Late summer: Yosemite, clouds, cowboys & cutting out California wine...

Home...

Tiny, gorgeous fork-tailed (I think) bush katydid nymph on California poppy, chez-nous.

This young creature is backing verrrry slowwwly away from yours truly. =) 

Got a twitter-heads up that "mares tails" were in the Mariposa county sky,

so I looked out the window:

They're lonnnnng, thin clouds

(streaky left-to-right thing, not the vertical contrail).

And this one had a rainbow in it. BONUS.

The garden is underwhelming this year (I'm being very stingy with water),

but these pea flowers really do have the golden sparkles you can see, here.

It's one of the few things our local Anna's hummingbird gets excited about in my garden.

I need more flowers, next year.

I'll have to make additional drought tolerant, flowering plants happen.

Maybe next year the (very drought-tolerant) pomegranates I planted will bloom?

And the baby California roses? Maybe? Crossing fingers. =)

And Away

Hiking to Lukens Lake in Yosemite, recently, 

we happened upon a family of

one of my favorite & most rarely-seen birds: mountain quail.

Can you see them atop the log?

Cropped.

Adults have exclamation points atop their heads (v. Calif. quail have commas).

And cropped again. Such a stunning bird, jeepers.

Crap photos, but I was thrilled.

A stunning bird with a haunting call that can

send a chill up your spine when you're hiking in the forest.

The ever-picturesque Lukens Lake. A super easy hike, even at ~ 8,000 feet in elevation.

Note smoke on horizon, from the Rough Fire.

At the lake, I ogled this beautiful snag.

I have a thing for dead trees...

 I love how 'neath the bark is what looks like

a mysterious language scrawled into the tree.

What does it say?!?

 I wanna know.

Sat at the edge of Lukens lake with dozens of blue damselflies.

Sharpest shot I got (via my non-telephoto lens):

Such gorgeous animals, jeepers.

A favorite plant, California corn lily (Veratrum californicum).

See the little damselfly, center right, resting on a leaf?

Most of the corn lily was past blooming,

but this one, in the shade by the lake, was still going.

There were numerous happy bees merrily visiting these flowers.

Recently, in Tuolumne county, I was later to a work site than I'd planned, due to a traffic jam.

They had a bunch of cows & their young on the road. Poor creatures sounded stressed.

It took several men & horses, a dog & lots of yelling & arm-waving to get the job done.

Finally, cattle off the road, I drove past slowly, stealing a shot of this horse & its super fit bod.

Check out that crazy butt. This was back in August,

so you probably want to be lean in that heat

(daily over 100F in central CA).

Horses are SO beautiful (IMHO), I find it confusing.

Why do they affect us this way (from an evolutionary perspective)?

Did we co-evolve with them, so a desire to have horses could be selected for?

Or have we just selectively bred them to increase what we consider attractive traits?

Last, but not least, a tiny conservation vignette,

and why I may never accompany DH to this golf course again.

This sign calls the vineyards an "ecologically sensitive area."

Biobabbler's head exploded when she read this.

The quotation marks definitely indicate sarcasm, to me, in this case.

The baby vines are in the white tubes, in front of the mature vines (green in the background).

I never golf ('cause Imma conservation biologist), but I accompany DH and look at birds.

However, I used to love this course 'cause it had

large stretches of native California habitat in it

(vs. an entirely transformed, non-native landscape).

This is very unusual for golf courses in California.

But, this summer all those native spaces were razed and converted to vineyards.

=(

Vineyards are crawling across California,

taking out so much of California's remaining, unique native habitats,

it is a serious source of habitat destruction.

For something we do not need to survive.

And who knows how much water they are using?

Yours truly doing fieldwork in California habitat.

Thinking deep thoughts.  =)

Therefore, I've decided will not drink California wine, pretty much as of now.

I'm sure this decision won't be felt by the wine industry,

but I cannot reward this behavior (by giving them my money)

and feel OK about how I'm living my life.

