Out Fishing

Fishing on Lake Poway. Out relaxing, hoping for a bite. I suppose it's the company and the experience that counts.

California Bluebells

Phacelia campanularia, California Bluebells, Lake Poway. There are about 100 species of Phacelia in California. This one was probably named for its similarity to Campanula (and yes, we have wild Campanula as well!). Of all those Phacelia, Phacelia campanularia has got to be one of the prettiest with its rich blue flowers. There are not all that many blue flowers in nature and fewer still that are a deep, velety blue! These were all over the path around the Lake and made for quite an enjoyable walk. Of course, I stoped at every other clump to take a few pictures which, after a few stops, ended up with my fellow walkers just moving on while I snapped pictures. Thus, I ended up with a bit of jogging as well to catch up after each set a pictures. More exercise than I had anticipated but that's not all bad. It is a bit of pressure on taking your shots though.

Ducking Geese

Geese ducking under a floating pier, Lake Poway. Whoever heard of Ducking Geese? Sometimes you just don't want to pose for a picture! These geese clearly were tired of me snapping pictures of them so off they went under the pier, in spite of the gap under the pier being shorter than the geese were. Not photogenic at all! I'm guessing they're used to little kids chasing them around and are wary of people getting too close. Now, if only I had a handful of bread...

Lake Poway in Bloom

Lupine and California Poppies, Lake Poway. A couple of us hiked around Lake Poway on Sunday morning. It is absolutely drenched in wildflowers: poppies everywhere; two or three species of Lupine; two species of Phacelia in stunning blue and lavender; huge spikes of Agave and much more. It's even more amazing to see given the huge fires that ripped through this area in the past. You can still see the charred black carcasses of trees throughout the landscape surround by this profusion of flowers and, in some cases, new sprouts coming from the root base of bushes and trees or even out of the blackened branches on the ancient, huge, old oaks trees. Of course, poppies and lupine are specialists in taking advantage of areas cleared by fire. Still, you would hardly ever notice a fire had been through there unless you looked for the signs.