These big prickly cacti lean to the south as they get older, growing towards the sun. Neat!
A sea lion seen from the Seal Beach pier.
Laura and her parents live in Seal Beach. Laura and Helen had never seen a seal or sea lion at Seal Beach, other than the bronze statue at the entrance to the pier. Stan says that it was common to see seals on Seal Beach back in the 1950s. At this time, it was usual to find a view resting on the beach. He has not seen a seal at Seal Beach in recent decades.
(It would be interesting to ask the resident surfers. I assume they see them much more frequently.)
One of the many pigeons along the Seal Beach pier. This bird was in fine plumage.
A brown pelican on the move along the San Gabriel River.
A brown pelican in breeding plumage (note the red around the neck). A very sexy bird.
a couple of scorpions under a volcanic rock on the north side of the Amboy crater. The larger of the two was about 4 cm long.
The ID was suggested by Flickr user http://www.flickr.com/photos/skorpioneundinsekten/
Do you agree?
I found this beautiful lizard lying dead on the surface of the sands.
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The western side-blotch lizard in Joshua Tree National Park.
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These are fantastic desert trees. Joshua Tree National Park has nothing on the Mojave National Preserve for the massive number of Joshua trees.
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One of many harlequin bugs (Murgantia histrionica) on a bladderpod (Isomeris arborea). I also took some standard photos of "bug on plant" but I like the moody light in this photo.
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According to the interpretive sign on the trail:
"Chuparosa (Justicia californica), a perennial found only in the Sonoran/Colorado desert, can produce flowers and leaves and time of year, depending on the rains. The bright red, tube-shaped flowers are designed to attract hummingbirds, who pollinate the blossums while gathering nectar with their long toungues."
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Desert vegetation along the Mary Beal Nature Study Trail.
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A view of the Mojave Desert to the south, from the southern flanks of the Providence Mountains near the entrance to Mitchell Cavern.
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a nest of desert wood rats, or pack rats, in the Cholla Cactus Garden area of Joshua Tree National Park.
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This plant had a long list of uses for native Americans and early European settlers.
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This is a horribly poisonous weed (source of ricin), orginally from tropical Africa but growing wild here in the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, California.
It looks like there are male and female flowers on the flower spike, with the female flowers uppermost and developing into fruit. These are also notably ant plants, with ants visiting the extrafloral nectaries and small "buds" at the tips of the young leaves (presumably rich in fats). I haven't noticed ants on this plant species in New Zealand. I'll look closer now.
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An Opuntia prickly pear cactus (perhaps Opuntia chlorotica?) with a Mojave yucca behind. This is along Essex Road down from the Mitchell Caverns visitor's centre.
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A remarkable population of jumping cholla cacti in the transition area between the Colorado desert, to the south, and the Mojave desert, to the north.
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These little cacti had beautiful spines. Perhaps this is a young barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus). Please confirm or correct me if you know.
On top of the Amboy Crater, brittlebush was only abundant here on the north facing slope of the crater rim. (Nice view too.)
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Dave Haskell tells me that rings of old creosote bushes, all clones of each other from the same root stock, can be over 10,000 years old.
An Opuntia prickly pear cactus (perhaps Opuntia chlorotica?) on the Mary Beal Nature Study Trail.
This is a bizarre plant, ocotillo or Fouquieria splendens. According to the interpretive sign on the trail:
"A plant of the lower deserts, the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) endures long periods of drought by dropping its leaves. After a good rain, it can grown new leaves in just a few days. The flame-red blossums are pollinated by hummingbirds, but other birds and even ground squirrels will pierce a flower's base to reach the nectar."
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Dodder parasitising Silver Beach Bur (Ambrosia chamissonis) along the walkway between the highway and the estuary.
Bolsa Chica wetland
Huntington Beach
California
USA (United States of America)
Crocium ice plant being smothered by parasitic dodder.
It was amazing to see these in an empty lot in central Seal Beach. They're quite at home in built up areas.
