Natural History Wanderings

Updated 5/10/11 Photos Added

Wildflower bloom  has been disappointing this year in many locations but that wasn’t the case at Point Reyes today.  Many species are in bloom at Abbott’s Lagoon and there are more to come, especially the Yellow Bush Lupine.  Today we hiked the trail from the parking lot to the bridge, went over to the dunes, and up to the headland south of the bridge.  Best displays were the Poppies in the parking area, Marsh Buttercups by the boardwalk, and Cow Parsnips along the trail.  The season seems a little behind to me.  Although focused on flowers, I also identified fifteen species of birds.

We also did a quick hike down the half mile trial to  Kehoe Beach.  It is best described as half a mile of alien mustard followed by a very flowery headland.  The headland just north of the trail right before the beach had  a large display of Tidytips, California Poppies, a lavender lupine, Yellow Bush Lupine and Goldfields.  Some of the goldfields are past but the other flowers were very nice so get there soon.

It was sunny and windy so it wasn’t ideal for photography; I often used a diffuser for close-ups and I also included a few sunny polarized landscape photos just to show some of what was going on.  Photographers should also know that the grasses are coming in fast.  Beware of Poison Oak.

Here are today’s photos( photos are from Abbott’s Lagoon unless labeled Kehoe) and click Read More below to see the plant and bird lists.

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Abbott’s Lagoon Plant List:

California Poppy

Yellow Bush Lupine

Cow Parsnip

Yarrow

Coast Fiddleneck

Yarrow

Several species of Lupine

Salmonberry

Checkermallow

Manroot

Hedge Nettle

Candy Stripe

California Blackberry

Big Marsh Buttercup

California Buttercup

Douglas Iris

Catchfly

Pearly Everlasting

Goldfields

Johnny Tuck

Owl’s Clover

Blue-eyed Grass

Beach Evening-primrose

Dune Suncup

Beach Strawberry

Beach Dandelion

Yellow Sand Verbena

Sea Rocket

Beach Morning Glory

Small yellow Lotus

Sea Thrift

Popcorn

Wallflower

Seaside Daisy

Gumplant

California Bee Plant

Fern Phacelia

Rattlesnake Weed or Wild Carrot

Giant Bog Lupine

Annual Lupine

Prostrate Lupine

Fragrant Dune Lupine

Beach pea  (Lathyrus littoralis)

Aliens also seen:

Mustard, Radish,

Scarlet Pimpernel

Thistle,

Cat’s Ear

Cut-leave Geranium

Abbott’s Lagoon Bird List:

Cliff Swallow

Turkey Vulture

Red-winged Blackbirds

Northern Harrier

Turkey Vulture

Red-tailed Hawk

American Crow

Raven

Brewer’s Blackbird

Song Sparrow

Scrub Jay

White-crowned Sparrow

Gull sp.

Cormorant sp.

Great Egret

American Goldfinch

Spotted Towhee

Kehoe Beach Plant List:

California Bee Plant

California Blackberry

Rattlesnake Weed or Wild Carrot

Douglas Iris

Cow Parsnip

Yellow Bush Lupine

Yarrow

California Poppy

Blue-eyed Grass

Fern-leaf Phacelia

Seaside Daisy

Coast Fiddleneck

Tidytips

Goldfields

A lavender lupine

Baby Blue-eyes

Creamcups

Manroot

Salmonberry

Lots of alien Mustard!!

CORRECTIONS WELCOMED