Visitors 6
Modified 21-Dec-23
Created 6-Aug-23
60 photos
Clouds of Robins greet us on a misty, frosty morning for the annual Christmas Bird Count from Escobar Gate. Dressed for the cold, we move past frost-bedecked leaves and a startled doe to the top of the rise, still topped by the "Phainopepla Tree", now bereft of foliage and even mistletoe, a standing remembrance of leafy days past, now a lookout post and refuge for birds. Frost tinges the ground here too; eager green grass crowds beneath last fall's dry remnants; dense fog obscures distant views. Coyote Brush, bright white flowers standing out in the grey world, shares its seeds with the grassland and chaparral. Beads of condensed fog cling to them.
A garishly colored mushroom has been broken open. Is it edible?
The fog lifts. By 10:25 am, blue sky shows through the branches of the Lone Valley Oak along Road F, as we make our way home to hot chocolate, memories of frosty branches dancing in our heads.
A garishly colored mushroom has been broken open. Is it edible?
The fog lifts. By 10:25 am, blue sky shows through the branches of the Lone Valley Oak along Road F, as we make our way home to hot chocolate, memories of frosty branches dancing in our heads.
Dan Quinn