Here in the northern hemisphere, dead or dying leaves appear in all sorts of shapes and conditions as they plummet from their tree branches at this time of year. I noticed this particular leaf because it was filled with holes and was lying right in the middle of the trail. It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the […]
The vernal pool dry season is underway, and it’s already gorgeous! I can’t imagine how the acres and acres at Mather Field must look; the small patch of nature at Phoenix Park in Fair Oaks is already busting out with native wildflowers like checkerbloom, frying pan poppies, gold fields, and downingia. I did look for the elusive vernal pool monkey […]
Three of my favorite images from November 2016. Every year, every season has its own signature look, never quite duplicated ever again.
When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with its fall, but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze — Thomas Carlyle
I know I keep talking about the heat this summer; actually yesterday morning I started musing that it’s already August, September will soon be here (although September is usually still a warm month in these parts), and the next thing you know it will be autumn. That led me to wonder how much rain and snow we’ll get this coming […]
These small depressions fill with water only during the spring and autumn rains. Such seasonal wetlands are vital to many forms of small animal and plant life, and unfortunately many have disappeared forever under various types of human development.
I live in the northern half of my state, not in (more or less) perpetually sunny Southern California… but we still don’t get anything like the beautiful fall colors people travel hundreds of miles to view, like in New England and other northern climates. Still, if you can manage to get up early enough on a clear morning and choose […]