I was intrigued by the differences in the plant communities on the north and south sides of the ridge, so decided to record the obvious species. I ended up hiking about twice as far as I planned, because I inadvertently left my art supply bag near the turnaround point and didn’t discover the fact till I was nearly all the way back to the start. Lucky it was lovely weather and I didn’t have to be anywhere else.
This year at the State Park we’ve added a Citizen Science project for middle and high schoolers, to survey trees for evidence of the Invasive Shot Hole Borer. Today was the first outing, and it went pretty well! I lead a group of seven 7th graders and we did, in fact, find concerning evidence. We tagged our trees for follow-up by the scientists. Most of the kids felt like they were doing important work, and they also just loved being outside for the day. So all around, it was really worthwhile.
After my shift at the Visitor Center, I sat by the creek and sketched the view.
I love these delicate little chalice-like seed pods.
We offered a beginner’s class at Nature Journal Club today, and thirty people came! After spending an hour learning the basics, everyone wandered off to journal their curiosity. Having just done a training on identifying invasive borer beetles, I was interested to record some data about insect activity on a fallen oak log. Boring? Nope, fascinating!
I see acorn woodpeckers all the time, but rarely spot a Nuttall’s.
I’m a total sucker for a bird with spots, so of course the gorgeous Northern Flicker is one of my faves. I was so happy to hear and see them on Friday’s hike.
A beautiful early-morning hike, birds out in profusion and the damp ground alive, popping with mushrooms.
Afterwards, I was at a holiday party for the park volunteers, and someone said that his house (like mine, and so many others’) had burned down in January, and that the people in our organization had really helped him to heal. I had to add that nature itself has been my greatest healer. Just to be able to walk under those massive oak trees, and watch the deer watching me, and see the red-tailed hawk fly so close — the natural world is truly a huge aid to trauma recovery.
So thank you greenery, thank you birdsong, thank you thank you moss and fungi.
I’m preparing to lead a Welcome Walk at Malibu Creek State Park, so I created this graphic to explain the creek action. It gets a bit confusing as you walk the main trail because at first the water is flowing one way, but then it’s suddenly flowing the other way. They are actually two different creeks!
We saw these huge, gorgeous, rich orange-gold mushrooms growing among the roots of a coast live oak. Apparently this species is bioluminescent! And poisonous. Says Wiki: ”while not lethal, consuming this mushroom leads to very severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea.”
hashiworks 