Natural History Wanderings

We spent the day at Joshua Tree National Park today. The Joshua Trees and rocks are looking good, the wildflowers are not. Wildflowers were scarce in the southern part of the park and even scarcer in the northern sections. The situation may improve as the season goes on

We found significantly less flowers than in the park report I mentioned yesterday. We mainly saw Bladderpod, Mesquite, Chuparosa and Ocotillo in bloom. We also found some Desert Lavender, Desert Star-vine, a yellow Ground Cherry, and Brittlebush that were in bloom. Also some Junipers with a lot of fruit and Joshua Trees starting to flower.

We did a very nice short hike in a canyon east of the main road near mile marker 33. Canyon was scenic and had Palo Verde, Smoke Tree, and Barrel Cactus. A number of Phainopepla sightings and a probable Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher who were attracted to the Mesquite Mistletoe.