The most obvious new arrivals this week are humans arriving for the High Sierra Music Festival. And, there is a kind of natural history to that phenomenon. However, I'm still leading nature hikes every morning, so I'm paying attention to another class of arrivals - newly blooming wildflowers and their insect and spider companions. Highlights of today's hike were: my first Monarch Butterfly caterpillar, crawling around on Showy Milkweed at the roadside on the way into Oakland Camp, Fringed Water Plantain, a tiny flower very difficult to spot among the grasses, rushes, and sedges in damp ditches, the tall Fireweeds in the Evening Primrose family, and Teasel, the stately spiny weed that is just beginning to bloom on Quincy roadsides. I'll have much more to report tomorrow after visiting my favorite "oasis" along Spanish Creek, namely the mouth of Gilson Creek about a mile downstream from Oakland Camp. I want to thank the people who accompanied me on this morning's hike. I had a really interesting time and I learned at least as much from you as you did from me. A truly enjoyable meeting.
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