Spring Hike

 

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.

I resisted pulling out my camera until we enountered this delicious backlight on some sedges and horsetails in Cataract Creek.

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).

Tortoiseshell warming its tattered wings on a sunny trunk.

Zoomed-in view over green hills and remnants of fog, toward Mt. Saint Helena.

This is a cross-section of a redwood that had fallen across the trail at Potrero Meadow. I count about 30 rings.

The bee flies were buzzin' at Barth's Retreat. I was surprised to be able to catch one with the FZ80.

Star Lily in the Sun

Dried Sulfur Tufts

This was the most stout and vividly colored calypso orchid we saw all day.

It looks like this banana slug is interested in poop, but I think it's actually some  crapped-out poor-man's licorice.

And this was the most unusual inflorescence of calypsos that we saw.

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.

A blue-belly takes in the sun...

...and shows off with some burly push-ups.

The following are just some recent shots from local walks.

Purple pistil, golden anthers, and cloud-white petals at Strybing Arboretum.

Spring color at Strybing Arboretum.

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.

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.

In addition to red-tails, there was a red house over yonder.

"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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Carrizo Plain in March Past

 

The Yellow Carpet (3/10/2010)

Back in the days before social media took off, you could have Carrizo Plain pretty much to yourself, especially in March before the peak bloom. Back then I usually couldn't get time off from work at the optimum times, so I'd go when I could. Last year was the first time I was able to time my trip, passing through once with my wife on our way to San Diego, then returning on my own later in the month. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll go down this year, but in the meantime I thought I'd share some March scenes from the olden days....

This was the view toward the Caliente Range from Soda Lake Road...

...and this was the view in the other direction, toward the Temblor Range (both 3/3/2005).

Not that I've been out there a lot, but I used to reliably see pronghorn before the big solar farms were built. I thought for sure I'd see some last year with so much forage available, but nope. (Photo from 3/3/05).

This is from 3/10/2010, and I don't believe the sign is still there. 

Meadowlarks: the sound of Carrizo Plain in March (3/3/05).

The fiddleneck back when I shot this (3/3/05) was heavy around Soda Lake, but not elsewhere on the plain. Last year I was surprised to see how far and wide it had spread.

Fiddleneck sunrise (3/11/2004).

Back then (3/3/05) it felt like I had arrived at peak bloom. I'd never seen such a large-scale profusion of wildflowers before.

I like to see what I still own after so many years. The Jeep is long gone, but that cooler was already about 11 years old back then (3/3/05), and I still have it. I also still have the Marmot jacket, but the camp chair broke just last year while camping at Sonora Pass.

Is "Cheerful as a Daisy" a thing (3/10/2010)?

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Wind Blown

 

Abbotts Lagoon Sunrise

After all those windy days I was eager to get out to the dunes around Abbotts Lagoon to see if I could find any of the Pt. Reyes Wallflowers (Erysimum concinnum) that I photographed back in March 2010. I'd checked my Windy app and saw that it wasn't going to be dead calm, which was unfortunate. But I was still disappointed when I arrived at the parking lot and heard the wind howling just a little bit in the pre-dawn darkness. 

As it turned out, I need not have concerned myself about the wind since there weren't any wildflowers to photograph anyway. The bright spot of my morning turned out to be watching a family of river otters swim by as they moved from the seaward part of the lagoon to the inland part. They spooked a great blue heron into flight as it was hunting near the bridge. The heron had not spooked earlier when I crossed the bridge, but a GBH does not mess around with a family of voracious otters.

The freshly wind-scoured sand dunes already had several sets of animal tracks crossing here and there. One disturbance looked like it might have been made by a bird landing and sweeping the sand with its wings, as if it had been going after prey. Nearby was a tiny dead mole lying on top of the sand. I wondered why it hadn't been eaten.

Point Reyes Wallflower on a calm morning at Abbotts Lagoon in March 2010.

The otters swam underwater as they approached and passed beneath the bridge, but finally showed themselves at least briefly.

I hoped they would get out on the dunes and play, but they did not. There are five otters in this shot.

Moocows in the Morning

Composite shot of a flicker that took off from its coyote brush perch.

Lots of spotted towhees were belting out their sunrise songs.

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Around the Horn

 

Bison on the Move

The bison were all grazing out in the field, so I stopped my bike, only to have them all suddenly start moving toward the feeding pens. Apparently their regular feed is preferable to the available field greens.

The Dutch Windmill with tulips in the Queen Wilhelmina Garden.

The Coast Guard was taking advantage of the hazardous weather conditions today by practicing ocean rescues. The chopper, an Airbus MH-65D Dolphin, had to maintain its position in the wind while lowering a rescue swimmer to the water (the orange thing is the "victim" that was summarily tossed out of the chopper into the sea).

The wind was blowing around 22 mph with 30 mph gusts.

Looks calm here.... 

Every time the kingfisher sounded off with its chittering call, it raised its head and tail feathers.

An allen's hummingbird landed on a nearby branch while I was watching the kingfisher.

Then it flew to an even closer lichen-covered branch to do some preening.

Flashing the warm-toned gorget.

And more preening.

The Metson Lake GBH was in attendance and took occasional interest in passing minnows, without actually taking a stab at anything in the few minutes I spent watching.

But mostly it appeared to just be hanging out in the sunshine.

* * *

Unruffled

 

Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat at Ocean Beach

According to NOAA's National Data Buoy Center, the swells are running 12-14 feet today. I noticed the waves were breaking farther out than usual when I did my walk this morning, and I was glad I'd brought my camera when I later biked down to the beach. I figured there wouldn't be any surfers out in that huge chaos, but the Coast Guard evidentally saw the hazardous conditions as a perfect training opportunity.

Nice day for a splash in the ocean.

Testing to see if these boats are, in fact, unsinkable.

Unruffled

Ruffled

Unruffled

I noticed the other day that the dynamic duo of red-tailed hawks who like to hang out atop the Murphy Windmill are perching closer together than usual. Are they a mating pair, or siblings?

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