So, thank you, darling peeps, for letting me express this.

I feel better, now.

=)

xoxoxobb

Uh-Mayzing vid on milkweed, monarchs & more in Yosemite & beyond

 Holy cow.

Another gem produced by Steve Bumgardner.

SO, so great.

Give yourself a treat for 7 minutes. You deserve it. =)

AND a TIMELY REMINDER for me to PLANT

my must-be-planted-in-fall (native to CA) milkweed seeds.

Cannot WAIT to see milkweed in our garden next year--HOORAY!!

Huge thanks to Steve & Erik & everyone involved for this GREAT short film.

*sigh*

xoxobb

Why I can't deadhead this particular dahlia bloom

 Big ol' pale yellow dahlia flower pretty far past its prime...

This crab spider looks REALLY ready to be a mama spider.

Her abdomen is HUGE.

So, the flower stays.

=)

xobb

The Sponge Code & a coastal dune JEWEL

Gonna try to be brief; just finished a major project, so wanna DO STUFF!

SPONGE CODE:

A scientific approach to a visible Hierarchy of Filth

Inspired by wildlife/feral animal fieldwork techniques,

I FINALLY figured out how to readily distinguish among my 

otherwise-identical yellow sponges.

No clips = use for people dishes & food situations

1 clip = use for people non-food situations

2 clips = chicken action so could be Salmonella City

Notoriously, chickens get Salmonella, hence the Shunned Sponge.

FYI, the CDC has a Salmonella Atlas, in case you're interested...

ANYhow, I just found this amusing due to wildlife study origin. =)

COASTAL DUNE JEWEL

I started my NPS career in a tiny, gorgeous coastal park,

Cabrillo NM, in San Diego, CA.

So,  my First Ecosystem Love, was coastal sage scrub

(way more css glamour shots in that post). 

*sigh* It's so dreamy...

And that park had teeny, tiny bits of sandy action w/some straggling native plants,

like beach evening primrose (Camissonia spp.) and/or

 southern sun cup (Camissoniopsis spp.--possibly bistorta).

Park has a LOT of visitors and an informal trail system, so it's hard for those

pups to hang on. It's a rare & ever-diminshing plant community.

This weekend, however, we discovered Oso Flaco Lake State Park.

Holy healthy dune ecosystem!

It seriously feels like a MIRACLE that some
California dune habitat still exists that's this intact.

 Not-quite-in-focus cutie caterpillar on lupin.

There was bush lupin there that was TALLER THAN I AM! Wow.

A 1-mile hike to the ocean gets you here: view to the south.

NICE signage & great view of real coastal dunes w/native veg.

See little white sign on the right?
These areas are well protected due to presence of breeding
California least terns and western snowy plover.
Consequently, the whole ecosystem benefits. SO great.

View north:

Note that where people are allowed to walk, there is NO vegetation.

This is why I firmly believe that if you want to preserve native coastal dune habitat,
and other habitats on friable soils (incl. CSS on sandstone),
you've GOT to keep people off of it.

THAT way, while walking in designated areas,
you get to see something WAY more interesting & rare
vs. another sandy, bare trail.

Before we got to the beach...

Bear hiking across Oso Flaco Lake, lookin' at birds...

It's a GREAT place to view water birds. Saw lots of lovelies. Highly recommend.

Didn't have the proper lens for wildlife photos, but here's a ruddy duck pair

and I TOTALLY get why she's following him. Rawr! 

If I'm inspired later, I might fling a few more photos of the beachy part.

However, the dune action ROCKED my world
and made me feel SO GOOD,
literally just to know that something like this still exits.

Somewhere.

Conservation biologists don't get a lot of happy news,
and I'm savoring this one. =)

If you're EVER in  northern Santa Barbara County

or southern San Luis Obispo County,

I HIGHLY recommend a visit.

xoxobb

why my ethics are so annoying: and not just to me

Subtitle: why this poop shot is my only proof

of having a warm and tiny dark-eyed junco in my hand this week.

