Autumn Walk

 

The last couple days have been gorgeous fall days, sunny and warm but not hot. Perfect for having a walk along the North shore of a small lake in the vicinity of "my" lake.

In order to get to the North shore trail I crossed the dam. I saw a dad teaching his little son how to fish while others looked quite comfortable doing their own fishing. I wonder whether this guy caught anything or this was just his way of meditation.

The trail is one of those that I could hike along for hours. 

It offered lots of shade, but also many views of the lake. The birds were busy in the bushes. I heard Northern Flickers up in the trees, the Canada geese on the water (they are so noisy), but the loudest were the Red-winged Blackbirds that were merrily chatting along. It was quite the concert!

I was quite concerned to see so much Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) like in the picture above. It is native to South America, but it has become invasive throughout North America. Unfortunately it can displace native plants and destroy their habitats. We have high amounts of Pampas grass along the slopes at the coast. It's worrying that it has "settled" here as well and I wish the park service would act and remove it before it takes over more of the area. It does look pretty though.

Some parts of the trail were quite rough and rocky.

Of course I was pleased to see crooked trees. The trunk of the Buckeye, a California native, was covered with carved-in letters, but it was also fascinating to see how the tree heals itself. 

Towards the end of the lake there were more and more cattails (Typha). I do like these plants, but they can also be problematic because, although being a native plant they do have the ability to crowd out other native species. It's a rather aggressive spreader.

I was super excited to see a Great Blue Heron behind the cattails and this was the only time I regretted not to have taken my big camera with me (sorry for the bad photo).

When I reached the end of the lake I decided not to do the loop back but go back the same way. This part is less crowded and I eventually found a bench where I could sit, listen to the birds and write in my journal. 

Precious Waters

Tuesday was my last day at work before the summer break. The last couple weeks had been very hectic and busy as they usually are at the end of the school year. But now the seniors have graduated, the other students left for their summer weeks off and we used the final two days to tidy up the library and get the textbook room in order for the beginning of the next school year. Then our break started.

It's a weird feeling to wake up in the morning knowing that you don't have to go to work for several weeks. It didn't take me long to seize the opportunity and walk around my beloved lake. I just wanted to walk enjoying the scenery and decided to leave the camera at home. Of course I saw way to many things I wanted to photograph, but fortunately I still had my phone with me. These pictures were all taken with my LG G4 over the course of two mornings.

There is a paved path that travels around the entire lake, but I usually stick to the horse trails. For obvious reasons they are not paved, well maintained and usually less crowded.

One of my favorite parts is the Fisherman's Trail that leads right next to the lake. The blackberry bushes were overgrowing almost everything. These plants are very invasive and unfortunately crowd out the native plants, even though the rangers do their best to control them. The lake is mostly hidden behind the high plants, but the sound of many birds is present all the time. To the left is a slope with many trees, some of which display beautiful bark color or an interesting shape.

I know the spots where I have seen black-crowned night herons in the past. I always stop by there, and sure enough there was a juvenile black-crowned night heron fishing for his breakfast.

On the other side of the lake I saw an adult one - maybe his momma?

Sometimes I walk up the slope to the huge water tanks near the paved path. The shadows of the trees on the tanks drew me in that morning. I love the shape of all these trees.

Turning back to the lake this view always captivates me.

I met Canada Geese with their young ones on the slope - I was quite surprised not to see them at the lake but in this dry environment. They were busy nibbling the seeds on the grasses.

Look, who I met here! S/he came out on the trail from the side, surprising me. Lucky for me I was still about 30 feet away and I made sure to keep a respectful distance. S/he eventually decided to disappear in the tall grasses up the slope and I could proceed unharmed.

Along the trails by the lake there is always a lot of beautiful vegetation in those places where the blackberry bushes haven't overtaken. Gorgeous thistles, seedpods of salsifies, Queen Anne's Lace and something I couldn't identify.

Then I decided to leave the path by the lake and follow the horse trail up the hill. There's no one there except for the rabbits and snakes.

The views are gorgeous and always remind me why I love living here. All the fresh spring green is gone by now - we haven't had rain for weeks - but I also like the "golden" look. It's so typical for California in the summer.

It was here that I discovered this beautiful dragonfly.

The trail then leads into the forest and it seems you're entering an entirely different world.

This tree was still standing the last time I walked along this trail. Change is ongoing. The fungi on the trees looks interesting and is constantly growing.

