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Dave Senesac 
Group: Members
Posts: 3027
Joined: Jun. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 17 2013, 4:42 pm |
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Our seasons be a changing. After heavy earlier winter rains, storms have stayed away from California for 6 dry weeks. So instead of usual skiing on my 3-day President's holiday weekend am rooted at home in the SF Bay Area. Today will be a lazy day reading "Voyage To The Stars and Galaxies", a 2006 college textbook originally $97, I recently bought used on Amazon for a measely $8.68.
With the turn to the last third of winter, yesterday Saturday, drove to nearby 139 square mile Henry Coe State Park and hiked from the Coyote Creek entrance up into Grizzly Gulch. Though plants had greened, the recent droughty period has left a dry surface with stunted grasses and sparse early season wildflowers. Loaded with my view camera day pack carrying 39 pounds for added exercise, hiked 5 miles up 1500 feet round trip so was a decent 5 hour poky moving workout. Though my big camera stayed in the pack as ballast, I used my Canon G10 for the below digital nature pics.
Two fluted black elfin saddle mushrooms, helvella lacunosa, pushing up through dried black oak leaves. On a fallen mossy branch, fruticose lichen, ramalina menziesii, that hang here in California like Spanish moss.
Along the trail on the edge of the stream ravine was this blue oak with mossy lichen encrusted twisted branches.
A canyon side bench with stunted grasses below fruticose lichen hanging on valley oaks.
Usually abundant padres shootingstars, dodecatheon clevelandii, were somewhat sparse.
Beside where I stopped for a sweet tangerine lunch atop was this white-hued variant of baby-blue-eyes, nemophila menziesii atomaria.
The upper canyon is former cattle grazzing lands of blue oak savana grasslands. This oak had an unusual large top-shaped mistletoe. Note the landscape of dry straw-hued wild oat alien grasses covering otherwise short herb greenery.
Came upon a small former cattle rangeland reservoir about 20x35 feet, that was loud with croaking Pacific tree frogs. With the droughty 6 weeks, several gelatenous egg masses full of developing tadpoles were just above the water line. Hopefully a minor storm forecast this week will submerge them again.
Saw just this one specimen of blue-eyed grass, sisyrinchium bellum.
In grasslands a few johnny-jump-up, aka California violet, viola pedunculata, were about.
About shady areas in northern exposures were milkmaids, cardamine californica.
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...David
http://davidsenesac.com
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reubenstump
Los Cuernos
Group: Members
Posts: 933
Joined: Sep. 2011
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Posted on: Feb. 17 2013, 5:07 pm |
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Excellent, beautiful report. I'm glad to see someone's getting out, even if it's not me.
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double cabin
Group: Members
Posts: 15442
Joined: Nov. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 17 2013, 6:53 pm |
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Great stuff as always Dave. thanks for sharing, we had a few inches of snow last night but wet/slushy roads today. Need some cold back.
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We have nothing to fear but an industry of fear...and man skirts.
http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=129511480442251
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tarol
Well I never!
Group: Members
Posts: 10300
Joined: Mar. 2003
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Posted on: Feb. 17 2013, 10:15 pm |
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Nice  We saw sand verbena, brittlebush, lupine, and mallow blooming near Blythe.
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Got elevation? www.tarol.com
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Reminiscence
Group: Members
Posts: 3532
Joined: Sep. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 17 2013, 10:49 pm |
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Such pictures really make me wonder why I am still living in 6+ months of winter every year. Thank you.
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When you are out West
Please, at my behest
Since you are Nature's guest
Do something to help the rest:
Dismantle a fire ring;
Take a stone and give a swing.
You may find that it will bring
A lift of goodness 'neath your wing.
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Chris C
Group: Members
Posts: 191
Joined: Jan. 2010
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 6:44 pm |
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Great pictures! I live close to Henry Coe, as well, but I still haven't been there! It's been on my list for years. I think I'm going to get out there for a weekend this spring. Thanks for sharing!
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"We're not lost. It's the trail that's missing."
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ndwoods
Group: Members
Posts: 447
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 21 2013, 1:26 am |
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Hm....next time would you be at all inclined to put something like a nickel in some of those pics? I think I've seen some of those in Wilder, but not sure.....of course that would be in addition to your usual stellar wildflower pics...:)
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http://ndeewoods.blogspot.com/ and Wilder Ranch State Park
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Dave Senesac
Group: Members
Posts: 3027
Joined: Jun. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 21 2013, 1:48 pm |
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Hi Dee,
Indeed all these species also live down about Santa Cruz too where your horses may even eat or sniff some. The images as you noted don't allow a sense of scale. Especially since my G10 can get as close as 0.2 inches in closeup mode. But that is one reason I often bother to include the scientific name in posts as such terms can get at further information. There are of course numbers of websites specializing on plant and animal species, but remembering what they are exactly may be confusing unless one has bookmarked such. So a better strategy in this day and age is to get in the habit of using www.Wikipedia.com as an easy to remember starting point.
So what you can do anytime if someone provides a species name in a web post is go to the Wikipedia main page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Copy the species name in the post then paste it into the Wikipedia Search field which will bring up a brief summary page on the species. And under External links select:
Jepson Manual Treatment...
That will change to the Jepson page that has complete information including a species area map for California.
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?6393,6403,6405
For non-plants like the Pacific Tree Frog eggs, one could just plug that common name into Wikipedia which will also bring up a page with an External links at page bottom that also links to detail info, in the frogs case:
http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/p.regilla.html
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...David
http://davidsenesac.com
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
