Holiday Birding - Pleasanton, CA

I'm back home in the Bay Area for Christmas with the family and it feels great! Not only is it awesome getting to see my friends and family but I get to enjoy the beautiful outdoors while I'm here. The wonderful thing about the East Bay is the wide variety of ecosystems that can be found right next to each other. Riparian and chaparral areas blend right into wooded hills and lush streams. Along with the changing terrain comes a change in observable wildlife, it's amazing the different animals one can see on a short hike. 

Today, I decided to take a break from working to stretch my legs and harass some of the local wildlife and see if I could get some nice photos. I waited til about 2pm, when the sun was finally warm, to head out and take a nice walk down a path near my parent's place. It's about 3 miles round trip and took me about 2 hours to explore. This is not the first time I've adventured down this particular path, it lies right next to a small creek that I used to climb into during the spring and summer, but I've never taken my time exploring in the winter and I wanted to see how the wildlife differed with the seasons. It turned into quite a fun and peaceful afternoon. 

...I'm going to do my best to identify some of these songbirds, but it's really not my forte...and those dang sparrows all look so similar. Feel free to correct me in the comments section below because I need to learn these :)

First sighting!!...what are you?!

First off, I noticed a change in the vegetation. Most of the leaves have fallen and it was brown and dry most everywhere I looked. But I soon realized that doesn't stop animals from going about their business. I loved the rough texture of these oak trees and later would see many critters foraging through the cracks for bugs and places to store their extra food. 

I started on the path and often crossed through fields to sit quietly and wait for wildlife to stir and come out for a close up. The dried leaves on the ground made it difficult to move quietly like I could in the summer. There were many Western Scrub-Jays out picking through the fields and making all sorts of noise in the underbrush. They have a very characteristic vocalization that is full of mischief, just like the jays. As I would try to get in for a closer shot, I'd notice the jays calling out to each other when I got a certain distance from them, as if to warn their friends of my approach. While this was discouraging at times, it was also kind of cool for a bird nerd like me ;)

Every once in awhile, a Turkey vulture would cruise up and over the canopy and swoop low into the fields. They are always much larger than I expect them to be, which is silly because I have worked with them numerous times. Something about seeing a bird of prey in flight is always much more impressive.

Among the branches I would catch the sudden knocking of woodpeckers (most likely Acorn woodpecker) drilling through the bark to look for insects, or perhaps making new cubbies for their newest acorn.

Small sparrows rustled through the undergrowth, foraging for seeds and bugs. If I sat quietly enough, they'd come through in small groups, moving along a piece of ground, methodically searching for the smallest morsel. Often, one or more would alight on a nearby twig or branch and take a look around.

Even caught sight of a couple fox squirrels easily maneuvering through the tree tops. Nimbly picking their way from tree to tree and quickly out of sight.

I don't know if it is because I've been learning a lot of mosses this semester or what, but I loved looking at the different lichens and mosses growing everywhere. Such cool textures and striking colors.

About a quarter mile down the path, you hit some ponds that seasonally fill and drain. Depending on the season (and temperature/humidity...that sorta thing) you can find so many different species of water fowl and reptiles in these small ponds. Today, I happened on millions of Killdeer (fast little buggers) and a couple very leisurely Great Blue heron. The killdeer do such a wonderful job of blending into their surrounds that I didn't even notice they were there until one sent out the alarm and a whole bunch would take to the air. I crept around the pond and tried to sneak up on this bad@$$ bird.

And then he was off too :)

The sun was getting closer to the ridge so I knew I had to quit being so curious and hustle it to the end of the path so I could turn around and head home. Much to my surprise and delight, I turned to my left and suddenly saw this adorable Black Phoebe. They are perhaps my favorite little passerine around. These agile flycatchers are so amazing to watch on the hunt and to watch chirp and bob their long tails.

Futher down the path I came across a huge flock of sparrows moving through trees and bushes that lay along the creek. There were perhaps hundreds everywhere, it was pretty noisy. I enjoyed watching them perch on the branches, sometimes upside down or completely sideways.

From another pond nearby, I saw ducks take flight in pairs or small groups. I wish I could have gotten closer to them but the pond they were hanging out in was fenced off. When I'm feeling like trespassing, I'll have to hop over there and harass them :) 

Came across a few more little song birds. A little Bushtit top) and a Yellow-rumped warbler (bottom). Two birds that I'm very unfamiliar with but that I see so often. Learn more about them at the allaboutbirds.org links I provided. :)

Made it to the end of the path as the light was beginning to fade and it set the brush on fire (not literally). Such a beautiful place I grew up in, every time I come back and get to explore I appreciate it more and more. 

Back down the path I saw this little cat hopping in and out of the brush. He caught me peeking at him and froze, I looked away to take some more pictures, turn around and he's gone. Off to catch more little critters for dinner....or fun.

I suppose these little White-throated sparrows were what he was after. Not much of a meal but fun little toys I bet.

There's nothing like the excuse of holiday break to get outdoors and check out the local wildlife, breathe some fresh air and get a little exercise. What kind of birds are you seeing in your town? 

Get out and explore!! 

Happy Holidays everyone! 

Winter Wanderings - Lake Gregory and Lake Perris

I've come to terms that I'm stuck down here in dry Southern California for the next few years so I better start appreciating it for its own unique beauty. I learned to love the humid forests of Virginia this summer so might as well learn to love the complete opposite of that. The past couple days I've been doing some outdoor exploring around the area and found some very enjoyable lakes that I will be visiting again soon.

