Montana de Oro Sandspit Views

The Sandspit at Montana de Oro is such a wonderful place to explore. The scenery is constantly changing. The following are a few pictures to show you some of the views we see out there. Go take a walk and explore. It is so close to town, yet seems so far removed once you are out there. Definitely worth it.
The first two are of sunrise in late September of 2009.

Here's a nice view of the rock from the largest of the corridors provoding access from the bay to the beach. These corridors are extremely important as they allow access across the spit without disturbing too much of the dune system, or during plover nesting season the snowy plovers.

Here is a nice view of the morros looking back towards San Luis Obispo. These peaks line the way from San Luis Obispo out to Morro Bay. That's Black Hill in the foreground with Cerro Cabrillo and Hollister beyond.

This is just a nice shot of the windswept dunes. They remind me of my days in the mountains during the winter time playing in snowdrifts.

Morro Shoulderband Snail

The illusive Morro shoulderband snail. They hide onder the leaf litter and only come out to play (well forage, etc.), when the ground is wet. Usually this is after rain events, but can sometimes ba after a heavy fog. During the dry season, these little invertebrates aestivate under ground, or deep within any clump of vegetation. They seal themselves off from the outside world and wait until the ground is wet again. Oh, and they are federally listed so montoring and moving them if necessary is only done by persons permitted by US Fish and Wildlife Service. They can be distiguished from other shoulderbands in the area by the narrow (almost closed) aperature, incised grooves along the shell and papillations within the grooves. The best advice I can give you is that if you see one of these snails, just leave it alone. It is not a pest like the European garden snail and will do no harm to your garden. It lives off of detritus and is a beneficial member of the ecosystem.

Some older bird photos

Here are some older photos, but some of my favorite bird pictures from over the years. The first is a group of Avocets near Turri Road in the estuary.
The second is group of newly hatched Canada geese swimming along State Park Road in the channel.

And the last is a flock of gulls flying overhead at Estero Bluffs State Park one day when we had a juvenile grey whale wash up dead on the beach. We were out interrrupting their feast taking measurements with the folks from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Don't Park Too Close To The Landing Zone

We had a helicopter rescue an overheated hiker today at Montana de Oro State Park. The helicopter was going to fly the person down to the ranch house to be put in an ambulance. Here it is on approach to the landing. Hey, it's getting kind of close to me.
Okay, they decided to land closer to where I was instead of where we chose for them to land. I was posted on the road to stop all traffic on one end. I guess the flat spot behind me was better than the grassy traingle that was slightly sloped. And my windows were open in my truck, so now I really have to vacuum it out. I got so much sand and dust in my hair, my ears, down my shirt it was ridiculous. Lesson learned; don't park so close to the landing site.Here they are on the ground with the rotors shut off. Nice view of the ranch house in the back and the ambulance waiting for the victim, who was about 2 1/2 miles back on the trail in 100 plus degree temperatures. It was a good day to just sit with your feet in the water and not stray from the shade or the water.

Oh, and the hiker is fine. Many thanks to the CHP, CalFire and San Luis Ambulance.

Morning Dew and the Web of Life

This little gem was above the walkway to our field ofice the other day. Caught a bee later that day.

Here's another good quote

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

Quote For Tough Times

DON'T FIND FAULT, IMPROVE THE PROCESS!

Spiders Butterflies and the Cycle of Life (or what's left of a lizard)

Here's a real common member of our grasslands locally. It's a wolf spider. This one was really big, and cooperative, so I snapped a few shots. They live in the grass under rotting logs and running through the grass in search of their next meal. really good eyesight helps them as hunters.

This is another one you might see locally flying around in the grasslands. Its a common buckeye butterfly. A beautifully colored medium sized butterfly.

This last one is the cycle of life as illustrated by the partially eaten alligator lizard being finished off by a group of small ants. I saw a king snake in the same situation later this day being fed on by flies. It may be gruesome or grotesque, but it's all part of the cycle of life.

Sand Verbena

There are these low growing plants in the dunes that we call sand verbena. They are in the Nyctaginaceae family and locally we have three different versions. Pink sand verbena or Abronia umbellata, red sand verbena or Abronia maritima, and coastal sand verbena or Abronia latifolia.

The first two pictures show pink sand verbena and the color variation that can occur in it. It grows in the rear dunes and is usually the first sand verbena you see when you traverse the dunes from east to west.

This next picture is red sand verbena which is the darkest in color and grows closest to the water. Viable seeds of this plant are very difficult to find and most of the seed pods will contain no seeds.

These last two pictures of coastal sand verbena show the color variation that occurs in it. A. latifolia is usually yellow in appearance but occasionally takes on this peachy color that I really like (I guess that is the horticulturalist in me coming out). It grows in between the other two sometimes mixed with one or the other.

Nature Blog

Okay, this is not about my job or the parks or the central coast directly, but I stumbled across this blog and I think they describe it best. You can really get lost in this one.

"Welcome to the Nature Blog Network, a nexus for the very best nature blogs on the net. If you're looking for outstanding blogging about birds, bugs, plants,herps, hiking, oceans, ecosystems, or any other natural topic -- or if you blog on those topics yourself -- this is the place for you!"

http://natureblognetwork.com/

I added it as a link as well.