*sigh*

Sub-subtitle: why environmental/wildlife ethics
can be such a bore.

And why people w/less education/concern
re: animals and their experience of humans
have WAY more fun w/wildlife than I do.

2 days ago a junco bonked into our window.

I had not TWENTY MINUTES EARLIER put up MORE stickers on our windows, as the migrants who are (my inference) not familiar with the area are frolicking like mad outside, and two butter-butts had, while flitting around each other, grazed my window in a gentle

bip-bipp

K. duly warned.

bb goes outside, washes windows in 30-something dF weather,
even breathing on the glass to warm it up,
and slaps on more WindowAlert stickers.

TWENTY minutes later, BANG!

I look up, see a bird gracefully swoop up,
away from the glass, then land straight down,
amid bright fall grass.

oh crap.

So, I look, yes, bird there. Bird dazed.

I see if I can pick it up. Yes.

Not a good sign.

Put it under my shirt for a while so it will be warm.
Take it out, then see it's panting (I give off a lot of heat). oop.

replace bird in grassy blind.

go back inside, set up a box w/fuzzy hat bedding and watered-down gatorade so this little guy can rest and not get eaten by a cat/hawk/etc.

go back outside, get junco, place into box in room, shut door and leave it alone. Restrain self and check it only twice in an hour. "Friendly visits" are probably completely terrifying events for birds, so I resist the temptation to bird sit. NOT EASY!

2nd visit it's gone. Not in box.

I look to the 2 windows. Yes, junco'd recovered,
flown to the window, and pooped on my sill.

The LEAST I deserve.

I grab the now more feisty (hooray!) bird,
and release it outside.

End of story.


Note no Nikon-grabbing, one-handed photos taken of bird in hand.
No shots of a stunned-yet-photogenic junco recovering in my fuzzy hat.

Nothin'.

*sigh*

However, the point really is, this is not about me:
it's about the junco.

I believe it's best for the junco for me to allow it a quiet, people-free space to recoup in the relative warmth and safety of my house while it gathers its wits, which it left on my window.

It's best for the junco if I don't stare at it with the giant Nikon lens/eyeball as it is crouched, freaked, and vulnerable.

And when I went outside and held it away from me, its little brown body swooping up and away toward the sun, vanishing into a dense, berry-n-bug-filled manzanita shrub,

it was a lovely sight to see.

Even just the one time.

xobb

what burrowing owls taught me about gardening, + photo quiz & bunny

 

1. Photo quiz!

 

This plant's been blooming LOTS and has attracted a SUPER diverse suite of visitors: tiny bees, a smallish light-lemon-yellow fuzzy bumblebee I'm not sure I've seen before, etc. This is great for getting pollinators to one's garden to change veggie flowers into veggie FOOD.

So, what is this plant?

2. This creature hopped very near my window [clearly, by the look on his/her face, this was an alarming error ("Look at that GIANT CREATURE--eek!")].*

Jackrabbits. Love 'em.

3. This is my sunflower plot. Not big.

I planted them 'cause I want to see THESE:

lovely photo by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)

How can you see this face and NOT be cheered up?

I WANT those sunny, fuzzy, happy FACES!!!

A week ago we had a nice row of green happy baby sunflower plants.

Now HALF of them are GONE.

?!?

ARRRRGH!

That freakin' plot is LINED with aviary wire, so it's not gophers.

However, this has been a VERY serious grasshopper year.

The dreaded hoppers are everywhere and eating my plants.

Well, the California burrowing owls (BUOW) FINALLY opened my eyes re: the solution.

Photo by Dori  Adult Florida Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia floridana) 

(sorry, ours are California burrowing owl, but this great photo was available...) 

And wow do they have intense eyes.

Gratuitous shot of BABY burrowing owl. Love those fluffy bloomers. 

Photo by Adamantios.

ANYhow, 'cause of my job, this last week I've been reading about BUOW conservation.

