Showing posts with label * christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label * christmas. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
habitat ~ 12/25/13 ~ San Francisco Botanical Garden
December 25, 2013
We went up to San Francisco on Christmas again. Get this, it didn't rain like 2012 and 2010. It was gorgeous. Of course, with beautiful, sunny weather, the people come out in droves, but I didn't mind too much. The great thing we've discovered about rain is that it keeps many people indoors, which makes San Francisco feel like a totally different city. This excursion may become a tradition for us - scenic drive up Hwy 1, House of Bagels, Botanical Garden, finding Le Soleil closed yet again and asking for recommendations from Clement St. locals, visiting with friends, and marveling at the Union Square hubbub. It was a very good day.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
pelagic cormorant ~ 12/19/13 ~ Monterey Bay Aquarium
I love how the pelagic cormorants don seasonal attire appropriate for Christmas. They have such a cute red face this time of year. The sun has to hit them just right for the greens and purples to appear in the feathers, otherwise they look kind of drab. A couple weeks ago, I noticed several already had their white butt patches (properly called flank patches), but not all of them yet. I'll have to try to get photos of that, even if they are crappy like the first one above. I gotta tell you, I so appreciate good nature photography now that I know how difficult it is. I've really enjoyed watching the pelagic cormorants hang out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all year. They build their nests on those ledges under the building. Their presence at the Aquarium is a relatively new occurrence, maybe within the past 10-12 years? I believe the MBA is one of only a few places you can easily observe breeding and nesting up close, because they typically nest on inaccessible rocky cliffs. Back in August, I suggested to Jim Covel that they add a cormorant nest cam to their relatively new Web Cams. We'll see...
ps 12/23/13 - Today I saw my first pelagic cormorant carrying kelp nesting material back to the MBA ledges. They really don't seriously nest until about March. Maybe they're practicing?
pss 12/30/13 - Today I saw 2 cormorants actually sitting on what look like nests. Crazy early?
ps 12/23/13 - Today I saw my first pelagic cormorant carrying kelp nesting material back to the MBA ledges. They really don't seriously nest until about March. Maybe they're practicing?
pss 12/30/13 - Today I saw 2 cormorants actually sitting on what look like nests. Crazy early?
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
habitat ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak County Park
Jacks Peak County Park
December 25, 2011
December 25, 2011
For the record, I'm not sure if this County Park was officially open on Christmas Day, but we took one of several little-known trails up the hill. It starts off as coast live oak woods then gradually turns into Monterey pine forest as the elevation increases. In a couple spots, freshly fallen trees blocked the old trail. I was impressed with how soft the new trail was around these disturbed areas. It felt very spongy on the feet, as if I were walking underneath redwoods. I've heard this area is called a closed-cone pine forest from a blogger who recently shut down his blog. I wasn't aware of this term before. Despite the lack of fire, it looks like the Monterey pine has no problem reseeding itself. Jacks Peak has one of the few remaining native stands of Monterey pine in the world. We also looked for where the proposed zipline will be placed, which has caused quite a controversy among the prominent older folks in our area. The views are absolutely stunning from the summit of Jacks Peak of both Monterey harbor and "the mouth of the Valley" as us locals refer to it, which is really the east side of Carmel and whose main claim to fame is Clint Eastwood was once mayor. The zipline would be thrilling and perhaps a nice tourist attraction. However, I can't say I'd fork out $100 for the experience, especially since I live here.
wavyleaf soap plant ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak
wavyleaf soap plant
Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. pomeridianum
Asparagaceae (formerly Agavaceae, Hyacinthaceae, & Liliaceae)
Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. pomeridianum
Asparagaceae (formerly Agavaceae, Hyacinthaceae, & Liliaceae)
Edited 01/03/12 - I originally posted this as a sprout of Fremont's star-lily, but thanks to my commenters, I've corrected the ID above. It's been a goal of mine to track the seasonal evidence of both death camas, aka Fremont's star-lily, and soap plant, especially in areas where they literally grow from the same spot of ground like at Jacks Peak. I've made a fuss about how several online sites have them mixed up, and I've admitted I get them confused, too, when they only have green leaves - the flowers are too distinctive to ever get them mixed up. I've now concluded that death camas is an early flowerer compared to 3-4 months later in the season soap plant.