There are more wildflowers to find, especially those that like some shade. We're almost at the end of our trail. To the left you can climb up into Annadel State Park (it is much steeper than it looks), to the right you get back to the lake.

Or you can stop at this picnic area next to some old Redwoods. Take a rest, write in your journal, listen to the birds and do some push-ups (that's what I do).

Taking the path back to the lake I end up at the Children's Memorial Grove right at the lake. A few years ago together with some friends we put in a tile for Katie here.

Back in the parking lot I noticed that the California Buckeye is in full bloom. I love these trees!

It was a beautiful morning at the lake and I plan to come back as often as I can during my summer break. This place feeds my soul and every time I'm here I feel like my entire body relaxes and my thoughts are going in a positive direction. Often I don't think anything, just take in the nature around me, listen to the birds and watch the herons. It's time just for me and a precious gift.

Scene & Story - May 2017

Those of you who have been reading my blog for quite some time know about "my lake" and how much I love it. Recently my walks around the lake have become much less frequently than they used to be due to my work. In May I managed to walk there only once, early in the morning. It was a very spontaneous decision to skip Jazzercise and go to the lake instead.

It was a beautiful morning, and when I saw the rising mist on the water my heart skipped a beat. I love this atmosphere! It is rather challenging for me to capture exactly this mood with my camera, but I simply cannot not try it. I have always loved this particular spot with the pier where often fishermen are patiently doing their work. This morning, however, it was empty. When I looked at the photo afterwards the feeling of solitude spoke to me and it became my favorite photo for May.


I am joining Sarah and León for Scene and Story again as I try to do every first Sunday of a month. You can find more stories here.

Scene & Story - March 2017

March was a better photography month than February and all of the winter months. It's so much easier to get outside when the weather is nice and nature is coming back to life.

When I looked through the photos I took in March I realized that I had photographed a lot of meadows and particularly trees. But it was this one that stood out - and it's not even a very good one. Taken with my phone and zoomed in, even though I know that my zoom is crap and the pictures are mostly a big disappointment. However, this one captures a Black-crowned night heron, one of my most favorite birds and the first one this year I discovered at the lake.

I don't know what it is about these birds that draws me to them. They're pretty - white and very dark blue feathers, orange feet, stunningly red eyes, yellow-orange feet and two or three long white plumes at the back of the head. They are smaller and stockier than most herons and have shorter bills. It's the "small fat" cousin of the proud and elegant Great blue heron. However, they're not as shy as the Great blue and don't seem to be disturbed by people so much. I often could approach them pretty close without them moving an inch away from me. Most times they were far more interested in watching what was going on beneath the surface of the water and catching their food quickly with a short shot into the water.

Perhaps it is their stoic patience that attracts me. Their ability to remain in the same position forever without moving a single feather (so to speak). Their complete and utter disinterest in me. Sometimes I convince myself that they actually know me - "the crazy lady with the little black box that she points at us" - even though I know perfectly well that they simply don't care. They seem to be at utter peace with themselves.

Zen is the word that comes to mind.


I'm joining Sarah and León for Scene and Story again as I try to do every first Sunday of a month. You can find more stories here.

I Hadn't Seen The Sun In Three Days

As some of you might have heard, we had some heavy rain in Northern California (and it's raining again!). While the rain has been more than welcome, the flooding that came with it in some areas was not. All the places at and near the river were flooded and many people had to evacuate from their homes. Anything that was close to water became very very wet - whether it was the vicinity of the laguna or "my" lake.

The lake - it's a regional park - was actually closed because the paths, trails, picnic grounds and parking lots were completely flooded. The rangers were traveling in canoes to evaluate the damage.

When the rain stopped the big clean-up started, and last Saturday the park was reopened.

It was a brilliant sunny albeit chilly day, and since we had been indoors all week long because of the foul weather we happily laced up our hiking boots and took a walk around the lake.

We were surprised how well the clean-up was done. All the paved trails were open and you couldn't really tell that just a few days before they had been covered in water and mud. The restrooms were still closed and so were my favorite dirt trails, and as soon as you left the paved path everything became pretty muddy. Our boots were caked with mud soon, but just being outside felt so good that we didn't mind.

The turtles were happy about the drier weather as well. They hung out on some of the logs in the water, leisurely soaking up the sun.

However, there weren't almost no birds. Usually there are lots of Canada geese, ducks and the occasional swan, but there wasn't a single one. I was wondering where they had gone. The herons and egrets were hiding as well, with the exception of this beautiful guy - but he was the only one.

We had a few more "water encounters" that long weekend of which I will tell you later.