An Overdue Visit to the Laguna

 

It's been almost a year since I was last in the Laguna. I have no idea what kept me from visiting for such a long time, since this is a place I always enjoy when I'm there. So a couple weeks ago I finally decided to go there again.

It was an overcast morning, typical for many summer mornings in my corner of the world. I chose to walk the Laguna Wetland Preserve Trails.

Right at the beginning I noticed that one of the old and majestic oaks had fallen over. I assume this happened during the partly very wet winter we had. But what was this? There were things hanging from the branches of the fallen tree, and when I got closer I realized that these were some fiber creations. After I had returned home I did some research and found out that this art installation is called "A House without a Key" and was created by artist Melissa Jones. This is her Master's thesis project and consists of several elaborately knitted pod-like hanging structures that look vaguely like the nests of the Eurasian Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus)

Just a few days ago, the art installation mysteriously disappeared. Maybe someone mistook it for yarn bombing, which the artist says it definitely wasn't, and just took the "nests" down. It should be noted here that this wasn't a "wild" installation but it was put up with the approval of Public Works. Maybe someone took them down because they were concerned about the well-being of our local songbirds since yarn can pose a hazard to songbirds.

Maybe it would have helped if there had been a text or explanation next to the tree. There wasn't.

The Laguna Wetland Preserve Trail is my favorite trail in the Laguna. Less people walk here and it is full of life with little critters and birds. The Laguna de Santa Rosa is one of California's richest freshwater wetlands. Bald eagles, river otters, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and over 200 species of birds depend on the Laguna for food and shelter. It is an important feeding and resting stopover on the Pacific Flyway, a major migratory route for birds.

It is also home to many wildflowers. Wild Carot aka Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) is abundant, both still in its bloom and as beautiful seed heads.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is just as common and easily recognizable by its sky blue color.

Together with Wild Carot it makes a beautiful display.

There was still some Shortpod Mustard (Hirschfeldia incana), but the season for them was definitely coming to its end.

This is Bristly Oxtongue (Helminthotheka echioides), a plant I was unaware of until then. It looks splendid past its prime. It's a non-native invasive plant with yellow flowers. It seems that all the plants I saw that day are non-natives.

The following, however, is a native, our beautiful California Wild Rose (Rosa californica) and its rosehips.

These beautiful seedpods belong to Wild Radish (Raphanus sativus), an aggressive non-native invasive plant in the mustard family. It is actually quite beautiful in bloom with white and soft pink flowers. 

I was wondering why nothing is being done to control non-native plants in this area, and I can only think that this is done either on purpose or they just don't have enough staff. Having to work with not enough staff unfortunately is a problem that many of these places (like our regional and state parks, not to mention the National Parks) have to deal with. It is certainly not carelessness.

Another invasive plant we're all familiar with is Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). Beautiful though.

A little critter (I assume) has made this place its home.

I like how fallen trees - most of them native oaks - are left in place where they can slowly decompose and still offer so much (food and shelter) to the wildlife.

Beside the Mourning Dove in the picture above I saw and heard Bewick's Wrens, White-tailed Kites,  Black Phoebes, House Finches, Song Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinches, California Quails, a Nuttall's Woodpecker, Spotted Towhees, Bushtits and of course American Crows.

It was a splendid morning!

The flower faces are for Nicole's Friday Face Off, but for those who prefer more "human"-like faces, I have these three guys:

Flowers, Trees and Prayer Flags

 

Last week I took you to the Spirit Guides exhibition at the Sonoma Botanical Garden. Most of the colorful sculptures are displayed along the California Oaks Trail where a California Native Garden had also been created. But this botanical garden had so much more to offer.

The California Oaks Trail leads right into the "heart" of the garden which is focused on plants from Asia. As soon as you enter the Asian part, you find yourself in beautiful wooded areas with lots of shade and you feel a drop in temperature which is very welcome on those warm and hot summer days.

We were extremely lucky that the Emmenopterys henryi tree, native to China, was in bloom. We first only saw its display of creamy-white leaves.

But getting closer, we noticed the actual flowers. This tree is very rare and near-threatened in the wild. While it may produce a few flowers some years, a big bloom like this one is unusual. The last time that this tree bloomed "bigly" was in 2022. The creamy-white flowers have a sweet jasmine-like scent.

Being in an Asian garden, you would expect an arched bridge.

Beautiful art sculptures of birds could be found in the dense foliage.

