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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May Visit (5/29/2017)

Image | July 22, 2017 | robinleecarlson

Meandering down the trail in May, stopping every few steps to draw something else, I tried to find differences between last May and this. As I’d noticed before, there were more vines this year, including western morning glory (Calystegia occidentalis). There were abundant pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor) both years, and this visit I spotted a mating pair and was able to get close to sketch them.

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It seemed to me that there were many more Clarkias along the creek trail, including Clarkia unguiculata (elegant Clarkia) and Clarkia purpurea (four-spot).

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Bumblebees were busy in the Klamathweed (St. John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum) and I watched a Chalcedon checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) on poison oak. A few gray pines (Pinus sabiniana) that seemed to still be growing after the fire now have so few green needles left that it seems they may not make it after all.

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A couple of my usual views: Cold Creek and Blue Ridge. I’ve been trying to capture them each time I visit, for an ongoing record of seasonal changes as well as changes over the years.

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I hadn’t yet spotted an alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata; I wrote an older synonym on the sketch) in the reserve, so I was glad to finally spy one darting across the trail in front of me. They are zippy and more shy than fence lizards.

I started to draw the coyote mint (Monardella villosa) and then noticed a lady beetle (Coccinellidae) larva on one leaf.

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May Visit (5/6/2016)

Image | August 4, 2016April 11, 2020 | robinleecarlson

In May, I enjoyed new blooms, still-green hills, and the cool shade along the Homestead Trail. Caterpillars were everywhere, a white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar (Hyles lineata) below, along with lupine seed pods and wild cucumber fruits:

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Below, some pipevine swallowtail caterpillars (Battus philenor) on California pipevine leaves (Aristolochia californica). I also enjoyed seeing the cord moss (Funaria hygrometrica) with red seta (the seta were still yellow-green in March).

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Many new wildflowers:

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California buckeyes (Aesculus californica) were flowering:

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Cold Creek still had clear water flowing:

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March Visit (3/23/2016) 2 of 3

Image | May 12, 2016September 16, 2016 | robinleecarlson

This is the second of three posts covering my March visit to the Reserve. Wildflowers were everywhere in profusion. A selection:

The day was warm and sunny. I saw at least six kinds of butterfly, only three of which I was able to identify: Pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor, especially abundant in the patches of blue dicks, as above), Orangetips (Anthocharis, drawn below), and Buckeyes (Junonia coenia). I also enjoyed watching a Greater bee fly (Bombylius major) visiting the numerous Red-stem filaree flowers along the path (Erodium cicutarium, a common weed in disturbed areas).