Mountain Quail Madness part 1

Mountain quail, Oreortyx pictus!!

Again I had Wanda Dameron to thank for another wonderful outing! There were no particular goals of today's trip besides an up and down journey across the eloquent San Gabriel Mountains. Okay, maybe that previous sentence was a lie. There were actually several goals for today, but all of them required some lottery-teetering luck. So I preferred just to ignore them and be surprised instead!

A short drive into the mountains and a surprise pair of quail skittled across the road. We stopped the car and I kicked the door open as quickly as I could. A few moments later and we were gazing up at the humble mountain quail ascending the cliff face on foot. Less than half an hour into the day and I had already seen the most difficult species on my wish list! Wow!

As if in celebration another of my nemesis birds, black-chinned sparrow, was serenading far down in the valley. This is the second time I've heard them, the first along the Sandstone Peak trail at Circle X Ranch. Did this one finally decide to show? Of course it bloody didn't, but that's fine...

There were a few botanical additions along the drive up including blue-stemmed keckiella (Keckiella ternata), deerbush (Ceanothus integrrimus), and one of my nemesis species chaparral whitethorn (C. leucodermis). The entrance to Chilao campground gave me looks at Davidson's phacelia, summer lupine (Lupinus formosus), and an uncommon native mustard by the name of California rockcress. Further into the campground yielded abundance of a real gem of the pine woods, snowplant, a parasitic plant that bears vivid red foliage. This stop was also my first recorded sighting of ponderosa pine, although I've probably seen it before. Sturdy sedge (Carexa alma) was also growing in a small ditch nearby, adding to a quickly accelerating day total.

Chaparral whitethorn, Ceanothus leucodermis.

Davidson's phacelia, Phacelia davidsonii.

California rockcress, Boechera californica.

Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa. The pinecones
of this tree left a cut on my hand that is still here
3 weeks later!

Snowplant, Sarcodes sanguinea.

At the visitor center Wanda revealed a cache of bird seed which we laid out at the feeding platforms. Within moments birds swarmed the area, though mostly bundles of band-tailed pigeons. It was good entertainment watching these very large pigeons try and compact themselves together on the tiniest platform. Every now and then another would fly and sit on top of another, trying to claw a space to stand on. Of note though was another mountain quail (!) that came in once the pigeons moved on! This was the most expected location to see this elusive bird today but after the luck this morning I didn't count on seeing another! Incredible views, too.

Mountain quail, Oreortyx pictus.

Along the short trail nearby I encountered mustard flower rust, an interesting fungus that takes over the upper portion of mustard plants and reproduces the flowers in its own guise! These pseudoflowers attract pollinating insects as would any real flower, carrying the spores and infecting other unlucky plants in the mustard family. This example was not quite at pseudoflower stage but the infection was more than beginning. The affected mustard in this instance was California rockcress.

Mustard flower rust, Puccinia monoica.

Along the way to Buckhorn I called a stop along the road when I noticed some unusual orange flowers by the roadside. As I suspected this was the rare and endemic San Gabriel Mountains sunflower, a silver-leaved plant that lives up to both parts of its name! The reddish bases to the ray florets (i.e. what look like petals) are a distinguishing feature of the subspecies gabrielensis, although on many of them this was inconspicuous. Immediately in Buckhorn I was greeted with a stunning sight, the bright and bristly caterpillar of the silver-spotted tiger moth. In the same location I also encountered both mountain pink currant (Ribes nevadense), a common riparian shrub here, and black-tailed bumble bee (Bombus melanopygus), a species that is overall common except for my area.

San Gabriel Mountains sunflower, Hulsea vestita ssp. gabrielensis.

San Gabriel Mountains sunflower, Hulsea vestita ssp. gabrielensis.

Silver-spotted tiger moth, Lophocampa argentata.

Mountain pink currant, Ribes nevadense.

