Natural History Wanderings

California Poppy

Today we were at Mt. Burdell Open Space Preserve which is in Novato in Marin County CA. looking for early season wildflowers. We were in the southern part of the park, which consists of Grasslands, Oak woodlands and Serpentine rocky outcrops. It was a bright sunny and breezy day so it was not particularly good for photography. I did get one fair photo of California Poppies another one of the Oak Trees.

The most abundant flowers were the Blue Dicks and California Buttercups. The most interesting area botanically was the serpentine area that included California Poppy, Cream Cups and Tidy-tips. The best birding areas were the large old twisting oaks. Here I found many Yellow-rumped Warbler and Acorn Woodpeckers.  Other birds of note were the Western Bluebirds. The birding was often by ear, at least the initial identification.

To see full flower and bird lists click read more

Mt. Burdell Oaks

Flowers seen included:

Purple-Red Sanicle/Sanicula bipinnatifida
Tidy-tips/Layia sp.
Lotus/Lotus sp.
Blue-eyed Grass/Sisyrinchium bellum
Blue Dicks/Dichelostemma capitatum
Star Lily/Zigadenus fremontii var. minor
Sun-cups/ Camissonia ovata
California Poppy/Eschscholzia californica
Cream Cups/Playstemon californicus
Red Maids/Calandrinia ciliata var. menziesii
California Buttercups/Ranunculus californicus
Owl’s Clover/ Castilleja densiflora

Birds seen included:

Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Western Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
House Finch