Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Emmanuel Tracking a Bobcat
Last week I got to go track bobcats using Telemetry, with my friend/roommate Emmanuel who works for the carnivore project in the Santa Monica Mountains. Over the last 7 years or so the NPS has tracked bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions to learn more about their movements and learn how they adapt to living in the urban interface.
Last Friday we located two bobcats, dissected a roadkilled rabbit (the liver will be tested to see if it has ingested rat poison that could be transfered to and kill carnivores like coyotes and bobcats), and drove around Highway 23 looking for roadkill (we found nothing except an old gas can, but the other group found a very rotten coyote corpse and a dead squirrel).
Wildlife stuff is fascinating, but not as fascinating as VEGETATION MAPPING!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Driving up the Coast
Last weekend I drove up the coast for my friend's wedding in San Mateo. I took the back roads north, since I knew it might be a long time before I had a chance to pass through the Central Coast Range of California again.
Surprisingly, there were a lot of poppies blooming near Gorman. There were almost none a few weeks ago, and I thought the season was over.
Buttonwillow, CA - a sleepy farm town in the middle of NOWHERE.
A big oil field somewhere east of the Carrizo Plain. There is still lots of oil land out there but I hear the supply is running out in this area.
Highway 33 north of Taft... no one really goes out here except the people maintaining the oil wells.
Very barren hills somewhere between Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo, near the edge of the San Joaquin Valley. This is probably due to a combination of very dry weather and grazing, but according to some very old historic records, these areas were nearly barren in the summers after some dry years, even before grazing, invasive plants, and other such human impacts. During the early spring these areas can be full of wildflowers, though.
The road to Parkfield from the south.
San Andreas Fault
There are lots of earthquakes in parkfield, but there weren't any when I was there.
Part of the road north of Parkfield is dirt.
A lonely intersection...
The next day I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains, what a contrast!
Surprisingly, there were a lot of poppies blooming near Gorman. There were almost none a few weeks ago, and I thought the season was over.
Buttonwillow, CA - a sleepy farm town in the middle of NOWHERE.
A big oil field somewhere east of the Carrizo Plain. There is still lots of oil land out there but I hear the supply is running out in this area.
Highway 33 north of Taft... no one really goes out here except the people maintaining the oil wells.
Very barren hills somewhere between Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo, near the edge of the San Joaquin Valley. This is probably due to a combination of very dry weather and grazing, but according to some very old historic records, these areas were nearly barren in the summers after some dry years, even before grazing, invasive plants, and other such human impacts. During the early spring these areas can be full of wildflowers, though.
The road to Parkfield from the south.
San Andreas Fault
There are lots of earthquakes in parkfield, but there weren't any when I was there.
Part of the road north of Parkfield is dirt.
A lonely intersection...
The next day I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains, what a contrast!
Thursday, May 07, 2009
San Diego
Last weekend I went to San Diego with my friends Keith and Julie and visited the zoo and wild animal park.
Condor!
Stinky Flamingos
Lions
Spinning the World
Me as a weaver bird
I already forgot what this is called
King cobra!
rhino
Emo polar bear
Orangutangs
Condor!
Stinky Flamingos
Lions
Spinning the World
Me as a weaver bird
I already forgot what this is called
King cobra!
rhino
Emo polar bear
Orangutangs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