Saturday, my roommate and I took a nice long drive up to Crestline, CA. It's a tiny little mountain town about 45 minutes away from where I live in Riverside County and 20 minutes away from Lake Arrowhead. The weather has been completely bipolar lately so we didn't quite know what to expect when we got up into the mountains, only that it would be chilly. Because we are so acclimated to Southern California weather already, all we bundled up in was pants, thin jackets and scarves....boy were we in for a surprise!

The drive up was breathtaking! And as we had guessed....freezing! As well as windy!! We laughed as we jumped out to take a few pictures and ran back to warm up in the car.

Climbing up into Crestline, we drove through clouds and started seeing patches of snow that must have stuck from the recent storm. We wound our way through town towards the lake that is clearly marked by many signs. The shoreline was dotted with adorable cabins with stairs that reached all the way to the water. How much fun it would be to visit in the summer! We parked at the north shore of Lake Gregory and it was time to explore!

American coots and Mallard ducks were crowding the shore, diving for food. It was a beautiful and calming scene with the fog obscuring the other side of the lake.

Absolutely magical 

I turned around to see what my roommate was doing and she was snapping pictures of me! haha

We soon realized it was freezing and we would only last so long outside. So off we went down the shoreline for a bit, to see what we could see :)

This waterway ended abruptly at the top of a creek. We hung our feet off the edge and imagined what a cool place this would be to hang out at during a hot summer day with friends & some good music.

Back to more fun photography.

While all we had to work with was our smartphones, we made the best of the technology. Rigging tripods from rocks and pieces of driftwood :P 

Soon after, we realized our hands were mostly numb and our pictures were getting more and more blurry hahah. Time to head back to the car.

One last look at the quiet lake...

Back in the car, defrosting and happy we got out of the house long enough to enjoy a few wonderful hours in the great outdoors :)

We descended the mountain around 4pm and the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. One last pit stop for an attempt to capture the pink sky and then home to warm food and PJs.

-------

Sunday, I decided to embark on a mini adventure by my lonesome. I don't encourage anyone to hike alone on a new path unless they are pretty experienced with hiking but I needed to get out of the house and stretch my legs. After sitting all week working and studying, my body craves constant movement whenever I can manage it, so off I went to Lake Perris State Recreation Area to try out the Terri Peak Trail. $10 fee at the front gate and a short drive into the park and I stopped by their Indian Museum to try my luck at the trail head there.  

I had found this trail using the AllTrails app put out by Nat Geo. This app is fantastic! You can search trails around any zip code, then find trail information, pictures and reviews by other hikers. It's a wonderful resource for any of you adventure lovers out there. Past hikers had said it was a little unkempt of a trail (especially when starting at this particular trail head) but that more experienced hikers could manage. I decided to try it out.

View of the whole lake as I climbed the path

Very dry and very unused part of the path. It was just me and the brush and an occasional raptor :)

This lichen was every where on the rocks and surprisingly colorful for how drab the rest of the landscape was

Winding through these rock formations got very confusing and it was tough sometimes to keep the trail but I came across a few trail markers that kept me going.

For those less experienced hikers here are a few markers to look out for whenever you're out hiking the wilderness. 

Sometimes it's an arrow spray painted to a rock or tree

Which way do you go???!

oh!! there's the arrow! right it is!

Another commonly seen trail marker is a row of stones to effectively block a game trail that might otherwise be mistaken for the actual trail. Other trail markers to keep an eye out for are three rocks stacked on top of each other, branches laid out as arrows and wood posts (commonly set up by state/county parks)

Came across an interesting plant called Datura. There are a few species of this plant all which have very pretty flowers sometimes called angel's trumpets or moonflowers. Here in southern California, you can see these very often growing wild off the side of the road. These plants are related to the classically devious nightshade and mandrake, often called Witches' weeds. This stigma comes from particular substances, such as atropine, produced by the plant's tissues. These substances are toxic upon digestion and can lead to hallucinations and death. 

These beautiful plants have been abused by recreational drug users and has resulted in many deaths because the toxicity of the plant varies greatly depending on plant age, where it is found growing and the local weather conditions. It is always a good idea to know about the local plant/wildlife when hiking or backpacking. While this Datura is toxic to eat, there are many plants which can be eaten or used for their medicinal properties. If you're planning a long trip where you will have limited access to convenience stores, I recommend picking up a plant guide of some sort to take with you and supplement your supplies. 

Unfortunately, what the hikers said was true, about a mile up the trail I lost all sight of trail markers. I followed several game trails in the general direction of the peak (keeping the lake on my right hand side) but never saw anymore trail makers. I noticed the shadows becoming longer and wanted to get down the trail before it got much darker, I was alone so this was the best/safest idea. Supposedly, the trail is much easier to follow from the other trail head located near the front entrance of the park and from there it's easier to make your way down the trail to the Indian Museum. Next time, I will have to explore that trail as well. 

While I didn't make it to the top of Terri Peak, I had a lot of fun rock hopping and scrambling through the brush looking for the trail and making sure to avoid run ins with rattlesnakes and other wildlife. By the time I made it back to the parking lot of the museum, the sun was beginning to set and my tummy was growling :) 

I encourage you to all take a few hours on your day off to explore your local trails and parks. Everything has the potential to turn into it's own sort of adventure and opportunity to appreciate the world right outside your door. More adventure updates soon! Have a great week fellow explorers!