Placerita hike

On Monday Roz, Rondo and I took a hike down Placerita Canyon. Saw a woman panning for gold: she said that people have actually found nuggets there (to my surprise-- I'd heard it was all dust). Serious panner too: she had an impressive metal detector next to her.

The canyon was -very- green: the late rains have kept the area green later than I've ever seen it (everything's usually brown by now). Roz taught me the names of a number of interesting birds (that I promptly forgot); most interesting (for me) was a white-tailed kite that I saw hovering over the canyon.

We checked out Frog Point to see if Roz could find any dragonfly nymphs; only found a bunch of pacific treefrongs-- who were living up to their other name: Pacific chorus frogs. What a racket! I saw one of the bright green variations, but forgot to take a picture of him; I did get a shot of a more sedately colored fellow .



I got another reminder of how resilient nature can be: here are three different pictures taken of the same spot at three different times. The first frame was taken about February of 2004; the second shot was taken in November of 2004; the third shot was taken on this walk, May 2006. The asterisk marks the spot of a rock that has been there through all three photos. The second photo shows the 3+ feet of sand and silt that accumulated in the creek after the fires and torrential rains of 2004; no frogs at all. Now that silt is all gone and the frogs are back in force.

The winds do strange things to the dead brush

Placerita hike

On Monday Roz, Rondo and I took a hike down Placerita Canyon. Saw a woman panning for gold: she said that people have actually found nuggets there (to my surprise-- I'd heard it was all dust). Serious panner too: she had an impressive metal detector next to her.

The canyon was -very- green: the late rains have kept the area green later than I've ever seen it (everything's usually brown by now). Roz taught me the names of a number of interesting birds (that I promptly forgot); most interesting (for me) was a white-tailed kite that I saw hovering over the canyon.

We checked out Frog Point to see if Roz could find any dragonfly nymphs; only found a bunch of pacific treefrongs-- who were living up to their other name: Pacific chorus frogs. What a racket! I saw one of the bright green variations, but forgot to take a picture of him; I did get a shot of a more sedately colored fellow .



I got another reminder of how resilient nature can be: here are three different pictures taken of the same spot at three different times. The first frame was taken about February of 2004; the second shot was taken in November of 2004; the third shot was taken on this walk, May 2006. The asterisk marks the spot of a rock that has been there through all three photos. The second photo shows the 3+ feet of sand and silt that accumulated in the creek after the fires and torrential rains of 2004; no frogs at all. Now that silt is all gone and the frogs are back in force.

The winds do strange things to the dead brush

Placerita hike

On Monday Roz, Rondo and I took a hike down Placerita Canyon. Saw a woman panning for gold: she said that people have actually found nuggets there (to my surprise-- I'd heard it was all dust). Serious panner too: she had an impressive metal detector next to her.

The canyon was -very- green: the late rains have kept the area green later than I've ever seen it (everything's usually brown by now). Roz taught me the names of a number of interesting birds (that I promptly forgot); most interesting (for me) was a white-tailed kite that I saw hovering over the canyon.

We checked out Frog Point to see if Roz could find any dragonfly nymphs; only found a bunch of pacific treefrongs-- who were living up to their other name: Pacific chorus frogs. What a racket! I saw one of the bright green variations, but forgot to take a picture of him; I did get a shot of a more sedately colored fellow .



I got another reminder of how resilient nature can be: here are three different pictures taken of the same spot at three different times. The first frame was taken about February of 2004; the second shot was taken in November of 2004; the third shot was taken on this walk, May 2006. The asterisk marks the spot of a rock that has been there through all three photos. The second photo shows the 3+ feet of sand and silt that accumulated in the creek after the fires and torrential rains of 2004; no frogs at all. Now that silt is all gone and the frogs are back in force.

The winds do strange things to the dead brush

Dogpark

I wanted to take some pics of a pair of dogs that bore a striking resemblance to Bev and Steve's old set of dogs: Jazmine and Dru.

