Natural History Wanderings

California Fall Color  has a new report for Mt. Palomar. Below are the highlights. Photos at Mt. Palomar has patchy fall color, but is looking up.

Mt. Palomar Patchy 10 – 50% – most of the black oaks on Mt. Palomar still have a long way to go before they turn. The rain and the wind have stripped some of the trees – particularly those on south-facing slopes, but most of the oaks retain their leaves and are around 25-50% turned on the north-facing slopes and over 50% on the south-facing slopes. Bark beetles are not a problem here, and Palomar has actually been close to matching its average precipitation since July, which is 3x that of the lower elevations.

Riparian areas are well short of peak.Riparian foliage, including berries, box elders, and dogwoods are showing a bit more color. Dogwoods are showing colors ranging from green, yellow, pink and red, while box elders are lime green. The berry plants are yellowing nicely. Scott estimates that Mt. Palomar will peak in one to two weeks.