Spring is really gorgeous in San Diego. Highway maintenance has planted all sorts of amazing flowers that just light up in Spring. There are huge swaths of California poppies and even bigger stretches of purple ice plant. This patch has a beautiful mix of Lupine and California Poppies. I used my little pocket camera but it's nice enough that I may need to haul the Nikon to work with me tomorrow (heavy bulky thing that it is...). Stay tuned.
The desert is alive in wildflowers right now. We've had an extremely wet Winter/Spring and everything is blooming. Wow. Miles of sand was just covered with purple, yellow and white flowers. It's a few weeks of glory and then it all disappears but what a sight! Shown here is Coyote Canyon near Anza Borrego. The flowers were growing all along the road and extended up to the hills. Coyote Canyon has one of the few springs that is active all year round and hosts a herd of Big Horn Sheep as well. In the foreground is Dune Evening Primrose, Oenothera deltoides and Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa (purple).
I just finished a major draft of my paper. I know, what a boring, dull way to spend a Saturday. Here's a picture of a flowering plum (I think...) that I caught with the sun highlighting the rain drops last weekend. Spring is here. The desert is in bloom as well. I may have to take a study break for a desert tiki-tour. Laters...
Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, stretching his wings. Or, maybe he was thinking of flying away. Either way, it was a funky pose. They are beautiful though, aren't they?
Here's an Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus, showing us some wing. Perhaps he was enjoying a little sun on an otherwise cool and cloudy day.
Hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil! Well, this swamp monkey is seeing no evil anyhow. They are the most expressive, human-like creatures!
Blue Crowned Hanging Parrot, Loriculus galgulus. Cute little guy, huh? These cute little guys are from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo and are very fond of fruit.
Those herons get around don't they? Into your koi pond for a little sushi? Into your lilly pond for a little frog? On top of your lamp post? Hahah! This Great Blue Heron was enjoying his vantage point. This is a mature one with awesome neck plumage!
Peacock, Peafowl, whatever you call them, they sure do glisten under a good flash. Especially the pearlescent feathers on their head! It was rainy on Sunday so I was snapping with my flash.
Clearly, a little barbed wire was not enough to scare off this Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta. Nor was it enough to keep him from singing a wonderful melodious tune. Not even my passing by with my huge telephoto was enough to phase this Meadowlark. I have heard them for years but, ironically, this is the first one that was audacious enough to pose in plain view for a snapshot. What a sight indeed.
Do you ever dream of flying? Wake up in the middle of a dream of soaring through the sky? Either way, birds make it look so easy. CA Brown Pelican coming in for a landing here.
Even ducks have hissy days. Here are two Blue-Winged Teals, Anas discors, having a hissy (literally). They are discernable by that telltale white crescent on their face. Blue-Winged Teals Summer in Canada through the Southern U.S. and range all the way down to Argentina for the Winter. This one was at the Mission River Preserve.
A posting or two back, I promised a picture of an American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana. Well, here he is showing his lighter Winter colors. I had been pondering why their beaks are upturned so I did a little digging and found my answer. They use the base of their beak to stir up the mud and the little crustaceans which they prey upon. They also have a predilection for Brine Shrimp in the Great Salt Lake although they are more likely feeding on little amphipods in San Diego. Oh, and in case your Latin is a little rusty, Recurvirostra refers to the upturned (recurvi) nose (rostra/rostrum).
This is Clowesia Grace Dunn, a hybrid that strongly resembles its Clowesia rosea parent. Clowesia rosea is a sturdy, drought tolerant, bulbous orchid from Michoacan and Oaxaca, Mexico. It certainly made a stunning display.
I saw these Pelicans in a huge formation flying over Imperial Beach. The California Brown Pelican used to be endangered. DDT was causing their eggs to crack. However, they are now a success story species recovery and for a regulatory change that banned DDT. They are now one of the few species successfully being taken off of the endangered species list!
I saw this Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, at the Mission River preserve today. The ducks were out in force as they typically are during low tide. The seagulls were busy dropping clams on the pavement as well. Also, I finally saw an Avocet. It had me wondering how it helps gather food by having an upturned beak. It's fun being on the migratory route of so many birds.
