Gilson Creek Area , Part 1

 I'm about to begin another season of guiding nature hikes, so today my son and I scouted several of the trails I'll be using.  I have often mocked people who take most of their pictures from the front seat of their cars, but I came across a situation where I had to do just that.  As I was getting ready to park the car and set out on foot, my son spotted two lizards on neighboring stumps.  They were both Fence Lizards, or Blue Bellies, a male on the left and female on the right.  They were obviously communicating.  They were about 15 feet from the car, so I got out the telephoto and got a slightly blurry picture.  As soon as we began to roll, the female took off.  They probably got together again real soon, judging from the intensity of their pushups when we approached.

 Our first parking place was near the point where Spanish Creek leaves the camp and makes a 90-dgree turn toward the West.  There were lots of species of flowers blooming all around us.  First, the Wild Hyacinth (above), a lily, then Grand Collomia (below), a close relative of the Phlox that have appeared in this blog often.

 I've taken hundreds of photos of Salsify.  Each one presents a different characteristic or has a different insect or spider guest.  I guess I'm always looking for the best photo yet, so I usually take a few shots every time I see a patch of them.  Also called Oyster Plant, apparently the roots are tasty when boiled. 

 Then there's the Orchard Morning Glory, or Bindweed, depending on whether you feel it is beautiful or a nuisance.

 On this Morning Glory about to bloom, a Dimorphic Flower Longhorn beetle stood out like a little red beacon.  This is a female.  The male of the species is solid black.  Also, when the femal matures, it generally has a few more black spots in the red.

 The Narrowleaf Milkweed is just beginning to bloom as the Heartleaf Milkweed, pictured here last week, has already wilted and produced pods.  They'll be in my next post.  There are five differenet Milkweeds on this area and all five are now blooming.

 This nice Yerba Santa bush is clinging to an embankment above Spanish Creek.  It's in the Waterleaf family and makes good tea.  It's also a favorite landing place for Swallowtail Butterflies, but today they wouldn't sit still.

 There was a bumper crop of Spanish Clover in all the open areas we visited today.

 Finally, the nice specimen of Scarlet Gilia in the same spot where I've photographed it for the past three summers.  This is also in the same family as the Phlox like the Collomia above.

Part 2 tomorrow morning.