Monterey pine and coast live oak ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak
coast live oak
Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia
Fagaceae
Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia
Fagaceae
This post is for Cindy of Dipper Ranch based on her recent comment. I wish I had better pictures of how the ends look chewed. I noticed before at Jacks Peak that tips of Monterey Pine litter the trail. This is the first time I noticed tips of coast live oak also on the trail. To me they look like they've been chewed off, but I don't really know. We haven't had any wind storms lately, so I don't think that's the reason. It just seems a bit unusual to find tips of trees on the forest floor. Maybe a pruning-happy tree squirrel did this? Anyone have any ideas as to why this happens?
Saturday, December 24, 2011
poinsettia ~ 12/24/11 ~ Monterey
poinsettia / flor de nochebuena
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Euphorbiaceae
Have you ever seen a 2-story tall poinsettia? While several neighborhood yards have blooming poinsettias that are the size of bushes, this is the tallest one I've found. Poinsettias originate from Mexico. Today we went for a sunny afternoon walk just so I could take a picture for Nature ID. Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
habitat ~ 12/25/10 ~ San Francisco Botanical Garden
December 25, 2010
It is with great thanks to fellow blogger Katie at Phyte Club that I even knew the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum would be open (and free) on Christmas Day. It was my first time in the gardens. Wow! It would be well worth the relatively inexpensive $7 non-resident admission price on any other day... especially if it's not raining.
As per my typical rain curse (whenever I plan ahead for a hiking or camping excursion), it rained, and then it rained some more. Did I mention my graduation ceremonies from Ohio State was the only 2nd rain-interrupted outdoor procession in its over 100 year history? Don't let me get started on my wedding day! Most of my pictures from S.F. ended up too dark or fuzzy to post, and I'm still not decided on how to handle "garden" pictures on Nature ID. I do hope to show above that there are numerous blooms here on the coast of CA during the winter.
No worries, I had an absolutely lovely day, exploring the lesser known high peaks of San Francisco, finding new places in Golden Gate Park, enjoying a New York-style bagel heaped with more lox than I could buy at a grocer with tomato, red onion, and capers at the House of Bagels on Geary, and lunching for hours with a total stranger I met on Clement who advised me of the best Vietnamese noodle house I've ever been, Le Soleil. Angela, if you're out there, you were my angel on Christmas Day.
Again, with many thanks to Katie and Angela, for helping me find and create a memorable Christmas Day.
As per my typical rain curse (whenever I plan ahead for a hiking or camping excursion), it rained, and then it rained some more. Did I mention my graduation ceremonies from Ohio State was the only 2nd rain-interrupted outdoor procession in its over 100 year history? Don't let me get started on my wedding day! Most of my pictures from S.F. ended up too dark or fuzzy to post, and I'm still not decided on how to handle "garden" pictures on Nature ID. I do hope to show above that there are numerous blooms here on the coast of CA during the winter.
No worries, I had an absolutely lovely day, exploring the lesser known high peaks of San Francisco, finding new places in Golden Gate Park, enjoying a New York-style bagel heaped with more lox than I could buy at a grocer with tomato, red onion, and capers at the House of Bagels on Geary, and lunching for hours with a total stranger I met on Clement who advised me of the best Vietnamese noodle house I've ever been, Le Soleil. Angela, if you're out there, you were my angel on Christmas Day.
