#1 question asked at the Visitor Center (usually preceded by “WHOA!”): “Is it real?”
#2 and #3 questions: “How do you get to the M*A*S*H site / Rock Pool?”
Occasionally I don’t know the answer to a question, which sends me off to do research. Right now I’m learning about trapdoor spiders because of a visitor query. More on that to come …
I returned to my favourite MCSP trail for the first time in about six months. I wanted to see how it was handling all the rain, and the answer is .. beautifully! The many tributaries are gushing, the mosses are glowing neon, and the manzanitas are blanketing the woodland floor in white blossoms.
The prickly pear’s in fruit.
The toyon berries are putting on a good show right now. This is the shrub for which Hollywood is named, though it’s not a type of holly at all. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a prominent component of the coastal sage scrub plant community, and a part of drought-adapted chaparral and mixed oak woodland habitats. It is the sole species in the genus Heteromeles.
Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love the summer flowers, and the autumn berries are devoured by a large variety of birds, including cedar waxwings, quail, towhees, Western bluebirds, robins, and mockingbirds.
Twenty 7-12 year olds (and their parents) now know the difference between a valley oak and a coast live oak, though hopefully that’s not the only thing they gained from our time together 🌿💚
Call me up next time there’s a Procambarus clarkii removal day in our watershed; I’d love to participate.
We looked for newts in the pools where Annette and I had found them last week, but nary a newt was seen today.
I got to see something very special today.
Top of Red Rock Canyon, looking west.
hashiworks 