. Everything I found were 1-3" in width. Since crabs molt, size is not a significant indicator of a species. I spent quite a bit of time zooming in on each of the photos and counting the carapace spines/teeth. There is very little information online for some of the smaller species. If you're curious to learn more, make sure to click on the embedded links under each photo.

Dungeness crab
Cancer magister (aka Metacarcinus magister)
for more information click here and here

slender crab / graceful rock crab
Cancer gracilis (aka Metacarcinus gracilis)

best guess yellow rock crab
best guess Cancer anthonyi (aka Metacarcinus anthonyi)

best guess hairy rock crab
best guess Cancer jordani (aka Romaleon jordani)

While I may have linked to these above, here, by name, are the best photographic crab ID sites I've found for the west coast of North America:
Crab Identification @ Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Key to Family Cancridae--Cancer Crabs @ Walla Walla University
Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area @ University of California, Santa Cruz
Rocky Shore Crustaceans @ Seanet, Stanford University (also check out Subtidal Crustaceans)

Crustacea of Southern California @ University of California, Irvine

Odd thing about me, whenever I see a crab, I always get a sudden hunkering to eat them with lots of butter. I'm not kidding. Here are other links that caught my interest:
Baby Crab Eater @ The Drop-In to Moss Landing Marine Labs blog
Crabfest 2011 @ The Monkeyface News blog
California Fisheries Atlas - Rock Crabs @ California Fisheries Fund
Don't Hang Up Those Hoop Nets Just Yet - Crab Season is Year Round @ Western Outdoors News

ps - For a little bit of gutter humor, as I was researching the IDs above using the old Light's Manual and with selective choice of spp. and words... I discovered pee crabs, er, pea crabs (Pinnixa spp. and others) live in penis fish (Urechis spp.) burrows. Haha, who knew!?!

black-throated gray warbler ~ 11/02/11 ~ at home

2011-11-02T21:42:00.001-07:00

black-throated gray warbler

Dendroica nigrescens

As I was getting ready to prepare dinner this evening, I heard a dull "thwack!" I ran into the living room and noticed a puff of feathers on one of the windows. This is the third time it's happened in as many years we've had our new double-paned, coated windows. The first two times the birds have flown away almost immediately. I ran outside to find this fellow on our balcony. I panicked, picked him up, and tucked him into my shirt like a basket to keep him warm. He was surprisingly soft, warm, and so tiny. I remembered several bloggers mentioning birds flying headlong into their windows, so I jumped online to see what, if anything, needed to be done. The only one I could remember was Wanderin' Weeta's recent hermit thrush encounter. I waited like she did. He quickly became cold and stiff. This poor fellow did not survive. And, like Susannah, I'd rather have birds in the bush than one in the hand. I'm sad about this.

ps 11/07/11 - I placed this bird's body behind a rock in the park below us. I checked the site today. Something came along and took it. Only a few wing feathers remained behind. Nature's recycling?

pss 12/26/11 - For an "official" blog posting on how to prevent collisions like this one, see Audublog.

habitat ~ 10/29/11 ~ Hopkins Marine Station

2011-10-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station
October 29, 2011

This past Saturday, they held a rare Open House. Andy heard they do this about once every 5 years. It was a treat to go behind the scenes.

Up until now, the only Hopkins Marine Station location posts on Nature ID have been done outside the fence, essentially from the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail. Being neighbors to the very popular Monterey Bay Aquarium and all the tourists, they're extra diligent keeping people out with fences and coded gates. I know, because I was kicked out during one of my morning walks. Hey, the gate was open one day, and I was curious to see the views.

I haven't yet decided if I'll blog about the different labs I visited, including Andy's running friend whom I've only heard "works at Hopkins." Little did I know he seems to have written half the books in their library. After meeting various people at the Open House stations, I was very impressed with the squid researcher. He took my questions seriously and looked me in the eye when he spoke. Plus, his grad student seemed to be well-versed in his topic and knew when to defer to his PI. I was a bit disappointed to not meet Dr. Watanabe whose SeaNet site I frequently link to in many of my marine ID posts.

