March for Science

Saturday, I took the Coaster into San Diego to participate in the March for Science. Gail had pressing obligations and was bummed about missing out.

There were numerous scientists speaking about the importance of their work.  There was a diversity of speakers, from elementary science fair winners to PhD's. It seemed like the march more than made its anticipated 10,000 marchers.  The vibe was friendly, political but not partisan.

Below are a few of the creative signs around me.

Lets hear it for Scientists!

Boden Canyon Stakeout: Part Two

We returned to Boden Canyon this morning to retrieve our trail cam that we had staked out on April 13th.  We placed it about a half mile beyond where we had left it in February.

On the way to the cam, we saw a few interesting sights, as usual.

 A male Spotted Towhee on a tree top in the middle of his buzzy trill.

Gail Scale

What is this ?  It has very soft velvety leaves.

 About 4 miles in is this old hunters' shack/blind.

Gail Jail

 An adult Blainville's Horned Lizard blending in.

 Ash-throated Flycatcher

When we got home, we plugged the cam into the computer, and after going through and deleting 197 videos of moving leaves triggering the camera, we ended up with these two keepers:

April 20, 11:24 PM  Skunk

Last night, April 22, 9:45 PM  Mountain Lion

This may very well be the same lion we caught on the cam in February.  It may even know

 us by now, although we never see it.  We're glad we didn't pick up the cam a day earlier!

 On the return back down the trail our friend hadn't moved much.  We named him Body.

There are some magnificent, shady oak groves along the canyon.  Most of that lower green, however, is poison oak.  

When we returned to the car, we commented on how we hadn't seen another soul, and it was a Sunday. Turned out that the 78 was closed at the bottom of the grade after we had driven up before 7:00 AM. Thanks, Cal Trans!

Mt. San Jacinto

We just spent the last 3 days in the Idyllwild area, staying at the Silver Pines Village.  Yesterday, we did a solid hike up Deer Springs Trail, hitting the PCT, and continuing to the junction with the Marion Mountain Trail, a gain of about 3,000 feet.  The out and back hike was 12.6 miles.

 The weather was around 68 with a light breeze - warm enough for lizards and good for humans.

 Gail being embraced by this Incense Cedar.

 Had to take a selfie!

 Looking north at Mt. Gorgonio.

 A White-headed Woodpecker - a new ID for us.

 Around 8,000 feet, the snow started covering the trail.

The notoriously steep Marion Mountain Trail

 Our turnaround point.

Below, is a sequence of a pair of contented Granite Spiny Lizards

After freshening up, we eagerly walked the short distance to Ferro Restaurant, It was Thursday Tiki night, so we had a little 50's era libation followed by a sumptuous dinner of linguini and mussels.

Bike Path Surprise

Saturday, we were biking on a bike path going through Camp Pendleton when we came upon this beauty -

a good sized Southern Pacific Rattlesnake!

Boden Canyon Stakeout

Yesterday, we hiked Boden Canyon all the way up its headwaters to the top of a ridge, an out and back of ten or eleven miles.  Our main purpose, other than just enjoying a pleasant day, was to place the trail cam in a new spot and leave it for around 10 days.

 At the start of the hike, we met two early morning turkey hunters coming out.  We saw no one else the whole day.  I took my small camera, to give  my arms a rest.

 We passed this dead Blainville's Horned Lizard that someone had run over.

 Next up was this gopher snake getting a little morning sun.

 Gail spotted this skunk looking for food.

 After a couple miles, we came to the pond that was always dry before - not anymore!

 There were ducks, bullfrogs, and Red-winged Blackbirds. What a transformation!

 Later, we came upon a flock of Bullock's Orioles.

 And another skunk!  We have never seen skunks while hiking, and then saw two within an hour.

 A mighty Coast Live Oak, cradling Gail for scale.

After much conjecture, we strapped the trail cam to this oak tree at a point where the trail was squeezed by a drop-off on one side, and a steep bank on the other.  I literally  was rubbing my hands and clothes in poison oak to strap the cam around the trunk.

On the return back towards the car, we came upon another gopher snake.  The end.

Nick Visits

We had a very enjoyable time with Nick the past few days.  He drove down Sunday and left this morning.

 Gail had seen Ostrich eggs for sale at a produce stand near Safari Park and thought we should get one to make a super omelet with Nick.  We settled on an Emu egg, however, as an Ostrich egg is equal to two dozen chicken eggs.  The Emu egg equals about eight chicken eggs.  This is the egg's natural color!

 To save that beautiful shell, I drilled a hole in one end with a power drill, and Gail blew out the white and yolk by inserting a straw.

 Nick, an excellent cook, sauteed the vegetables and added them to the egg.

Lookin' good!

In the afternoon, we did a hike at our local Calavera Preserve, where we saw this strange bird for the first time.  It kind of looked like a way too big quail. It turned out to be a Chukar.  Chukars were introduced to this country from the Middle East for sport hunting, and there are now feral populations.

Nick made a toy to start the bonding process with Penelope (here) and Yummy.

In the evening, we went into San Diego to see and hear one of Nicks favorite bands, Of Montreal.  It had been awhile since Gail and I have been to a concert so it was a thrill to feel all the energy of a live performance and the crowd.

The evolving group is led by Kevin Barnes, a high energy singer and guitarist (internet photo).

 After a lazy breakfast on Tuesday, we headed to Lake Hodges for a little hiking and nature study.  Nick took many flower and plant photos which we are looking forward to seeing.

 We call this area of the lake, Grebe City, for its hundreds of courting and nesting grebes.

The trail winds up to an overlook.

 A pair of Western Grebes exchanging gifts.

 Maybe they are about to build a nest.

 A fence lizard on a fence.

 We saw a few Killdeer scurrying around.

 This Snowy Egret was catching crayfish, which might explain the unusual red lores at the base of its bill.  We had never seen this red before - even its feet were red!

 Here, it just grabbed a crayfish out of the water.

 A few feet away was another Snowy Egret.

 An American White Pelican being followed by cormorants, at least a quarter mile away.

 White-tailed Kite

 Roadrunner

Crest raised, he is running for cover.

 This morning, we made grated potato bird nests and added a dollop of pesto sauce and a quail egg.  Then we baked them for seven minutes.

 They were so tasty!  We have a lot of hiking to do to work off the treats from the past few days!

Those are the quail egg shells in the upper left.

We hope Nick can come again soon!  We had a blast! (and the best breakfasts ever!)