Flora & Fauna
January 03, 2012
November 15, 2011
Fall colors on Trabuco Canyon Trail
Trabuco Creek Road between Holy Jim and Trabuco Canyon Trail trailhead.
It looks like fall has finally made it to our canyons. A quick trip to Trabuco Canyon Trail last Sunday turned up what I would describe as an average fall color display for the area. Unless we get strong Santa Ana winds or a very heavy rain, we won't reach peak colors for a few more weeks. Although we don't get the dramatic colors of the Sierra, Rockies or east coast, our fall colors tend to last at least a month or two.
Trabuco Creek Road one mile east of the entrance to the Cleveland National Forest.
Trabuco Canyon Trail .5 miles before West Horsethief Trail.
For more info: TrabucoOutdoors.com
OC Register November 11 article on fall colors
July 13, 2011
June 29, 2011
Long Canyon Road Wildflowers
Last week biologist "Bug Bob" Allen was nice enough to shoot out an email broadcast to the forest service volunteers about a wildflower bloom along Long Canyon Raod about a mile west of Ortega Highway in the Cleveland National Forest. There was a small brush fire a few months ago which created a bloom of the fire-following wildflowers on both sides of Long Canyon Road, a paved road a few miles north of the candy store. According to Bob, the bloom consists primarily of Delphinium cardinale (scarlet larkspur) and Dicentra chrysantha (golden ear-drops).
I don't know if Bob is currrenty teaching any biology classes at Santa Ana College or Irvine Valley College, but check the college course schedule and sign up for his class if you get a chance to. His classes include a number of field trips into the Santa Ana Mountains, and it's incredibly interesting to learn about the natural history of our area from an experienced naturalist. Bob is also an excellent nature photographer.
June 06, 2011
May 23, 2011
Wildflowers in the chaparral
New dad Carl Garrard and I did a quick hike in O'Neill Park early Saturday morning. He may be used to being sleep-deprived, but I'm not. Anyway, it's clear that it is peak season for wildflowers in out area. Above is a photo of a chocolate lily I took a while back. These seem to blend in with the surrounding brush and are easy to miss but an attentive eye will find them in the grassy areas of the chaparral.
December 13, 2009
Century plant
According to Calflora.org , Century plants are non-native to California, but it's not uncommon to see them in the Cleveland National Forest particularly near old homesteads and ranches. I shot this photo about a week ago, but wanted to re-shoot the plants to include some detail in the stalks.
Unfortunately, the clouds were inadequate for the shot I was looking for, so I decided on the alternate composition below.
December 06, 2009
Trabuco Canyon Trail
I thought I'd see if there are any colors along Trabuco Canyon trail this afternoon. This shot was taken about one mile from the trail head. November and December are the best months for color in the canyon, particularly the sycamore and maple trees.
April 13, 2009
Wildflower season in the chaparral
It's been wildflower season in the local mountains for the last couple of months. The recent warm weather has prematurely ended the season for some of the wildflowers, but there are still a number of lupines, paintbrush, California blue bells, Mariposa lily, blue dicks blue-eyed grass, bush monkey flower and an occasional California poppy along Bell Ridge and Bell View trails. The shooting stars and chocolate lily were prolific on the Santa Rosa Plateau as I mentioned in my mid-March post, but I haven't been out there since.
Expect to see some of the later blooming flowers such as the bush poppy, Matilija poppy and Weed's Mariposa lily in the next month or so.
March 16, 2009
Vernal eternal
Thanks to the Nature Conservancy, a few of the once-common vernal pools in southern California will forever remain undeveloped. This photo of the large pool was taken last week at the Santa Rosa Plateau. The main pool appears to be about 75% full right now, but I am not familiar enough with the pools to provide an accurate estimate. The best source will be Tom Chester's site once he updates it.
There are a number of wildflowers starting to bloom including the chocolate lily, shooting stars and California poppy. Also, there are mini-forests of poison oak (and wild cucumber) adjacent to the Trans Preserve trail. While driving home in the I-15 freeway, I noticed hillsides covered with what appeared to be California poppy.