And therein I read about the importance of preserving stepping stones of BUOW suitable habitat between larger expanses of BUOW habitat.

Kinda like how bb on a long road trip needs those key

coffee/food/potty/rest stops between the starting and ending point of her journey.

Without those, she will NOT fare well. She may not make it.

She's not gonna live in these places,

but she needs somewhere to rest, eat, etc. during the journey.

And imagine the burrowing owl. They have to FLY. Exhausting.

So, some places for them to be hang out

during their movement between places they can live in

are critical for their preservation.

ANYhow, while reading this, PING! I made the connection.

I figured it out.

Tiny grasshopper on bean cotyledon

Accidental shot from last year of orthopteran on sunflower

By being LAZY and NOT pulling up those remaining patches of (mostly dried non-native) grass in my garden,**

I have preserved STEPPING STONES of SUITABLE HABITAT for the GRASSHOPPERS.

Enabling them to travel TO my baby plants!!

The area SURROUNDING my garden, a SEA of non-native grass, IS "suitable habitat" for grasshoppers. SOME areas within my garden are not suitable (no grass). But clearly, some of my plants are suitable habitat (witness: HALF of my sunflowers are eaten).

Also, I'd used dead grass to disguise the baby plants so birds won't eat them. More grasshopper habitat.

So:

1. If I get RID of the freakin' patches of grass within the garden, the garden is a MUCH less SUITABLE habitat for grasshoppers, so they may NOT make the long-distance haul to my precious peppers and my poor little sunflowers.

2. I got rid of the dead-grass-as-camouflage, and now instead everything is covered in chicken wire. Grass is GONE.

Therefore, the California burrowing owl
has helped me improve my garden.

My thanks to you, the amazing California burrowing owl.

I'll be sure to remember this favor when discerning whether

existing analysis of project impacts to you & your habitat is adequate.

I'll keep my standards high.

'Cause YOU are a very cool creature,

and I want to keep you around.

 Like my sunflowers.

I want those bright, yellow eyes and that

little, fluffy body out there.

'Cause if I get to see you and your amazing face,

or even just know that your shining eyes are out there,

I will be happy.

bb

* While I realize according to the Chicago manual of style I should denote the double parens via THIS method-- (one thing [another thing inside the first]), I prefer THIS method utilized in all my math classes. Since it's MY blog, I'm gonna do it the way that makes me happy. Mwa ha ha ha ha!
** Which I know as a gardener is not good, but, did I mention I'm LAZY?!? And "should" is not really a motivator for me.
*** typo was "funflowers" hee =)

gopher-rescuing gardener.... (and check out the PS!)

 
Early this cold morning, the cats, then Bear, then I saw this:

Don't know what was wrong with the little guy, but was pretty much in face-plant mode, barely able to ambulate, tho' he could move a little now and then, and I could see his sides move with his breath.

Just took a few super fast shots, then ran back in the house for gloves, a small cloth, and then picked him up and plunked him into a gopher hole--seemed grateful to descend back into the underground--most I'd seen him move the whole time. Glad it was downhill.

The pattern on his back made it look like he was about 2/3 of the way through getting his summer coat (shorter hair, glossy, on the back and head), shedding his warmer coat (longer hair on the perimeter (legs, bum), dull fur). I wonder if hypothermia is a greater risk while one is transitioning from winter to summer coat?

Objection, your honor, speculation!

Sustained.

Anyhow, I'm not sure what percentage of gardeners try (at least in a minimal way re: nature interference) to rescue gophers, but first and foremost, I'm a conservation biologist. =) And a total softy.

Sucks to be cold. I hope he's curled up now, under the covers, with a big mug of hot cocoa. =)

bb

P.S. EXCITING POST SCRIPT! I was JUST on the phone with a friend (5 p.m.) and looking out the window where I'd relocated that gopher and saw a gopher peek his head out of his hole (rare event!!), looking all cute and buck-toothed. So, of course I hoped it was my rescue-ee.

