Spring Runoff

The streams and rivers of Utah are full and overflowing after a well-above average Winter snowfall. Some of the rivers are near flood stage and people have drowned in the dangerously cold and swiftly running water. Most of the smaller streams are running well above their normal flows. This creek originates in the Big Springs. There are several springs that make a series of ponds that then form this stream named the South Fork Creek, a tributary of the Provo River.

Waiting by the Window

Occasionally, I see something that is pretty strange. This is one of those images. It was taken in an exhibit at the This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In the eye of a peacock

You are unlikely to get this close to a peacock but this image does give you an idea of what it might be like. Fortunately, peacocks are not very active. They spend a lot of time posing and strutting. However, their beaks are sharp and pointed and they can and will give you a sharp peck if you get too close. This type of photo was taken using a telephoto lens. The blurry background is called "bokeh" (bouquet) and is a frequent subject of conversation among professional photographers.

Aloe

Aloes have become ubiquitous in some parts of the United States. They are very successful imports. The Aloes are a genus containing over 500 species that is native to southern Africa, Madagascar, Jordan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Some of these species are so common that they have become naturalized in the Mediterranean, India, Australia, and in North and South America. The most common of these plants is the Aloe vera which is used in many healthcare and beauty products.

Peacocks and Cactus

Most of the plants in this photo are not cactus, but both of the birds are peacocks. Some people who are unfamiliar with desert vegetation in America classify all drought tolerant plants as cactus. But cactus are a very specific type of plant. A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. Cactus have spines that come from specialized structures called areoles. They are also native to the American continents and any other instances are attributed to migration. There is one species of cactus that grows in Africa and Sri Lanka but scientists theorize that it was somehow imported from America.

Southern Sagebrush Lizard

This long-toed lizard is a Southern Sagebrush Lizard or Sceloporus graciosus vandenburgianus. We seem to come across quite a variety of small animals and a lot of plants on our trips across the United States. This lizard was crawling on a paved walkway in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden. I can't guess why his toes are so long on his back feet.

A Profusion of Orchids

One of the highlights of our visit to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden was the orchid collection. I don't believe I have ever seen so many varieties of orchids in one place at one time. The Orchidaceae are one of the two largest families of flowering plants with about 28,000 species in about 763 genera. I don't usually add an illustration other than one of my own photos, but this one is very impressive and it gives a flavor of the types of orchids we saw.

A lithographic color plate from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur of 1899 showing an artist's depiction of different varieties of orchids: Odontoglossum naevium = Odontoglossum naevium Lindl. Oncidium kramerianum = Psychopsis krameriana (Rchb.f.) H.G.Jones Odontoglossum ramosissimum = Cyrtochilum ramosissimum (Lindl.) Dalström Odontoglossum schroederianum = Oncidium schroederianum (O'Brien) Garay & Stacy Cattleya ballantiniana = Cattleya × ballantiniana Rchb.f. (C. trianae Linden & Rchb.f. × C. warscewiczii Rchb.f.) Cattleya mendellii = Cattleya mendelii Dombrain Cypripedium lemoinieri = Phragmipedium × sedenii (Rchb.f.) Rolfe (P. longifolium (Warsz. & Rchb.f.) Rolfe × P. schlimii (Linden ex Rchb.f.) Rolfe) Cattleya rochellensis = Cattleya warscewiczii Rchb.f. Cypripedium leeanum = Paphiopedilum insigne (Wall. ex Lindl.) Pfitzer × P. spicerianum (Rchb.f.) Pfitzer Odontoglossum wattianum = Oncidium × wattianum (Rolfe) J.M.H.Shaw, Orchid Rev. 121 (1304, Suppl.): 77. (2013) Cattleya labiata = Cattleya labiata Epidendrum atropurpureum = Encyclia cordigera (Kunth) Dressler (1964) Cypripedium argus = Paphiopedilum argus (Rchb.f.) Stein Paphinia rugosa = Paphinia rugosa Rchb.f. Zygopetalum xanthinum = Promenaea xanthina(Lindl.) Lindl. Oncidium laxense = Oncidium loxense Lindl. / Cyrtochilum loxense (Lindl.) Kraenzl.