Along the Burkhart trail at this site I went searching for American dipper, but unfortunately came back negative. On the plus side this habitat was really amazing and I have a few new species to show for it: western branded skipper, a relative of one of my favourite chalk-loving English butterflies, mountain whitethorn, volcanic gilia, Parish's umbrellwort, the beetle Hylurgops sp., another more striking beetle Nemognatha scutellaris, and brief fly-by encounters with California tortoiseshell.

Western branded skipper, Hesperia colorado ssp. leussleri.

Parish's umbrellawort, Tauschia parishii.

Nemognatha scutellaris.

More in part 2.

Castro Crest

silver bird's-foot trefoil, Lotus argophyllus

It was a pleasure to be out with Zach Behrens today up at Castro Crest! The target of this hike was to see an interesting native legume by the name of chaparral pea, Pickeringia montana. It is not very common and occurs only in select locations, the specifics of which are unusually vague. I originally met Zach on an earlier date whence he thought I was inspiring figure for an article about the upcoming bioblitz. As much as I feel I guilt-tripped Zach into bringing me along on this outing he says he was out this way anyway, and it was no trouble. I hope not!

Castro Crest is similar to traditional chaparral but higher elevation and features different geology. There are sandstone outcrops throughout which creates interesting peaks and, well, crests. On the first stretch of the trail I encountered a new legume, not chaparral pea, but silver bird's-foot trefoil. A second interesting find was a fungi pathogen that caused indented bruises on manzanita leaves. This was actually a fungi that I first knew about in the UK, under the common name cowberry redleaf. When it affects cowberry it, as its name suggests, turns the leaves bright crimson. This example on manzanita is not quite as stunning as that, but still appreciated!

cowberry redleaf, Exobasidium vaccinii. The dorsal side of the "bruise".

cowberry redleaf, Exobasidium vaccinii, showing the reverse side of the 
"bruise".

Along the section where the fabled chaparral pea was meant to grow we scoured tirelessly but could not find it. For such a large showy shrub apparently growing right beside the trail, this plant was not destined to be found. There was a consolation prize however in the form of peak rushrose, which was growing on one of the flat areas past the cave trail. This species prefers high exposed plateaus and rocky habitats, and isn't that common in the Santa Monicas.

peak rushrose, Helianthemum scoparium

Another neat plant that I've recorded once before but not in any prime condition is crested needle grass. Most grasses are inconspicuous, and...so is this one! Sometimes I'd rather that grasses didn't exist because the amount of species and similarity in said species is mind boggling. Many grasses are so small and inconspicuous and I can't admit I feel guilty of overlooking them! But unlike others this Stipa grows nearly to shoulder height, so unfortunately it is a bit harder to miss! Luckily there are no look-alikes here so I'm content with this one showing its face. Crested needle grass seems to like the rough hillside terrain of our chaparral.

crested needle grass, Stipa coronata

On the hike back along the road we encountered an established population of gum rock-rose. This attractive plant is not native, but has found a foothold on part of the disturbed road verge. The patch was quite extensive and covered several bushes, and I think it counts as naturalized. Right!?

gum rock-rose, Cistus ladanifer

I thanked Zach for his time and we headed home. On the way back we stopped off along Kanan Road for a section of the backbone trail that eventually hits Encinal Canyon. A surprise highlight was finding Fish's milkwort growing on a section of the shady woodland, another native legume and one that is listed by the CNPS. Thinking back, this is a plant that I was once told about, and in this specific location nonetheless. Other new finds at this site include bur-chevil, a scattering of gold dust lichen, and the interesting carpet moth Dysstroma mancipata. This is the first time this moth has ever been photographed alive and, although not colourful, it knows how to use drab brown hues in one of the most ornate ways possible!

Fish's milkwort, Polygala cornuta var. fishiae

gold dust lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris

Dysstroma mancipata

Thanks again Zach for hosting someone as insane as me!

Bob and His Gap

Wallace's woolly daisy, Eriophyllum wallacei.

