Tag: nature journaling

Charadrius vociferus

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Killdeer get their name from one of their most common calls, a shrill, wailing “kill-deer”. They are shorebirds that nest away from water. Like most (all?) plovers, they lay their eggs in a shallow scrape in somewhat exposed areas, even on gravel rooftops. They will deploy a broken-wing display to lead predators away from their nests. However, this doesn’t stop horses or cows from stepping on their eggs. To deter these large hoofed animals, a killdeer will try an “ungulate display”, fluffing itself up, splaying its tail over its head, and running at the beast to attempt to make it change its path. Sadly, this tactic is often fatal for the bird.

Sostomo->Deer Valley

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Annette and I have hiked to Tropical Terrace in Solstice Canyon many (many) times. But today was our first foray up the Sostomo Trail and around the Deer Valley Loop. We have declared it our new favourite hike. The creek crossings are delightful and the views from the top make the climb worthwhile.

We saw a hedge nettle (Stachys bullata) blooming out of season. What’s up with the common name? This member of the mint family neither grows in a hedge nor stings like a nettle. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rhus ovata

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This week in the PerpJo. Rhus ovata, commonly known as sugar bush or sugar sumac, is a shrub or small tree found growing in the canyons and slopes of the chaparral and related ecosystems in Southern California, Arizona, Baja California and Baja California Sur. It is a long lived-plant, up to 100 years, and has dense evergreen foliage. It is closely related to and hybridizes with lemonadeberry, which grows at our place. It’s in the cashew family!

nature journaling at the tide pools

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We had our third SMMNJC meetup today, and I’m still a-glow, hours later. Fourteen of us met at low tide at Malibu Lagoon State Beach to share a picnic, then marvel at sea hares, anemones, limpets, shrimp, crabs, octopuses, patterns in the sand, seabirds, and so much more. Near the end of our time together, I quoted the immortal words of Kurt Vonnegut, “Well if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”  My heart is full.

Setophaga coronata

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We recently saw the return of Yellow-rumped warblers to our yard. They breed in the northern parts of the continent and come south in the non-breeding season.

Males have conspicuous yellow patches on the crown, flank, and rump (the latter giving rise to the nickname “butter butt” among birdwatchers). Their Latin name means “crowned moth-eater”, though they eat plenty of other insect species, as well as spiders.

Happy to see them back!

curious and curiouser

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On Sulphur Mountain I saw a curious phenomenon—clusters of baby acorns on one of the coast live oaks. This makes no sense to me, for multiple reasons:

  1. It’s autumn, not spring. The year’s acorn crop is ending, not beginning.
  2. Acorns don’t usually grow in thick clusters like this. They grow singly or in pairs.
  3. There was no evidence of male flowers, whose dried catkins usually linger for quite a while after the female flowers are fertilised.

I know we’ve had a weird weather year, but I only observed this phenomenon in a single tree out of many hundreds I passed. Why would only one tree be affected, if weather was the cause? What’s going on here?