The Marin CNPS Facebook page has the following new post
Blooming today at Rosie’s Rocks, Tomales – the Endangered yellow larkspur (Delphinium luteum), and rare bent-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia lunaris), and coast rock cress (Arabis blepharophylla).
See photos and older posts at Marin Native Plants.
The Marin CNPS Facebook page has the following new post for Mt. Burdell. Posting included photos of Sisyrinchium bellum – blue-eyed grass, Ranunculua californicus – California buttercup, Monolopia major – cupped monolopia (only known location in Marin.), and Leptosiphon parviflorus – variable Linanthus,
See photos and older posts at Marin Native Plants.
Wild in Arizona has a new wildlife report today
Spring has sprung at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert (location #20 in the Wild in Arizona: Photographing Arizona’s Wildlife guidebook). The bad news is that most of the Northern migrants have left with the exception of some very photogenic ducks (green-winged teal, cinnamon teal, shovelers), dowitchers, and least sand pipers. The good news is the black-necked stilts and American avocets are getting into their breeding garb and beginning to stake out territories.
Read rest of report and see photos at Arizona Wildlife Field Report: March 30, 2018
Posted in Birding Reports, Birds | Tags: Arizona Birds, Bird Reports
Henry Coe State Park has a new wildflower bloom report for March 30, 2018 at the Pine Ridge Association website with photos and a list of flowers now in bloom at: Henry W. Coe – Wildflower Guide.
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Posted in Walks & Hikes, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Wildflower Hikes
Theodore Payne has published its weekly report for 3/30/18. Highlights below. See photos at http://theodorepayne.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/March-30-WHR.pdf
FINALLY! A crop of wildflowers have been seen popping up in a variety of sites around Southern California, and in very accessible areas, too, if you can take a short holiday escape during spring break. Let’s start along the coastal regions.
A wonderful wildflower outing is to be had if you check out the Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach off of 4th Street and Park Ave. Look for wild hyacinth (Dichelostemma capitatum), tidy tips (Layia platyglossa), deerweed (Acmispon glaber), arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), California bush sunflower (Encelia californica), giant coreopsis (Leptosyne sp.), Santa Barbara milkvetch (Astragalus trichopodus), Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla), mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia), California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), California four o’clock (Mirabilis laevis var.crassifolia) and golden bush (Isocoma sp.). Enjoy walking the new paths around the entire lagoon and marvel at the habitat restoration of this important wetland area!
Mostly perennials and a few annual species of flowers can be seen along the Brightwater Trail in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, and specifically aroundthe ‘pocket’ in Huntington Beach for those who know the reserve. Look for California four o’clock (Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia), bush sunflower (Encelia californica) and bladderpod (Peritoma arborea). Blue-eye grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) and fiddleneck (Amsinckia sp.) are in sunny open areas along the trails too. By the way, this is a great birding location, so bring the binoculars as well as a wildflower guide.
Click read more to see many more reports
For more information on any of the trips below go to http://goldengateaudubon.org/field-trips/fieldtrips/
Posted in Birds, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Bay Area Audubon Field Trips, Birding, Birding Field Trips
Channel Islands National Park News Release
Ventura, CA — Forward progress has been made today on the Santa Cruz Fire with air tanker assistance holding the blaze to 250 acres. There is no estimate of containment of the fire at this time.
Santa Barbara County and Los Padres National Forest sent out two crews of firefighters to Santa Cruz Island this morning for a total of nearly 50 on the ground battling the blaze.
Tomorrow, additional support is expected, with two crews of 10 each arriving from Sequoia and Sierra National Forests. Hotshot crews have also been dispatched from the southwest area.
There are no reported structures at risk at this time and no injuries. Fire weather conditions have improved, with lighter winds today expected to extend through Saturday.