It's too bad I get extremely sea sick, otherwise I might consider marine biology as a postgraduate option. Having grown up in CA, Stanford and UC Berkeley were the only two colleges I wanted to attend because of their reputations and prestige. It's interesting for me to see now how it's not so much the university, but each advisor's personality that makes a difference.

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

about navigating within Nature ID

2011-10-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

view from home of the Monterey Bay
October 23, 2011

I just finished revamping my labels and categorizing them... again. This will likely become an annual blog maintenance duty. As I post new IDs, I invariably end up with new categories.

At the bottom of every post, there's a series of highlighted labels near the share buttons and comment section. These link you to only Nature ID blog posts (unlike WordPress blogs) with the same label.

I've again added the grouped label lists in the sidebar. I have 4 basic groups:
~ shortcuts (blogging related)
~ what
~ when (includes seasons, current weather, and hiking/observations dates)
~ where.

A nifty trick of hiking/observation dates (aka archives), is you can click on a year, a month, or a specific date to see all the posts for that time period. I publish entries in a specific order, with individual IDs first and then usually a step-back, look-around habitat post. I've found clicking on specific dates to be very helpful, e.g., Pinnacles on June 10, 2011, where the habitat is shown at the top of the page and specific IDs follow. Scroll down to see all the posts.

I prefer having grouped lists, because I often find it difficult to locate past posts for my own nature journal needs. I've included search widgets at the very top left of the blog and towards the bottom of the sidebar. They don't always effectively locate items. Until I figure out the coding to automatically update the grouped indices, they will often not be complete or have nonworking links. If you want to see the most updated list, check out my complete index to Nature ID page.

As I've said before repeatedly, Nature ID does not follow the usual blog format like a daily diary. I generally post to the date of the pictures, regardless of when I happen to be online to work on this blog. I'm still behind on backdating posts and haven't even completed July of this year. Until I get caught up (haha, nature keeps going even though I have other plans), there will be an occasional feature at the top of my blog titled "newest blog entry" that will link you to new posts that are backdated.

Also, I'm testing to see how LinkWithin works with thumbnail pictures shown towards the bottom of every post. I haven't decided yet whether it's a good thing for my blog or extraneous visual stuff.

Check it out. Thanks for following my blog.

ps - The coast Douglas-fir tree that I'm featuring in The Tree Year project can be seen with its brown cones in the lower left of the photo above. Dreamfalcon has kindly included me in her latest post.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/around-the-tree/weather/

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

food markets across cultures

2011-10-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

Rome, Italy

Chennai, India

Blog Action Day 2011 Food

I remembered a bit late that it is Blog Action Day today (#BAD11). As I looked through my pictures for ideas, I have plenty of photos of friends and special gatherings that included food... but none of our local markets. I figured the above travel photos made a great contrast next to each other. Fruits and veggies and seafood are common themes. However, I did not have a comparable photo from Chennai for cured meats like in Rome. Go figure. I'll let the folks who read this make their own conclusions about each photo.

Travel shopping aside, we live within reasonable walking distance to 3 grocery stores, 2 farmers' markets, and a couple convenience or ethnic markets. And, yet, more often than not, like today, we chose to drive to the supermarket up the hill. Why? Because it's the cheapest. We spent $82.99 for a week's worth of groceries, much of it boxed or somehow wrapped in plastic. I'm a little embarrassed on several levels about this.

While Andy and I have gradually cut out many commercially canned, jarred, or frozen food items from our diets (not on principle, more for taste), I'll admit that I rarely buy organic. Quite frankly, I don't trust the label "organic" and feel it's a successful marketing ploy to charge twice the price, e.g., organic milk anyone? Plus, given my research background, I know organic does not necessarily mean pesticide-free. We almost always take our own canvas bags and reuse those plastic produce bags until they're too torn to use. I tried my hand at growing my own tomatoes this year, and I ended up unintentionally raising more aphids per pound than tomatoes. Maybe someday, we'll have the opportunity to grow our own food, not counting herbs. It seems unnatural that it's practically an American luxury to have homegrown, unadulterated food.

When all is said and done, I feel incredibly blessed that I can afford to buy food... the energy for life. To see my last Blog Action Day post, click here.

