Riley Wilderness Park

After reading about a friend's visit to Riley Wilderness Park, we decided to head out there this past weekend.

It's one of the lesser known parks in Orange County, tucked up in the hills by Coto de Caza.



If you're looking for fields of wildflowers, this is not the place. I did find some new ones that I still haven't identified though...




My friend Sophia identified this one for us, it's chamomile.




The good news is the "dry pond" on the map is not dry yet.




In fact, it's teeming with more life than you'd ever imagine!




Here's a short video I put together with all the clips I took. So interesting!



Can you figure out what those little beetles are? They're not whirlygigs, those are greyish silver. There had to be a billion of them there.

Heading home as the sun begins to set, the landscape takes on a glow that my camera just never can capture just right... it's enough to make you want to stop time and children and everything else and take out a fresh canvas, a comfy chair, some paint.... a nice hot latte, to see if you could do any better.





Wish I could...



capture that sky... I'd love to hang it in my room!

Off The Beaten Track

I know the sign says "Stay on trail"

...but my husband says "let's go"

and... well... what can one do?


So we peek into places like this...




that turn into this...




and this...




and this...




and catch a glimpse of this...





This box didn't have a sign, but I knew we're not to touch it

...but my daughter's curiosity got the best of her

So she opened it...




and was thrilled to find a nest with three of these...





The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Rancho Mission Viejo

More interesting finds from our ventures outdoors this week.

Today's pictures are from a hike we took up into the hills from the parking lot at Remington Senior Apartments, right by the fire station. There's a trail across from the fire station that heads down into the cover of some very, very large, climbable oak trees.




You'll see paths and hills carved into the trail by dirt-bikers. The kids love running up and down them.




The trail winds through the oaks then comes out into the sunshine for a bit of an uphill climb. One section is really steep, but gets you up to the ridge for some really beautiful views.






Here's what we saw...

Ground Pink



Lupine



Splendid Mariposa Lily as it looked on our way up the hill



The same lily as the sun was setting on the way down - it closed




Wishbone Bush



Wild Cucumber



Salamander - found this guy while digging with a stick through the fallen oak leaves in the shade. I thought it was an earth worm and was about to show it to my 2 year old when I noticed its head looked different and it had legs.



Horehound - I see this everywhere now. You can boil the leaves to make a sore throat remedy. You can also make horehound candy with it.



The next pictures are from earlier in the week at the tidepools in Laguna Beach.

Unidentified caterpillar on deerweed



I believe this is some kind of coralline algae - pretty



goose neck barnacles, they look like crab claws





And last but not least, a bit of a poem from our studies this week...

Mother-my-love, if you'll give me your hand,
And go where I ask you to wander,
I will lead you away to a beautiful land
The Dreamland that's waiting out yonder.

~from Child and Mother by Eugene Field

A Conspiracy at the Mudflats

My daughter pointed out that the water level was noticeably higher when we arrived at the Newport Mudflats on Thursday. It is one of the few remaining estuaries in California, and I had read that several times, but it wasn't until today that I actually learned what that really meant.



After some searching, I found a lab manual from Fullerton College discussing the ecology of this area and here are some interesting things it says about this area:

...an estuary is an embayment along the coast of an ocean, with a generally steady supply of freshwater washed down from rivers. An estuary is a sort of mixing zone where water from the sea and water from the land meet each other.

The water environments in Upper Newport Bay are always changing. For example, during a flood tide (when the tide is coming in), sea water pushes into the bay, raises the water level and salinity, and changes the water temperature. During ebb tide, sea water retreats, the water level and salinity are lowered, and water temperature changes again. Tides strongly influence activity in the estuary. Each day, the bay experiences two high tides and two low tides.

The zone where these two water resources meet and mix is called the Null Zone. It consists of brackish water — less salty than sea water, and more salty than freshwater.

You can read the rest of the manual here. So interesting to read after knowing it first.

There were many shorebirds - I recognized willets, there were probably sandpipers, dowitchers, and godwits as well.



And here is a 'conspiracy' of black skimmers - the only bird in the US with a bigger lower mandible than upper. They drag their lower bills through the water to catch small fish.





Mudsnails...




We found a bunch of these Bermuda Sorrel - aka Bermuda Buttercup, African Woodsorrel, Sourgrass by the head of the trail where we park. The kids love the sour taste of their stems.

On The Hills and In The Aquarium

Here are pictures from our trek up the hill last week...



a silvery blue



black mustard beginning to cover the hills



lupine (have you read Ms. Rumphius?)



morning glory (bindweed)



Here's what I found happened to our giant water bug last week. Can you see what happened? (Hint: It didn't have a full grown baby!)



I found these interesting looking creatures in our tadpole aquarium - they're planarians.




Who knew!?!

Barn Owl Webcam at Starr Ranch

My friend Johnna just gave me a heads up on Starr Ranch's Barn Owl webcam that is broadcasting a nest of 5 barn owl chicks right now. Amazing! If you have enough time to watch, you'll see the parent fly in with a rodent every now and then to feed the chicks.

A Little Friend

It was hard to resist romping through the beautiful grassy fields full of wildflowers...



And it was no surprise when I found this little guy tagging along for a ride on my 2 year old's pants. It's a Pacific Coast Tick.



I've learned to strip the kids down after springtime hikes and check them from head to toe to make sure they haven't picked up any of these guys along the way. Just one of those things we have to learn to live with!