Posted in Park | Tags: Channel Islands National Park, Santa Cruz Island Fire
In the past week, wildflowers have made a surprise appearance around northern Tejon Ranch. This weekend please join us for a spontaneous member “sneak preview” tour for you and your family/friends — 9am Saturday 3/31. This tour is for members only.There is availability on public tours this Sunday 4/1 at 9am and 11am, as well as Sunday 4/8 at 9am and 11am.Public tours this year are localized and announced on a week-by-week basis due to rapidly changing conditions. If you would like to reserve spots for the member tour, please click below. If you would rather visit 4/1 or 4/8, please email cfabbro@tejonconservancy.org and indicate your time/date preference.
Hungry Valley OHV has a new wildflower report for 3/29/19
What a difference a week makes! Scattered blooms are showing up in many areas of the park, and there is a big, showy display of coreopsis that is turning the hillsides yellow behind Lane Ranch Campground.
If you come in from the south entrance, there are blue dicks beginning to bloom on the north side of the road as you leave the oaks. The white daisy-like tidy tips and the diminutive goldfields are also starting in the south, with some concentrations of these flowers in the yucca patch between Lane Ranch and Aliklik Campgrounds. Watch for the goldenbush brightening up the area with their cheerful yellow blossoms.
Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) can be seen blooming around or within creosote and brittlebush. Globemallow grows well in alkaline soil, which is why it is often see alongside creostoe bushes.
Antelope Valley reports
As of March 26th, we are beginning to see a few scattered poppies and gold fields starting to bloom alongside the Poppy Trail South Loop. On the Tehachapi Vista Point, our fragrant grape soda lupines are still blooming and towards the Kitanemuk Vista Point there are a few wild hyacinths. Antelope Trail South Loop and Antelope Butte Trail have lots of fiddleneck, slender keel fruit and filaree.
We are estimating a small to moderate poppy bloom in about another week or two if the nice weather holds and if we do not get too much frost or heat. Please remember to stay on the designated trails so we may protect these beauties!
See photos at https://www.facebook.com/PoppyReserve/
The LA Times reported on Feral Bulls threatening native habitat and hikers at Sand to Snow National Monument
On a ridgeline near a popular stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail, five feral bulls, each the size of a small car, were snorting, stomping and pawing the ground — postures indicating they were ready to charge.
The bulls gazed down on human observers; some lowered their footlong horns. Then they lumbered on, trampling the trail and devouring native vegetation in one of California’s newest national monuments.
“They are part of a herd of at least 150 that’s ripping up this monument and scaring the heck out of folks who cross paths with them,” he said. “They also can transmit disease to native bighorn sheep. So, they need to be removed — and I’m all for lethal removal. They don’t belong here.”
Read full story at Feral cattle terrorize hikers and devour native plants in a California national monument
Posted in Animals, Environment, Park | Tags: Feral Cattle, Sand to Snow National Monument
Jepson Prairie is a top spot for vernal pools. I was fortunate to get a personal tour with volunteer Charlies Russell, who publishes the Wildflower Hikes website. It was nice to be able to go there on a day when the pools were quite wet with good displays of Blennosperma and Meadowfoam in bloom. Some of the other plants in bloom included Fragrant Fritillary, Bicolored Lupine , Blue-eyed Grass, Goldfields, and Fiddleneck. Birds seen in numbers were White-fronted Goose, Canada Goose, American Avocet and Red-winged Blackbird.
from UC Davis
Located in the lower Sacramento Valley, Jepson Prairie is an island of remnant natural prairie in a vast agricultural landscape. The reserve protects several seasonal playa lakes and one of the best remaining networks of clay-pan vernal-pool habitat in the Central Valley. Jepson Prairie also protects remnants of native forb and bunchgrass prairie. The reserve provides wetland habitat for migratory waterfowl and wading birds, and is home to 5 rare and endangered animals. Altogether over 400 species and 64 families of plants, including 15 rare and endangered plants, are found on site. The reserve land is managed in partnership with the Solano Land Trust – which owns the property – the Nature Conservancy, and an active docents group.
The Jepson Prairie Docents provide wildflower and natural history tours each spring. Check this website for updates on tour schedules and opportunities to be trained as a docent. A short trail is open to those wishing to birdwatch and admire the wildflowers on their own.