CA sea-lavender ~ 10/13/11 ~ Morro Bay

2011-10-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

California sea-lavender / marsh rosemary
Limonium californicum
Plumbaginaceae

posted 11/04/11 - Too bad these flowers are past their prime. I've been wanting to get pictures of our native sea-lavender ever since our last visit to Morro Bay on October 31, 2010 when I spotted the purple flowers but failed to photograph them. Interesting to note, even though we visited a couple weeks earlier compared to last year, the purple flowers had already dried up. I like seeing how plants bloom at slightly different times every year.

This is the only native Limonium found in CA, and one of only 3 species native to North America, with the other two being L. carolinianum and L. limbatum. Thanks to the Morro Bay National Estuary Program site, I learned that the non-native Algerian sea-lavender (L. ramosissimum) has recently been found in Morro Bay. Most folks around the world likely know Limonium spp. as statice.

ps - Lavender is spelled with an -er, not -ar, of which the above named plants are not actually related.

CA horn snail ~ 10/13/11 ~ Morro Bay

2011-10-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

California horn snail
Cerithidea californica

posted 11/03/11 - I wanted to revisit this ID with fresh pictures and conduct another online ID search. What I noticed this visit was that all the snails on the path were dead with their openings facing down in the mud. I thought this was peculiar and probably not random. For the second picture above, I turned one over and cleaned the opening to show the shape of aperture. I reached into the green gunk to take a closer look at an actual live snail. The one I'm holding is about medium sized compared to the larger empty shells.

Walla Walla University still has the best somewhat-local ID comparative description I've found under Batillaria attramentaria (one of two Japanese false cerith snails, with the other being Batillaria zonalis, if indeed it is a distinct species). Plus, this time around I noticed Conchology, Inc. has at least two errors on their Potamididae family page; Batillaria spp. belong to the Batillariidae family page. So, this got me thinking about looking at other similar looking marine snails. WoRMS is great for listing the names of other Cerithioidea families. I looked through the Natural History Museum Rotterdam's site and came up with the following families that have similar looking shells: Batillariidae, Cerithiidae, Dialidae, Potamididae, Scaliolidae, Thiaridae, and Turritellidae. I checked the EOL for the locations of some of the snails, but none are recorded anywhere near central California's coast, except C. californica and B. attramentaria. Nature's variations amaze me.

I don't often post so many pictures for a single ID, but this was a personal quest after my minor hubbub around a permissions request and withdrawal from my first post of CA horn snails. It caused me to go into major blogging existential contemplation, which I wrote about in am I doing the right thing with this blog?

habitat ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand State Beach

2011-10-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

Morro Strand State Beach
October 12, 2011

posted 10/28/11 - It was so hot and windy when we arrived in Morro Bay. It hit 92.8°F! After setting up camp, I suggested we go to the beach to cool off a bit. Morro Strand SB is a flat 3-mile beach with gentle waves. It's great for bird watching, beach combing, and tide pooling (when the tide is low). It was also once known as Atascadero State Beach, the name I remember as a child when my dad would surf fish here.

Andy and I first "discovered" this lovely beach when we camped back in June of 2009. Usually we prefer to camp at Morro Bay State Park where we ended up on this trip. Hey, I like being able to scope out individual campsites and check out any potential neighbors... so I never make reservations. This can be risky finding a spot during peak summer season, hence why 2 years ago, we had the fortune to find the less-developed Morro Strand SB, which is right on the beach. It's essentially a big parking lot with fire pits and restrooms with no showers. However, you can have access to showers at Morro Bay SP. I believe Morro Strand SB is $25/night and Morro Bay SP is $35/night. If you don't make online reservations like us, the State Parks only accept cash. Morro Strand State Beach is one of many State Parks slated for closure by next summer. I'm not sure how they would keep people off this incredible beach if it were closed.

Pacific razor clam ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-10-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Pacific razor clam
Siliqua patula

posted 10/29/11 - Through my sheer laziness (or am I simply feeling a bit tired from the increased autumnal dark hours?), I almost posted this as "Oooh, pretty shells! Look at the cool tie-dye effect."

