| The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Naturalist's Almanac What to See This Spring California Desert: "Booming" and Blooming Joshua Tree National Park, which includes both high and low desert, has two distinct wildflower seasons. The second one, in the high Mojave, runs through May and features cottonwood, Arizona lupine, chuparosa, desert mallow, desert mimulus, Mojave mound cactus, purple bush, purple mat, little gold poppy, London rocket, prince's plume, and yellow cups. (619)367-7511. Keep your eyes peeled for desert bighorn sheep, coyotes, and roadrunners, too. Also, spring is the time you're most likely to find the nearly two-foot-long, vegetarian chuckwallas out and about looking for food. As a defense against predators, these lizards wedge themselves between rocks and inflate their lungs, becoming almost impossible to extract. There are endangered desert tortoises in Death Valley National Park, but probably a better place to view them is at the Desert Tortoise Natural Area, on Bureau of Land Management land near California City. For constantly updated information about what is happening and when with desert wildlife and wildflowers throughout the state call the Theodore Paine Foundation: (818)768-3533. April Rhododendrons start blooming in the undergrowth of old- growth redwood trees. Their brilliant blossoms range in color from white to bright pink and light purple to deep red. This is snowy egret and great blue heron breeding season. West San Rafael Island is one of the largest rookeries in the Bay Area and both species can be seen sharing the protected nesting grounds there. The birds nest, and rear their young in trees along the rocky shores until early summer. After the young have fledged, each bird departs alone. There is no access to the island rookery. The only way to observe the nests is by boat, and visitors must remain at least 100 yards from shore. Landlubbers can see great blue herons and snowy egrets nesting at Audubon Canyon Ranch, on Bolinas Lagoon. (415) 868-9244. Look for the chalcedon checkerspot butterfly. These black- and-cream checkerspotted insects can be found anywhere in the Bay Area where there is a steady supply of sticky monkey flowers. Males have red spots on the edges of their wings and are typically smaller than females. Loons don their blooming plumage in late April and can be observed close to shore all around Tomales Bay. May As vernal pools slowly evaporate wildflowers appear, often in concentric circles radiating out from just above the water's edge. To see the early spring wildflowers, visit Vina Plains, a Nature Conservancy preserve in the upper Sacramento Valley north of Chico. Call (916) 891-8462 for tour and preserve entry information. Jepson Prairie Preserve, between San Francisco Bay and Sacramento, hosts one of the world's largest vernal pools, a half-mile-wide lake that is home to many rare and endangered species. For tour information call (916) 752-6949. June Cow parsnip,, with its massive white blossoms, dots hillsides along the Coast. It resembles Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot). Delicate columbines, late spring bloomers, can be found throughout the Bay Area on moist wooded or brushy slopes as can the California bee plant, whose numerous small, maroon flowers are a favorite of bees. Gordy Slack is an Associate Editor of California Wild. |
Spring 1997
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