A Walk in the Park

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

A ground squirrel pulls a stalk of grass near and starts nibbling.

A ground squirrel pulls a stalk of grass near and starts nibbling.


After flying a bit, as the wind rises in late morning I often take a walk around Baylands Park, giving the chargers time to top up batteries while I enjoy the local sights.

Monday I saw lots of California Ground Squirrels, Spermophilus beecheyi, harvesting and eating seeds from tall stalks of grass.

Spermophilus, their genus name, means “lover of seeds.”

They sat upright, grabbing stalks and pulling them close to nibble the seeds.

They were so intent on feeding that they let me get close with my camera.
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A Jumbo Gopher Snake

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

The gopher snake is decorated with brown, cream and yellow markings.

The gopher snake is decorated with brown, cream and yellow markings.


A group of county workers discovered big gopher snake at Baylands today. It was a beautiful individual, about 4 1/2 feet long, glistening in the warm sunshine.

I spotted it at a distance, a distinctly serpentine form being held by a woman in a blue dress.

After I fetched a camera, I walked over and introduced myself.

Her name was Candy, a teacher. She came to the park Wednesday with two other women and a group of about 10 lively children. The kids were outfitted in bright orange vests so the women could keep track of them.
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Squirrel Days

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Sitting quite upright, a young California Ground Squirrel nibbles on a bit of vegetation.

Looks like the park workers planted lots of squirrel seeds this past winter: suddenly the path just north of Pickleweed Place is aswarm with at least a trillion baby California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi).

Wikipedia tells me that California Ground Squirrels belong to a family of rodents that also includes marmots and prairie dogs. Some are big and some are small. Most can rise up on their hind legs and rest, standing erect. They tend to be more gregarious than other squirrels. Many live in social colonies.

Their enemies include snakes, eagles, raccoons, red foxes, badgers and weasels. On Monday I saw one of our Red-Tailed Hawks fly by carrying a little Ground Squirrel. At this baby stage, they’re easy to spot and catch.

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A Tiny Gopher Snake

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Baby Gopher Snake

Monday morning, workers at Baylands Park made an interesting discovery: a baby gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer. (Note: as a comment points out, this is actually a juvenile yellow-bellied racer, Coluber constrictor mormon.)

I’d guess it was newly hatched. But, like all snakes, it was already able to navigate its environment, looking for food and avoiding threats such as monstrous people.

At this stage in its life, it’s not ready to tackle a gopher. Insects are far more likely prey. And big birds are high on its enemies list.

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The Giant Tree Rescue

Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Spaghetti Up a Tree
See more pictures here.

The wind rose on Thursday, from calm at 8 a.m. to 20 m.p.h. at noon, with gusts to 25 m.p.h. At around 10 a.m., Bic Tran is flying his two-day-old Mini Mag around the Great Meadow.

The wind has crept up to about 12 m.p.h., not quite hissing through the trees, but quietly shushing out of the north northwest.

Bic’s first plane was a Slow Stick. He built it carefully and learned to fly it well over the course of three months.

But he was bored with it. He sought more of a challenge. He wanted ailerons.

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