Early Blooming for Common Deerweed (CA Broom / Broom Lotus, Lotus scoparius)

While hiking Little Sycamore Canyon today, in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, I came across an early bloomer - strangely early, perhaps...

Take a look at these photos of Common Deerweed, taken on a chilly Sunday afternoon, today 14 December 2008 at around 2:45 pm.


According to calflora.net, Common Deerweed "blooms from March to August" (visit the entire page on deerweed HERE (http://www.calflora.net/bloomingplants/commondeerweed.html). So, this specimen was at least 3 months early!!! What's going on???

To visit all NIOC's photos of Deerweed, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/NatureInOrangeCounty/CommonDeerweed#

From the OC Register: "Fire watchers on alert in the canyons"

From the OC Register online:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fire-volunteers-canyons-2178206-county-watch (Article below):

Fire watchers on alert in the canyons

Volunteer force says it will be well prepared when winds whip up fire danger.

By MARK EADES and PAT BRENNAN

The Orange County Register

| Recommend 2

The fire watch volunteers in the canyons are ready for the upcoming fire season.

Wearing bright green vests, with "Fire-Watch" signs on their car doors and toting radios, volunteers from the canyons will be on patrol this year watching for any potential arsonists, careless smokers and other fire dangers during times of high winds and peak fire danger.

Devastating fires have occurred throughout the western United States already this year, said Orange County Fire Authority chief Chip Prather. The agency is working with the volunteer programs in all the canyons and with a group with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy.

"We can't do this alone," Prather said. "We need the help of these volunteers."

The volunteers from each group will work with each other and with groups such as the Inter Canyon League in the county's eastern canyons.

During times of fire alerts, the volunteers will make their presence known, talk to members of the public – and do things like note down license plates of cars in wild land areas in case a fire breaks out later.

The fall months, especially October, are the Santa Ana wind months, and the fire-watch volunteers are expecting an active season. Dry conditions are making Orange County's vegetation especially vulnerable.

"I think that just our appearance of being there makes people aware of the danger," said volunteer Judy Andreosky. "Hopefully, our presence will be a deterrent to people who are not there for the right reasons."

Volunteers don't act as law-enforcement officials, but can report suspicious activity to authorities.

To be better prepared for future fires, OCFA is in the process of acquiring 11 "brush" engines for wildfires, and training helicopter pilots with night vision goggles. The agency has purchased seven of the compressed air fire-retardant foam units, which can spray homes ahead of wildfire, with five more on the way. One unit has been deployed in Silverado Canyon, and another in Coto de Caza.

Contact the writer: meades@ocregister.com or 949-454-7352

Other OC Blogs to check out

A quick post!
Surfing the net this evening, I found these other OC blogs created by other passionate naturalists in Orange County. (Many are not up-to-date or regularly updated, but it's nice to read them anyways - there's a lot of various insights and facts to learn...)

Have fun!

http://orangecountynaturalist.blogspot.com/
http://bioticspark.blogspot.com/
http://revolvingrock.blogspot.com/ (Astronomy in OC)

Update Oct 5, 2008: This blog is so awesome! Thanks to Cindy for contacting me!
http://bugsafari.blogspot.com/

Share the Road in Laguna Canyon

A quick post I wrote on my Laguna Canyon blog about SHARING THE ROAD with bicyclists: http://lagunacanyon.blogspot.com/2008/09/when-driving-through-canyon-share-road.html
More posts and photos to come this week! Please contact me with suggestions/comments! :)

Also: wikipedia on SR-133: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_133

The Nursery At Willow

Another great blog to check out (especially if you're a local and want to get involved, or are looking for more information about the canyon's happenings and native plants) : http://hijoley.blogspot.com/
Thanks Robert!

New Blog for Laguna Canyon

Hello all ~
Since Orange County is a large area to cover, I have created a new, sister blog to deal specifically with Laguna Canyon, one of my favorite places to go hiking and connect with nature. Here is the address: http://lagunacanyon.blogspot.com. Please feel free to visit both blogs - sometimes my news will overlap onto both, when they involve issues or events happening in Laguna Canyon; otherwise, if it is about another natural area in Orange County, (such as the Bolsa Chica wetlands, or a Beach Cleanup, etc.) I will keep you all informed here!
Thanks again for visiting!

The Nix Nature Center and Little Sycamore Trail

Hello all ~

Today was my first time visiting the Nix Nature Center, located at 18751 Laguna Canyon Rd/SR-133, approximately two miles north of El Toro Rd and 5 miles south of the I-5. This weekend was the official re-opening of the center since its construction/renovation.

Upon entering I was pleased to see the work that had been done, with the various educational displays on the rocks, fauna and flora of the canyon. I then met a fantastic ranger who was kind enough to inform me of the volunteer opportunities within the park and the Laguna Canyon Foundation. It was almost 1 PM, and very hot outside, but I wanted to take a little hike to discover this part of the canyon that I had never seen before. When I asked about the trails starting from the lot, the ranger recommended the Little Sycamore trail, a "quick" one-mile trail up to Serrano Ridge (Elevation 500'). Little Sycamore is fun, uphill for a lot of the short trek, with little two-board bridges from time to time, narrow pathways once you get half-way into the hike (brush/bushes/trees surround you on either side, you've got a 15" wide path to stick to). As you climb and look back towards your starting point, you begin to see much of the larger canyon hills behind you, the 133 and the 73 Toll Road begin to shrink into oblivion and you realize how grand and important our nature preserves truly are. At the end of Little Sycamore, you end up on a crest and look out over towards Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, and the likes... a little disappointing if you expect to see more rolling hills once you reach the top, but a good reminder of the necessity to keep what natural land we still have protected!!!

Click on the following link to watch the little video I took while on the trail (sadly a plane started to fly overhead, but you can still hear the birds' songs) Little Sycamore Trail Video

Pictures of the plants and scat I found are available HERE: Little Sycamore Trail Photos

(For more information on the Nix Nature Center, call 949-923-2235, or visit www.ocparks.com/lagunacoast).