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

White-faced ibis ROCKS my world...

White-faced ibis adult, non-breeding plumage.

Not too shabby for least-fancy plumage of the year, eh?

These birds are a mysterious kaleidoscope of colors that frequently look just black.

Except in strong light.

Enjoyed cruising around Merced National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)

and San Luis NWR yesterday.

While California is mid-mega-drought,

at least there is SOME water SOMEwhere for these creatures,

and the plants & animals they rely upon,

so I am VERY grateful for the USFWS Wildlife Refuge System

for providing for these ecosystems, and allowing people to visit.

Cost us ZERO $.

=)

I hope y'all had a great Martin Luther King Day.

xoxobb

waiter, there's a bird in my coffee...

 

Discovered during sleepy-eyed attempts to make coffee, this a.m.

Can anyone identify this species?

Here's a side view of same, in a rare moment of stillness:

It looks like a juvenile, which may make species identification more challenging...

Thanks for any help you can lend. =)

xobb

no blues, but saw plenny humpback whale action

So, went looking for whales this last weekend.

Cruised into and around Monterey Bay.

Saw humpback whales.

No blue, but this was lovely,

and a first for me.

And with wildlife, you'd be wise

to gratefully accept that which you receive.

'Cause it really is not under your control.

Hence wildlife.

All of these picture are big, so please click on them for a better look.

I only cropped the one above a TINY bit,

so you can see how close they got to us.

(I don't have a powerful lens, yet...)

At this point, we're in neutral, 

bobbing on the glassy water, whales crusing around us,

zig-zagging in their pursuit of krill.

 There were 3. Mama, baby, and someone else.

Possibly a suitor??

 You can just see the pectoral fin underwater,

the white edged thing, in the photo above.

I also took some freaky water photos,

leaning over the edge of the boat.

So, bb is STILL strangely quiet,

but since a picture is worth a thousand words,

this post is long enough, already.

=)

xoxobb

I've got a crush...

 

on these creatures.

(a different angle from previous--can see iridescence on head better)

 

<sigh>

bb