Bottlebrush

Most of my younger years were spent in the Salt River Valley and particularly in Phoenix, Arizona. Some of the most fascinating plants in this low desert area were the bottlebrush trees. This one is called a Dwarf Weeping Bottlebrush. The Callistemon are a genus of shrubs or trees in the Myrtaceae family. There are about 50 species of Callistemon and all originated in Australia. This particular plant we found in the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

Peahen with Peachick

The ostentatious plumage of the peacock overshadows the less spectacular plumage of the peahen and the baby peachick. Both the male and female have the distinctive crown of feathers but the female lacks the colorful feathers of the male. There are substantially fewer photos of peahens than there are of peacocks.

Peacock Posing

When I was a lot younger than I am today, we had semi-tame peacocks that lived in our neighborhood. They would perch on our roof, right outside my bedroom window, and screech loudly in the early morning. They are beautiful birds but very loud. These particular birds are generally known as "peafowl." Here is an explanation from the Wikipedia article on Peafowl.

The peafowl include three species of birds in the genera Pavo and Afropavo of the Phasianidae family, the pheasants and their allies. There are two Asiatic species (the blue or Indian peafowl originally of India and Sri Lanka and the green peafowl of Myanmar, Indochina, and Java) and one African species (the Congo peafowl native only to the Congo Basin). Male peafowl are known for their piercing call and their extravagant plumage. The latter is especially prominent in the Asiatic species, who have an eye-spotted "tail" or "train" of covert feathers which they display as part of a courtship ritual. The term peacock is properly reserved for the male; the female is known as a peahen, and the immature offspring are sometimes called peachicks.

Here is an interesting discussing how the peacocks attract females with their tail feathers.
See "Biomechanics of the Peacock’s Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling." There is also a video showing courtship displays.

Movie 1. Real-time and slow motion video of peacock courtship displays

Mount Nebo, Utah

At 11,933 feet above sea level, Mount Nebo is the highest peak in the Wasatch Mountain range in Utah. The mountain is not as dramatically visible from the valleys as some of the other peaks such as Mount Timpanogos, but it is certainly dramatic from Nebo Loop Road. The Loop Road is designated as the Mount Nebo Scenic Byway. The ridge line of the range culminating with the north peak seems to float over the lower hills. This photo was taken from the 8000 foot level and you can see that Spring is just now coming to the mountains. The aspen trees are just getting their leaves. We spent a very cold night camping at about this level on the mountain just before this photo was taken.

The Devil's Kitchen

It is lamentable that beautiful rock formations should be attributed to the devil. This is a relatively small area of fantastic rock shapes called "The Devil's Kitchen." It is located high in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah on the Mount Nebo Loop Road at about the 8000-foot level. It is illogically compared to Bryce Canyon National Park because of a superficial resemblance to the shape of the formations. This photo shows almost the entire area visible from an observation deck about a hundred yards or so from the Loop road.

A Cormorant Rookery

There are 40 species of birds in the Phalacrocoracidae family that are collectively called cormorants or shags. The name "cormorant" has been applied rather randomly to birds that look similar. See Wikipedia: Cormorant. This rookery has apparently appeared since my last, long-ago, visit to California. It is located right off one of the main streets in La Jolla, California. I should note that the noise and smell are quite prominent. Obviously, the bird population is a subject of some disagreement. See "La Jolla Seeks Relief From Bird Stench." Those in favor of the birds note that the environmental protections implemented over the past few years have brought back some of the endangered species. Quoting from the article:

La Jolla is a state-designated area of "special biological significance." That means California strictly regulates its waters to protect its abundant marine life, which also attracts birds. 

