Triple Value Passport to the Arts - the Laguna Beach Passport

"one price, one pass, three art festivals"
is the name of the game for Laguna Beach's Art Festival Spectacular of Summer 2009.

As seen on the website: www.lagunabeachpassport.com, when you purchase a Laguna Beach Passport online, you will "receive unlimited admission all summer long to three famous Laguna Beach art festivals" - The Art-a-Fair, the Festival of Arts and the Sawdust Festival- "and everything they have to offer, all for only $19! (a $36 value!). That’s a $17 savings! And that’s not all! Each passport includes one-time free parking in the Act V parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road and FREE shuttle service."

Click HERE to Learn About and Purchase the Laguna Beach Passport

The three festivals take place at the southern entrance of Laguna Canyon (on the Laguna Beach side) and are always fun to visit with friends and visiting relatives or people you don't know that well but need an amusing place to break the ice. I recommend spending the early morning hiking our canyon's trails this summer, then heading on over to the festivals for lunch and an afternoon of art!

A special shout out and thanks to John Krill of www.lagunabeat.com for posting the news about this fun pass yesterday. CLICK HERE TO SEE HIS POST.

Update on Mary's Trail / Little Sycamore Canyon

This morning was super quiet at Little Sycamore and the Nix Nature Center, making for a very peaceful trek up Little Sycamore to Serrano Ridge. A fun Roadrunner led the way as I followed the trail, surrounded by quail, rabbits, red-tailed hawks, towhees, hummingbirds, lizards, bees, etc.


Here were my observations:

• The black sage was so beautiful, with its flowers being visited by the bees and other insects. It lined both sides of the trail sometimes, which was very special.
• The Mariposa lilies were in abundance along the trail.

• The native Morning Glory was also very beautiful, wrapping itself around black sage / other woody structures.
  
• The buckwheat has newer, softer, thicker greens coming up. In some areas, the buckwheat is in full bloom (for example, along Serrano Ridge).
• Along Serrano Ridge, the areas that once were covered in poppies and filaree have been taken over by the grasses which have turned that beautiful, creamy golden color. Too bad that they aren't native grasses!
• The California Dodder is really prominent as you climb up the Serrano Ridge, on that last stretch.

• Nuttall's Snapdragon is in bloom along Mary's Trail - near the entrance to Little Sycamore trail.

• Beautiful interpretive signs have been placed on Mary's Trail, right behind the Nix Nature Center. Take a moment to go read them and learn about our surroundings! It's a lot of fun. There's even a "scented" sign. :)
• California figwort/Bee Plant is finally blooming in abundance along Mary's Trail. We had reported flowerings of this plant last month? at the Dilley Preserve, right across the 133/ Laguna Canyon Rd.
• Fringed Pink can be seen at at least one location along Little Sycamore Trail (before the last big climb up). Awesome!

Many special photos were taken today and will be added to the main website, www.NatureInOrangeCounty.com and to NIOC's Photo Albums online over the next few days. Make sure to check them out!

And no report would be complete without my friend Len Gardner's comments and latest observations:

Red-tail Hawks are nesting in Little Sycamore Canyon. Linda Davis discovered the nest when on a plant walk with Laura Cohen. Linda was able to point it out to me and a few others who followed her up the trail after Paul had finished his birding tour.

It's on a ledge on the other side of the canyon from the trail. It is occupied. It appears to have 4 chicks in it.

I guess the theme of today's bird walk could have been nesting. In addition to the Red-tailed Hawk nest [...], we also saw an occupied California Towhee nest, an occupied Anna's Hummingbird nest and an occupied House Wren nest. In addition, on Barbara's Lake, we saw a family of Pied-billed Grebes. There were three chick grebes swimming along with their mother. We could see chicks in the Towhee nest. Very cute.

It got me to thinking. I suppose the very essence of DNA life is reproduction, not only the ability to do it but the compulsion to. The birds did a good job today of demonstrating that inescapable fact of life.

Until next time! Thanks for following this blog!

Cooler Temperatures in the Canyon & LCF on Facebook!

Well, after that heat spell of last weekend, temperatures have come back down into more reasonable figures for hikers, bikers and horseback riders in Laguna Canyon. (Temps were in the mid-60s this afternoon, for example). This afternoon I spent a few hours around the Nix Nature Center, enjoying the Mariposa Lilies on Mary's Trail and the adorable quail that didn't seem at all phased by my presence (or by my car at the entrance of the Nix Nature Center's parking lot). New scents are coming up along the trails - for example, how about that sweet, sugary, maple-syrupy smell along Mary's Trail??? (gotta be of California Everlasting)... MMMM!!! and there are some California Figwort (Bee plant) flowers now visible along Mary's Trail (although they may have been there for a while - I haven't been able to visit that trail for a few weeks?)