Again, with many thanks to Katie and Angela, for helping me find and create a memorable Christmas Day.
torch aloe ~ 12/25/10 ~ San Francisco Botanical Garden
torch aloe and Kenyan aloeAloe arborescens and Aloe kedongensis
Asphodelaceae (now included under Xanthorrhoeaceae)
posted 2/13/11 - I've been on the hunt for the ID of a particularly large and "bushy" aloe, since they're quite prominent along the shore here in Pacific Grove where I live. I took a picture of the sign (it's a close-up of what's shown in the first picture) believing I finally found a positive ID from a reputable source, the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Once I got home and searched A. kedongensis, I quickly realized this was not the correct ID for the aloe I wanted an ID. I grumbled at first that the botanical garden must have misplaced their sign. If you can't tell already, I have a general mistrust that most people can get things right. I worked in the editorial departments of a couple publishing companies and I even corrected the pre-employment proofreading test that one had been using for 25 years - according to my hiring bosses, nobody had ever caught the error in all that time. This is not to say that I don't make mistakes on a regular basis, both in factual and grammatical accuracy. Upon further inspection of the first photo, it's apparent that there are 2 species of aloes shown. In any case, I think I have finally found the proper ID for my hometown aloe.
eastern gray squirrel ~ 12/25/10 ~ Golden Gate Park
eastern gray squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis
New followers of Nature ID may think I have a fondness for squirrels considering my several squirrel posts in the past few months; I don't particularly like these rodents. However, I think I've finally figured out how to distinguish between the different species of squirrels in California.
What caught my attention with the ones shown above were the shockingly white bellies. Close to home, Fatty, a California ground squirrel, and the eastern fox squirrel have definite buff colored bellies. I wasn't too surprised to find out while searching for an ID, that the eastern gray squirrel was introduced to San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties... it's no wonder I don't see them around home in Monterey County.
I was amazed at how tame this family of eastern grays were near the boathouse along the Stow Lake trail in Golden Gate Park. As I was attempting to take pictures in the dark lighting and rain, several people came by to feed these squirrels nuts and such. It looked like it was a regular routine of theirs, complete with ready sandwich baggies filled with squirrel food. One older couple complained to me that she was once bitten by a squirrel, so that they now toss their nuts out on the ground to avoid direct contact. I quietly chuckled as they walked away bickering like long-married couples so often do.
ps 08/28/11 - I should have mentioned there's also a native western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) that also has a white belly. From what I've gathered they tend to be grayer, larger, and shy compared to the easterns. The Nature of a Man blogger twice mentions how the eastern gray is taking over the western gray in CA.
pss 10/18/12 - Ken also has nice side-by-side pictures of the silvery western versus the browner eastern grays.
What caught my attention with the ones shown above were the shockingly white bellies. Close to home, Fatty, a California ground squirrel, and the eastern fox squirrel have definite buff colored bellies. I wasn't too surprised to find out while searching for an ID, that the eastern gray squirrel was introduced to San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties... it's no wonder I don't see them around home in Monterey County.
I was amazed at how tame this family of eastern grays were near the boathouse along the Stow Lake trail in Golden Gate Park. As I was attempting to take pictures in the dark lighting and rain, several people came by to feed these squirrels nuts and such. It looked like it was a regular routine of theirs, complete with ready sandwich baggies filled with squirrel food. One older couple complained to me that she was once bitten by a squirrel, so that they now toss their nuts out on the ground to avoid direct contact. I quietly chuckled as they walked away bickering like long-married couples so often do.
ps 08/28/11 - I should have mentioned there's also a native western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) that also has a white belly. From what I've gathered they tend to be grayer, larger, and shy compared to the easterns. The Nature of a Man blogger twice mentions how the eastern gray is taking over the western gray in CA.
pss 10/18/12 - Ken also has nice side-by-side pictures of the silvery western versus the browner eastern grays.
sunrise ~ 12/25/10 ~ San Francisco
This picture was taken oddly enough from the Sunset District. As much as I love the diversity of people in San Francisco and the Bay Area, I'm not sure I'd like living there, er, with all the people and traffic. It's certainly a larger peninsula in many respects than where I live 2 hours south on the Monterey Peninsula. The green strip in the middle on the left of the photo above is Golden Gate Park.
