Natural History Wanderings

Visit Kern Wildflower Sightings has posted a new wildflower bloom report. Here are the highlights: 

It just hasn’t been a great year for wildflowers. A dry winter followed by rains that came late in the season didn’t make for the best of growing conditions. However, there are a few Kern County sites that are still worth a look. The best sighting by far comes to us from the Tehachapi area. Our thanks to field biologist Eric Tomczak, who spotted a variety of wildflowers while hiking the Pacific Coast Trail south of Tehachapi. The hot spots appear to be Tylerhorse Canyon and Gamble Springs, and a partial list of visible blooms on the south-facing slopes is impressive. Among the reported blooms were antelope brush, ballhead ipomopsis, broad-flowered gilia, brown-eyed primrose, Chile lutus, cirsium, coreopsis, cryptantha, Devil’s lettuce, desert pincushion, desert sand verbena, Fremont’s phacelia, golden chia, heartleaf thistleflower, lacy pachelia, lupine, poppies, prairie rockets, mentzelia, narrowleaf goldenbush, naked buckwheat, rattlesnake weed, redstem fillaree, scale bud, woolly daisy, and woolypod milkvetch.

The late rains have produced a small color show on the Gorman hills along Interstate 5. Visible are patches of coreopsis, lupine, and purple and pink phacelia. A closer look will also reveal some baby blue-eyes, pincushion, primrose and red maids.

Windwolves Preserve east of Maricopa reports a few blooms, most notably poppies and lupine, on the upper canyon trails. The real draw at the preserve right now is the abundant wildlife. Deer and elk calves are regularly sighted by visitors, along with a number of nesting birds. Great horned owls, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles are among the highlights.

The Carrizo Plain National Monument has no tangible growth. 

To see the full report as well as old reports go to: Visit Kern Wildflower Sightings