However, I'm glad I took the time to research the shell evidence of this animal. To tell you the truth, I'm not 100% positive this is a S. patula; it might possibly be S. lucida, if I trust Dr. P. Roopnarine, a curator at CalAcademy. Walla Walla University (linked in the scientific name above) has a quick key to Cultellidae (formerly Solenidae or Pharidae). Pictured above are definitely more than 5 cm in length. What we saw in abundance at Morro Strand were several inches in length. The periostracum was well-worn in various stages from the wave action, which makes the shell look like many others from around the world, like S. costata or S. radiata. What made these pictures difficult to positively ID is that I didn't turn over the shells to look at the insides, so to speak. One online page that I found to be extraordinarily helpful is Common Marine Bivalves of California, Fish Bulletin No. 90, written by John E. Fitch, and issued in 1953.

long-billed curlew ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-10-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

long-billed curlew
Numenius americanus

Again, I have better pictures of the long-billed curlew, but I want to document the time of year. Interesting to note, my previous post of curlews here at Morro Strand State Beach on June 25, 2009 seems contrary to their typical migration patterns. They're supposedly only winter visitors here on the coast, and I wouldn't exactly say late June as being winter. Actually I saw many more long-billed curlews back in June, 2 years ago, than this visit in October. The previous post is a marbled godwit, which looks similar to an amateur like me.

marbled godwit ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-10-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

marbled godwit
Limosa fedoa

I have better pictures of marbled godwits, but I want to show the time of year and a different location. I love their long, black-tipped, pink bills. They're quite entertaining to watch as they poke their bills, sometimes up to their eyeballs, into the sand looking for goodies. I wonder how they know where to poke, because they seem to be fairly successful with about 1 out of every 3-4 pokes yielding something to eat. I don't know why, but it surprised me to find out they summer in "the northern Great Plains into southern Canada" (see the South Dakota Birds and Birding link in the common name ID above). The next post is a long-billed curlew, which looks very similar.

sand dollar ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Pacific sand dollar
Dendraster excentricus

posted 10/25/11 - There's not a lot of decent information online for sand dollars. I'm assuming most people are okay simply knowing it's a sand dollar and don't bother to look any further as to what kind of animal this is. I've included the best links I could find in the ID above. Essentially what anyone finds on a beach are dead "skeletons" of sand dollars, so to speak. I've also posted this on flickr with hopes someone out there with knowledge of this animal can ID it.

ps - This Pacific sand dollar post inspired Jeannette of Bread on the Water to write a thoughtful piece on plastics and where do they go. The ocean? Also, after looking at other sand dollars and the descriptions of those found on the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, I think my best guess for D. excentricus is most likely correct.

black-crowned night heron ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

2011-10-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

juvenile black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax

I see these young ones from time to time at the Monterey Coast Guard Pier, but I rarely have my camera on me in the early morning to capture them. On trips like this one to Morro Bay (about 125 miles southeast of Monterey Bay), I generally do carry our little point-and-shoot. Local Monterey photographers Greg Magee and Peter Monteforte (who over the past several years, I've run into rather regularly) have much better pictures of black-crowned night herons... well, much better pictures, period. They were the ones who first told me what this funny looking bird actually was with its bright yellow legs and dumpy body. It was at a time when I finally figured out how to recognize the adults, but the young ones confused me when I initially saw them.

ps 11/14/11 - If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say this was a winter plumage Chinese pond heron (Ardeola bacchus). Just joking.

habitat ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

2011-10-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
October 10, 2011

Hmph! I have more IDs from this hike, but they're flummoxing me. Those will have to wait until another day. In this habitat post I want to show a typical trail, the unusual geological formations, the variety of blooms in October, the incredible coves for which Point Lobos is famous, and a map of the current closed trails. Enjoy!

ps 10/26/11 - For the only other picture of the rock circles I've found online, check out DidaK's flickr. Thanks to an informative The Rocks of Point Lobos PDF provided by the Point Lobos Foundation (linked in the location name under the photos), I now know the rock circles are weathered concretions.

coffeeberry ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos

2011-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

CA coffeeberry / CA buckthorn
Frangula californica (aka Rhamnus californica)
Rhamnaceae