I was out with Wanda Dameron this morning to check out some birding spots at a place called Bob's Gap. As someone interested in nature I couldn't avoid hearing this name before. Not only is it well birded, but there are great butterflies occurring along this stretch too. Bob's Gap could refer to two areas; the first is Bob's Gap Road, which extends all along this section of the desert. The second is Bob's Gap itself, a canyon of sorts along the eastern corner of said road before it turns straight northwest. I had a few hopefuls today, namely birds like Scott's oriole! New birds are harder to find once you've been in a country for a while, but some of the desert species such as Mr. vividly yellow and black oriole was one of those I had not come across yet.

They always say some of the most interesting finds are when you are a man disappearing off trail to pee behind a bush. This was no exception, I mean, just look at this!!

Desert calico, Loeseliastrum matthewsii!!

The incredible desert calico is not uncommon in this area, but seeing it for the first time is an irreplaceable experience! And this one was piss easy to find too! (I'm sorry). What isn't piss easy though is remembering that scientific name. Sorry Matthew, I can only commemorate you in text form. 

This segment of Bob's Gap Road spot also held Wallace's woolly daisy, Mojave aster, and yellow turbans. While leaning over to photograph one such yellow turbans I noticed a small blue butterfly caterpillar nestled in the branches. Based on research this is almost certainly the caterpillar of the endangered Mojave dotted-blue, a desert lycaenid whose cats are specific to this buckwheat species. There are no photographs or descriptions of this caterpillar anywhere, but it sure doesn't look like any other caterpillars that are already documented! It is the perfect yellow colour for blending in with those yellow turban flowers. 

On the flip side, I was so distracted with this caterpillar that I forgot to properly photograph the yellow turbans itself. Another time, perhaps.

Probable cat of Mojave dotted-blue, Euphilotes mojave!

Later down the road we stopped by a strand of junipers to check around for Scott's oriole and other desert birds. With no success we headed back to the car. Back there I played the oriole song on my iPhone to ensure I knew what to listen for. The song is distinctly reminiscent of the other orioles I've encountered, but a little more cheerful. It was unlikely that I'd overlook such a distinctive song, especially not one that I've heard in the field before, but I wanted to be sure! I then put my phone away but, as I did, the song played again. I pulled out my phone to stop the recording from looping multiple times, but then I realized that my phone was off, and it was not playing at all. So then where did that oriole song come from!?

I hiked back into the bushes where the sound came from, and as if by magic, the vivid yellow and black glory of a male Scott's oriole gazed down at me from a juniper. I raised my camera and...wait, where did he go!? Bloody hell.

With a bit of stalking I eventually refound him, and his olive-infused mate, just in time for the sun to beam down...

Scott's oriole, Icterus parisorum!!

Scott's oriole, Icterus parisorum.

The female was carrying nesting material, and the two birds were somewhat circling in the vicinity of a particular tree, so I expect there was a nest present. At that note I took my leave, not wanting to disturb them. I was anxious that, after seeing my first Scott's oriole, I'd return home with a rubbish photo featuring the most obscure blur of yellow possible. Delighted to say that isn't the case! Oh yes, and here is Dorr's sage. The light indigo flowers themselves are very appealing, but the bush itself is not very splendid, thus it is easily walked past:

What Dorr's sage looks like up close, Salvia dorrii.

What Dorr's sage looks like to the naked eye, Salvia dorrii.

At Bob's Gap itself I was first introduced to some interesting architecture. I'm assuming this has relevance with the origin of the name Bob's Gap, but there is not much information online:

Structures at Bob's Gap.

In this area I found the rarely documented dome cryptantha, white-stem stickleaf, fringed onion, longspine horsebush, Mexican bladder sage (AKA paperbag bush), and, to my surprise, Cithara buckwheat! I earlier searched for this uncommon native plant at Malibu Creek State Park. It is very similar to Davidson's buckwheat, only really differing in the apparent tendency to display outward instead of upright branches, and habit of growing solitary instead of in clusters (I could be wrong in my choice). 

Along the roadside I revisited a group of Prince's plume that I noticed on the drive in, a very showy native mustard with tall yellow inflorescence. Besides the individual flowers themselves, you'd never guess this was a mustard.

