On my visit to Santa Barbara, California, Raja and I observed a decently-sized flock of snowy plovers, a threatened shore bird currently being managed in several reserves up the Californian coast. While attempting to photograph the birds, a volunteer literally ran down the beach to tell me to keep moving to reduce disturbance to the fledglings. The reserve is more-or-less constantly patrolled by volunteers with a variety of experiences in conservation biology, as evidenced by this particular volunteer’s lack of knowledge about the plover’s restoration and referral to another individual to answer my questions.
Tag Archives: California
Prescribed or wild fire?
Much of the vegetation on the Lost Horse Mine Trail had burnt during the previous season, but it was unclear whether it was intentionally prescribed, natural, or caused by visitors. It made for some cool photos though.
Lost Horse Mine
A trail to Lost Horse Mine in Joshua Tree National Park
Yucca
Flowering and fruiting stalk
Joshua Trees
Yucca brevifolia
The Cholla Garden
The Colorado Desert in Joshua Tree National Park looked extremely patchy with respect to plant species distributions. There were large areas clearly dominated by a single species, such as Ocotillo and Cholla. Further, like other desert plants, the plants appeared to be distributed uniformly within patches.
Here’s a beautiful example of a dense patch of Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii).
 |
 |
Cholla
Beyond the Ocotillo wash and patch, there were a few extremely spiny plants along the road in Joshua Tree National Park that caught my eye. I stopped to photograph this one, just before coming to the Cholla Garden, which, at the time, I wasn’t aware of.
Teddy-bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) is anything but friendly. I received a few barbed spines in my finger as I explored the cactus’ branching and green stem.
Multiple horizons
Happy Birthday, Allison!
Another year gone, yet not a single year older.
 |
 |