I noticed this plant around a few times this summer at a couple places. The first time I really paid attention to it was at Elkhorn Slough back on July 22, 2011. Considering I only found it in the parking lot, I mentally classified it as a garden plant. I did not post a picture back then, because the ones I saw at Elkhorn are not what I consider native for Nature ID blog labels. As I become more aware of restoration efforts, my labels will likely become a bit mixed.

trentepohlia ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos

2011-10-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

a type of green algae on Monterey cypress
Trentepohlia sp. on Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (formerly Callitropsis or Cupressus)
Cupressaceae

Good golly! I would have never guessed the orange stuff on cypress trees and rocks is a type of green algae. When I first saw it years ago in this limited area of Point Lobos, I figured it was a mold of some sort. Thanks to the handy-dandy checklist the ranger gave us (I mentioned this in my osprey post from this hike), I now have a name to the genus. When I first searched online, I misspelled Trentepohlia as "Trentepholia" with the 'o' and 'h' switched. I got lots of beautiful pictures, but very little actual information about this living thing. Sigh, gone are the days when my only labels were insects, flowers, and places. I still feel like I should take another general biology class to figure out what all those non-plant/non-animals things are.

CA sagebrush ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos

2011-10-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

California sagebrush / old man
Artemisia californica
Asteraceae

This was definitely the dominant plant that I noticed during our hike along the water at Point Lobos. I loved how someone from CalAcademy on CalPhotos called this plant "old man" so I had to include it in the common name above. In my second blurry photo above, I was trying to show how the flowers turn into berry-like seeds. Doesn't that seem unusual? In any case, I'm becoming more familiar with the great variety of ever-present Artemisia in our area.

coastal sagewort ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos

2011-10-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

coastal sagewort / beach sagebrush
Artemisia pycnocephala
Asteraceae

Sometimes it takes me really looking into something several times before I get it. It never ceases to amaze me how many different kinds of plants there are. I've already mentioned (eh-hem, I do repeat myself regularly) there are at least 41 sp./ssp. of Artemisia found in California. I like the feathery soft leaves of this particular sagewort, sagebrush, sage, wormwood... whatever you choose to call it. The flowers did surprise me.

osprey ~ 10/10/11 ~ Point Lobos

2011-10-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

osprey with a fish
Pandion haliaetus with a fish

This was a fun find. An osprey has a fish in a tree (sounds like it should be a Dr. Seuss book, but it doesn't rhyme). I'm by no means a birder by any stretch of the imagination, partly because all my pictures of birds are from so far away that it's often difficult to get an ID. And, you know, I rarely ever carry binoculars on hikes with me. I wasn't sure what this was when we viewed it from all sides of the trail. On our way out of the park we described what we saw to the ranger in the toll booth. He gave us a printed Point Lobos observation checklist and noted we wouldn't find the osprey on the list. He said, "We think it lives in the Carmel Lagoon, but it likes to come over here for lunch." The way he said it made us laugh.

ps 10/26/11 - For a much better osprey blog post, check out Ecobirder.

brown pelican ~ 10/08/11 ~ Wharf No. 2

2011-10-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

juvenile California brown pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

I'm always trying for better pictures. Their white bellies make me sure these are juveniles. I'm just really glad they didn't poop on me as they were flying overhead. One poor tourist nearby got hammered by the machine-gun-like poop droppings. She and her partner had no idea what had happened. I think they heard it before she felt it. Her hair and the back of her jacket were covered in goop. For some reason I apologized as I watched their befuddlement and explained to them what happened. Fortunately she had extra clothes in the car. Sometimes I think pelicans and gulls like to play drop-on-the-target with their poop. I've seen it too many times to believe it's mere coincidence.

tree year project 2011, #11

2011-10-03T05:06:00.000-07:00

monarch butterfly resting on coast Douglas-fir
Danaus plexippus on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

In the past week, I've seen more monarchs flying around town on the sunnier days. One was kind enough to rest on the Douglas-fir tree that I'm featuring for The Tree Year project. And, no, those orange-brown blobs in the second picture aren't monarchs; they're cones. I wanted to also show how brown the cones have gotten. Actually they started turning from green to brown back in August, but I'm just now getting a picture of it.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/insects/

habitat ~ 10/02/11 ~ Monarch Grove Sanctuary

2011-10-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

Pacific Grove's Monarch Grove Sanctuary
October 2, 2011

I don't have any pictures of monarchs here. We saw maybe 5, mostly clustered on one lone pride of Madeira bloom. We were told by the ever-active volunteer Tama O. that the majority of monarchs don't actually arrive until mid-November. Many tourists are a bit disappointed to see so few monarchs now, even though most everything about the Sanctuary states the butterflies start arriving by October. A lot has changed in the park since we last visited.

