“Nature is not more complicated than you think, it is more complicated than you CAN think.” ~Frank Edwin Egler I thought there might be a temperature window last weekend to go back up and hike the Deer Springs trail near Idyllwild last weekend. The temperatures were good, but alas, the Forest Service had closed ALL...

“It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and so dependent on each other in so...

Phenology: noun. "The study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life” There was a very small window of a couple days of “cooler” temperatures last week, so Katie and I took advantage and headed up the Spitler Peak trail — at the north end of Garner...

As is increasingly becoming the norm, summer in western North America is the season for wildfire. I’ve touched on wildfire in a couple of these essays already, but the plethora of fires over the past two weeks has provided fodder for yet another go at this topic. You may have seen the headlines last week...

It is hot and muggy. Some of you are getting hot rain, and unfortunately a few are getting lightning fires as well. Without the tram up and running (another casualty of COVID-19) there really isn’t anywhere with enough elevation to escape to. I’ve been stuck inside, which means I’ve been getting some reading and writing...

Happy World Lizard Day!! We live in the perfect spot to celebrate our saurian friends — there is nowhere else in North America with as many species of native lizards concentrated into such a small area. Still, to come up with some measure of lizard biodiversity, lizard species richness, we are faced with the challenge...

For a bit of a change, I’m writing this installment from the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona. The Plateau, as its name suggests, is a predominantly flat, high elevation landscape, averaging maybe 6,000’ or so. A bit north of here this otherwise flat landscape is scared by a colossal mile-deep hole in the ground called...

Looks like it will hit 120 F today — way too hot for enjoying the outdoors. However, it is a good day for reading a book. Perhaps you won’t be too surprised that I love to read books, especially about people doing science (yes, I am a total nerd). My current read is a book...

Thanks to all who attempted my lizard identification quiz. It wasn’t easy. The correct answers were: 1) western fence lizard, 2) granite spiny lizard, 3) southern sagebrush lizard, 4) southern sagebrush lizard, and 5) common side-blotched lizard. Many of you just missed one identification, but only one person got them all right: Sue Shigenaga (CalNat...

I missed my Friday deadline once again – but no apology as I was out all day on the Deer Springs trail, just outside of Idyllwild, with community scientists conducting our annual lizard count. With Coachella Valley temperatures meeting or exceeding 110 degrees for the past weeks on end, it was refreshing to hike in...

As you hopefully remember, our California Naturalist class is meant to be a launching pad to membership into a “community of naturalists." What that means will vary from person to person, a personal journey, greater engagement with others exploring natural history, participating in doing science, or all the above. I am so thankful for those...

With the end of June, so ends our lizard surveys on the remaining dune fragments of the Coachella Valley for another year. When the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard received federal (threatened) and California State (endangered) protection back in 1980, a planning began process that resulted in the establishment of the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard Habitat...

Last week I posed a question regarding the different elevations where desert horned lizards occur in Joshua Tree National Park (abundant around 1400 m, and one sighting above 1500 m) compared to the highest record I am aware of in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument of a mere 950 m. The question...

First, as the COVID-19 virus infections are spiking once again, it doesn’t appear that there is any trajectory that would allow us to get together this Fall in one place to celebrate the graduation of the California Naturalists of 2020. Therefore, we are going to mail you your diplomas and pins. We thought it would...

The summer-like temperatures this week have meant that our lizard surveys have shifted more to the western (slightly cooler) portions of the Coachella Valley floor, and earlier starts, but the lizards have still been plentiful. I first wanted to draw your attention to the attached photo (UMIN_3) and to the "bling" the lizard is sporting...

As challenging as flat-tailed horned lizards are to find, Paisley has become an amazing horned lizard spotter - seeing four of them this week. This one could be barely bothered to open his eyes for Paisley's camera. On warm nights, like those we have had this week, flat-tails will sleep out in the open on...