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  • at the beach

    duneplants

    I went to Ormond Beach in Oxnard with the Channel Islands Nature Journalers. It’s an interesting place, a little hard to get to, bounded by a port, a Naval Air Station, a power plant, and a superfund* site—a former metal smelter—that is high in aluminum, magnesium, and other metals. Some of the waste contains radioactive thorium and radium.

    Sounds yucky, but because of its lack of appeal to the beach-going public, it’s a great birding site! There’s a protected lagoon and wetlands, and more shorebird species are known to use Ormond Beach than any other site in Ventura County. Two endangered species, the Western Snowy Plover and the California Least Tern, nest there. We went with a guide from Audubon, so it was primarily a bird-watching event, but as usual, the plants called my name.

    *I learned why highly polluted locations are called superfund sites. It’s because that’s the amount of money that is needed to clean them up. Check here to see if you have one near you (US only).

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  • lunch

    powerbowl

    I rarely eat fish, but yesterday the salmon sounded good. Unfortunately it was a bit overcooked and tough 😩 So much for that splurge!

  • purple and gold

    purple and gold
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  • packaging

    branding

    I do appreciate good packaging design.

  • ojai valley

    ojaivalleylandscape

    New sketchbook (Hahnemuhle cold press) means new paper to get to know.

  • Clarkia bottae

    clarkia bottae
    MBotta

    I keep thinking about an archeologist-naturalist being hired as the ship’s surgeon. I want to know how that worked out. Hopefully nobody got appendicitis or gangrene on the three-year journey.

  • a little something i’m working on

    booklet

  • vegemitey

    vegemite

    With all the sourdough bread I’ve been baking lately, I’ve realised how much I miss Vegemite. Yes, peanut butter is great, but sometimes I just want the salty bite of the Great Australian Spread. So I made the detour to World Market the other day to pick up a jar (they only have little ones, unfortunately).

    Here’s the iconic 1950s TV ad. And here’s the remake from two years ago, featuring the same actress who played the baton-twirling little girl in the original version. Yeah, we love our Vegemite.

  • Tachycineta thalassina

    Tachycineta thalassina

    Like many people, I use the Merlin app to help train my ear to recognise bird calls. This morning the app alerted me to a bird I’d never even heard of, let alone seen: the violet-green swallow. Apparently this passerine is pretty common, with a wide range through all of the western North American continent. It’s a cavity nester, laying eggs in tree holes as well as cracks in cliffs. I hope I get to see one while they’re here for breeding season.

  • stray shoes

    shoes