The pride and joy of Pacific Grove has been surrounded by death and controversy. Back in 2004, an elderly tourist was killed here by a tree that broke during a wind storm, hence the sign. My question is why would anyone go out looking for butterflies during a storm? The City settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $1 million. Since then, the City has done extensive tree removal and pruning, which raised the hackles of some monarch enthusiasts. Through private donations and some City funds, new trees were purchased and improvements made to this small 2.4 acre park. For more information about the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, check out the Pacific Grove Monarch Conservancy.

habitat ~ 10/02/11 ~ Pacific Grove Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

Pacific Grove Shoreline Park
October 2, 2011

I often take for granted how beautiful it is here in town. This is pretty much the views we get while driving home from the grocery store, although this day we were walking and exploring. On one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other is Point Pinos Lighthouse and the Pacific Grove Golf Links with Crespi Pond.

Shoreline Park is a designation that the City of Pacific Grove calls public access coastal areas not otherwise designated as city parks. For the purposes of this blog and location labels, I consider all the unpaved path around the peninsula as Pacific Grove Shoreline Park, starting from Lover's Point (not Hopkins Marine Station) and ending where Asilomar State Beach begins. Ocean View Blvd. transitions to Sunset Dr. next to this unpaved path. I've called this the "poor man's 17-Mile Drive" previously on my blog. It's usually a great place to explore tide pools.

seaside daisy ~ 10/02/11 ~ Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

seaside daisy
Erigeron glaucus
Asteraceae

It sure is nice to have an ID that I don't have to extensively search. I'm a little surprised this is my first post of this common coastal flower. Interesting to note, my Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast book states the seaside daisy "flowers from April to August." That's true. However, I also have a habitat post that shows it blooms as early as February, and here's evidence it blooms as late as October. That's a significant difference in timing of blooms.

As part of my Nature ID blog, I'm attempting to document when plants actually flower around here and not simply repeat others' claims, which may not be entirely accurate. This is the reason why I am so particular about posting to the date of my photos.

red seaweed ~ 10/02/11 ~ Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

red seaweed / red algae
Rhodophyta

Last year, during the period of time from the autumnal equinox through October, I captured brown algae (kelp) at Asilomar State Beach and green algae (sea lettuce) at the Monterey Municipal Beach. Without prior intention, I am completing my algae collection with red, even though not all red algae is actually the color red. Just like last year, I again heard the waves starting to crash just before the equinox, which likely break up whatever is growing near the shore. I'm impressed the ocean has seasons just like on land. Like leaves littered on the forests floors, the beaches are littered with seaweed during autumn.

As much as I wanted to place an ID, if only to genus, on this red seaweed, any guess I make would be pure speculation. I even had questions as to how the red seaweed I see on the beach is related to the harmless "red tide" algae. There are macroalgae and microalgae. Lost in the Landscape has an interesting blog post about red tide causing bioluminescent waves. It's all a bit confusing to me, and I've got a lot to learn.

The larger much more impressive giant kelp seems to get all the algae attention around these parts, and information on red algae is difficult to find. The best local sites I've found that picture red algae are:
Stanford's SeaNet Rocky Shore Red Seaweeds
Stanford's SeaNet Subtidal Red Seaweeds
MBARI's Monterey Bay Flora Rhodophyta
CSU Sonoma's Marine Algae of Northern California

blueband hermit crab ~ 10/02/11 ~ Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

blueband hermit crab

Pagurus samuelis

This is the first time I've really looked up hermit crabs. It's a challenge to find local hermit crab information, because most searches show pet hermit crabs from the Caribbean and Ecuador. I've collected better marine internet sources since my first hermit crab post on 06/04/09.

