We have a section of our yard that I like to keep sort of wild just to see what will happen there. It borders our neighbor’s yard and sometimes he gets a little zealous and mows the “weeds” down. He doesn’t see the beauty in dandelions, Queen Anne’s Lace, Spring Beauty, Chickweed, and California Poppies. Well, maybe he enjoys the poppies, but it is nearly impossible to mow without cutting them all down.
I had a chance to get out there and make some close observations, capturing some of the flowers and plants before our neighbor gets back from his vacation and gets antsy to mow.
If you have a spot in your yard that you can let the “weeds” grow, I highly recommend taking the time to check out what you have right there in your own yard.
Another day, a few more wildflowers. This time of year we take walks just about every day and with the weather warming up, all the flowers are blooming in succession.
The Blue dicks or Wild Hyacinth are really blooming in our area. This hillside near our walking trail is just covered in them.
Here is a close-up look at these lavender colored flowers….my favorite color. The stems are a reddish color and even though they look sort of flimsy, they are rather rigid and hold the flowers up high.
I have been thinking this is fennel but now looking in our field guide, I’m not so sure. It must be a member of the parsley or carrot family: Patterns of the Parsley Family.
We also noticed the Miniature lupine is blooming all along the path.
Here is a little bit closer up look at the Miniature lupine.
It is such an exciting time of year to be outdoors! The birds, the flowers, and the sky are all so wonderful to experience. It is out there waiting for us if we put out the effort.
Birds we observed:
Soaring turkey vultures
California towhees
Western scrub jay
White-crowned sparrows
Birds we heard:
Downy woodpecker
Mourning doves
Finches-don’t know what kind
Steller’s jay
We had a chance to enjoy another perfect spring afternoon hiking on our favorite trail. We were amazed that in the last week so many wildflowers have burst out in bloom.
As part of the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, we completed our Spring Weather Challenge. It was warm at 69 degrees (per our car thermometer). There were some breezes moving but not much.
Sunrise 6:34 AM
Sunset 7:35 PM
13 hours and 1 minute of daylight
Official high temperature: 68.8 degrees F
Official low temperature: 40.8 degrees F
Breezes coming from the South.
Our weather forecast is for rain the next two days and then back up into the 50’s the rest of the week.
The chamise is blooming all up and down the foothills right now and with its sweet fragrance it fills the spring sunshine. The clouds were whispy and moving very fast.
More cirrus clouds were to be found around the bend. My son has been studying the weather for his aviation course so he is teaching me lots of things about clouds and weather predicting.
This is a new flower to us and we came home to look it up in our field guide. We think it is Blue eyed grass.
Our state flower, the California poppy, is blooming all around town. This is on the hillside next to our walking trail.
Here is our winter weather entry if you want to compare our differences: Winter Weather.
The glories of spring are bursting out all around in our neck of the woods. The other day I mentioned that I could smell the difference in the air as we hiked. Well, today I noticed that I can hear the difference in the seasons….the woods are filled with birds and insect buzzings. The bees and other flying gnat sort of insects were flying in and out of the meadow as we stopped to observe the flowers. What a welcome sound!
Our meadow view is changing each time we hike this way now. The popcorn flowers are still blooming along with some Sierra Shooting Stars and if you look carefully about center of this photo you will notice a big hole that someone is digging. We are stumped over who could have made it.
Speaking of holes, this is one right in the middle of the pathway. It isn’t as large as the other hole, but our dog loves to stick her nose down there and sniff every time we pass by here.
Here is yet another hole we noticed freshly dug on the side of the trail. This one is not as neat and tidy as the other hole and you can see all the broken rocks and dirt that have been excavated out of the hole. I am assuming two different creatures dug these holes since they are made so differently.
Sometimes we wish we could set up a camera to capture the activity after we leave each day. My boys are always so curious about these holes and we have never really seen anything that we think might be actually digging them. We can venture guesses, but if we had a camera rigged up we might confirm our ideas.
The only creatures besides birds that we saw on our hike today were a Gray squirrel and an Alligator lizard and we know neither of those critters made these holes.
Here they are! Sierra Shooting Stars….there are so many of these blooming right now that some areas are just polka-dotted with pink. It must be spring.
We will watch these Mule’s Ears for a long time before they actually bloom with a sunflower shaped flower. Can you guess why they call them Mule’s Ears?
We have been noticing all the new growth on the ferns on the sides of the canyon as we walk down.
Here is the backside of the fern. Isn’t it interesting? We are determined to spend some time this week learning more about ferns.
The Maidenhair ferns are so beautiful right now. Notice the black stems?
This is what a fern looks like as it unfurls its fronds. They are all curled up like this to begin with and then they slowly unroll and flatten out. Fascinating and amazing at the same time!
Wow! The pines along the trail are all popping out with these red growths on the ends of the branches. We are going to research what part of the plant this is…the new needles, the cones, something else? My boys think they are the baby cones. I’m not sure. Time to investigate.
Edit 4/28/10: These are pollen cones. These are the male cones and they contain the pollen to fertilize the seeds which are on the female pine cone. Now we know.
We are not even sure what kind of pine tree this is. Look at the length of those needles!
