At The Backroads

Lake Cuyamaca

In my previous post, I was so anticipating for spring, which is very true. Though San Diego may seem in the surface to have no distinct seasons, but for a keen observer, it actually has, maybe not just the average distinct seasons most associate with. Fall and winter means a lot of low tides at daytime and a lot of marine wildlife migrating into its shore. Spring explodes with colors given the right conditions, I always love seeing wildflower fields as far as my eyes can see. Along the coast and inland valleys, it actually looks like spring now, I am seeing a lot of green in the field that I am hoping that the greens will turn into another year of good wildflower bloom.

However, to wish for a lot more wildflowers mean wishing for a lot of rainstorm, and rainstorm along the coast is usually snowstorm in the mountains. And these storms equal happy vegetation. I know it is not a very common picture for San Diego to have snow, which is true, as the coast does not get snow. The coast is the place for the sea, the sun and the sand. My favorite past time would always be watching the sunset.

Pacific Beach @ Dusk Yesterday

However, it is different in the mountains, which are less than an hour away from downtown San Diego or in most of its communities.

California has a microclimate weather, which is not necessarily North vs South, but is more about West vs High Elevation vs East. And whenever there is rainstorm in the coast, the snow fun seeking San Diegans head to its mountains, and one of the more accessible location for them is the Cuyamacas.

Lake Cuyamaca Community

Lake Cuyamaca is a popular place for bird watching. Its strategic location provides the diversity of its wildlife. It  is surrounded by Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, 3 miles West of Desert Rim and Anza Borrego Desert State Park. However, I do not have much patience for photographing birds, I always tell myself I am a hiker first. I hike and I take pictures of whatever that interest me in the trail. And if I see birds along my way, happily, I capture them. But I do not have the patience to wait for these birds to appear or to really look for them in the trail. That was what happened to me in my last walk at Lake Cuyamaca’s shore. When I saw a bird approaching me, I stopped and asked myself if it is a crow? If it is, I will not take a picture since I already have too many crow pictures. As I was not sure what bird it is, I just readied my camera while it was approaching me, and here are the pictures I took of this unknown bird to me.

Is this a Turkey Vulture?

Turkey Vulture (?)

Then, I saw one perched low on a tree, however, I did not have a good angle to take a closer picture. I know if this bird will hear me, it will fly away, so I snapped a picture before I attempted to find a better angle.

 True enough, I had not even inched closer but just moved my feet to continue with my walk and this bird flew away from my sight.  Since I am not into birding, I therefore have very limited knowledge about the names of the birds. A lot of times, I take them picture, if on inspection I end up with something I do not know of, I search for their names by matching picture and names. For the bird above I caught, I visited Lake Cuyamaca Birding website at http://www.lakecuyamaca.org/wildlife.htm. I googled for the images of the birds in the list that I am not so familiar of, and my closest match up is the turkey vulture. I am not so sure though. But anyway, I was happy enough to add these pictures of birds in hiking encounters.

Here is a comparison of Lake Cuyamaca at winter and fall.

Lake Cuyamaca @ Fall

Lake Cuyamaca, Winter

For more information on Lake Cuyamaca, please visit my previous post at http://sandiegobackroads.today.com/2008/09/05/lake-cuyamaca-2/

I went to La Jolla for a walk last Wednesday after work thinking I would be missing the sun for several days. I was thinking there would be a lot of clouds rolling in that day since Thursday was forecasted to have rain. However, when I got there, the sky was still so blue with only a thin wall of marine layer at the far horizon.

California Brown Pelicans

 I started my walk a little bit disappointed because I was imagining rolling clouds that were not there. However, it seemed the wildlife covered up for what I was missing. California brown pelicans and gulls kept on flying above me,

Gull in Flight

some of them resting on bluffs,

Brown Pelica’s Red Pouch, Winter Breeding Color

 some sea gulls sharing the rocks with the seals,

Gulls and Harbor Seals

that in time I was entertained by what I was seeing while walking and not minding anymore the clouds that I was missing. What surprised me most are the presence of wildflowers on the slopes of the coastal hills already.

La Jolla Wildflowers

The sight of these wildflowers put joy into my heart, I love flowers and I always look forward for spring to see a lot more flowers in the trails. I am not seeing a lot yet in the trails, but a little bloom here and there, and seeing a carpeting yellow on the slopes made me excited for the coming spring, which for San Diego standard comes late February or early March, that is the time I usually see a lot more flowers in the trail.

Carpeting Flowers on the Slopes

Looking at the flowers makes it an almost spring now, and the presence of wildflowers seem like a smile to me beyond compare.

The Smile of Spring

Anyway, these sights just make me dreamy hoping to see more colors in the next weeks to come, especially we had been enjoying rain since Thursday. Today is a nice day with very little rain, and we managed to hike to Woodson Mountain, which I will make a post sometime this week.  I had all my wished clouds today, no sunset though since the West is filled with dark clouds.

Here are some more pictures from my leisurely walk last Wednesday at La Jolla.

Moon Over Dragon Trees

The Dragon Tree is a succulent type of tree-size species with stout trunks and dense umbrella-shaped canopy of thick leaves. The tree got its name from its red sap, which was thought to be dragon’s blood by early inhabitants of the tree’s native Canary Islands.

Cormorants on La Jolla Caves

Sea Lions

Pelican Bluff (the bluff is where you can view best the pelicans and the sea lions)