"We're kind of a victim of our own success," said Robert Pitman, a marine biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service in La Jolla. "We've provided a lot of bird protections so now we're getting a lot of birds. I think we're going to be seeing more of these conflicts come about, and I think we'll have to deal with them on a case-by-case basis. I think there'll have to be compromises all around."

Personally, I don't have much of a sense of smell, so the birds didn't bother me and enjoyed taking some photos of them.

The California Coast at La Jolla

Califonia has many beautiful areas that provide spectacular views, but the overriding impression one gets from a visit is the traffic and the people. La Jolla is a good example. It a lovely spot to visit, but the narrow streets are jammed with traffic and parking is a nightmare. You find the same mix of beauty and terror in most of the larger population centers of the state and certainly surrounding the more popular attractions. For a rather dramatic contrast, you can go to Canada. In Canada, all the beaches are owned by the government and public access is assured. In California and as I have seen in Florida, you can be only a short distance from the beach and be unable to see it due to the solid line of privately constructed buildings with signs saying that the beach is off limits and private. But it is nice to get above all that and have a panoramic view like the one above.

Sea Anemone

A sea anemone is actually a predatory animal. They are sessile polyps attached at the bottom by an adhesive foot called a basal disc. Here is a diagram of the interior of a sea anemone from Wikipedia: Sea anemone.

By Lydiakurkoski - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33059475

1. Tentacles 2. Mouth 3. Retracting muscles 4. Gonads 5. Acontial filaments 6. Pedal disk 7. Ostium 8. Coelenteron 9. Sphincter muscle 10. Mesentery 11. Column 12. Pharynx Sea anemones have soft tube-like bodies. The external structure consists of the tentacles, the oral disk, and the pedal disk. can be found.The tentacles, which are covered in nematocysts, capture, and transport prey to the oral disk. The oral disk serves as both the mouth and the anus. The mouth is the opening to the coelenteron, a single sac-like cavity that performs all digestive functions. The pedal disk attaches the sea anemone to hard surfaces. The internal structure of a sea anemone consists of the contracting muscles, the gonads, the acontial filaments, and the ostium. The retracting muscles consist of simple longitudinal fibers that contract to move the anemone vertically. The sphincter muscles allow the tentacles to close over the oral disk. The gonads can be found in the mesentery. The ostium are where water is let in and out of the anemone. The acontial filaments are found in the bottom sac section of the coelenteron. The acontial filaments are laden with nematocysts. Acontia filaments are used for protection from predators.http://www.marlin.ac.uk/taxonomydescriptions.php

Deep in the Devil's Millhopper

There is a superficial resemblance between this sub-tropical environment in the Devil's Millhopper in Florida and the jungle in Central America. The similarity is based on the amount of vegetation. The word "jungle" has a complex etymology. Here is a summary from the Wikipedia: Jungle article.

The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala (Sanskrit: जङ्गल), meaning uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word might refer to dry land, it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its connotation as a dense "tangled thicket" while others have argued that a cognate word in Hindi did refer to forests. The term is prevalent in many languages of the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian Plateau, where it is commonly used to refer to the plant growth replacing primeval forest or to the unkempt tropical vegetation that takes over abandoned areas.

Tropical forests are commonly lumped in with the term "jungle." But as I have pointed out in previous posts, tropical forests are usually open and easily traversed due to the canopy blocking nearly all of the sunlight. Here in the Devil's Millhopper, most of the older trees are missing due to the environment and possible human intervention.

A Jungle Trail

The usual movie depiction of a jungle involves people using machetes to hack their way through a tangle of vines. There are jungles like that. But most old-growth jungles are relatively clear in the understudy. Because of the trees, very little sunlight reaches the ground in the jungle floor is relatively open. Usually, the area with a lot of undergrowth is where the trees have been removed or have fallen. From my experience in the jungles of Panama and Costa Rica, this path is pretty typical. It is obviously worse than some and better than others. This particular path is in the Arenal National Park in Costa Rica.

