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 Brian the Bighorn says: "Don't be sheepish. Come by and visit!" |
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Signs of the Seasons
20 June 2006
Notes from the Pond
Early in the morning before the trip began I saw this ten-lined June Beetle in the box where the passes are posted
that are to be picked up early. Neat looking "bug".
Hogue in Insects of Los Angeles Basin says they are common to
mountain and foothill communties of the San Gabriels.
 
At the pond, Rick netted three "bugs" of different sizes and put them into a tub. We couldn't immediately find an indentification for them. The largest of them started to munch on a damselfly larva. There were extendable appendages in the head area that seemed to go in and out.
The only aquatic animal that is teardrop shaped was a dragonfly nymph. A little searching revealed that, indeed, dragonfly nymphs did have an extendable lower lip with two grasping jaws [palps]!
This would also explain the different sizes: different larval stages. There are as many as 15.
Manolis in Dragonflies and Damselflies of California has a key to dragonfly nymphs. We saw meadowhawks, a species in the genus of skimmers. I am used to calling these red skimmers. Another species in the darner family of dragonflies is called the green darner. Common green darners are the most common and most widespread dragonfly in North America.
23 APRIL 2006
Snow fell as low as Icehouse Canyon today. Springs are still flowing across the road and the creek is high and noisy.
When the sun peeks out, Silvery Blue and Sara Orangetip butterflies patrol the fire roads between the shortpod mustard plants and grasses.
Reptiles ... horned lizards, gopher snakes and garter snakes, side-blotched and western fence lizards ... slither and hide along the sandy edges in the lower canyon.
Pairs of golden eagles, Cooper's hawks, kestrels, red-tail hawks and ravens flirt and glide on the rising thermals in early afternoon.
Bright blue-violet phacelias, scarlet Indian paintbrush, orange bush monkeyflower bloom in road cuts. This year popcornflower is so tall and so abundant it earns its Spanish name of "nievitas" meaning little fog or mist. Just look: the hillsides are sprinkled white with it.
10 MARCH 2006
from Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts 12:49 pm
It is SNOWING!! Big white fluffy flakes. 4-6 inches new snow so far. We are expecting over 2 more feet of snow out of this storm. Roads are open but you need chains.
from California Highway Patrol Weather Conditions 1:51 pm
Mt Baldy area // rain at 4000 ft level, clear to Ice Box Cyn, Ice Box Cyn and above roads are slushy-chains not required but recommended
from National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard 1:59 pm
...winter storm warning remains in effect until 3 am Sunday ...
... 12 to 18 inches expected across the eastern San Gabriel Range through late Saturday night
from Mt Baldy Notch at 7800 feet 19:20:16
Temperature: 15 F, Current Wind: 9 from the West, Wind Chill: 4 F, Humidity: 100%
17 JANUARY 2006
Mornings are crisp. Breath condenses into clouds. The smell of wood smoke lingers in the frosty air.
Toyon berries glow bright scarlet-red on the hillsides.
Cream-colored silk-tassel flowers, looking like stacked teacups, dangle on the shrubs. Clusters of pinkish-white flowers hang like ornaments over gray-leaved bigberry manzanita. White-flowered currant, hidden most of the year under the evergreen chaparral shrubbery, at this season is beautifully colored with reddish-brown peeling bark, fragrant white flowers and bright green sticky leaves.
 
Spring azures butterflies fly bring a little bit of blue sky to earth.
Spike-moss, dormant during the dry season under crevices, now spreads its tiny branches adding green color to the rocky clffs.
 
OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER 2005
SEPTEMBER 2005
AUGUST 2005
JULY 2005
USDA Forest Service in partnership with
San Gabriel Mountains Heritage Association
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CURRENT WEATHER
Mt Baldy Notch
Mt. Baldy Ski Cam
Mt. Baldy Weather
BULLETIN BOARD
Wednesday, September 6, at 9:00 am, Walks on the Wild Side at Mt. Baldy Visitor Center
September 16, Saturday, 9:00 am;
San Gabriel Mountains Heritage Lectures,
Call of the Mountains,
the beauty and legacy of Southern California mountains,
Ann and Farley Olander
Saturday, September 16, at 8;30 am, hike with Patrick Sampson at Mt. Baldy Visitor Center
Tuesday, September 19, at 9:00 am, Walks on the Wild Side at Mt. Baldy Visitor Center
Saturday, September 30, at 9:00 am; Spend a Saturday Morning in the Forest. Meet at San Gabriel Canyon
View entire Calendar
Signs of the Seasons
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