3/31/2020

38°41’46.0″N 121°04’40.9″W, -9999 Invalid

Folsom lake is very hilly with very steep slopes surrounding the lake. The area is also very rocky. Folsom lake is not a natural lake; it is man made and damned in 1980. There is a wide range of shrubbery such as valley sedge, needlegrass, and wildrye.

Through the week there has been sign of spring. During my walk, there was a goose that created its nest.  Sadly, I had to find out the hard way and hissed and chased me. She created her nest withing the tall grass next to the water. The sky was pretty cloudy was it has been raining frequently for the past couple days.  This probably why ants have slowly taken over the kitchen and bathroom. However, there have also been pretty sights from this spring such as the apple blossoms blooming in my backyard.

The blue oak has green leaves with a blue tint. It has rounded ends and the venation pattern is not symmetrical but they are parallel.

The lamb’s ear is very fuzzy and its venation pattern is very symmetrical.  Unlike the blue oak, the leaf on a lamb’s ear is an oval shape.

The sansevieria black star plant has long leaves that are green in the middle and yellow at the sides. This plant does not show its veneration patterns and it’s leaves spiral together.

https://calscape.org/loc-Folsom,CA/cat-All-Plants/ord-species/vw-list/np-0?

3/16/2020

38°41’46.0″N 121°04’40.9″W, -9999 Invalid

El Dorado hills is higly populated with varies types of oak such as blue oak and white.  Many of the bird species are scrub jays and quails. The area had a Mediterranean climate with a hilly landscape.

A common species found here, the scrub jay, has a distinct long tail with a blue body and a white breast. This specimen is assertive and quite vocal and tend to live inland in oak woods. The ground squirrel is another common species found in El Dorado Hills.  Unlike most squirrels, these squirrels spend most of their time near their burrows .  They can be distinguished by their dark brown fur and a furry yet thin tail. They tend to live in open areas on the edge of woodland forestry. Another common species found is the blue oak.  This tree tend be 16-82 inches tall and is a semi-deciduous tree with flowering season in spring and winter.

The trip began around 4 pm and the weather was partly cloud which later turned into rain a few hours later. Many animals were still active, including the species listed with addition to song birds that were not able to be identified.

Sources

“California Native Birds.” Costa Hummingbird on a Saliva Clevelandii Alpine. Native Plants Support Native Birds and Butterflies., www.laspilitas.com/California_birds/California_birds.html.

“California Scrub-Jay Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Scrub-Jay/id.

“How to Manage Pests.” UC IPM Online, ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7438.html.

“Blue Oak, Quercus Douglasii.” California Native Plant Society, calscape.org/Quercus-douglasii-(Blue-Oak).