WELL, a few minutes later for the FIRST TIME EVER saw TWO GOPHERS AT ONCE. Both within 4 feet of the hole where I'd plunked the cold pup. So I am now quite convinced that Mr. and Mrs. Gopher are reunited and enjoying the warm, sunny spell we had this afternoon.

How about that for Gopher Karma? See 2 gophers at once for the first time ever, TODAY. So happy. =)

coastal sage scrub: my first love (epic post, FYI)

There's nothing like your first love.

You never forget it, and are forever changed by it.

Coastal sage scrub was my first ecological love.

(sigh... isn't it beautiful?)

Getting to know it was my job (oh-happiness). It was also the beginning of a lasting connection, and I love to return to it, as I did last weekend.

This is a pretty good overview of coastal sage scrub, and note it's World Wildlife Fund--coastal sage scrub is globally endangered, so be it ever so humble looking (to some), it's wicked cool are rare.

I particularly like the 1st and last sentence in the first paragraph:

"The California Coastal Sage and Chaparral ecoregion, located along the southern coast of California, has extremely high levels of species diversity and endemism." (Some evidence of that to follow.)

&

"Located on highly valued coastal real estate and threatened by human development, the ecoregion represents the struggle between preservation and human development." YES.

This scenario (super rare, super valuable real estate, very densely populated area) fostered some of the most forward-thinking, innovative landscape-level planning of the time (the plan is dated 1991).

One more factoid from that site, albeit dated 2001: "Seventy-seven species in southern California are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act, and another 378 are under consideration." Yeah. Serious stuff.

So you can imagine, for an impressionable young conservation biologist, this was heady stuff!

When I was in graduate school (midwest), we were learning about biodiversity hotspots, and there it was. On a global map, this TINY coastal strip was highlighted--my home!

Picture a forlorn (due to midwestern winter) California girl pointing at the map, staring at her professor in disbelief: "But... I just left there!"

So, to interpret and supplement yesterday's photos:

The above shot is looking up (NW) the coast at Cabrillo National Monument (in San Diego) from the trail one takes from the 2nd parking lot to get to the rocky intertidal area. That slab of fractured rock down there is the COOLEST. I've not been down to it in years and definitely will descend to it next time. Awesome mudstone/sandstone forms underfoot, and the view is not too shabby, either.

Super peaceful.

Many of the Shaw's agave (Agave shawii, a very cool and rare plant) were blooming while I was there--they're the big stalked succulents with large clusters of yellow flowers up high. Exciting!

Exciting particularly for bats.

When I worked at Cabrillo, a USGS bat biologist always asked me to let him know if this plant was blooming, so he could come look for a particular bat species (oops, forget which. sorry!). Really wanted to walk up to those plants, but now they're off trail, so being the good little former ranger that I am,  I resisted the urge to crunch plants underfoot to see them up close.

Oh, and the islands you can see in the above pic are Mexico's Coronado Islands. I got to loop around one of them once on a pelagic birding/whale watching trip. Seem to recall that there were elephant seals out there. Pretty cool stuff. Largely unpopulated, except perhaps by a few military gentlemen, presumably to ensure folks' clarity re: whose land that is. =)

I dimly recollect that during the Prohibition Era, Americans went to those islands to party. =)

Another rare beauty. This is sea dahlia, a.k.a. Coreopsis maritima. SO beautiful and graceful. The center is yellow...

These sunny blooms are propped up on LONG, graceful stems, so their bright yellow faces bow over and over in the sea breezes.

And their foliage is this delicate, almost lacy stuff that hardly looks like leaves at all.

Looks more to me like art.

I've decided it's the supermodel of native flowers in Southern California.

This native plant is a total stunner and according to the info on the link above, its propensity to live atop cliffs that face the ocean and, therefore, erode, combined with the fact that additional habitat is mostly filled by houses and roads, does not bode well for its future. So, any place it is, is important.

I got to chat with Cabrillo's new terrestrial biologist, who seems super sharp, and he says everywhere they pull up iceplant/sea fig (Carpobrotus spp.), a tenacious non-native coastal foe...

