Took a hike with the San Diego chapter of California Native Plant Society to Santa Rosa Plateau preserve in Riverside County, California. Many wildflowers blooming in the grasslands and oak forests. It's a beautiful place to visit. Home to a few large vernal pools, probably the rarest ecotype in California or maybe the world. Lots of Mariposa lilies in bloom. One of those increasingly rare places showing how California was, before the European invasion. A living ecosystem, not a museum. Once threatened by the red tiled roof jungle of suburbia, but saved by forward thinking people.
#wildernesses
#nativeplants
#vernalPools
#hiking
#conservation
#california
#wildflowers

Oh, and I found a vernal pool with eggs today. Couldn't get a good photo, too much glare, so I ended up sticking the phone in the water. That's one of my fav features of new phones.
Seek says Salamander, but I'm not sure. Anyone?

#salamander #newts #VernalPools

And last, but not least, vernal pools. I didn't wade in for a close inspection, but no frog or newt eggs in the pools yet.

#NewHampshire #VernalPools

My April 2023 End Notes are complete. Observations from the trail, the backyard, vernal pools, and more, garnished with new photos from our wonderful spring in Southern California.

https://www.alex-kunz.com/april-2023-end-notes/

#BlogPost #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Spring #VernalPools

The reddish tint is from my Maui Jim sunglasses in front of my phone which are great for seeing things underwater #vernalpools #fairyshrimp

Completed a couple of spring site visits to the #vernalpools I monitor nearby today. Nice to find fairy shrimp doing well. There were so many next to this one log… a shrimp shindig! A macro invertebrate meetup! 😁
#citizenscience