Imperial beach was empty today. There were some nice waves and only two surfers along the entire beach. It was a tad cold but if you don't like competing for waves, it doesn't get any better.
They have nesting Burrowing Owls, Athene cunicularia, at the Tijuana Estuary Preserve. They are on the inside of the airbase fence so you can only see them from a distance (perhaps 150 feet?). I walked right by the first time. Somebody told me about the tiny little yellow signs the second time and, voila, there they were. It is ironic that the signs are covered with bird poop. I suspect it isn't owl poop either.
They range throughout North and South America and are threatened through most of their range by habitat loss. These owls were far enough away that I could barely see them with the naked eye. Thus, these pictures are the best I could do with my 500mm lens from the fence. I think I'll have to settle for seeing the burrowing owls at the Wild Animal Park if I want to see any up close.
I saw this tiny little female hummingbird at the Tijuana Estuary the other day. After much staring at pictures and gnashing of teeth, I decided that it was probably a female Caliope Hummingbird, Stellula calliope. It was decidedly smaller than the other hummingbirds in the area (Anna's hummingbirds) and quite photogenic.
This charming little bird would perch on the wire fence just about 20 feet. As I walked toward him, he would move a little further down the fence, as if I were playing tag. He was spotted at the Tijuana Estuary Preserve. I looked him up in "Birds of San Diego County," by Philip Unitt (which just showed up in the mail today). He is a Say's Phoebe, Sayornis Saya. It says these little guys are a fairly common Winter visitor on the coastal slope. The rest of the year they are found in open agricultural land, grassland, chaparral and desert scrub. They have been known to breed in the Anza Borrego Desert.
I saw this blooming on the edge of the bog the other day. The flower structure suggests that it is in the Hibiscus family but I'm open to suggestions. Anybody want to take a stab at it? Maybe you have a copy of Hibiscus of the World lying on your bookshelf? Either way, it was pretty so I snapped a quick picture. Besides, it posed better than those tiny burrowing ground owls I was trying to get a picture of.
Much thanks to our anonymous commenter who came to the rescue and provided the name: Lavatera assurgentiflora.
This Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, was singing up a storm. He responded readily to fake calls and was perched in a large bush on the edge of the wetland area in the Tijuana Estuary Preserve.
Just for fun, here's a closeup of that Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum.
Here's one for you budding entomologists. I found this Variegated Meadowhawk (dragonfly), Sympetrum corruptum, perched above a bog in the Tijuana estuary. Much thanks to Kathy Biggs for the identification. This was the only dragonfly that I saw all day.
Sophronitis coccinea is in the parentage of many of today's red Cattleya hybrids. It is a diminutive plant of about 3 inches in height and grows in moist, cool cloud forests. It is tough for many people to grow because of the requirement for cool moist conditions while its hybrids are much more vigorous.
They are having an orchid show at the Newport Beach Fairgrounds this weekend. This is a photo of Pleurothallis gargantua. Many of the familiar pleurothallids are tiny, perhaps not more than an inch tall. However, this one, as denoted by the name gargantua, is perhaps two feet tall with these very exotic flowers in the center of the leaves.
A ghost crab peeks up from his burrow. This was taken out on a beach near Chinaman's hat (now renamed to something in Hawaiian last I saw...so much for being PC) on Oahu. You see lots of these little guys running along the sand at night scavenging the beach.
There is a "boardwalk" along Waikiki Beach. Along the boardwalk there is a small shelter with tables for chess and checkers. Sometimes there are people playing the ukelele. Sometimes there are people singing old songs. Sometimes there is a guy playing the violin. He was decent and had a few people listing. Mostly, I think he just enjoyed the company. Company is good. Sometimes a little company is all the doctor calls for.
Many people have seen Diamond Head or at least pictures of Diamond Head, typically as viewed from Waikiki. In those pictures, Diamond head looks like a long, low ridge. Well, it's not. Diamond Head is a cinder cone (as you would expect) and is really quite circular as this picture, taken from the top of Diamond Head, easily shows.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of having a Giant Grouper looking down at you. Glad that people are not normally grouper food. Wow, look at those teeth, too.
