At The Backroads

California Poppy @ Mt Woodson Trail

We hiked to Mt.Woodson from Lake Poway today, and observed the promise somehow of more wildflowers in the trail in maybe 2 or 3 weeks. The hike from Lake Poway to Mt Woodson is about 7 miles round trip to the peak with an uphill climb of about 2300 ft.

Lake Poway from Mt Woodson Trail

A Popular Resting Spot About 2/3 way of the hike

View of Rolling Rocky Hills Near the Top of Mt Woodson

We started at about 8:20 am, and at about 9:00 am we noticed a halo around the sun. I wanted to take a picture of the halo with the sun, but I could not even take a long look since the sun was just too bright, almost was blinding me to take a look at it. I took a picture instead of just the bow when the sun was covered by the hill.

Halo Around the Sun ( Sun is Hidden in the Hill)

The bow looks like a rainbow to me, only that not as colorful. If not for Solar Halo and Really Big Moon post in Blackholes and Astrostuff, I may not be even aware of what the bow is. I really am learning a lot in that site regarding astrology and give me hints for more photo opportunities I could look for when I take a hike.  This halo around the sun lasted quite long, and now I feel sorry a little bit that I did not try hard enough to take a quick picture with the sun in it :( but at least, was able to take the half of it :).

It is another beautiful day today, sunny, blue sky with nice clouds scattered in the sky. Saw some spots of wildflowers here and there along the stretch of the trail too, but I give it 3 weeks maybe for the hills to become more colorful. If I am wrong, pardon me, as I actually also have limited knowledge about wildflowers. The most that I saw in the trail are the purple phacelias.

Purple Phacelias @ Mt Woodson Trail

Phacelias

There are two spots where I saw abundance of phacelias, one at the little island after crossing the small suspension bridge at Lake Poway, and the other one, where I took the picture, is near the intersection of Lake Poway and Mt Woodson Trail. There were a lot of California poppies growing, but they were still very green, and most of them don’t even have buds yet. There were also several brittlebush lining up the trail, but just like the poppies, most of them are just sprouting, so my guess maybe in 3 weeks, I see more wildflowers from this trail. On the other hand, I saw some poppies in bloom mixing with the phacelias, very little though.

California Poppy

I still need to find out the name of the other wildflowers I saw in the trail. Most of them are yellow in color. I will name them later when I find out what they are.

Wildflower in the Trail (1)

Wildflower in the Trail (2)

Wildflower in the Trail (3)

Buds from a Bush

But just seeing the green-ness from the sprouting bushes makes me hopeful that maybe in 2 or 3 weeks there will be more colors in this trail.

At the end of our hike, we relaxed at the lake, and I was lucky enough to spot this white pelican.

White Pelican

I do not see a lot of white pelicans in San Diego, what I see mostly are the California brown pelicans. So, I get happy whenever I get to see a new one. And at the top of the tree where we were resting, a small bird kept on singing to us, and here s/he is.

Singing Bird

Today was really a beautiful hike. I am anticipating for a beautiful spring here at Lake Poway, and the uphill hike to Mt Woodson is always rewarding for me even without the flowers.

Gull In Flight

Pardon me if I will take a break from San Diego Backroads right now. Instead of featuring a place in the backroads for a place to hike, I will for this post talk instead about my experience with a sea gull yesterday. Yes, it was Valentine’s Day yesterday, and we spent our Valentines doing a leisurely hike at Torrey Pines State Reserve, which is not just a beach but a great place for a relaxing hike.

Beach Trail @ Torrey Pines State Reserve

There are 8 miles of branching trails on top of the reserve which protects the nation’s rarest pine, the Torrey Pines.

Torrey Pine Trees @ the Reserve

But this post is not about any of the trails above the bluffs, but about that one gull who caught my eye yesterday. My first experience with the gulls was not very good. I was naive then as to how gulls can quickly snatch your food away. I just bought then a sandwich and was carrying it with me. When I got to the beach, oh, the water and the waves called me. I decided to finish my sandwich first before jumping into the water. However, I could not eat my sandwich standing, so I decided to lay flat a beach towel on sand so I can take a sit and have my sandwich. I had to free my hands then from my sandwich, to grab the beach towel in my backpack. The moment I put my sandwich on top my backpack, freed the sandwich from my hold so I can grab the towel inside, a gull quickly dived in to take my sandwich! I got so shocked and scared from a sudden gull attack that I must have looked funny when I quickly docked down as if avoiding an air strike. My sandwich was too heavy for the gull that in about three arms length the gull lose its hold. But there came a lot more gulls to feast on a food one of them snatched. I felt guilty for unintentionally feeding wildlife, which is not encouraged at all. I ended up picking up my torn pieces of sandwich paper and put them into trash bin and yes, dashed to a Mexican taco shop nearby and bought rice, bean and cheese burrito, but finished the burrito right there and did not bring it anymore to the beach.

So, what I saw yesterday reminded me of that incident. I saw gulls happily fishing in the water, but I have not seen them actually eating a fish. Yesterday, while walking on shore, I saw a gull with a fish on his mouth. Since I do not have a video, I took a series of shots instead of how the gull swallowed the fish. I was not at a very good angle to take a picture, but I was afraid to move any further for I may scare the gull away.

Gull Eating Fish (1 )

Gull Eating Fish (2)

Gull Eating Fish (3)

Gull Eating Fish (4)

Gulls Eating Fish (5)

Gulls Eating Fish (6)

Gull Eating Fish (7)

Gull Eating Fish (8)

Gull Smiled After Swallowing the Fish

It is hard for me to believe that a gull can swallow the whole fish, though the fish was not really that huge. And further, I could not believe that the gull, after swallowingthe fish whole, went to the water again, probably to fish more?

Heading Back Into the Water

Waiting for the Right Time

I wonder what this gull thinks, food again?

Do you know that the larger gulls have a mobbing behavior? They are resourceful and highly intelligent birds, yet they attack in group to mob and harass would-be predators and intruders.

There are many types of gulls, I found this website helpful in knowing more about them:

1) http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bfg_seagull.aspx?menuitem=14376

2) http://www.pestcontrol-products.com/gull.htm

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull

Gulls may look cute, but we have to remind ourselves to take care of our foods if we are at the beach, for the gulls can snatch your foods away. Even if they mostly eat fish, clams and shells, but they can take away your vegetarian meal too .