Come take a hike with me...

along one of the trails in Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. This place is one of 26 preserves owned and maintained by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, an organization that was created in 1972 by a voters' initiative here in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Out of the 26 preserves 24 of them are open to the public, consisting of 57,000+ acres of riparian or marshland, mountains and foothills. Most or all of these preserves usually link to other county or state parks around Santa Clara County. Fremont Older OSP is located in the Cupertino foothills and has 739 acres totaling about 14 miles of trails. I took the most popular trail up to a 900 ft. hilltop called Hunters Point that gives one a beautiful view of the Santa Clara valley. Beginning elevation is around 300 ft. and the trail is only about 1 mile from the parking lot to Hunters Point, but it is a 600 foot climb in elevation, yet the trail is well maintained. A lot of the area was mostly "hayfield," plenty of open space and rolling hills. And at this time of year (late March) the rolling hills were fairly green. But the coolest thing was seeing the fields of wildflowers. Below was a field of lupine that caught my eye. To see a larger image of any of the photos you can double click on them.

Fremont Older, a San Francisco newspaper editor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, built a home on a couple of acres that is located on the Preserve property. There is some really neat history about Fremont and Cora's estate, called Woodhills. You can go here to learn more about this colorful couple.

As I rounded a corner along the trail I came across a portion of fencing, and saw this lizard sunning himself. I was surprised he/she didn't go running off like most little lizards do. But he/she kept his ground and I got a couple of halfway decent shots of him/her.

As I continued uphill I was able to catch a glimpse of what I would get a better view of once I would get to my destination - Hunters Point. This photo was taken about 2/3 of the way up to Hunters Point. I'm looking out through a little bit of haze of downtown San Jose, the green foothills to the east, and a part of the Mt Hamilton range.

At this time of year, everywhere I looked I saw wildflowers in abundance. Here is some kind of clover mixed in with some lupine and another wildflower I haven't yet identified. I just love those pink, blue and purple colors together nestled in the green grass.

Here is another field of wildflowers, mostly clover.

And again, one of the wildflowers I cannot identify. Any guesses anyone?

Once I got to the top of Hunters Point I certainly wasn't disappointed. I was amazed how far east, north, and south I could see. The photo below is much like the previous photo of San Jose, the east foothills, and the Mt Hamilton range. This was looking east.

When I looked north I could see Moffett Field which is now part of NASA-Ames, located in Mountain View. The hangars are an excellent landmark around here. These buildings used to house blimps before and during WWII. In this photo you can also see the bay and the east foothills.

As I looked just another mile or two north of Moffett Field I could pick out another landmark by the bay. Those tents are part of Shoreline Amphitheatre. Behind and to the left of those tents is Shoreline Lake, and that is the San Francisco Bay behind those tents. This is also the southern portion of Palo Alto Baylands, one of my favorite places to bird, especially for marsh and water birds.

Again, looking east, I was able to get a decent photo of Lick Observatory on top of Mount Hamilton -- another landmark here in the bay area. These last several shots were taken with my Canon 70-300mm lens.

As I started my descent I came across more wildflowers. You probably have noticed I don't have any birds in this post. Well, I heard a number of birds that day, but the ones I heard were mostly in thick stands of trees. As for other wildlife I did see many butterflies. But none of them ever sat still long enough for me to get a picture. I'm not positive, but I think they were all Painted Ladies flitting around all the beautiful wildflowers. As I approached a much shadier area I came across this fern located near a tree.

These little orangey flowers, I think, are globe mallow. These are usually found in dry, sunny spots. I find this cute little plant a bit invasive. Areas of my yard where it hasn't been "weeded" lately seems to have quite a bit of these cute little "flowers."

I'm not sure, but I think this plant is called Indian Warrior. Can anyone verify this or give me the correct name for it? It sure is pretty.

This is a wild hyacinth. They were all over the trail. This is my favorite photo of about half a dozen or more shots I took of this plant.

Anyone want to try to identify this one? It sure was pretty.

And this one is my prize. This is a Calfornia blue-eyed grass. Isn't it beautiful? As with so many other wildflowers, this was also abundant, and needless to say quite attractive.

This is a group of the blue-eyed grasses seen on my way back down the trail.

Then as I was about to the end of the trail I saw this plant located about 75 feet from the parking lot. I'm not really positive that I have correctly identified it, but I think it's called Mule Ears. Take note of the leaves on this plant. The flowers themselves kind of look like a sunflower. Notice the flowers that already had bloomed, how brown and dried-out they look. Their heads hang much like a sunflower would.

Well, thanks for going with me on this hike; I hope you enjoyed it almost as much as I did. Be sure to double click on the photos to see a larger image. And check out the links I provided. They are quite informative about the rich history found around this part of the country.

Belgatos Park and trail

Early in March, Red and I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather we were experiencing. We went to visit a nearby park that neither of us have ever visited before, yet I knew that local birders frequently visit. The park is located in Los Gatos, about a couple miles southeast of where we live. The park itself is nestled in a residential neighborhood at the foot of Blossom Hill, and the trails take you up around Blossom Hill where there is more housing with larger lots. Albeit, these homes are where the "wealthier" folks live. Homes around here can sell for more than $1.5 million.

