This was my fourth Field Ecology Weekend, and my third as an organizer. The weather was capricious this time, but we gamely carried on through cold nights and a very wet morning. Attendance was great, spirits were cheerful, the learnings were valuable … and I’m exhausted (but happy).
It’s been a while since I hiked Piuma Ridge Trail. Not a whole ton of wildflowers, but this one bush poppy shrub/tree was stunning.
It was a snakey day in the Park today! Greg Nemes kicked off the Junior Ranger program with a session on snakes. We didn’t see any live specimens that hour, but he found a toad to show the kids.
A short time later, Ranger Allison was removing a rattler from the bridge over Stokes Creek, and throughout the afternoon at the VC, lots of visitors came in to report rattlesnake sightings. (Also seen that day: a bobcat and a mountain lion!)
Grey drizzly day.
The valley oaks are bare, carrying only the occasional gall. I sat among them and let myself feel my loss. But listen to all those birds!
I arrived early for my meeting, so sketched the view of the water tank-topped hill in Malibu Creek State Park. This hill was the filming location of How Green Was My Valley, which won a slew of Academy Awards in 1941. It famously beat out Citizen Kane for Best Picture, a decision that hasn’t aged well.
Now that the sycamores have dropped their leaves, it’s easy to see the parasitic plants. I wondered how mistletoe seeds can get a hold on the underside of their hosts’ branches. Turns out the seeds are sticky!
Low-flying great blue heron at Malibu Creek State Park. These large, elegant birds are a familiar sight at the Park, hunting for fish, gophers and ground squirrels. Ardea herodias is the largest heron native to North America.
I noticed a milkweed plant that was experiencing all its seasons at once. Nice!
I’m an early-to-bed kinda girl, so I’m usually fast asleep by the time the creatures of the night come out to explore and hunt. I’d really love to see a ringtail, but the last live observation recorded in iNaturalist in my area was in 2014. (There was a roadkill recorded in 2022.) So I’m thinking my chances are slim, even if I become nocturnal myself.
It was a quiet day at the MCSP Visitor Center on Sunday, so I sketched these taxidermied specimens in between chatting with visitors.