The only other thing worth mentioning is that our black lab had FIVE ticks on her when we got back to the car. It is definitely tick season and we will start to make appropriate adjustments to our hiking routine, long pants for us and a thorough going over the dog’s fur before we head home each day. If you catch the ticks before they burrow in, you can just flick them off easily. They are actually fairly easy to spot and we rarely have trouble with them actually biting us or the dog. She gets regular flea and tick protection applied and it seems to work well.
We are off on an adventure today to another county. I relish a new place to hike and since we are taking a few weeks off as part of our “spring break”, the boys are eager to get outside in the sunshine. The predicted high today is around 70 degrees. Yahoo! So we are off to pack a lunch and fill up our water bottles to spend a day being refreshed by a new territory to discover.
Yesterday we noticed many little wildflowers starting to bloom as we hiked. Treasures around every corner. Treasures better captured with my camera and not to be picked.
Wildflowers are a feast to our eyes and I appreciate that if we leave them in their natural place that others will be able to enjoy them as well. Most wildflowers do not last very long as picked flowers anyway. Last year I saw a young family picking oodles of poppies along the trail. I don’t think they realized that poppies once picked don’t last very long, especially if you are picking them and dumping them into little buckets for your kids to carry. We occasionally pick a single wildflower to press and preserve in our nature journals. We pick only if there is an abundance and we do not take the whole plant. Rarely do I pick any wildflowers unless they are on our own property or my dad’s property, never at a National Park.
“Some flowers are so abundant that they can be picked in moderation if the roots are not disturbed, if plenty of flowers are left for seed, and if the plant itself is not taken with the flower.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 460
I think this is still good advice today.
We are just beginning to see the fennel blooming along the edges in the sunny patches.
Same with the Fiddlenecks…they are just popping open with their bright orange-yellow in the sunny spots.
I think this was the Miner’s Lettuce blooming…I have to go back and check.
I never did identify this one last year. I am going to take my field guide with me on my next hike and see if I can figure it out this season. It is very small and it blankets the edges of the trail in the shady sections. I seem to remember that we thought it might be Spring Beauty.
Today we were going to hike in another county, but it had to be postponed. My hubby wants to work in the garden anyway and plant a few of the early spring veggies.
One last photo from the other day when the clouds and sky were so very beautiful.
Last year we had a great time keeping track of all our early spring wildflowers. It became a sort of treasure hunt for our family as we hiked every week. Although none of us felt much like getting outdoors for a walk yesterday, except for perhaps our dog, we kicked ourselves out the door and were rewarded with some beautiful wildflowers to look at as we hiked.
The manzanita is blooming now and technically it is a flowering bush…I still think the buds are very pretty and this one with the bright red bud caught my eye.
There is a special spot in the canyon that we can hike to that has a slope where as the seasons progress it has different wildflowers. Right now it is starting to bloom with this Popcorn flower.
The saxifrage is starting to bloom now and it is interesting with its red stems.
How about this Houndstongue? Wow! It is so very pretty. Just like it shows in the photo, some of the blooms are almost blue and some are purple.
Okay, so this one isn’t a photo of a wildflower but he was hopping all over the meadow where we were taking photos. He was a very spirited grasshopper….let’s just say I took about ten photos trying to get him inside the frame. 🙂
We were very glad that we got out and took a hike yesterday. The sun was warm and the flowers cheered us all up. I hope they cheer you up as well.
We had to get out and hike today with the sun shining and everyone home from work.
This post is no way to make anyone jealous of our weather…but rather to remind those who are weary of the snow up to your eyeballs that it will be spring again soon. The photo above shows the start of our hike which winds along the edge of the American River. We hiked up to the bridge, underneath, past, and then around the hill to a lake.
Just as a sidenote: The reason the bridge is so tall is because they were planning on building a huge hydroelectric dam on this river. The bridge was built in anticipation of how high the water would rise after the dam was built. The dam has never been constructed for a variety of reasons, but just keep in mind that everything you see in this post would be far under water if they ever did proceed with the dam project. I thought about that a lot as we walked along. (It is the third highest in the US and the highest in California.)
Here are all the guys heading up the trail and it is true that my middle son is wearing shorts.
This is a great trail for birding as you go and these turkey vultures were soaring and spiraling upwards on a current of air. They are actually very graceful in the air and a lot of fun to watch.
I commented about the fact that with very little effort we could leave the crowds behind and have the trail mostly to ourselves. It was a wonderful day to just listen to the river roar down the canyon and to feel the sun on our shoulders. I must admit that I was a little warm as we hiked up the hill. I was thankful that I had layered up so I could shed a few layers as we went.
This is the official first wildflower of this year for me. The boys spotted it and of course I had to stop to admire it and then take a few photos. I have not yet had a chance to identify it.
So this must be the second wildflower of the year….some kind of saxifrage that was just beginning to blossom with delicate pink blossoms.
Then around a few more bends in the trail and we found this yellow flowering bush! I have no idea what it is but it was gorgeous. About this time my boys are calling to me to catch up because they have kept walking while I am snapping photos.