(it's the yellowy-orange stuff...boo! hiss!)

... sea dahlia pops up. So it's there--it just needs a little sun. Go, sea dahlia!

(note the super eroding habitat in the background...its glory and its doom)

Next, the plant that is capable of effecting behavior modification in human beings: Euphorbia misera, a.k.a. cliff spurge. That link (to Calflora) lists under "toxicity" "MINOR, DERMATITIS."

Uh, minor. As in SCARRING FOR YEARS. =)

I was doing vegetation monitoring one year at Cabrillo NM, well before I knew about Euphorbia in general (most plants that have milky sap are poisonous), and cliff spurge in particular re: its effects. Minding my own business doing a transect, I looked down 'cause the backs of my hands hurt a little.

Hm... they're covered in white liquid. That's weird.

So, I wiped it off onto my pants. Done. Or, so I thought.

Later I had tiny tiny blisters wherever the white sap was, and then it scarred (was a darker color than the rest of my hand). Apparently (head hanging in shame) one of my volunteers ALSO experienced this effect. I scarred one of my volunteers due to my own ignorance. =( ! (Happily, when I left, she got my job, so I think she's forgiven me. =) )

Cliff spurge, Euphorbia misera (red & white flowers, cute little taco-shell green leaves), 

cuddled up next to deerweed (yellow pea flowers, in focus in next shot)

Now, the behavior modification story:

That week, days after being burned by that plant, I was getting ready to sit down on a hill for my lunch break between reading plant transects. I looked behind me before sitting (one does this in cactus-populated habitat), was already squatting to sit, then spotted Euphorbia misera, froze, reversed engines, and sat elsewhere.

Me, big ol' smarty Homo sapiens, cowed by a plant.

Plant commands respect. And I LOVE it's freaky little flowers!

I don't think I've ever seen this flower with what I suppose is the Euphorbia equivalent of flower buds--might wanna zoom in on that 1st picture.

Lotus scoparius, deerweed, the yellow pea-sorta flower on the right,

with cute little groups of 3 tiny, flat tongue-shaped leaves.

Here's the same shot, but focused on Lotus scoparius, deerweed. A native plant species that is a nitrogen-fixer, it contributes to soil fertility. And has sweet little pea flowers. A real good guy.

Some other old friends I saw:

Ground pink (Linanthus dianthiflorus), check out it's super narrow distribution, here (scroll to bottom of page).

A very sweet little flower.

Another pink beauty, Mirabilis californica, a.k.a. wishbone bush or California four o'clock.

Apparently it's native to California and ONLY found in California (endemic).

That's one thing I love about Cabrillo. SO many rare and ultra-local plants.

Dudleya edulis, lady finger dudleya, or "fingertips."

Again, with the crazy, restricted US distribution.

Coastal sage scrub has such an interesting mix of cacti, other succulents (Dudley spp.), evergreen plants, and drought deciduous plants.

SO many different strategies to deal with very little and rather sporadic rain (average is about 9"/year), mild temperatures, and LOTS of sun.

It looks humble, but trust me, this knee-grazing plant community can win you over.


But, now, I'm a Sierra foothills girl. INLAND. Far from the Pacific.


Bear just suggested I start an exploring-Yosemite-sort-of web page to enable my desire to learn up on this complex, amazing, stunning, gorgeous, and MUCH MUCH CLOSER place, and to share it with all who are interested.


I think I'll do it.

I do need to move on.


But, even while traipsing across alpine meadows miles wide,

soaking up Yosemite vistas people fly the world over to see,

or keying out spring wild flowers,

 I will never forget my beloved coastal sage scrub.


And, like the Cabrillo Superintendent said when I left, "You can always come back and visit. It will always be here."


And that, sir, is why I LOVE the NPS.


xoxoxo

biobabbler


P.S. If you're interested, here's a site with lots of coastal sage scrub links to more info.