Horned Lizard at Rancho San Antonio

After very rainy winter and spring, the vegetation is at its peak at Rancho San Antonio, and with that a large count of animal species. I have noticed a Great Blue Heron and Great Egret on the grassy field near the tennis courts (very unusual), a Bobcat, and countless White Tail Rabbits.
Yesterday, walking along the Chamise Trail, I discovered a creature that far exceeded my imagination. Initially I thought that it was a frog hiding in the grass on the edge of the trail. Upon a closer look it turned out to be an unusual lizard. Its full name is Blainville's Horned Lizard, and it is native to California. Santa Cruz Mountains are on the western edge of its range.

The horns extending from the lizard's head are true horns with a bonny core. The spines on the back and sides are made from modified scales.

Here is another unusual view, a Mallard Duck rearing young ones in the pond. For the last several years the pond was a dry hollow, filling with muddy water in the spring. This year it is full of crystal clear water.

Bullfrogs and Snakes at Arastradero Preserve

Today, I got a good picture of the bullfrogs that inhabit the Sobey Pond. Their deep loud call sounds like made by a creature the size of a deer, at least I thought so initially. After so many rains the pond is full to the brim, and the bullfrogs can be easily seen from the road. These are the American Bullfrogs, introduced to California for they tasty legs. Bon Appetit.

Above the Sobey Pond I was alerted by a rattlesnake hiding in the vegetation along the road.

Montara and Pedro Mountain

Montara Mountain is a 1,898-foot tall hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Montara, CA, 20 miles south of San Francisco. McNee Ranch State Park on the western slopes of the mountain is a very unique place, because of the network of hiking trails and roads leading up into the open hills in a coastal area that is otherwise accessible only along the ocean shore. I have been visiting beaches around Half Moon Bay for over 15 years and only recently learned about the hiking trails at the McNee Ranch SP.
There are several places to start the hike up the mountain, this time we chose to park at the Gray Whale Cove State Beach parking lot, to walk down to the beach after the hike.The trail quickly climbs above the ocean level and opens a view at the Devils Slides and a newly constructed highway tunnel,



and at the Montara Mountain slopes.



At the top of the mountain, the road ends with the gate to the San Francisco State Fish and Game Refuge. The refuge is a large open space extending up to Fwy 280 and as far as I know can be only visited on a docent lead tour.



Despite excellent views in all directions, I  was disappointed with the summit of the Montara Mountain, because it is fenced and hosts communication facilities. I always expect the mountain tops to be the most remote and untouched places, but the top of the Montara Mountain is just the opposite of that. A nearby peak of the Pedro Mountain is a much more remote and enjoyable destination. Below is a view at the Mountara Mountain antennas from the top of the Pedro Mountain.



From the peak of the Pedro Mountain we randomly wandered down and eventually connected to the main trail.  The upper part of the mountain has a lush shrubbery, which is most likely thriving on the moisture from the coastal fog.



The mountain has views in all directions, at the Marin Headlines, Mt. Hamilton, Santa Cruz, and Pacific Ocean. Here is the view south towards Half Moon Bay captured on the way down.



Near the end of the hike w noticed a person practicing sun salutes towards the setting sun. What a great place to do yoga.



After the hike we walked down to the Gray Whale Cove State Beach and stayed until the sunset. This is the first time I visited this beach and I it has become one of my favorites. The sand is coarse and has this orange color I have not seen at the other beaches in the area. The sun was setting behind the clouds and the ocean waters were rough. I uploaded this photograph directly from my camera, there was no need to do any editing.

Cadillac De Ville on Pedro Mountain

High on the slopes near the top of the Pedro Mountain, sits a wreck of Cadillac De Ville. Overgrown with the Coyote bushes, it looks like a modern sculpture rather than an abandoned car. Its wheels are turned to the right, as if the driver was trying to avoid going down the steep slope before the car finally froze on the rock.



That model was manufactured only in years 1960-70, and one of the signs scratched on the body has a date 1976.



De Ville used to be a large luxury car, how did it end up stuck up there? There is another car wreck on the uphill slope a couple of hundred yards behind, and both cars were heading in the same direction, west towards the ocean.

Rancho San Antonio

Unique Redwood Trees in Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve

Last Saturday I joined the Unique Redwood Trees hike led by David Milburn, a docent for the Open Space District. We hiked in a rarely visited Bald Knob area of the Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve, looked at the trees, and listened to David's comments. The unique trees were the old growth trees that survived the logging times becasue of their nonstandard trunks.
For me, the most remarkable was the note on the redwood bark, which is rough and fractured on younger trees and gets smoothed on the old trees. This is how one can recognize the age of the redwood, since the height and diameter may depend not only on the age but also on the environmental conditions.
Photographing these trees was very difficult, the forest was dark and the occasional sun spots created a lot of contrasts. I selected my three best photographs.

Reiteration Tree is old and bulky. It has a secondary trunk starting high above the ground. Our leader David Milburn is standing next to the tree.

The bark of the Reiteration Tree tree is smooth and veined, like an old human skin. Looking at the bark, one can have a sense of the old age, and we are talking 1000 years here.

The Chimney Tree has a long open cavity all along its trunk. Many old redwoods have open cavities at its base, which are made by a repetitive action of the fire burning and rotting caused by fungus. This tree's cavity is much larger, and somehow did not casue the tree to fall.

Sunday Morning in Rancho San Antonio

Last Sunday morning I went to the Rhus Ridge trail head for a quick hike up the Black Mountain, but the parking lot was already full at 9AM. To not loose time, I drove to a nearby access road that is not marked on the Rancho San Antonio map and hiked to the Chamise Trail. From there I walked down to the Rancho. That morning the valley was covered with fog and I expected the same in the hills, but the air cleared out quickly. It was one of these bright and sunny mornings, with birds singing in still air.

A view toward San Jose and Mt. Hamilton from the trail to Rancho San Antonio. The white layer above the valley is from the fog rather than from the usual smog. The view looked very Japanese to me.


Buckeye trees look cool in the fall.


In several places I have seen clouds of little flies dancing in the air above the chaparral.