This was our destination today and it did not disappoint! The spillway at Lake Clementine was roaring as we went around the last corner. It was so nice and cool as we stood and listened and marveled at all that power. This is not a hydroelectric dam but rather a debris control dam they build back in the 1930’s.
Here is my photo buddy/oldest son taking some shots of the spillway. He has become quite the photographer and it is great to share a hobby with him.
Here is one last photo as we return back to where we parked the car. It has been a great afternoon out in the fresh warm air. We all feel great! Our Kona dog was eager to get in a little swimming before we started for home so we detoured down to the river’s edge and let her splash and play for a few minutes.
I was exhausted when we arrived home so the boys decided to prepare dinner for me. What was on the menu? One of their specialties is spaghetti with meat sauce and this time they added some zucchini and topped the meal off with garlic bread. Yum! Being outdoors makes us all have an appetite.
Thanks for the great day to all my men.
Here is a link to another hike we took last spring to the same place: North and South Forks
All of the photos above were taken last week on our quest for goldenrod. Turns out after reading up and doing some investigation and actually helping another OH Challenge family to identify a mystery flower, I learned that this is not goldenrod but rather rabbitbrush.
We spent quite a bit of time looking at and comparing photos with our field guide and on Calflora.org. Turns out to be something new to us….Rabbitbrush.
We had a sample of the flower and that really helped us when it got right down to making a firm identification.
We decided to turn to the chrysanthemum for our formal nature study this week and we talked about composite flowers and made a journal entry.
I think we were still successful and learned so much about our local wildflowers. We spent a glorious afternoon on a perfect autumn day together outdoors as a family.
Hat Tip to Alex for the new Flickr tool to make the mosaic with photos. Thanks!
This series of challenges has greatly encouraged so many of us to look at the changing season with new eyes.
Goldenrod is a showy yellow flower that is included in the Handbook of Nature Study. Anna Botsford Comstock encourages us to engage our child’s imagination as we hunt for “golden cities” in our neighborhoods. If you do not find any goldenrod, an alternative autumn flower study could be the aster. You will find information in the Handbook of Nature Study on the aster starting on page 506. You could also study the chrysanthemum using Lesson 131 in the Handbook of Nature Study. Chrysanthemums are available in abundance right now at your local garden nursery in a wide variety of colors.
Inside Preparation Work
Read Lesson 132 (pages 503-506) in the Handbook of Nature Study. These few pages will give you some great ideas for sparking your child’s interest in goldenrod. It is suggested to also read through Lesson 131 on Composite Flowers since the goldenrod is a perfect example of a composite flower to study. Use the illustrations on page 505 to help your children understand a little better what you are looking for as far as disc and ray flowers. (If you still have a sunflower blooming, you can also use it to demonstrate a composite flower.)
Outdoor Activity
Take a “field excursion” to look for goldenrod. In my research I discovered that there are over a hundred species of goldenrod in North America and they can be found in meadows, pastures, and alongside roads and in ditches. Their brilliant yellow color will alert you to their little “golden cities”.
The Handbook of Nature Study suggests on page 506 to notice where you found the goldenrod growing. Did you find more than one kind of goldenrod? How many insects did you find visiting the goldenrod’s flowers? Did you find any galls growing on the goldenrod?
Anna Botsford Comstock says to not worry so much about identifying a particular species since they are difficult to distinguish.
If it is appropriate, choose one sample to take home for further study during your follow-up time. I made a simple nature notebook pagefor you to use if you wish.
If you are studying an aster or a chrysanthemum for this challenge, I urge you to still read about the goldenrod and take the outdoor time with your children to enjoy the season. There is an Aster Nature Study here on my blog for more ideas.
Follow-Up Activity
Allow time for discussion and a nature journal entry. If you were able to bring home a sample of goldenrod, take the time now to really look for the parts that are discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study. Use Lesson 132 on page 505 to guide your detailed observations of the flower heads. There are suggestions for sketches within the lesson.
If you have a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can use the Autumn Photo Project activity in the printables section of your membership along with your autumn goldenrod study. Print the page out and take a camera along with you to snap a few of the suggested nature photos. This will keep your whole family involved as you take a walk together.
This is the version of the Handbook of Nature Study that I recommend using along with the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Please note this is an affiliate link to Amazon for a book that my family owns and has used for over a decade.
We took a long walk today to enjoy the last of the hot afternoons…we know they will be coming to an end soon. Here are a few things I want to share from our day.
This is a sure sign that autumn is coming quickly. The aspens are beginning to change color and the wind makes them shimmer and shake.
The Kokanee salmon are spawning and their green and red color is brilliant in the clear creek water.
The creek is very shallow and the salmon come here to lay their eggs and die. This becomes a habitat for eagles and bears and ducks this time of year. Can you guess why?
If you click this photo it will enlarge and you will see the outline of a bear at the bottom of the photo among the trees. She was on the other side of the creek sharing a salmon with her baby. We gave her a lot of space and the few of us that were there snapped a few photos and left her in peace.
The whole afternoon was picture postcard perfect.
The Pussy Paws are golden and the Rabbitbrush is golden and the pines are green and the sky is blue……where are my paints?
This was a great afternoon and I feel so refreshed.
