Zim Zim Falls

Yesterday was a glorious day for a hike, and what better companion than Nick to share it with.

Our destination was Zim Zim Falls, in the northeast corner of Napa County, a BLM area that is a wildlife corridor between Lake Berryessa and Clear Lake.

There was this one tree with these yellow fist sized fruit on the ground that we could not identify. We tried Googling "Alien cornball fruit", etc. but had no luck. Anyone know what this is? (That means you, Andria).

The first couple miles is a nice, flat, amble up the creek.

A Pacific Tree Frog at water's edge.

There was a tug 'o war going on between the brown of last summer, and the green of winter.

We had to cross the creek mumerous times, but thanks to Gortex, our feet stayed dry.

Let's play "guess the object". This is a ____________ ...

... bottom of an old enameled kettle. You can see the little holes where the spout went.

Spring has sprung for these two buckeye butterflies.

Nick, sniffing out fungi like a beagle.

After a steep climb in elevation, we spotted the falls.

We scrambled to the base of the falls like moths to flame, or ticks to blood.

Nick leaning at a precarious angle. At the bottom was a nice sized pool, maybe ten feet deep. This would be a good swimming hole later in the year.

We climbed well above the top of the falls, found a perch, and finished our lunch. This is the view looking back the way we came.

A few lupine were beginning to bloom.

Hawkeye Nick spotted this geo-cache, filled with little mementos.

Hamming it up for a self-timer shot.

Nick sees art in nature all the time. This oak and shadow didn't go unnoticed.

One of many rocks we examined and marveled at.

Nick stopped to make a call.

All aboard!

Party time!

Oaks and shadows.

Hi, Newt. Goodbye Zim Zim. Hello civilization.

Follow-up on "Stick"

"Stick" had a name change this past week, and became "Kabob" (see story below). He was released, yesterday, after a full recovery. Knowing gulls, however, he is probably looking for another BBQ to raid.

Stick and the Black Swan

This is "Stick", and let me tell you, gulls are tough. Stick was brought to IBRRC about 10 days ago from Napa with a stick sticking out of his rear end. After a few days, Becky, our vet, pulled the stick out of his mouth. The stick was a BBQ skewer that Stick had swallowed, which must have had food on it. Stick was himself skewered from his esophagus, through his body, and out near his vent. His body surrounded the stick with fibrous tissue, so there was no surgery and no bleeding. He seems to be doing just fine, and should be released soon.

Our last day with our lovable black swan. Jeanine discovered a retreat near Healdsburg that has a large pond with a black swan. We had been perplexed trying to find a proper home for the swan, and Marie was even thinking about contacting Disneyland, which takes good care of its birds. Here, he's looking at his friend in the mirror.

Goodbye, beautiful swan! Here, Jeanine is taking the swan to a carrier for the long drive, accompanied by Donna. Late in the afternoon, we got a call that both swans hit it off, and the location was perfect.

Tomales Point

Today, I drove out to Point Reyes to hike to the end of Tomales Point.

The trail started at the Pierce Point Ranch, which was one of the oldest dairies in the area. It produced butter and milk for San Francisco in the 1850's. The buildings have been maintained in their original form.

This is looking at the tip of Point Reyes, and those offshore rocks are actually The Farallon Islands, about 30 miles straight offshore from San Francisco. It was a very clear day.

Looking north, the direction to the end of Tomales Point. The point is miles long and is a thin steep spine that separates Tomales Bay from the Pacific Ocean. It is home to one of the biggest Tule Elk herds in California. This makes it home to a number of mountain lions, also.

A member of the clean-up crew.

The herd was started with 10 elk in 1978, and in 2009 was estimated to be over 440 animals.

An American Kestrel watching for movement.

Some big male elk were gathered in a group apart from the younger elk.

Wind sculpted cypress looking like a huge bonsai.

Looking down on the entrance to Tomales Bay.

This island had a couple neat things going on.

There was a group of seals on the beach. I couldn't tell if they were elephant seals, or what.

This cormorant was very iridescent.

I had to mind surf this wave, which was bigger than it looks.

The other neat thing about that island was this blow hole that was quite spectacular, even from a distance.






One last look at the Tule Elk before heading home.

Napa / Sonoma Marshes and Fields

I spent several hours, today, hiking around in the Napa / Sonoma marshes and fields. I hadn't been to this particular area, before. My hike started on a muddy track that went out about a mile to an abandoned house and barn.

I hope to come back at night sometime soon for some night photos.

There was also a collapsed barn, and a few abandoned tractors along the way.

Past the house, I came to a levee and slough. There were several white tail kites and northern harriers hunting in this area. I also saw 2 barn owls and a great horned owl in the same barn.

Tunnel vision.

Across a canal was this huge plowed field. That's Mt. Diablo in the distance.

I tried an old, unmarked road that went a couple miles. This is a one lane bridge out in the middle of nowhere.

Driving back out through the Carneros wine region, the mustard is beginning to bloom. This whole area is such a nice contrast to the fast paced Bay Area urban chaos. Much of it is being returned to marshland, after years of exploitation by farmers and salt pond companies.

Earthquake!

Yesterday, I had my science students make their own versions of seismographs as part of our plate tectonics unit. They used a variety of classroom junk and their imaginations. This group was first done, and after 2 pictures my camera battery went dead. Nacho shakes the table while David and Maireny graph the shaking.

Napa High has a real seismograph worth about $12,000. My students had a blast jumping on the floor creating massive earthquakes. Our fabulous science department won a grant for the seismograph, which is linked to a network of seismographs around the world.