Wrasses have the scariest teeth, don't they? I believe they live on shrimp and small crustaceans although I have seen them tear apart a sea urchin.
I was clicking through my pictures and came to the amusing conclusion that these two Marbled Godwits, Limosa fedoa, bore a striking resemblance to a Klingon Bird of Prey. Well, perhaps if that long pointy beak wasn't there anyhow. There must have been a bird person on the Star Trek design staff.
I found this Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea, hunting in the shallows of the Mission River, It was keeping a sharp eye on the water for passing fish. They are not exceedingly common in the US Southwest but they there are several the frequent the Mission River.
Something that has puzzled me for a little bit. When you have a dozen surfers all waiting for the same wave, how do you decide who gets to catch a particular wave? Here are two surfers cruising along on the same wave. The guy on the right ducked out shortly afterwards.
Are adult California Brown Pelicans really BROWN? Judge for yourself. This one was hanging out on the Mission River hunting for fish.
The sun is back out again. There is a cool breeze but the skies are blue with scattered fluffy white clouds. That's why we live in San Diego!
The seagulls were out in force, taking advantage of the low tide to lounge around on the sandy riverbed. They scrounge up clams and squawk at each other. They socialize and just plain sit around.
I found this very beautiful cat looking back through the rocks, possibly in case one of his bretheren were about to pounce. So I've been having this conversation over whether cats or dogs are better. Here's a little something to get you started. For cats: smell better, good groomers, can be left alone, smarter (???); for dogs: faithful to a fault, always happy to see you, will go running with you. Against cats: can be aloof, can pack a nasty paw, chock full of allergens; Against dogs: more maintenance, smelly when wet, can be hyper. What do you think? Do the cats have it? Or do the dogs?
There were several pairs of American Wigeon, Anas americana, swimming along the edge of the San Diego river grazing on water plants. The male's bright colors make quite a display. Meanwhile, the six inch rain forecast seems to have turned into perhaps 2-3 inches. At least that is what was caught in the garbage cans that I emptied out this morning. Damp and gusty. In a little lull, I saw a large flock of white pelicans drift over the highway, slowly circling lazily over USD and into the distance.
A picture of a flock of sanderlings that were flying up and down the San Diego river bed in unison. They are a sight to see when in flight. They decided to camp out on the mud flat with a gull for a short rest.
This young California Brown Pelican was flapping and jumping along the water in little 10-20 ft. hops trying to catch a meal. He would land head first making a huge splash! I don't know if he succeeded in nabbing a fish but he looked a wet and a little tired. There is a bit of a pelican learning curve involved in catching dinner. At other beaches, I have seen adult pelicans diving from 50+ft. in the air for fish along the surface of the water.
This is a picture of the Makapu Blow Hole on Oahu. When the waves hit the rock, they force the air and water in a lava tube upward and into the air, at times creating plumes that rocket upwards of 30 feet.
It's raining really hard outside. It was tough to see out of the windshield with the wipers going full speed. People were actually driving BELOW the speed limit in San Diego, no less! Luckily, the house is still there and the street has not all washed into a gully as San Diego hillsides occassionally do. I'd bet the birdseed is a bit wet and the birds won't mind a bit.
This guy is clearly a water dog. He was having way too much fun chasing the birds. While he didn't catch any and it is a "dog beach," you'll not find too many birds nesting around there. It does make me miss my old dog a bit as well although she was definitely not a water dog.
There are over a dozen feral cats that live in the rocks along the mission river breakwater. There is a lady that comes by and feeds them and brings them water. They are beautiful cats that look fairly domestic. However, they don't come up to rub on people so it is hard to tell if they are cast aways from people that moved out of town or if they are actually breeding out there. This one was taking a nap in the sun among the rocks.
I found this Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, diving for fish in the Mission River Preserve in San Diego. I love watching terns for their amazing grace and speed as well as their deadly accuracy.
