Taking a break

I took a break today under the willows and looked up...

Did you lose your Pontiac?

We find some pretty odd stuff washed up on the beaches, but this one takes the prize. It has just recently become uncovered after years of neglect. Anybody got a guess on the year.
Customized chop top!

The small stuff

I often find myself taking pictures of the little things. Here is a picture of a little lichen. It's a Hypogymnia sp growing on chamise.
This next one is way out of focus, but ofr some reason I like it. It makes me feel for the little critters that we often walk all over. I think that is someone walking back there with a trash bag if you look close.

Some random pics

The clouds were beautiful today over Morro Bay and Los Osos. Reminded of late summer in the eastern Sierra.
Lupines in Nassella pulchra grassland, Harmony Headlands State Park

Dragon fly on bottlebrush near the office.

Birds and Bugs

I was trying to get a picture of this raptor today becasue it looked a little odd. I wasn't sure if it was a red-shoulder hawk or not. I was all the way zoomed in so the image is a bit fuzzy.
Then the male flew in and answered that question. Spring time and love is in the air.

We've been doing soem fuel modification work at Black Hill and there were a lot of dead trees that have been cut up. Most of them have many termites in them eating up all the wood. Here are some workers and a soldier.And here are wood boring beetle larvae. I originally said termite queens, but you learn something new every day and stand corrected. We have been finding some blue green metallic partial beetles, so maybe that is them.

the decomposers

Out in the oaks today I saw all these cool little decomposers under rotting logs and such. Don't know specifically what they all are yet, but I'm on the case. They are all fruting bodies of some sort of fungus, except for the green one, which is the filamentous flowering structure of a moss.

Okay, not fungus at all. I now believe they are a slime mold of sorts. Still need time to research what, but no longer considered part of the fungus family.

Islay Creek Hike Day

Went up an old loop trail along Islay Creek yesterday to see if we could get to the back of the park. Well, we could not as the vegetation is extremely overgrown. I actually have a little black poison oak tattoo on my face from the walk (black spots from the sap). The trail was really beautiful though with lots of interesting views and vegetation. 1 1/2 hours to the top, 4 1/2 hours back through the nettles, blackberries and poison oak.

The first picture is of the panorama from Alan Peak to the far left at the end of the Oats/Valencia Peak trail and then all the way around to Hazards Peak to the right. The road up Islay Creek is right down the middle.
Here's some Gaultheria shallon or Salal that is growing in Islay Canyon. We don't get much of this in our area, so it was a treat to see.

Ceanothus papillosus var. roweanus growing right over the trail. This is a rare one in our area and only grows in scattered locations around the region. Usually represented by only a few individuals in any one locality. Another treat to see.

Here's a closer look at that view right down the middle of the canyon.

Waves

We have some fun waves around here. The little finger or groin jetty inside the harbor. If I were only smaller.
And the inside bowl somewhere secret...also known as I can't remember where this was, except for around here somewhere. Waves are all the same, right?

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.