California 2012 - Yosemite, Devils Postpile, Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake, Half Moon Bay
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Rancho San Antonio Wild Turkey; Meleagris gallopavo
We saw a flock of male wild turkeys as we walked on the trail at Rancho San Antonio.
Female California Quail and chick
This is the female California Quail with one of her many chicks. The chicks are very well-camouflaged.
Night Heron ; Nycticorax nycticorax
I was delighted to watch this Night Heron as it stalked the shallow water for fish at the Palo Alto Baylands. I had never been able to get so close to one of these birds before. It is amazing how still these birds can stand while they wait for fish to swim by! It did not move a muscle for several minutes. I like the long white plume on its head.
This beautiful regional park is located on the southeast shore of San Francisco Bay. It has several miles of hiking trails that follow the tops of the hills, through the meadows, and into the wetlands. This is a wonderful area to enjoy seeing many different kinds of birds. We have seen herons, ducks, coots, barn swallows, various hawks, and Scrub Jays. There is a lovely butterfly garden next to the visitor center where hummingbirds are often seen.
Black squirrel; Sciurus carolinensis
These squirrels are a melanistic subspecies of the common gray squirrel. They are common in Mountain View.
Kenny and I went to northern California (Silicon Valley area) in June 2012 to visit our son, daughter-in-law and 5-mo. old granddaughter in late June. While we were there we visited a few local parks.
Despite the fact that the San Francisco Bay / Silicon Valley area is highly populated, there are numerous parks and open spaces scattered about. This Open Space is a large former ranch, it has a working farm with several different farm animals. It has miles of walking trails, but since we had our granddaughter in her stroller, we didn't go too far.
Pomegranate flower; Punica granatum
I love eating pomegranates, so I was excited to see the flower that they come from. They are not native to the United States, but lots of them are grown in California.
Black-necked Stilt; Himantopus mexicanus
I like to watch these funny wading birds as they swish their long beaks in the water in search of food. I thought the reflection of this bird was interesting.
Scrub Jay ; Aphelocoma coerulescens
This Scrub Jay joined us at our picnic on the grounds of Coyote Hills Park.
Fremontia; Fremontodendron californicum
June 25, 2012 This beautiful, large yellow flower grows on a shrub. We see these shrubs along the bike trail in Mountain View. I was happy to finally find it in a wildflower book.
The golden hills and pale blue sky of California gave the University of Southern California (USC) their team colors. The trees are spread out due to the dry conditions.
It is a bit unnerving to read some of the warning signs in the open areas in the Bay Area! Even though the nearby communities are highly populated, there are still wild animals in the open space parks. Fortunately, we didn't see a mountain lion, but we did see California Quail, Acorn Woodpeckers and wild turkeys.
Since we are on Eastern Time in our part to Tennessee, Kenny and I often wake up at 4 AM the first few days when we visit California, which is 3 hours earlier. One morning we crept out of the house and went to see the shore birds at the Palo Alto Baylands. We hit it at low tide, perfect timing!
Coyote Hills Regional Park is another nice open space in the lower San Francisco Bay area. Our daughter-in-law and granddaughter enjoyed a walk along one of the paved paths. Grandpa Kenny was delighted to carry his grandbaby too! Even though it was late June, the weather was quite cool and breezy. The hills are golden brown during the during the dry season from May until November. Some day I want to see the hills of California cloaked in green.
Yerba Mansa; Anemopsis californica
This is an aquatic plant that I found growing along a lake shore at a city park in Mountain View.
It is not unusual to see hundreds (sometimes nearly a thousand) of wind turbines on the hillsides and tops in California. The strong prevailing winds from the Bay keep them spinning. We saw these as we were driving east on our way to Yosemite National Park.
California Quail - male; Callipepla californica
Finally, after several years of trying to photograph one of these shy, elusive birds, I got my opportunity at the open space park. The male has a curved, black topknot (unfortunately, I would have to photograph it against a black background so it didn't show up well!). I also saw the female and several chicks nearby.
American Avocets ; Recurvirostra americana
It was fun to watch these American Avocets as they waded through the water swishing their beaks back and forth as they hunted for food.
This beautiful regional park is located on the southeast shore of San Francisco Bay. It has several miles of hiking trails that follow the tops of the hills, through the meadows, and into the wetlands. This is a wonderful area to enjoy seeing many different kinds of birds. We have seen herons, ducks, coots, barn swallows, various hawks, and Scrub Jays. There is a lovely butterfly garden next to the visitor center where hummingbirds are often seen.
Kenny and I enjoyed visiting Stanford University at Palo Alto. The grounds are beautiful.
Now that we have a new family member in California, we will be going out there a lot more often. Our granddaughter was 5 months old at the time of this trip.
The highway to Yosemite National Park
The road to Yosemite got very interesting as we began to climb the foothills of the Sierras. This curvy, narrow highway would be very bad for people prone to carsickness! Fortunately, we don't have that problem! This photo was shot from the car window, there was not a place to pull over and stop to get a better shot.