Still doubts on the bird seen Wednesday

See post below with the photos of the bird:
We need all of your opinions! What is this bird exactly?
Someone else "in the know" thinks it's a large, young female red-tail hawk...
So I ask all of you, what is this bird?

More plants in bloom

Hello all ~
Just a note to mention that we are aware that there are a lot more plants in bloom in the canyon than what we have been able to post thus far. Thanks for your patience as we get all of the data together. ~ Jennifer

Correction : it's a juvenile osprey! :)

Well, in the midst of my excitement about the wonderful bird I saw the other day (see previous post), I immediately assumed that it was a peregrine falcon. Laura at the Nix was kind enough to let me know that it actually looks more like a juvenile osprey. I'll be correcting the previous post for search purposes.
Thanks, Laura, for the information!

Peregrine Falcon in Laguna

Hello to all!
On Sunday, Laura at the Nix Nature Center had spotted a Peregrine falcon in the early morning. Today, Wednesday 25 February, at roughly 2:20 PM, I spotted it at the Laguna Beach Gazebo right above Main Beach, while taking a break from work. When I first saw the falcon, it was majestically flying over my head (about 30 feet above me), its beautiful wings stretched wide and far; I ran to get my camera, and when I came back, I found it on a tree overlooking the ocean, resting, while the countless crows were cawing at it from the nearby palm trees.


If only you could have been there to hear all the commotion, and to see this magical bird!!! It was So COOL! :)

*** Note on 27 February 2009: According to Laura at the Nix Nature Center, this looks to be a juvenile osprey, not a peregrine falcon. It is so awesome, nonetheless!

*** Note on 13 March 2009: We have come to the conclusion that it is a red-tail hawk. See later posts for more discussion about it. Obviously, I'm going to have to spend some time learning about my birds! But for now, I'm sticking to the plants. :)

Little Sycamore / Serrano Ridge Update

Hello All!

Well, FINALLY I was able to get out and hike Laguna Canyon's trails a bit today. I spent a good 3 hours 30 minutes up on Little Sycamore & Serrano Ridge (Went all the way to the 73 underpass leading to Upper Laurel Trail). A lot of flowers were in bloom... so exciting. Tomorrow (Monday) I will be uploading all my photos to the Picasa Web Albums so that you can view them (by plant name).

At the Nix Nature Center, there was a list of flowers in bloom on the Daily Wildlife Sightings white board. Here is what was listed:
- Fiddleneck
- Blue Dicks
- Wild Cucumber
- Popcorn Flower
- Wishbone Bush
- Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry
- Monkey Flower
- Milkmaids
- CA Poppy
- Tidy Tips
- Goldfields
- Johnny Jump-Ups
- Ground Pink
- Miner's Lettuce

On top of that, I found:
- California Butterweed
- Chaparral Nightshade
- Other Nightshade
- Chia
- Encelia Californica
- Indian Paintbrush
- Menzie's Red Maids
- Canyon Pea

Check Back with us tomorrow (in the evening) on both this blog and our main website, www.natureinorangecounty.com, along with the Photo Albums for more photos.

Final update, from my good friend Len Gardner: According to Ranger Barbara of the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, "rainfall since July 1 now stands at a little less than 11 inches. She didn't have an exact figure but that is a very healthy number for this time of year. They are expecting a big wildflower year, lots of publicity and lots of visitors."

See you on the trails! Keep them safe and clean!

Update on Laurel Canyon's Plants in Bloom

With all of this rain and cold weather, along with the recent busyness of my life, I have been unable to get back out on the trails in Laguna Canyon to see what's coming out in bloom. Luckily for all of us, Len Gardner has been hitting the trails and has been kind enough to inform us of the excitement that's going on recently:

The number of types of plants in bloom has increased considerably since last month. In the stretch above the waterfall, we now have California Buttercup along with the Milkmaid, which have become noticeably "long in the tooth." They are now more like dowagers than maidens. There are far more of them than the buttercups. In the lower canyon, poison oak is just coming into leaf. Some individual plants are fully leafed out.

A pleasant surprise on Bommer Ridge was Johnny Jump-up in full bloom in its little swale near signpost 2.

Other things in bloom, which I didn't see last month, are Rattlesnake Weed, paintbrush (don't know which one), White Nightshade and Redberry, which has a very inconspicuous flower. It's so inconspicuous that I have to wonder how it gets pollinated.

There is continued blooming of Wild Hyacinth, Common Fiddleneck, Canyon Pea, California Poppy, Wild Cucumber and Fuschia-flowered Gooseberry. Some of the Wild Cucumbers (on the lower Willow Road) are already well into fruit.

A young scrub oak growing near the Willow Road had lots of catkins hanging down and quite a bit of new foliage. It was doing well.

Speaking of catkins, some willow catkins are out too.

Thanks, Len, for sharing this information!
If all goes well, I might be able to hit the trails tomorrow with my camera and notepad.
More soon.
Jennifer

With the Rain, More Blooms

Right before the heavy rains began, Dick Newell of www.octrackers.com led a group through Laurel Canyon and notes the following plants sighted in bloom:

Fiddleneck, Blue Dicks, California Poppies, Fuchsia Flowering Gooseberry,
Chaparral Pea and lots of Milk Maids. All the willows are showing off
their catkins.

Reading about all of these plants makes it tempting to go out on the trails and see them in person - but remember, patience is key! Please wait until the parks are officially re-opened before you go out hiking/biking - trampling around in the mud worsens trail conditions and negatively affects the wildlife.

What's In Bloom : Feb 1, 2009

Len Gardner was kind enough to note the following plants in bloom today, Feb 1, 2009. He writes:

Just to summarize what our group saw today in the way of new blossoms on
Serrano Ridge, Popcorn Flower, California Poppy and Wishbone Bush are all
flowering.
Some Deerweed on the ridge are also also putting out their very
first flowers of the season. I know we saw some at lower elevations in bloom a
month ago, but they were outliers. The main group is coming in now.