The green grasses are fading slowly into that beautiful pastel golden cream that will go so well with the more dominant purples and pinks we shall see in a few more weeks/months. As temperatures begin to rise and the earth begins to dry up, our coastal sage scrub, which is drought deciduous for the most part, will begin to drop its leaves and show their darker hues. There is always something happening in our precious canyon - every single day, the colors of the canyon are slightly different - you'll just have to wait an entire year for the specific colors of today to return again.

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Be Aware - Rattlesnake killers on the loose

As a volunteer for the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, I received this notice today:

For your information Park visitors have reported several incidents of rattle-snake killing and the removal of the rattles at Aliso & Wood Canyon. Visitors have reported finding the snakes thrown to the side of trail with rattles removed.

Anyone who sees suspicious activity should immediately report it to our park rangers. It is our common duty to protect, preserve and enhance our natural surroundings - we are all connected, and our well-being is dependent on the well-being of everything else around us - and that includes the rattlesnakes!

The latest and greatest in Laguna Canyon

Well, it's been a week since my last post. A lot more California Poppies and Mariposa Lilies are getting attention in the canyon from our hikers, bikers, and photographers. There currently is a wild flower contest going on online at the OC Register: Click HERE to see the photos. (To vote for my flower in particular, click HERE! :) )

Yesterday (Sunday April 12) I was out with a great friend selling our nursery's baby native plants at the head of Little Sycamore trail. We had Chalk Dudleya, California Rose, Fuschia Flowered Gooseberry and Mexican Elderberry out for sale, for $2 a pot. If you missed us but would like to have a few of these wonderful native plants, contact me at natureinorangecounty@gmail.com for more information.

It has been warming up the past few days - Make sure to take enough water with you, put on your sunscreen and wear a hat when hitting the trails! Until Next time! Jennifer

85 Degrees at Willow - a Lizard's Paradise! & New Photos!

Today I decided to check on the plants and animals out at Willow. I started up Willow trail at roughly 11 AM - the sun was beating down on me already but I was fully equipped with water, my trusty hat, and determination.


About two minutes up Willow, I came across this fantastic lizard (most likely a Western Fence lizard - updated on April 7, 2009 at 8 PM), who was strategically placed next to an ant hole and was wondering when the heck I was going to let him go eat lunch. We spent about 3 minutes together, chatted about our lives, the heat of the morning, etc. I was even able to sit down next to him - he'd turn his head up at me to get a closer look at this human who cared to say hello.



Here's another view, where you can really see the ants - yum! I was just hoping that the lizard would eventually move out of the middle of the road - if he didn't move in time, he might have been spotted from the air and gobbled up for lunch as well!




I continued up Willow to then check on the various wildflowers in bloom right now, along with the general state of everything else. There are a few plants/flowers I would like to mention here - and I strongly recommend you check them out ASAP - for they are beautiful!

#1: The Paintbrush along Willow is just extraordinary right now.


#2: Check out the Dense-Flowered Chick Lupine (Lupinus microcarpus), it is exquisite!


#3 Some beautiful Mariposa lilies were out, too:


#4: Check out the beautiful Owl's Clover (in the Paintbrush family):

#5: Got a photo of Woodland Star, a flower I haven't mentioned on this blog yet (it's a little blurry but it will do) - found on Lower Laurel:


The other lupines were out as well, along with the California poppies, blue dicks, common fiddleneck, deerweed, etc. etc. etc. :)
I've been updating/rearranging my photo albums online - if you haven't visited them for a while, I've got OVER 160 of them now - check them out HERE.
I'll have more news to report soon! Thanks for checking in! - Jennifer

Project BudBurst & the USA National Phenology Network

Here are two exciting projects that all amateur and serious plant lovers in Orange County can participate in, on the scientific level, without having to join a formal scientific study/group:

The first one is called "Project BudBurst" - you can learn all about Project BudBurst HERE.

The second one is called the USA National Phenology Network - click HERE to learn about it.

Basically, you have the opportunity to record your observations about the plants that you regularly visit in Orange County, whether it be on the trails or in some other area. The data that you contribute will be used to better understand climate change and other aspects of nature that we have yet to fully understand.

I, personally, am participating in both, contributing my observations to both projects regarding the False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) that we have in Lower Laurel Canyon at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park - and will probably add a few other favorite plants to my list. It is fun to know that our observations count in the scientific world, even though we do not necessarily have a scientific background or degree!

(This post was also published on Nature In Orange County - The Blog)