Am away from tomorrow for a small camping vacation in northern California, returning June 3rd with hopefully lots of pictures. On return, will have to find a way to compensate for the carbon used. Found a couple interesting links this last week:

• Endangered Species Handbook
• Debunking Climate Change Myths
• The Great Global Warming Swindle
• Climate Change: A guide for the perplexed

It is a called the Valley of the Moon, a desolate rocky stretch of land in Namibia, where few plants grow, and where the most interesting feature is the variety of mineral rocks and semi-precious stones. The few plants and animals that do survive have adapted to this harsh climate over thousands of years. The diversity of life is very low, and without adequate supplies, “civilized” man would not survive there for very long.

(Bumblebee on Mallow - click for larger image)

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My usual haunt for bird-watching/hiking is More Mesa because it is just 10 minutes away from where I live; I also tend to visit Goleta Slough/Goleta Beach and Atascadero Creek frequently. Recently, I have also been guided by posts to the Santa Barbara County Birding Group about interesting locations, to watch and photograph other birds. This weekend, returned to More Mesa on both Saturday and Sunday to look for the many migratory birds, and also took photos on Saturday at Merida Drive.

(More Mesa looking North, May 6, 2007 - click for larger image)

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On the last “to-photograph-flora-list” (weekend of 28/29 April) were calochortus and fritillary, reportedly seen in the Santa Ynez Mountains. The lack of rain this year has seemingly confused many plant schedules; calochortus that were blooming at the end of March (instead of July) were not found, and the fritillary was well along the path to seed-forming. However, there were many other plants of interest, and inspired the text of this post.

(Hollyleaf Cherry, April 29, 2007 - click for larger image)

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