2019)

Image | March 28, 2019 | robinleecarlson

I had two goals on this visit to the Reserve: to conduct my usual observations and to finalize the locations where I planned to have my field sketching workshop participants stop for our six drawing exercises. I didn’t get to the Reserve until around noon, when everything had warmed up into the sixties. With the bright sun, there were butterflies absolutely everywhere! Plenty of wildflowers, too, including California pipevine (Aristolochia californica), which I had not managed to find in bloom in previous years.

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July Visit (7/21/2016)

Image | September 9, 2016September 16, 2016 | robinleecarlson

On a hot but not scorching morning, butterflies of all sizes were abundant:

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Lots of summer yellow:

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A few last wildflowers and fruits:

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A brief sighting of a Sonoma chipmunk (Tamias sonomae):

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Some of the new stairs that volunteers have constructed along the trail:

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I heard, but did not see, a Nuttall’s woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii). This drawing is based on a reference photo:

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June Visit (6/29/2016)

Image | August 25, 2016October 6, 2016 | robinleecarlson

By June, Cold Creek was dry, at least in the lower part. It is possible that water remained in pools higher up in the canyon.

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There were still a few wildflowers to find, and some Valley elderberry longhorn beetles (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus) on their favorite plant:

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The leaves of yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum) growing alongside the trail were strikingly shiny. The yerba santa often seemed to be growing in patches of weedy thistles (star thistle, milk thistle) and dandelions, which are much more abundant post-fire with much of the shade gone.

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