The Gecko and the Ant

You will probably have to click on this photo to see the detail. We love little geckos. When we lived in Panama, we had them in our house all the time. They eat a lot of insects. This is a Costa Rican gecko and was splayed out on a white wall. They have amazing pads on their feet that allow them to walk on practically everything.

The Bubble Man

While visiting Balboa Park in San Diego, we ran across a man who was making huge bubbles. This seemed like an innovative way to make a few bucks and entertain a crowd of people. We watched for a while and enjoyed the children running and popping the bubbles. My wife gave him some money, which we almost never do.

La Jolla Cove, California

One of the major attractions near San Diego, California is the La Jolla Cove. La Jolla, California could be considered a suburb of San Diego but it is more like a different world. A trip into La Jolla on a sunny day can be a nightmare of traffic and parking.The Cove is protected as part of a marine reserve; underwater it is very rich in marine life and is popular with snorkelers, swimmers, and scuba divers. See Wikipedia: La Jolla Cove. Presently, it has an overriding smell by virtue of the fact that there is a large colony of sea lions directly behind me from the position where this photo was taken.

Pacific Ocean Waves

During our recent trip to California, we spent most of our time focusing on botanical gardens and museums. We did, however, take some opportunities to visit the coastline. Beautiful smooth sandy beaches are attractive for sunbathing and swimming but are not nearly as attractive for photographers. These rocky cliffs are on Point Loma, right outside of downtown San Diego, California.

Erratic?

Southern California is an unlikely place to find an erratic boulder. Usually, erratics are assumed to have been transported by glacier action. But the beaches of Southern California are not known for their proximity to glacial mountains. I have to speculate about how this rather large rock got placed so prominently on a flat surface next to pounding surf. This rock is in the Point Loma Formation which is mainly sedimentary dating back to the Late Cretaceous epochs of the Cretaceous period, during the Mesozoic Era. See Wikipedia: Point Loma Formation. This rock may be a remnant of the overlying grayish-black siltstone in the top half of the formation.

Barren Hills in Death Valley

Death Valley in California is one of the few places I have been where the hills are completely devoid of any vegetation. There are a few scraggly creosote bushes along the washes, but the rest of the landscape is barren and dry. I love the landforms and the dry desert seems like home to me. I am happy to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Old Town San Diego

The day we visited Old Town San Diego was completely overcast and foggy. This is the central plaza. The historic buildings are in an area that is completely pedestrian but the surrounding area has narrow streets and limited parking. There are museums, restaurants and many retail commercial establishments. It is a historical as well as commercial attraction.

Honoring the Dead

This is an image of the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma near San Diego, California. Here is a short description of some of the burials in the cemetery from the National Cemetery Administration website.

Many Fort Rosecrans interments date to the early years of the California Territory, including the remains of the casualties of the battle of San Pasqual. Shortly after the United States declared war on Mexico in May 1846, Brigadier Stephen Watts Kearny was tasked with conquering Mexico’s northern provinces, New Mexico and California. While Kearny demonstrated his considerable gift for administrative command with his acquisition of the New Mexican territory, he faced a more difficult task in California. Expecting a show of force from the Mexican Californios, Kearny set out west from New Mexico. Upon reaching California, Kit Carson intercepted him and his men, who informed him the territory had been taken by American settlers in the Bear Flag Revolt. Kearny sent 200 of his men back to New Mexico with the news and continued forward with one-third of his force. Unfortunately, the success of the revolt had been exaggerated and, before reaching their destination, Kearny and his men encountered a group of Californios intent on keeping more U.S. troops out of their homeland. 

In the subsequent Battle of San Pasqual, 19 of Kearny’s men and an untold number of Californios lost their lives. Initially, the dead were buried where they fell, but by 1874 the remains had been removed to the San Diego Military Reservation. Eight years later, the bodies were again reinterred at what is now Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. In 1922, the San Diego chapter of the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West had a large boulder brought from the battlefield and placed at the gravesite with a plaque affixed that lists the names of the dead.