Jaz and Dru clones! (well, at least they’re close—and the female –is- a dobie/shep mix!

While I had the camera out, I snapped some pictures of the dogs doing their thing.



Here are some shots of Chloe and Pal, two Aussie Sheps. I *really* like Chloe: she's 14 and very sweet. She is in gentle decline-- what I had hoped Frieda would do when she got old. So I (with the owner's permission) sneak her two liver-snaps every time I see her at the park. Pal is her 8 year old buddy who taught Rondo his bad habit of barking in other dog's faces to encourage them to play (I'm still trying to break him of this tendency). Pal is a park "sheriff": a dog who barks at other dogs who get too rowdy or out of control. He keeps the peace by barking loudly (dog logic).

Chloe and her buddy, Pal (short for “Paladin”) [about 233K]

Rondo does something that Roz calls, "Flat dog," where he aims himself at his target, flattens himself out on the ground and waits to ambush his victim. Here Rondo is stalking his friend, Ghia-the-golden-retriever. I'm told it's some sheep-dog-thing, but it's pretty amusing. Especially when Rondo tries to look innocent.

Flat dog (or, “Rondo-the-innocent”) [about 214K]

Dogpark

I wanted to take some pics of a pair of dogs that bore a striking resemblance to Bev and Steve's old set of dogs: Jazmine and Dru.

Jaz and Dru clones! (well, at least they’re close—and the female –is- a dobie/shep mix!

While I had the camera out, I snapped some pictures of the dogs doing their thing.



Here are some shots of Chloe and Pal, two Aussie Sheps. I *really* like Chloe: she's 14 and very sweet. She is in gentle decline-- what I had hoped Frieda would do when she got old. So I (with the owner's permission) sneak her two liver-snaps every time I see her at the park. Pal is her 8 year old buddy who taught Rondo his bad habit of barking in other dog's faces to encourage them to play (I'm still trying to break him of this tendency). Pal is a park "sheriff": a dog who barks at other dogs who get too rowdy or out of control. He keeps the peace by barking loudly (dog logic).

Chloe and her buddy, Pal (short for “Paladin”) [about 233K]

Rondo does something that Roz calls, "Flat dog," where he aims himself at his target, flattens himself out on the ground and waits to ambush his victim. Here Rondo is stalking his friend, Ghia-the-golden-retriever. I'm told it's some sheep-dog-thing, but it's pretty amusing. Especially when Rondo tries to look innocent.

Flat dog (or, “Rondo-the-innocent”) [about 214K]

Dogpark

I wanted to take some pics of a pair of dogs that bore a striking resemblance to Bev and Steve's old set of dogs: Jazmine and Dru.

Jaz and Dru clones! (well, at least they’re close—and the female –is- a dobie/shep mix!

While I had the camera out, I snapped some pictures of the dogs doing their thing.



Here are some shots of Chloe and Pal, two Aussie Sheps. I *really* like Chloe: she's 14 and very sweet. She is in gentle decline-- what I had hoped Frieda would do when she got old. So I (with the owner's permission) sneak her two liver-snaps every time I see her at the park. Pal is her 8 year old buddy who taught Rondo his bad habit of barking in other dog's faces to encourage them to play (I'm still trying to break him of this tendency). Pal is a park "sheriff": a dog who barks at other dogs who get too rowdy or out of control. He keeps the peace by barking loudly (dog logic).

Chloe and her buddy, Pal (short for “Paladin”) [about 233K]

Rondo does something that Roz calls, "Flat dog," where he aims himself at his target, flattens himself out on the ground and waits to ambush his victim. Here Rondo is stalking his friend, Ghia-the-golden-retriever. I'm told it's some sheep-dog-thing, but it's pretty amusing. Especially when Rondo tries to look innocent.

Flat dog (or, “Rondo-the-innocent”) [about 214K]