Diario de kueda

Decided to go somewhere new this past Saturday, and ended up at Round Valley Regional Preserve, an EBRPD holding east of Mt. Diablo. Wasn't really sure what to expect other than some nice scenery. Ended up find that in spades, along with all manner of interesting things, foremost among them being a night snake and a bobcat.

As far as I can tell Round Valley is almost all oak savanna, predominated by blue oak, with some valley and interior live oak mixed in with some buckeyes and walnuts. I don't think I saw any completely closed woodland on the loop I did. Plenty of rocks and fallen logs for herps and spiders and the like, so definitely worth revisiting.

The night snake was curled up under one of those logs, looking like it had just molted. Also found a Diabolical Ironclad Beetle nearby, which, I have learned, is not quite the same as the Plicate or Pustulose Ironclad Beetles. Noted.

The bobcat was something of a shock, as I came up behind it without realizing. It didn't notice me for quite some time, and I had almost changed to my telephoto when it did and loped off. I pursued, of course, and manage to get a few decent shots. I had never noticed how black and white the backs of their ears are! Really quite a sight.

Hurrying back in an effort to escape before the gate to the parking lot closed, I nevertheless stopped for a late-season male tarantula, and for some very nice trap doors, which may or may not belong to some cyrtaucheniids. Would love to go back at night, or perhaps after rain to see if I could catch some wandering males.

Hit a decent -1 low at Scott Creek on Wednesday. Clear, warm weather and low to moderate surf made for a very pleasant afternoon. Saw a fairly standard assortment of slugs, with one very notable highlight: my first Aplysiopsis enteromorphae! A friend had told me that they live at Scott Creek, and that I should be looking for a mossy algae by the name of Cladophora. First pool with some decent Cladophora found was full of 'em. And a very shallow, exposed pool it was, too! Not the kind of place I'd ordinarily be looking for slugs. Will have to adjust my search parameters.

Didn't see any of the hydroid Eudendrium, which was one of the more remarkable things at Scott the last time I was there. Maybe it just wasn't low enough. Did see a ton of peanut worms, though! More than I think I've ever seen before.

Finished the evening with a tiny little octopus who pulled some wonderful color changing tricks and then pretended to be a very sly, moving stone. Walked back along the beach under magnificent pre-moon star field.

Went back to Round Valley on Sat to get some more pics of Kibramoa. Managed to get some shots of a mature male, embolus exposed! Also saw a billion more trapdoors, and a couple Calisogas. A damn fine spider day.

Tried birding a new spot this morning, hoping for lots of ducks and waders. Definitely a lot of wader, pretty much nil on the ducks. I guess the winter migrants haven't reached that spot just yet, b/c all we saw was one Ruddy, Western and Clark's Grebes, 2 female Canvasbacks, a float of scoters, a float of scaup, and 2 females that were probably Green-winged Teal. That's actually a pretty poor list for the Bay.

Nevertheless, we saw lots of other birds, and took the time to ID some peeps. Feel much better about distinguishing Dunlins for Western and Least Sandpipers now (larger, downcurved bill / black legs / light legs). Also saw a bunch of American Pipits, which was pretty neat, not to mention some very handsome little lycaenids.

Went to Carquinez Regional Shoreline for the first time last Saturday with Tony and Angie. Nice little park, some beautiful grassland and healthy-looking oaks. I was armed and ready with my new OakMapper iPhone app, but I didn't find any Sudden Oak Death to report! Oh well.

On Sunday I decided re-investigate the fungal situation in Sibley and Huckleberry. While things seemed pretty dry and empty in the upper piney regions of Sibley, where I've seen boletes, candy caps, and elfin saddle in the past, there was definitely some activity as I got lower and wetter. Lots of amanitas, which made me happy, including plenty of death caps.

Went up to Salt Point with Arch and Collin last weekend, and camped there for the first time. It kind of takes a long time to get up there, and day trips have always seemed like a bit much. I think camping is definitely the way to go.

I got up there Saturday afternoon, and was immediately greeted by a horde of foragers participating in a SOMA foray. Doh. Luckily they were finishing up, meaning even if I wasn't going to find any edibles, at least I'd have some solitude. Since I knew my friends weren't going to join me until the evening, I decided to do some bushwhacking and investigate some of the areas I usually check later in the season. I eventually found myself in the middle of a seemingly inescapable huckleberry patch, crawling around on my hands and knees hoping to find some kind of clearing. In the process, though, I found one porcini and one Leccinum manzanitae, a new bolete for me! I totally thought it was another porcini that was just kind of "dirty," but in fact the dull red cap and dark ridges on the stem mean Leccinum. Now I know. Also tons and tons of Amanita, Gomphus floccosus, and plenty of things I couldn't recognize.

Camping at Gerstle Cove was quite nice. I'd say the campground was 1/3 full, so no problem with crowding. It was fairly cold, but a warm fire and a decent sleeping bag took care of that. The next day I set off with Arch and Collin up the North Trail, where we had decent success with edibles, despite meeting some tight-lipped Russians with buckets full of mushrooms who told us all the mushrooms were gone and that we shouldn't bother (we met some friendlier Russians later who showed us their baskets). We also found all manner of interesting non-edibles, many that I hadn't seen before!

All in all, it was a beautiful afternoon to spend strolling around the woods. We stopped by the Sizzling Tandoor in Jenner on the way back, because Arch thought the name was hilarious. Their fare's most salient characteristic was its warmth. It also has a spectacular view of the Russian River.