fossil ridge trail
Tag: santa monica mountains
nary a newt
We looked for newts in the pools where Annette and I had found them last week, but nary a newt was seen today.
pictographs
I got to see something very special today.
bench
Top of Red Rock Canyon, looking west.
hollyleaf redberry
Well how about that. It turns out that honeybees eat fruit. Amazing what you can learn when you pay attention!
oak glade
I slipped into a part of the State Park I hadn’t visited before, and followed a deer trail under overhanging boughs, to discover this secluded open glade within a circle of coast live oaks. I lay down on the thick bedding of dry, prickly leaves, my sketching bag as a pillow, and watched the dappled light dance above me.
For a few minutes, I stopped thinking about what the US Supreme Court did yesterday. I just breathed.
lilies and phacelia
I don’t know how long the Humboldt lilies are going to last in Santa Ynez Canyon, but for now they’re still going strong, and we’re loving them.
r.i.p. p-54
One night four years ago, a young mountain lion paid us a visit. She and I locked eyes through the living room window, before she stalked off into the night. We contacted the wildlife people next day, who checked the tracking and let us know it was P-54, an 18 month old female. We felt extremely honoured by her visit.
Last Friday morning, P-54 was struck and killed near Malibu Creek State Park. She was the 29th mountain lion to be killed by a vehicle in the NPS study area since 2002.
I know there are a lot of tragic things happening in the world right now, but this one particularly hurts.
cute newt
I was sooo excited to see this little guy down in Cold Creek; first time I’ve seen one in the wild. All credit goes to Annette for spotting it first.
had an ace(r) day
Maples are scarce in the Santa Monica Mountains. They need cool, damp, protected shelter, which is in pretty short supply. But we do have two Acer species nearby (one native, one introduced), and today I visited both of them. Gotta love a tree with hairy balls, right?
hashiworks 