The blue bands on the legs, solid red antennae, location, and behavior make me fairly confident of this ID. We have a variety of hermit crabs here, including grainyhand hermit crab (Pagurus granosimanus), bering hermit crab (Pagurus beringanus), and hairy hermit crab (Pagurus hirsutiusculus).

Thanks to a nifty new interpretive sign, I learned the black shells with sanded tops and edges were made by black turban snails (Chlorosroma funebralis). There are a couple different snail shells being used by hermit crabs in the last picture. My wild guesses are possible Littorna sp. or Nucella sp. Stanford's SeaNet also has a nice representation of other subtidal shelled gastropods. And, I really like Gary McDonald's UC Santa Cruz's Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, CA site.

Make sure to click on any of the highlighted words (embedded links) for more information.

black-bellied plover ~ 10/02/11 ~ Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

winter plumage black-bellied plover
Pluvialis squatarola

edited 10/10/11 - I originally posted this as best guess winter plumage western sandpiper (Calidris mauri). However, the larger size and short bill kept bothering me. So, on second thought, I think my last-minute guess was correct and have changed the ID for this post. The belly sure isn't black. For a nice picture of dark axillaries that Neil mentions in his comment, check out Carolina Bird Club. Of course, with the bright sunlight and my poor photographs, it could easily have been a shadow. What confirms the ID for me is the white, patterned-dipped tail tip shown in the second pic. I'm keeping the original post below so I can have notes for the future. I am not going to be a decent birder anytime soon. If anyone believes my ID is something else, please, please comment!

posted 10/09/11 - Shouldn't sandpipers be, you know, found on the sand? These sandpipers were much bigger than I think they should be. In fact, when I first spotted them from a distance I was thinking, "Oh good, a new species of gull for my blog." Ha! Nope. Good golly, Calidris and their relatives are so difficult to distinguish, especially with varying plumage depending on the age and season. Don Roberson lists 16 species of Calidris here in Monterey County. He also has quite a discussion of how western sandpipers are often mistaken for semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla), which was another possibility I was considering since it has a shorter bill.

ps - Argh! Maybe it's a winter plumage black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola)? That would certainly explain the larger size.

Pacific silverweed ~ 10/02/11 ~ Shoreline Park

2011-10-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Pacific silverweed
Potentilla anserina ssp. pacifica (aka Argentina egedii ssp. egedii)
Rosaceae

This plant reminded me much of a yellow-flowered woodland strawberry and with the fruit somewhat similar to that of a blackberry (click the second picture to better see the berries).

You'll notice above I have an aka, also known as. I check multiple sources before I decide if it should be aka or formerly. (Haha! Prince's "Purple Rain" just popped into my head. Should he've been the artist fka Prince? Sounds bad.) I've refrained from using the botany standard syn. for synonym, because often sources simply don't agree. Indeed, Jepson even suggests Potentilla egedii var. grandis as a synonym. Aka feels more appropriate if anyone wants to do an internet search under any of the names I provide.

habitat ~ 10/01/11 ~ Garland Ranch Regional Park

2011-10-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

Garland Ranch Regional Park
October 1, 2011

posted 10/08/11 - Like I said before, I was not out this day. Andy took all these pictures. He likes setting the timer on the camera and shooting himself running down a trail. It seems quirky to me, but I've seen many trail runners do this kind of thing. Park staff and/or volunteers set up several seasonal footbridges across Carmel River and Las Garzas Creek. The one shown is over the Carmel River by Carmel Valley Village, 12 miles inland from Hwy 1. There's not much water and it's not primarily due to the time of year. There's a huge ruckus between Cal-Am (local water co.) and steelhead conservationists. The mountain ranges in the fourth picture above are the Sierra de Salinas range on the left and the better known Santa Lucia Range on the right. The last picture is of Veeder Pond, which despite its name is actually a vernal pool.

As I was writing this post, I realized I haven't labeled many water features, except for vernal pools and waterfalls. I've added some more this morning:
bays (not Monterey)
creeks/rivers
dams/reservoirs
estuaries/sloughs
lakes
Monterey Bay
Pacific Ocean
ponds
snow
Mostly these are scenery shots.