We made a brief stop at Ring Mountain this afternoon on the Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County. We went up the Phyllis Ellman trail and saw only small numbers of wildflowers in bloom. Most impressive were the Oakland Star Tulip Calochortus umbellatus. Also in bloom were California Buttercup, Buttercup, Blue-eyed Grass and Shooting Star, Checker Mallow, Douglas Iris, Milkmaids and Yellow Lomatium.
Malibu Patch reports
This season’s wildflowers might be ‘late bloomers’ due to less than average rainfall and late in the season rainstorms, according to ecologists at Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area ecologists.
Read article at SoCal Wildflowers May Be ‘Late Bloomers’ This Year | Malibu, CA Patch
Borrego Wildflowers reports
3/26/2018 The highest bloom count this season, that is individual plants not the abundance.
Some areas will get a below average bloom, with a lot of very tiny blooming plants. Peak bloom somewhere in April
The Coyote canyon area may be already be past peak bloom, with a lot of plants at the end of bloom. There are places with good germination, so the rain may give them another boost.03/25/2018 Box Canyon Dry Lake and Playas
Back to the Playas between Box Canyon and Butler Canyon.Yes, we found the second area with Narrow leaf globemallow, Sphaeralcea angustifolia, a tiny closed off playa above Butler canyon. Another playa may contain them, but the plants were too small for a positive ID.
Next stop the location were we found some Woody crinklemat, Tiquilia canescens canescens, to check if there are more.
Many more as it turned out, plants growing on both sides of a hill, mainly in the drainages. This is by far the easiest location on a shallow slope, but far away from any road.
The bloom isn’t spectacular but picking up many individual plants, many times only one on our entire 6 hours + trip.
Surprisingly there are many plants in bloom, at least since December, maybe not the same plants but for a long time, nevertheless.
To name a few: Smoketree, Psorothamnus spinosus; California trixis, Trixis californica californica; Brittlebush, Encelia farinosa; Apricot mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua ambigua; California fagonia, Fagonia laevis.
Species in bloom below 3000 feet: 96.
Acuweather.com writes about how California wildflowers cope with and thrive in dealing with drought and fire. Read article and see video at California wildflowers managed to outsmart the worst drought conditions in a century
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: How Wildflowers Survive Drought
Homestead Valley Land Trust reports on March 26
NEW
– Field madder, native to the Mediterranean, is one of the very small flowers in the grass of meadows.
– Pacific bleeding heart is blooming under the redwood trees in the sliver of Land Trust between 435 and 441 Laverne.
– Shepherd’s needle, native to Eurasia, is blooming white with parsley foliage in meadows.
– Short podded mustard, native to the Mediterranean, has small clusters of yellow flowers on long stalks. In the mustard family, the flowers are delicious.
– Silver lupine is blooming purple in bushes up on the ridge.
– Sky lupine, bright blue with white accents, is blooming on the ridge.
– Spotted coralroot with its red stalk and many orchid-shaped flowers is coming up in forests.
– Sticky monkeyflower is blooming orange on bushes in meadows. It will bloom throughout the summer heat when its dark leaves will become sticky.
– Woodland star’s bright white stars are blooming in the seep on the edge of the Ridgewood Rock.
Our 23rd year of offering pontoon boat tours on the lake is coming soon. If you missed this event last year, remember to register early this year! Registration will open March 31!
Heron Days 2018
Registration will open March 31
April 28 & 29 and May 5 & 6
Saturday and Sunday
April 28 and 29
Lakeside County Park
Kelseyville
Saturday and Sunday
May 5 and 6
Clear Lake Campground
Clearlake
If you have attended this event in past years, you know what a wonderful celebration of nature this event offers. The boat tours are a rare opportunity to see nature up close on beautiful Clear Lake. Each day consists of 90-minute tours leaving on the half hour between 8:00 am and 11:00 am
Each boat will have an experienced Audubon guide to point out the birds being seen on the tours and explain their behaviors. Besides several species of nesting herons and egrets, tour guests are likely to see nesting osprey and cormorants, yellow-headed blackbirds, and Western and Clark’s grebes in courtship displays where they “dance” in pairs across the lake surface.
