Morning Hike in the Laguna

 

After I had been to Crane Creek on Wednesday, I decided to hike in the Laguna Wetlands Preserve on Friday morning. Thursday had been a hot day with temperatures in the lower 90s, but Friday was a bit cooler. I decided to go early since the Laguna has a lot of open spaces without much shade and it tends to get quite hot.

This is a premier bird watching area and when I was getting out of my car, I was greeted by a Brewer's Blackbird who loudly announced my arrival.

Only a few minutes later a Red-winged Blackbird landed on another "Boundary Trail" post and I saw a  Song Sparrow on a fence post (I think; I have a hard time identifying sparrows). I heard Red-shouldered Hawks but wasn't able to take a picture, instead I captured this majestic Turkey Vulture.

I started my walk looking for wildflowers, but in contrast to Crane Creek two days before, I didn't see any native wildflowers. This is a completely different terrain, very wet in the winter and extremely dry in the summer. 

Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), a non-native noxious weed, but so far not on the invasive plants list - yet. It's beautiful.

Common Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius), an edible root plant. I have many of them in my garden. 

Wild Radish (Raphanus sativus), non-native as well, that forms pretty clumps in the meadow.

Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) on the left, which is potentially invasive and, of course, non-native. On the right is Wall or Foxtail Barley (Hordeum murinum), non-native as well, and I have seen it in some places really taking over the space. Fortunately so far it behaves here.

My favorites are the remains of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), they are so fragile and beautiful. Very soon the new ones will come up - it's a great pollinator plant.

The oak gall (on the left) is an abnormal plant growth found on foliage and twigs of many species of oak trees. They are produced by small oak gall wasps. Adults lay eggs in expanding tree buds and leaves in the spring, the larvae then feed, pupate and emerge from the gall as adult wasps. These galls do not cause significant damage to trees. The plant on the right is a different story. This is non-native Curly Dock (Rumex crispus), an edible weed that is found in many open areas of the Laguna. It matures to a rusty red in late summer and fall - maybe that color gave it its botanical name, it does look rather "crisp" in the fall.

Very soon I turned to the left, one of my favorite trails in the Preserve.

It didn't take long until I reached one of the creeks. Signs of the wet winter were everywhere, but the water of the usually flooded area in winter has already receded a lot.

This female Mallard enjoyed hanging out on this tree stump, her companion not far away.

I always love the Laguna de Santa Rosa with its many trees that are reflected in the water. The seasonal bridge wasn't in place yet. In winter many many Black-crowned Night Herons, Green Herons and Cattle Egrets roost here, but this time I only saw one Green Heron taking off.

This is where I usually cross over to the meadow. Good thing I was wearing my hiking boots!

So close to the meadow there are many birdhouses put up in this area. 

The meadow is called Meadowlark Field, but so far I have only heard the Western Meadowlark here, but have never seen it. Apart from the beautiful trail I showed you above, this is my favorite part of the Preserve. There are some beautiful oaks standing here, but most of the trail through the meadow is in full sun.

I often stop at the tree above and sit at the picnic table, writing in my journal or just day dreaming. There are not that many people who walk this part of the trail.

Of course, the Laguna is not short on crooked and dead trees.

Look who was hanging out on this dead trunk in the photo above!

And there's another one!

On my way back to the parking lot I saw some California Poppies - finally some native wildflowers! They do pop with their happy, feel-good color.

Since this is for T Tuesday over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth I need to provide a drink. We already saw some birds in this post and I will finish it with one - one of my bird mugs that is my morning coffee mug. I love my coffee with lots of milk - my black coffee-days are long over. The roses are from my garden, "Sheila's Delight". And if you're wondering about the vase - it's a wine bottle that my wine maker friend cut down to serve as a vase. Recycling at its best.