I did a little research to figure out the differences between lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. I also tried to find exactly where the Monterey Bay extends (see District 17). Erga. I didn't like what I found, so I've made up my own definitions. Hey, it's my blog. I don't know the official difference between creeks and rivers and suspect many are misnomers, so I'm combining them for simplicity. Dams and reservoirs are obviously man-made. Lakes and ponds are (or were) natural for my own definition. For the demarcation of Monterey Bay, I've chosen Point Pinos Lighthouse near Crespi Pond as the southern boundary. Since I live here, it's really easy to see the difference in the way the water acts around that point. For the northern boundary of the Monterey Bay, I arbitrarily decided Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz, which makes nearby Wilder Ranch State Park part of my Pacific Ocean designation. I really want to get a map up and running for this blog, but I'm still working on revamping my labels. Beside, if anyone were really interested, they could easily google map or mapquest any of the locations featured on Nature ID.

ps - Click to read Andy's blog post from his run. I like how our perspectives are different.

vinegar weed ~ 10/01/11 ~ Garland Ranch

2011-10-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

vinegar weed / turpentine weed / vinegar bluecurls
Trichostema lanceolatum
Lamiaceae

Here's one flower I'm sure I wouldn't want to take a strong whiff. In a previous post on the closely related woolly bluecurls, I was asked how they smell. I've long gotten out of the habit of sticking my nose up to unknown plants or even rubbing the leaves with my fingers and smelling them. Apparently, the woolly bluecurls shrubs are sweeter smelling than vinegar weed. I'll have to ask Andy if he could smell this plant on the warm air. Look at how dry it was on the mesa. I'm amazed anything could be blooming after months of no significant rain.

pink honeysuckle ~ 10/01/11 ~ Garland Ranch

2011-10-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

pink honeysuckle / California honeysuckle / hairy honeysuckle
Lonicera hispidula
Caprifoliaceae

I'm starting to document plants through the seasons (like I have with poison-oak) and not just when they're pretty flowers. To see the pink blooms and the fruit before it turned bright red, check out my pink honeysuckle post from 07/14/11 at Garland Ranch.

I admit I wasn't out this day. I had a flu shot the day before and was feeling a bit wiggy. My doctor wisely decided he didn't want me to have a repeat performance with another hospital stay this year. So, the crappy photos for this day are thanks to Andy. He was on a long trail-run from the main Carmel River entrance all the way past Garzas Creek to Carmel Valley Village and back. It's perhaps 14 miles round trip with a 4,000 foot elevation change (his Garmin wasn't working so this is an estimate). Obviously his heart gets pumping and it's extremely difficult for him to get clear photos with our little point-and-shoot. He knows I like to have close-up shots, shots a few feet back, and scenery shots. Thank you, Andy! For a blogger who regularly takes amazing photos while he runs trails, check out Gary Valle's Photography on the Run.

cabbage white ~ 09/26/11 ~ at home

2011-09-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

cabbage white

Pieris rapae

It doesn't look very white, does it? Despite the yellow on the underside of the hindwings, it does appear very white in flight. I mainly wanted to show that this butterfly successfully emerged mid-morning. For a while there the chrysalis was so dark for several days that I was beginning to think it had died. The clear empty pupal casing can be seen still attached to the leaf. I had provided the stick so it could have something to climb onto while it pumped up its wings. I initially believed it to be a female, because I could barely make out two black spots from what I thought was showing through the hindwing from its forewing. Generally on cabbage butterflies, viewing the forewings from the top side and not counting the black wing tips, females have two spots and males have one spot on each forewing. However, I noticed Butterflies of America (linked in the common name above) has examples of spread specimens showing varying number of spots depending on whether it's the dorsal or ventral view of all the wings. I guess I've never really looked that closely before. I had hoped to get a picture of my cabbage white outside of the container and with its wings spread open, but by the afternoon it flew away before I could even turn on the camera. Jeffrey Glassberg notes, "Although many people disparage this species, because it is so common and not native, close observation reveals it to be one of the most graceful inhabitants of the air." I agree. Art Shapiro provides a nice summary of this common butterfly.