Audubon leaders believe that, through first-hand experience with nature, people will come to understand the need to conserve and protect Lake County’s natural resources and habitats.
From Lakeside County Park you will be taken into Shirley Slough and west along the Clear Lake shoreline. Don’t confuse this park with Lake County Park in Lakeport. Lakeside County Park is on Park Drive off of Soda Bay Road.
From Clear Lake Campground (formerly Shady Acres Campground), you will explore Anderson Marsh and the upper end of Cache Creek. Clear Lake Campground is located on Cache Creek north of Anderson Marsh. From Hwy 53 turn west onto Old Hwy 53 (Walmart is to the east), and make an immediate left onto Cache Creek Way. Follow it all the way down to the creek and campground.
The number of tours are limited. We encourage you to make your reservation as soon as possible as the available tickets for some of the most popular tour times may sell out quickly. Children eight years of age and older are invited to attend.
For any questions regarding registration, call Evelyn Wachtel at (510) 501-5375.
Posted in Bird Festivals, Birds | Tags: Birding Festivals, Heron Days
The Marin CNPS Facebook page has the following new post
Nice hike on Tam today. The Calypso orchids are plentiful, particularly in the middle of Mickey O’Brien: go soon. Laurel Dell still has Adders tongues blooming but these really are the last. Down Cataract from Laurel the Fritillary are blooming; just buds everywhere else.
Posting included photos of Checker Lily, Calypso Orchid, Fetid Adder’s-tongue, Hound’s tongue, Hairy-Petal Hog-Fennel, and Ceanothus jepsonii.
See photos and older posts at Marin Native Plants.
NPR reports
The Antipodes had a mouse problem. But no more.
New Zealand, which owns the subantarctic archipelago, says its years-long effort to rid the rodents has finally paid off.
“This is huge news for conservation both in New Zealand and internationally,” said conservation minister Eugenie Sage.
The Antipodes Islands, a World Heritage Site located about 470 miles south of the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, once had a major infestation – some 200,000 mice “preyed on bird chicks and eggs, invertebrates, and plants,” The New Zealand Herald says.
Read about New Zealand’s success at removing this invasive species at New Zealand Eradicates Invasive Mice From Antipodes Islands : The Two-Way : NPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: Invasive species
Today we went birding in McLaughlin Eastshore Park in Albany including the Albany Mudflats. The most striking bird of the day was the Red-winged Blackbirds which were constantly displaying and singing loudly. There were large numbers of shorebirds in the Mudflats and shallow waters. American Avocets were starting to appear in their orange breeding plumage. Green-winged Teal were the most abundant duck and Western Sandpipers were the largest group of Shorebirds. We identified 29 species and another birder reported seeing a pair Kites nesting and Allen’s Hummingbirds. The main native plant in flower was California Poppy.
Click Read more to see bird list for today
Posted in Birding Reports, Birds, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Bird Reports, Birding, Birding McLaughlin Eastshore SP
The New Haven Register reports on the The Western Governors’ Association catalogingthe top 50 invasive species in their region and how they have caused billions of dollars in damage to agriculture and infrastructure.
Weeds, feral cats, insects and other pests are invading the U.S. West, and state governors released a list of the worst offenders Thursday in hopes of helping people recognize and eradicate the invaders before they spread.
Some of the species on the governors’ list have been in the headlines before, including water-gulping salt cedar trees and quagga mussels. Others may be surprises, such as feral cats.
“They have huge impacts to native bird species,”
Read full article at Feral cats make Western Governor’s list of invasive species – New Haven Register
Posted in Animals, Environment, Uncategorized | Tags: Feral Cats
The Marin CNPS Facebook page has two new posts
Chimney Rock at Pt.Reyes -Yesterday on a very windy day at Chimney Rock. Lots of flowers there now, a good time to visit if the wind would die down.
