Mother's Day Outing

 

Before we go back to the fascinating standing stones of Carnac, I want to share our little trip on Mother's Day. The Geek and I don't give presents to each other for birthdays etc., but instead opt for outings that we both enjoy. We used to go to Mendocino on Mother's Day, but this year I chose Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park instead. 

This is an extremely photo-heavy post.

This place is not unknown to you - I have written about it before (here and here) and I hope that you won't get bored reading about it again. It is certainly a place I don't get tired of. This was the first time that we experienced it in spring with all the coastal flowers in bloom.

When we had already reached the coast I decided that it would be better to get my big camera, so I trotted back to the parking lot to fetch my camera from the trunk of our car where I had stored it out of sight. On my way back to the coast I came upon this little guy - a Western fence lizard.

Fun fact about this lizard: if a tick infected with the Lyme disease bacteria bites a Western fence lizard, it is not able to further spread the disease to anybody else. I learned this from a local park ranger and it really surprised me (I had no idea about this). Here is what I found on the Internet (thanks to AI): "Western fence lizards play a significant role in reducing Lyme disease risk by acting as a host for ticks and possessing a protein in their blood that kills the Lyme disease bacteria within those ticks. This proteibn, discovered in 1998, effectively clears the infection from ticks that feed on them, preventing them from transmitting Lyme disease to humans and other animals." Pretty cool, huh?

I also noticed White-crowned Sparrows.

My husband, meanwhile, had made himself comfortable on the rocks and was taking a video upon my return. 

What was he filming?

After having watched the harbor seals for a while we walked along the trail which was lined with the beautiful yellow flowering Coastal Bush Lupine.

I was really taken with all the beautiful flowers. Such an abundance!

Clockwise from top left: Hare's Tail Grass, Creamcups, Coastal Bush Lupine, California Goldfields

Clockwise from top left: Varied Lupine, Douglas Iris, Dwarf Brodiaea, Johnnytuck

Clockwise from top left: Checkerbloom, Narrow-leaf Mule's Ear, Sea Thrift, Blue-eyed Grass

Of course there were California Poppies!

The slopes were golden with California Goldfields (such a fitting name) and California Poppies.

California Goldfields with Nuttall's Milk Vetch:

It was quite amazing how little some of these plants need, they were growing right out of the rocks.

Clockwise from left: Scarlet Pimpernel, Sea Thrift, Sea Plantain, Sea Thrift

And of course there was the incredible tafoni (the honey-comb like sandstone) which this location is known for.  These rocks always succeed to amaze and fascinate me.

There are so many of them! This is just a fraction of what we saw.

They are particularly picturesque with some Sea Thrift in front of them. You might have noticed that I'm posting quite a bit of Sea Thrift pictures here - I like them so much (and this is my favorite picture of that day).

The phone camera is excellent for getting into tight spaces and taking some fun photos.

The Geek and I definitely enjoyed this beautiful spot.

Of course there were birds! We saw a few gulls -

Seeing gulls always reminds me of my mom who used to say "Die Möwen sehen alle aus als ob sie Emma hießen" (The seagulls by their looks suggest that Emma is their name) which is actually directly quoted from a poem by German writer and poet Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914). But what excited me even more was the large number of Brown Pelicans that flew along the coast. They are so elegant and graceful.

 

White-crowned Sparrows were our constant companions. We could hear their cheerful song and see them on the rocks and in the bushes throughout the entire time we stayed there. What a delight!

We also saw Song Sparrows (at least I think that's what this little guy is - I hope that David will correct me if I'm wrong).

I puzzled about this shorebird. First I thought it might be an Oystercatcher, but "our" Oystercatchers are black. I consulted Seek and Merlin and both said Wandering Tattler. I admit I have never heard of this bird and again am waiting for David's judgement.

Back to the rocks - some of them were covered in lichen, and I'm not attempting to identify which lichen it is. These are only "might be"s.

Shrubby Sunburst Lichen (Polycauliona candelaria)

Protoparmeliopsis pinguis

Armored Sea-Fog Lichen (Niebla homalea)

I had run the lichens through the Seek app which was recommended to me by a park ranger. The app itself says that there is always the possibility that the results are not correct, so please take this with a grain of salt.

Something else was fascinating - sea salt left behind in the holes of the rocks. 

And did I mention that I love Sea Thrift?

Congratulations, you made it to the end! With all the faces in this post - human, animal, plant - I link to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Small Stuff

 

The last few times I walked around the lake I paid special attention to the "small stuff" - all the little and even tiny things for which we usually don't stop or even just look. This year I started to look closer, often in wonder about how deliciously beautiful nature is. I want to show some of this "small stuff" in this post, together with the "bigger stuff".

Like these Canada Geese. They are very reliable residents of the lake.

Some kind of bumblebee (I think) on the flower of a thistle who didn't mind me at all taking pictures.

Another little insect - if anyone knows what it is, please let me know - on Yampah (Perideridia). This plant has actually kept me in confusion for the longest time and I'm still not 100% sure that it is Yampah. It would make sense, though, since it is a California native and found in abundance here. But maybe I'm completely wrong and it is something else. Sometimes trying to identify plants that all look somewhat similar leaves me in bigger confusion and only shows me how much I do NOT know. It can be very frustrating.

Same plant with a big spider web - I hope you can see it.

And more spider webs - they are abundant at the lake.

Often fluffy stuff gets caught in them.

This is a favorite photo I took in June of what I assume is Foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum) - beautiful, but invasive.

Talking about invasive species - this is a part of the lake, even though you can't see any water. It is completely covered by Common Water Hyazinth (Pontederia crassipes), a highly invasive plant. It does look beautiful - many invasive species do.

Thankfully the Water Hyazinth was limited to two smaller areas of the lake (and I hope they won't spread any further). The water was clear, sometimes I saw otters who are always way too fast for my camera. Branches were lazily floating near the shore.

The lake has beautiful views, that I will always enjoy - they never get old.

Don't get fooled by the glorious red color and don't get near this plant and NEVER ever touch it, or you will spend the next few days in agony over a terribly itching rash. This is Western Poison Oak  (Toxicodendron diversilobum) - beautiful to watch, especially when backlit, but only enjoyed from a distance.

Lichen can be found everywhere - on the trees and on the ground. This one is Oak moss. Isn't it beautiful?

I also love lichen on rocks.

There were even some very sweet faces to be found at the lake. The Park's vegetation management is back, on four legs and very hungry. Wildfire mitigation at its best.

One last photo of the lake with a favorite tree.