Song Sparrow and a Carpet of Greens

Our song sparrow is back! We heard it's unmistakable song for the first time yesterday and again today. In 2013 I noted in a notebook that I heard it the first week of February. This is a video posted by someone else on Youtube of its sweet song announcing the coming of Spring! 

The maps of its habitat shows that they are a year round resident here so maybe it is like the yellowthroat - here all year, but only sings it's song in the spring. Could it really be that they are just silent without song all those months?

The ground at O'Neill Regional Park was covered in a lush carpet of greens this past week. They grow, awakened by the rains, all reaching for the sun together in beautiful harmony. We saw cutleaf geranium, shepherd's purse just beginning to bloom and some nettle, wild cucumber in full bloom, signs of chaparral sweet pea, and many other old friends to look forward to this spring.

Flowers on Homestead Hoffman Trail, O'Neill Regional Park

We hiked along Homestead Hoffman trail in O'Neill Regional Park, a trail with a lot of poison oak, but worth the trouble if you can manage to avoid it. It's one of the cooler trails covered by oaks and vegetation, but less remote since it runs parallel to the road most of the way. 

You never know what you're going to find on the underside of a leaf. This looked like an interesting bug at first.

But when you look close it's actually some kind of bug's molted exterior.

Here's a close up of witch's hair (dodder). You can actually see its suckers in the lower part of the picture. Sometimes our kids try to save plants from dodder; such a noble act, don't you think?

Fresh, pink, fuzzy oak leaves. Why do they look so different?

Chaparral Sweet Pea was abundant, mostly leaves with flowers just beginning to show.

Caterpillar Phacelia was also abundant.

I'll have to come back and identify this one. 

 Chickweed

Blue eyed grass

A mystery flower that looks like it already bloomed and lost its petals or is still in process. Maybe a native lily? Timing is everything isn't it?

Blue dicks

Indian Pink

Purple Clarkia?

I've seen this before and I still can't identify it. Any idea?

Wildflowers on Edna Spaulding

Here are some wildflowers we found on Edna Spaulding today.

Blue dicks (dichelostemma capitatum)

All 3 colors of California Buckwheat (Erigonum fasciculatum)

Parasitic dodder abounds along the trailsides. I remember my kids trying to remove it to save a plant :)

Dodder, a.k.a. witches hair (Cuscuta)

Our Lord's Candle (hesperoyucca whipplei)

The flowers dangle like lanterns. Look at what is inside when you peel back the petals.