San Juan Capistrano, California

The Mission San Juan Capistrano is located in a city of the same name in California. The Mission was founded in 1776. Here is a short history of its early years from the Wikipedia article.

The mission was founded in 1776, by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order. Named for Giovanni de Capistrano, a 15th-century theologian and "warrior priest" who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy, San Juan Capistrano has the distinction of being home to the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782. Known alternately as "Serra's Chapel" and "Father Serra's Church," it is the only extant structure where it has been documented that Junipero Serra celebrated Mass. One of the best known missions in Alta California,and one of the few missions to have actually been founded twice—others being Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and Mission La Purísima Concepción. The site was originally consecrated on October 30, 1775, by Fermín Lasuén, but was quickly abandoned due to unrest among the indigenous population in San Diego.

We visited the Mission on a sunny day. The downtown section of the city where the Mission is located is a crowded and very heavily promoted tourist center. There is a charge for entering and touring the grounds and parking in the area is free for the first few hours. The contrast between the quiet mission grounds and the bustle outside the walls is notable.

Death Valley Salt Flats

Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park in California is one of the hottest places in the world and is the point of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below sea level. This photo was taken at that lowest point. The day I was out taking photos, it was in April and the temperature was 98 degrees. To me, of course, this would be considered to be a pleasant spring day temperature having lived in the low desert most of my life. The contrast was that we left Provo, Utah the day before with temperatures in the 30s and an imminent snow storm. Here is a description of the valley from Wikipedia: Death Valley.

Located near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It is located mostly in Inyo County, California. It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km2). The highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet (3,366 m).

Leafy Seadragon

The leafy seadragon or Glauert's seadragon, Phycodurus eques, is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses. It is the only member of the genus Phycodurus. See Wikipedia: Leafy seadragon. There are a lot of really strange animals in the oceans of the world. These lovely fish are found along the southern coast of Australia. We found this one in the Birch Aquarium at Scripps at the University of California at San Diego, California.

Basking in the Sun

One of the benefits of a recent trip to California was our interaction with a number of sea lions. This particular seal lion was intent on posing for a crowd of photographers on the La Jolla Beach. We were surprised to see how many sea lions felt comfortable and crowded tourist locations. Although we avoid almost all commercial tourists attractions, we do appreciate those areas that are frequented by tourists simply because of their proximity to large cities.

Pacific Coast Tidal Pool

California has some amazing tidal pools. It is not unusual to find sea stars, anemones, limpets, chitons, California sea hares, snails, crabs, fishes, lobsters, and octopuses. We have been to rocky beaches that could be considered deserts in the sea due to their lack of any flora or fauna. But along the California Coast, we find an amazing variety of sea life at low tide.

Proteaceae -- Unusual Flowers

These flowers are from the family Proteaceae and specifically, Leucospermum Cordifolium, "California Sunrise." They come from South Africa and we found them at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens. The bloom on a small tree. As we walk and drive around the United States and in other countries, we are often absolutely overwhelmed with the beauty of the plants.

An Albino Alligator

We recently took a trip to California. As is usually the case for us, we visit some places that the general traveling public do not frequent. This is an albino alligator and yes, it was alive and well. It lives in a huge tank in the Californa Academy of Sciences located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. I suppose it is sort of like living in a care center. That is; a really good care center. He or she lives with a huge snapping turtle. I couldn't get a photo of the turtle because it was hiding in the corners of the tank.

Japanese Garden, Huntington Botanical Garden, California

The Japanese Garden, Huntington Botanical Garden, California is on our list of our favorite places. The cactus garden is fabulous and we loved the rest of the Botanical Garden. This is the Japanese Garden. I must say that the Japanese Garden in Balboa Park in San Diego is much nicer but they are both beautiful.

Lighthouse Stairs

Sometimes something common becomes abstract and uncommon. This is a photo of the stairwell in the Point Loma Lighthouse in Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, California. I couldn't resist taking this photo, but I had to lean out when I couldn't see the viewfinder or the screen and take several shots before I got one I liked.