The Last Week of Camp

 When it gets this late in the summer, especially during a dry and hot one like we've had this year, I worry a little about whether my guided nature hikes will be interesting, especially to people who come from wetter areas like the coast where it's always green.  This is the last week of the 2013 season at Oakland Camp, and I wanted it to be good for the visitors.  Today nature didn't let me down.  It rarely does.  I had around 10 people on our walk to Berry Creek, but for me the excitement began in the men's room.  The sink had Silverfish visiting.  Living in the Sierra where summers are dry, the only place I see Silverfish is around sinks, bathtubs, and leaky faucets.  They like moisture and are mostly nocturnal.  The question that came to mind was Where did they live before people invented bathrooms and leaky faucets?  I occasionally see them beneath logs that still have moisture under them, but in a season as dry as this one the soil under most logs is bone dry.  I'm thinking that maybe these human-created habitats have allowed for an increase in the Silverfish population.  Hmmm....

 Earlier in the summer I was not seeing many moths in the restrooms; quite a difference from past summers when restrooms were great places for moth observation.  I figured it might have been due to an excessive use of cleaning chemicals.  Well, today there were a number of attractive moths.  Maybe the cleaning chemicals have worn away or evaporated.  Good!  I like moths better than cleaning chemicals.  The above photo is a typical moth position, but the one below reminds me of a high-speed, delta-wing aircraft getting ready to take off.

 The shower stalls in the rest rooms have windows covered with hardware cloth so the moth in the photo below couldn't get in, but it made for a more interesting photo.

 I finally tore myself away from the restroom expedition and led my group down the road toward Berry Creek.  Very few wildflowers still blooming, but we had a wonderful olfactory tour.  We sniffed Pennyroyal, Angelica, Mugwort, Sierra Mint, Horse Mint, Choke Cherry, Yarrow and Tansy.  Maybe a few others. Lots of fun comparing fragrances to common kitchen herbs.
The other highlight for most of the group, since they were from all over the country, was learning about our major tree species.  Then, when we got to Berry Creek, which is barely flowing, there were more flowers blooming.  The California Thistle has been common all summer, but this one was a landing pad for a Skipper which gave me the opportunity to talk about butterflies, moths, and skippers.  There's a slight difference between these last two photos. A slight difference in focus makes the Skipper the subject of one and the Thistle blossom the subject of the other.  Click each one for an enlargement in order to see this difference more clearly. 

Several of this morning's guests had cameras so we also enjoyed chatting about nature photography.  Berry Creek is barely flowing, but there were still some good-sized trout in the pool below the railroad tracks.  Tomorrow we explore Tollgate Creek which is still flowing well.