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| View from Mt. Tam's north side near Barth's Retreat, with Mt. Saint Helena in the distance. |
My wife was able to get the day off for a true spring break, so we hiked a loop from Rock Spring: Cataract Trail to Mickey O'Brien Trail to Barth's Retreat to Portrero Meadows to Rifle Camp, then back along the Lagunitas-Rock Spring Road to the Benstein Trail and the Simmons Trail to close the loop back at the Cataract Trail.
The hike started out chilly, around 45 degrees just after 9 a.m., but warmed up by the time we reached Barth's Retreat, where I spotted a chickadee entering a nest cavity in a dead Douglas fir. I trained my camera on the hole, but I either picked the wrong one, or the sneaky devil came out a different hole. It appeared to have been carrying away a poop sack as it exited, but I missed the shot.
The air was so fresh with spring that it was actually perfumed in places where the sun's warm rays volatilized aromatic molecules from the forest that graced our nasal passages with their tantalizing bouquets. We passed a raucous group of acorn woodpeckers that were chasing each other through the high branches and sometimes grappling, then twirling together as they fell, only to break it off well before they hit the ground. I also saw a pair of hummingbirds having a tussle very near the ground, but they flew away as I approached with my camera. Hopefully I interrupted fighting rather than mating.
We saw lots of calypso orchids in the woods, and shooting stars in the wet meadows, and a single star lily just beginning to bloom at Potrero Meadow. We also saw our first western fence lizards of the season.
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| I resisted pulling out my camera until we enountered this delicious backlight on some sedges and horsetails in Cataract Creek. |
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| I often pass up the first few potential subjects, but once I do finally break out the camera I start shooting just about everything that catches my fancy, like this white slime mold (possibly Brefeldia maxima). |
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| Tortoiseshell warming its tattered wings on a sunny trunk. |
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| Zoomed-in view over green hills and remnants of fog, toward Mt. Saint Helena. |
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| This is a cross-section of a redwood that had fallen across the trail at Potrero Meadow. I count about 30 rings. |
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| The bee flies were buzzin' at Barth's Retreat. I was surprised to be able to catch one with the FZ80. |
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| Star Lily in the Sun |
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| Dried Sulfur Tufts |
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| This was the most stout and vividly colored calypso orchid we saw all day. |
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| It looks like this banana slug is interested in poop, but I think it's actually some crapped-out poor-man's licorice. |
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| And this was the most unusual inflorescence of calypsos that we saw. |
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| And how about the most laid-back acorn woodpecker ever. I couldn't believe it let me get so close, and it never did fly away. |
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| A blue-belly takes in the sun... |
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| ...and shows off with some burly push-ups. |
The following are just some recent shots from local walks.
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| Purple pistil, golden anthers, and cloud-white petals at Strybing Arboretum. |
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| Spring color at Strybing Arboretum. |
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| Spring growth always creates a tunnel of plants on this set of stairs, but the bonus was the Echium coming into bloom and beginning to hum with visiting bees. |
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| At the top of the stairs I spotted this juvenile red-tailed hawk. I could tell it was a juvenile in part because it didn't fly away, as the adults usually do. Also, its breast feathers were not as white as an adult's. |
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| In addition to red-tails, there was a red house over yonder. |
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"It's spring!" exclaimed the man on horseback.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. ThisTricholoma equestre was actually photographed many years ago, in January, near Barth's Retreat. |
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