I was on duty at the Visitor Center yesterday, and did most of my shift in the children’s nature room. I had a little downtime for sketching while kids were occupied with paper crafts.
mammal skulls
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Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
At the State Park the other day, I amazed and delighted a group of toddlers by pointing out the cliff swallow nests under the eaves of the restrooms.
The cliff swallow is among North America’s most social landbirds. They often nest in large colonies, with a single site sometimes hosting several thousand active nests. Their nests are made from sticky clay, which can endure for years, and the birds’ tier-stacking building technique helps support them. Swallows from the same colony cooperate in nest building: they gather mud together in small areas and then return to their nests carrying clumps in their bills. They preen, feed, drink, and bathe in groups, and they continue sticking together in large flocks during migration and on their wintering grounds.
heritage square
This, apparently, is where Oxnardians come to salsa dance on summer Thursday nights.
thigmotropism
Thigmotropism occurs due to unilateral growth inhibition. In twining and tendrilled plants, the growth rate on the side which is being touched is slower than on the side opposite the touch. The resultant growth pattern is to curl around the object which is touching the plant.
Roots also rely on touch to navigate their way through the soil. Generally, roots have a negative touch response, meaning when they feel an object, they grow away from it. This allows the roots to go through the soil with minimum resistance. Because of this behavior, roots are said to be negatively thigmotropic.
I’m tucking this new word into my vocabulary pocket for a future scrabble game.
opuntia
This low patch of prickly pear beside the trail was looking pretty withered, but was still flowering bravely.
cute(icle)
Excuse me while I wax lyrical about plants: carnauba wax is obtained from the fronds of the carnauba palm (Copernicia prunifera) of Brazil. Valued for its hardness and high melting temperature, carnauba wax is employed as a vegan food-grade polish and as a hardening or gelling agent in a number of products. Despite the widespread adoption of cheaper synthetics, it is still common as a component of certain furniture, leather, car, and shoe polishes and is used in cosmetics such as lipsticks. It is also used as a polish for candies and medicinal pills, as a thickener for solvents and oils, and as a hardener for printing inks.
P.S. So fun to actually see stomata with my microscope. They’re not just simple holes! They have guard cells that open and close the holes. Very cool.
wonky restrooms
Large concrete cylinders of varying heights, with slanted roofs, assymetrically arranged. Area lighting on high poles set at random angles. The restrooms at San Buenaventura State Beach look architect- or artist-designed, but I haven’t been able to find the creator.
I wondered if it was Dennis Oppenheim, who has a famously off-kilter piece in Ventura, but his body of work is more ‘out there’ than this installation. And anyway, I don’t think California State Parks could have afforded his services. Still, it’s nice to see a public restroom a bit more visually interesting than a cinder block box.
phytomers
blood at the beach
Red Cross doesn’t have a building in Ventura, so they set up their blood drives in random temporary locations. Today’s was at San Buenaventura State Beach, and I had just a few minutes to record the view before being called in to donate.
hashiworks 