The weather the past 3 days has been great, warm with almost no wind. I may actually get a little tan before I return to WI. Otherwise, work as usual. Nothing too exciting that I can report so here's just a few shots.

Skunk Point with Santa Cruz Island in the background. We've been getting some good swells/waves over the last week. The surfers had their epic contest at Maverick's with 4-story waves. With little wind, I've been able to hear the surf breaking pretty much everywhere I've been working, a nice reminder I'm on an island.


Island Fox! They've slowly been released from their captive breeding program and now I'm starting to come across them on the island. The lighting wasn't great this day and I was a ways away, but you can see how cute they are. For a size reference, he/she is standing in a green swath from a tire track.

From Soledad Peak, west towards San Miguel Island. I couldn't resist the lighting at this time of day, and I spent about 30 minutes playing with all the settings on my camera to get this just right.

While I wasn't excited to leave the snowy winter of WI behind (no, really), I at least get to see some flowers and green leaves in CA, making up for missing it in WI this summer. It is still pretty early in the season for flowers, but below are a few I've seen so far. The wettest parts of the storm last week missed us for the most part, but we still managed to catch about 3" of rain. That means I'm traveling by foot mostly until the roads get a chance to dry off some. Otherwise, field work has been going well and the weather windy as usual.

Jepsonia malvifolia: Island Jepsonia. This little flower is endemic to the Channel Islands and Guadalupe Island (off Baja).

Isomeris arborea: Bladderpod. It has a very strong peppery smell on the mainland but is somewhat tempered on the islands. Could that have something to do with a lack of native herbivores on the island?


Dudleya greenei: Greene's Dudleya. I'm not 100% certain this is D. greenei and not D. candelabrum. It's not flowering yet, but the rosettes are just so darn cute. Plus, it doesn't shake and move all over in the wind while I'm trying to take close-ups, a definite bonus over the last few days.

I spent about 3 days around Ventura, slowly getting ready for my 3 weeks out on Santa Rosa. The sunsets have been amazing in part because of the Santa Ana winds blowing all the pollution and particulate matter out over the ocean. On the horizon is Anacapa Island as seen from the hills above the city.
Today while monitoring I came across this Jerusalem cricket out in the open. Usually I only see them while digging holes. They always startle me, mostly because they are so big. When they molt, their exoskeleton looks like a little fetus.

The recent rains on the islands means tick season has started and I was unfortunate enough to walk into a nest of some sort not once, but twice today. Can you say "tick check"?

The elephant seals are "pupping" right now, giving birth to their dark, tiny pups. This little one on the right at China Camp looks pretty new, given the spotting on the sand (left side)!