Dome cryptantha, Cryptantha similis.

Longspine horsebush, Tetradymia axillaris.

putative Cithara buckwheat, Eriogonum cithariforme.

putative Cithara buckwheat, Eriogonum cithariforme. Some of these
flowers were very large (for a buckwheat).

Prince's plume, Stanleya pinnata.

With time falling, we packed up here and retraced our steps down Bob's Gap Road. On the south-facing portion of the road I noticed what looked like red poppies along the roadside. My thought was that this was an escaped population of one of the English or Oriental poppies. However on closer inspection I couldn't have been more wrong. No instead they were something I didn't expect to find at all, desert mariposa lily! This incredible plant was scattered all down this section of the road. While photographing these I heard what sounded like a downy woodpecker calling from junipers. But, given the open desert habitat, I had another woodpecker in mind. Eventually the bird showed itself, and there was no mistaking that it was a ladder-backed woodpecker, one of the desert specialties. It was not the closest showing bird in the world but the views were very reasonable.

Desert mariposa lily, Calochortus kennedyi var. kennedyi.

Ladder-backed woodpecker, Picoides scalaris.

With that success, we moved on to Big Rock Creek to search for American dipper. There was evidence of the bird in the form of round white "splats" on the rocks, but the bird itself was not to be seen. The lush willows here gave me three new galls Rabdophaga salicisbatus, R. rigidae, and R. salicisbrassicoides, so that was interesting! R. salicisbatus in particular was interesting as it doesn't seem to have been photographed before. This midge species forms a bright red bulge on the stem, which then serves as protection for the larvae to mature.

Willow rosette gall, Rabdophaga salicisbrassicoides.

On nearby cottonwoods there were some odd galls on the leaf stalks (=petioles) which I could not recognize as the work of either a midge or wasp. When I opened one several aphids spilled out, and I had my answer. With some work I determined them to be poplar leaf-base galls, caused by the aphid Pemiphgus populicaulis. There are two closely related species on cottonwoods, this one forms the gall at the end of the leaf stem just below the leaf itself, while the other, populitransversus, forms the gall halfway along the leaf stem (hence "transversus", I suppose). A pleasant little creek down the road was actually a bit more than that, perhaps a brook, or even a rivulet. Along with the lush green vegetation this spot was oddly reminiscent of a stream in England! Here I found two new plants, ditch beard grass, and fragile-sheathed sedge. both adjacent to the riverside.

We checked several other promising locations but still no dipper. On one spot I noticed an odd maple, which I later determined to be silver maple. This plant is not native to the western side of North America, but has several records in this region. The next interesting find was at South Fork Campground where I encountered a solitary cluster of longstalk phacelia. On this same hike I saw Transverse Ranges liveforever (Dudleya cymosa ssp. pumila). If you know me well you know I am fascinated by Dudleyas, and while I have seen D. cymosa before this subspecies was new to me. This subspecies is smaller than most, hence "pumila" I suppose.

Longstalk phacelia, Phacelia longipes.

Transverse Ranges liveforever, Dudleya cymosa ssp. pumila.

On the drive out of the campground I stopped by to photograph a pale looking form of sticky monkeyflower. This plant is usually orange but the intensity of the orange depends on location. Adjacent to that I found a morning glory, which as it turns out is the very rare Peirson's morning glory! On the outlook this morning glory does not look any different to the other common species, except that the leaves are a little more Y-shaped, and the bracts supporting the white flowers are short and indented at the tip. A great plant to stumble upon by accident! It is endemic to this region and occurs nowhere else in the world.

Peirson's morning glory, Calystegia peirsonii.

Pierson's morning glory, showing the indented bracts at the base of the
flower, a trait which diagnoses this rare species.

We ended the day at St. Andrew's Abbey, where there was a lot to see but nothing new. That is, except for an invasive colony of Brazilian waterweed infesting a pond here. Well, a tick's a tick!

Brazilian waterweed, Egeria densa.

Thanks again Wanda for the great day out!