Phoenix Lake – photos showing blooming flowers of Fremont’s star lily, Toxicoscordion fremontii, Giant wakerobin, Trillium chloropetalum, Hound’s Tongue Cynoglossum grande, Blue skullcap Scutellaria tuberosa, Indian warrior Pedicularis densiflora, Blue Dicks Dichelostemma capitatum , Blue-eyed grass, Checker Lily Fritillaria affinis, and a native of Europe, “Kenilworth-ivy” Cymbalaria muralis. Also Maidenhair Fern, Goldenback Fern and a newt.
See photos and older posts at Marin Native Plants.
You may have noticed there are less wildflower reports this year. There are three reasons that I am aware of.
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants
Between California and Hawaii, there’s a teeming patch of garbage that’s stretched over an area more than double the size of Texas.
We already knew it was huge. There’s a reason it’s called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” But new research has found that there is many times more garbage in this patch than previously thought – 4 to 16 times more than past estimates, according to a paper published today in Nature Scientific Reports.
via The Trash Patch In The Pacific Is Many Times Bigger Than We Thought : The Two-Way : NPR
Posted in Environment | Tags: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Marin CNPS Facebook page has a new post from a trip Blackstone Canyon with photos showing Prosartes hookeri – Hooker’s fairy bell and Fritillaria affinis – checker lily in bloom and Pipevine Swallowtail and Mourning Cloak butterflies. Please note the photos are from March 12 and things change quickly in nature.
See photos and older posts at Marin Native Plants.
POPPY DAY SPRING PLANT SALE
Our annual spring sale!
The region’s best selection of California native plants, with discounts to all on plants, seed and TPF gear, and expert advice from TPF staff and volunteers
ONE DAY ONLY
Saturday, March 24, 2018, 8:30am-4:30pm at Theodore Payne Foundation 10459 Tuxford St, Sun Valley, CA 91352 Map
Members 15% off plants, seed and TPF gear
Non-members 10% off plants seed and TPF gear
– Not yet a member? Join at the door!
Posted in Garden | Tags: Plant Sale, Theodore Payne Foundation
Theodore Payne has published its weekly report for 3/23/18. Highlights below. See photos at http://theodorepayne.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/3-23-18-web-report.pdf
At this time last year, the “super bloom” had peaked and was fast fading. This year, we are still waiting for any kind of bloom. Reports are hopeful for at least a moderate bloom in April and May. Timing is everything when it comes to our California wildflowers.
Pinnacles National Park has finally received some regular rainfall, but the usual things you would see this time of year will be tardy to flower. However, many lovely things that usually bloom a little earlier are making a show now. Look for a sure harbinger of Spring, the Johnny jump-ups (Viola pedunculata) in the Oak Woodland areas of the Park. The lace parsnip (Lomatium dasycarpum ssp. dasycarpum), Fremont’s star lily (Toxicoscordin fremontii) and blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum) are showing up with baby blue-eyes (Nemophila menziesii), California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus) and shooting stars (Dodecatheon clevelandii var. patulum). The buckbrush (Ceanothus cunneatus) with its white to lavender flowers and silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons) scent the air with a lovely fragrance. Probably the best find will be the checker lily (Fritillaria affinis). Look for it along the Old Pinnacles Trail on shaded north-facing slopes.
Probably shouldn’t give up yet on Anza Borrego Desert State Park. There has been no rain in the low elevations, but in some of the higher elevation canyons, there has been some rain recorded. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), chuparosa (Justicia californica) and desert encelia (Encelia farinosa) are pretty true bloomers with a little moisture, but annuals are small this year and tucked away where the soil can hold water for a time. Flowers can be seen here and there in Coyote Canyon, Box Canyon and the washes running west from Collins Valley (Salvador Canyon, Sheep’s Canyon). They popped up after the January rain and are fading now, but may be given an extended life from recent moisture. There is also good germination at the end of Di Giorgio Rd. so maybe a small bloom of various flowers will appear in April. You’ll have to work for it by hiking up the washes to search. No pretty pics of flower fields from the car!
Natural History Wanderings 