2. Nature

2015 Wintery Times

December 2015 through March 2016
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12/24, not totally in focus but I'm happy to have gotten this pic of this quick little Ruby Crowned Kinglet, with a bit of red showing on his head. Veteran's Park, Sylmar
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12/24, not totally in focus but I'm happy to have gotten this pic of this quick little Ruby Crowned Kinglet, with a bit of red showing on his head. Veteran's Park, Sylmar

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  • 12/21 temps in the high 50s and dark clouds moving in but we had enough time in the early afternoon to hike Duke's Christmas Eve trail before a drizzle set in around 3pm.
  • 12/21 This trail brings many memories of hiking with the boys as it was a short hike to take all the Jacks out, and the most memorable was the Christmas Eve hike of 2004. Duke, Abbey, Whit. A wildfire went through in 2005 or 2006 and remnants of the charred chapparal remain.
  • 12/21/15 Winter Soltice hike to Duke's Christmas Eve Trail. The 'tree' is still on the side of the trail after a wildfire, rains. The original picture with Duke, Whit & Abbey was taken on 12/24/04. Eleven years of history and memories.
  • 12/21 3pm as the drizzle and colder temps set in I saw this juvie brown pelican motionless on the sidewalk of Triunfo/Lindero east of the swim club. I called CA Wildlife Center to ask advice on what I should do and once we saw it fly we felt it wasn't super healthy. But trying to catch it by putting a sheet over it was futile and it eventually flew down to the creek where we had to just leave it to its fate. Perhaps it was just tired and cold after being blown off course inland. Hopefully it will find its way back to the ocean. 12/22, 11:45am, we went to down to the kayak dock to see if we could see the pelican and over on the concrete dam we could see it dead, lying on its back. Very upsetting.
  • 12/21 juvie brown pelican definitely off course from his normal oceanside flights.
  • 12/24/15, drove over to Veteran's Park in Sylmar (off 210) no traffic, about 45 min drive, in hopes of seeing some sapsuckers, a yellow-bellied sapsucker had been seen in this park recently, williams sapsucker, and 2 others, but when we got there about 10am the park was quiet of woodpeckers. I saw 2 flickers but they were quiet, but the biggest commotion came from all the ravens - and there were many - who quarked and gurgled, some gurgling in melodic rhythms I hadn't heard before. A male kestrel flew by and perched on a tall pine and posed for a bit. Not brillantly sunny but about 55 degrees which made it pleasant to be out but not warm enough to want to go biking.
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  • 12/24 I took this pic looking up at the flicker because you can clearly see the red in its feathers under the tail. Veteran's park, Sylmar
  • 12/24 a busy bewick's wren in the underbrush, Veteran's Park, Sylmar
  • 12/24, not totally in focus but I'm happy to have gotten this pic of this quick little Ruby Crowned Kinglet, with a bit of red showing on his head. Veteran's Park, Sylmar
  • 12/24 Veteran's Park, Sylmar
  • 12/24 Veteran's Park, Sylmar
  • 12/24 one of the many ravens I enjoyed listening to and seeing in Veteran's Park, Sylmar
  • 12/24 paddled around the lake this afternoon, around 3pm, saw 3 flickers in this sycamore! Two flew off and this one stayed
  • 12/24 always a pleasure seeing ravens, and there were a bunch of them in Veteran's Park, Sylmar, making their wonderful sounds.
  • 12/25, Sycamore Cyn mt. bike ride. Sunny but chilly, in the 50s. The wind was chilly but it would have been just right for riding if it hadn't been for the chilly breeze. Brown pelicans, a nuttall's woodpecker were the notable birds seen.
  • 12/25, a bright sparkly day on the Pacific Ocean, blue, blue, blue, but breezy and we took the truck with mtn bikes down to Sycamore Cyn to ride. We were passed by this old Ford, driver wearing a Santa hat, surfboard in the back. Iconic SoCal for a Christmas Day.
  • 12/26 walking up 'suicide hill' to get to China Flat, then on to Simi Peak, although too windy to stay at the top.
  • 12/26 windy and chilly today. Hiked to Simi Peak, 6 miles, over 1600 ft elevation, 2.5 hours, then lunch at Figueroa Mtn Brewery. beer good, food not so good, too noisy. But the hike was lovely under very blue skies but windy near the exposed areas.
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