I especially liked the base of this tree, a Père David's Maple (Acer davidii).

The pictures you see today are actually from two visits to the botanical garden, because a week after I was there with Liz, I took the Geek there as well. The two of us walked a little bit further than I did with Liz, and we decided to take the short, but steep climb to the summit. 

We had to go through this beautiful conifer tunnel.

There is a prayer flag display at the summit. When I was here the very first time - 2010 or 2011, when it was still called Quarryhill Garden - the prayer flags had already been here, and some of them showed their age.

It's a beautiful quiet spot, and thankfully there was a bench where the Geek and I took a short rest and enjoyed the beautiful view over the Valley of the Moon. Right across from us is Jack London State Historic Park, another favorite place of mine.

Back in the woods I was delighted by all the beautiful flowers and berries.

Some kind of magnolia (there wasn't a sign and I wasn't able to find out what kind of magnolia this is),

a viburnum, I think, maybe Viburnum dilatatum, but I'm not sure,

and Fringed Pink (Dianthus superbus).

Then we discovered something very interesting, and I think Erika aka BioArtGal will like this. A tree nest for honeybees!

Aren't these flowers beautiful? I have no idea what exactly they are, so Liz and I decided to call them "tall water lilies".

Of course, there were "normal" water lilies as well. When Liz and I were there they covered the pond, but a week later they were all gone. I guess they have become too invasive and the garden staff had decided to remove them.

Above the lower pond we saw Himalayan Gloxinia (Incarvillea arguta) and if you look closely, you can see an Anna's Hummingbird in the lower left corner - I blends into the green of the foliage behind it. There were so many hummingbirds flitting around this flower.

One flower that shouldn't be missed in an Asian garden is the Japanese Anemone (Eriocapitella x hybrida). They are stunning, but can get quite invasive. However, they do fit into this kind of garden.

These are my flower faces for Nicole's Friday Face Off today.

Spirit Guides

 

Camel-Eagle

Last week my friend Liz and I visited the Sonoma Botanical Garden because we wanted to see the exhibition "Spirit Guides - Fantastical Creatures from the Workshop of Jacobo and María Ángeles". It was fantastic.

The first sculpture greeted us in front of the Welcome Center, Camel-Eagle. When you stand behind the sculpture you can see the hump.

The eight monumental sculptures, made from fiberglass and painted with acrylic paint, are distributed throughout the garden, most of them along the California Oaks Trail.

The sculptures are inspired by the astrology of the Mesoamerican Zapotecs. Zapotec astrology features animals associated with birth dates. These animals can be symbolic of personality traits, but they are also believed to share a destiny and soul with their human counterparts. 

 This is Coyote-Fish. As you can see here, these are rather strange animals - coyotes with fish tails, eagles with camel humps, monkeys with iguana backs etc. Fantastical creatures indeed.

Every part of the animal is painted in great detail.

The Crane - the only animal sculpture that didn't have a part of another animal.

Jacobo and María Ángeles are a Mexican artist couple from San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca, where they operate a community workshop providing training and emplyment to hundreds of local artists. Their work blends contemporary sculpture with Mesoamerican cultural traditions and patterns found in Indigenous Mexican artwork. 

The Monkey-Iguana:

This artwork draws on Zapotec beliefs about animals that share a spiritual bond with humas. For many Zapotecs, and other Indigenous Mexican people, special animals called tonas and nahuales act as spiritual companions or guides. Assigned to each person at birth, any animal may be a spirit guide, from butterflies to jaguars to monkeys. Different people interpret the influence of these animals in different ways - guardians, shapeshifters and companions with intertwined souls and fates.

Tonas and nahuales can also embody their human counterparts' personalities. The monkey, for example, symbolizes knowledge and an affinity for the arts, while the iguana characterizes an ability to adapt and persevere.

The Armadillo-Insect:

The following sculpture was my favorite one - the Jaguar-Eagle.

Look at this beautiful and intense face!

In my humble opinion, I think the Rabbit-Deer should have the name Rabbit-Antelope. Those horns don't look like a deer antler.

The head of the rabbit was exquisite.

A close-up of the pattern at its neck. The symbol is the seed and stands for fertility.

Lastly we came upon the Deer-Butterfly.

According to the Zapotec astrological calendar the deer symbolizes agility and energy, while the butterfly represents hope and optimism.

Aren't these some wonderful faces and worthy for Nicole's Friday Face Off?