25 February 06

No Ducks Up Cold Canyon

Henderson's Shooting Star We were asked at the last minute to help out on a bird walk for California Duck Days. Since it was up Cold Canyon, where the redbud is just emerging, and since this might be the last chance we get before it starts pouring here, we leapt at the chance.

Jeff Falyn is a docent at Cold Canyon and is recovering from an illness, but had us all do an exercise of finding plants named in a list and then renaming them. I came up with Floating Fern for Maidenhair Fern.

At left is a Henderson’s Shooting Star which someone renamed Purple Comet.

Singing California thrashers and Hutton’s vireos, T-shirts, sunscreen: California in February.

Postscript: Don Gallo met a bad end. He ventured into the yard with the dogs. By the time the commotion was heard, it was too late…

Posted by at 07:36 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. Don Gallo, RIP. A sad end for such an impertinent, brash bird, who had more than the usual roosterish chutzpah. But you’ll probably get more sleep now.
    — Babz    27. February 2006, 11:07    Link
  2. Poor rooster. Dang.

    We’ve renamed a few plants ourselves over the years: Ubiquitous Pinkflower, which turned out to be valerian; Festering Snotweed, which probably got applied to several species in our garden.
    — Ron Sullivan    27. February 2006, 20:54    Link

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