The weather that day was perfect - a perfect temp for hiking uphill, and visibility was great as you will see in the photos I've posted here (near the end). As we headed up the hill Red and I would occasionally look back to get a view of where we started from. At one point Red noticed some deer grazing. So we took advantage of getting some shots. Take note there is a house just on the other side of the park boundary where the deer were located. (Don't forget to click on the photos so you can get a larger image.)

As we headed further up the hill we noticed quite a bit of bird activity. Some birds we saw but I did not get pictures of were a spotted towhee and a pair of hawks (we think they were sharpies). Other birds that were difficult to get were cedar waxwings. As you can tell from my photos the lighting was a challenge -- we were in a shaded area where the waxwings kept flying into. And as you can see in these two photos we dealt with a bright sunshiny day in the middle of the day.

Here is a chestnut-backed chickadee we saw on the trail. Actually there were several of them flitting around, but this one was a bit more cooperative as a photo op.

We also saw bushtits flying around with the chickadees. This was the only decent shot I could get. These little birds are much like chickadees and titmice - they don't sit still even for a second.

And the clowns of the bird species were there in abundance -- acorn woodpeckers. Here are a couple of photos I took of them. Isn't that a beautiful blue sky behind them?

And this is a shot of a woodpecker granary. See all the holes in the branches? Isn't that cool?

Here is a shot of Lick Observatory located on top of Mt. Hamilton, which is about 20 miles away as the crow flies.

And here is a shot of downtown San Jose with the Mt Hamilton range in the background. Downtown San Jose is probably about 8 miles away as the crow flies.

On the way . . .

A couple of Sundays ago, (March 30th) the San Jose Sharks had an afternoon home game. That gave Red (my daughter) and me a photo op before entering the arena. For years, in the spring, we have admired some of the flora we see while walking to the arena. [We choose to park off-site since the cost of parking in the lot is more than $12/game. Being season ticket holders that can cost a big bundle of change (in addition to what we pay for our seats).] Anyway, back to the floral admiration. The residential area is an older part of San Jose, so many of the plants are quite mature. The one plant we admire most is the trumpet vine (Distictis buccinatoria). Apparently, this is a Mexican native and does very well here in the Bay Area.

These trumpet flowers are quite large -- they are about 4 inches long and about 2-1/2 inches wide.

Another mature plant we have admired is the potato vine (Solanum). This one was located a few feet from the trumpet vine. And this plant is (according to Red) a true jasmine. We found this climbing up one of the more mature trees in the neighborhood.

And while standing at an intersection, waiting for the light to change, I saw these gazanias. This is that time of year when so many plants look so beautiful, so full of new growth and energy, and certainly not looking tired from heat exhaustion.

Tonight's Sunset

Tonight, just before 7:30, this is what I saw. Red called me and told me to quickly go look at the western sky. I peaked out my kitchen window and could see a reddish glow. I ran down to my room to grab my camera, and ran outside to see this. Wow!

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the sunset!

Spring Blooms

These past two weeks have been evident of springtime here in the San Jose area. Following are some of the nicer blossoms I've captured with my camera. Below is what is known as Fringe Flower. This is a fairly new/young plant, that is part of the landscaping for one of the medical offices across from the hospital where I work. I saw this plant while walking to work one day last week. This plant is an evergreen shrub, yet its leaves are showing a reddish tinge to them. It is supposed to grow as much as 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. And according to a Google search, it likes light shade to partial sun, and hardy in zones 7-9. It sure is an attractive plant, but I don't think it would work in my yard. Too bad, I really like it.

All the flowering fruit trees are in bloom around here, too. Most of them are either white or pink flowers. I think most of the white blossoming trees are either crabapple or pear. And I think that most of the pink flowering trees are plum. This photo was taken in the neighborhood, down the street from where I live.
This is the very fragrant and early blooming flower known as freesia. This is one of about 4 plants I have in pots in my front yard.
This is a macro shot of one of the freesias. You can probably click on it to enlarge it. Notice how glittery it looks. I have to thank my daughter, Red, for her artistic work that encourages me to try capturing more artistic looking photos.

And this is one of two camellia bushes my husband planted last summer in the front yard. I wanted these two plants on the west edge of our front yard for eventually attaining a little more privacy from our next door neighbors. When my husband planted them, I told him these two plants were in memory of our beloved Kodiak, our Siberian Husky who succumbed to hemangiosarcoma last April. And for such a young plant, this camellia is quite profuse with blooms. The other camellia is a white bloomer, and it has several large buds on it, but none of them have flowered yet. It probably is a later bloomer than the red ones. But for now I'll enjoy this bush.

Clouds Before the Storm

Yesterday morning (Saturday), I went out to the kitchen to feed the cats as usual. It was between 6:45 and 7 a.m. I sensed an orangey or peachy glow around me and I looked out the large kitchen window and saw a most beautiful sunrise. Since it's been raining so much around here, I have rarely seen the sun in the past two plus weeks. I ran down to the bedroom to grab my camera, and by the time I got outside (in the front yard) the beautiful color was already starting to fade. But here are a couple of photos for everyone to enjoy.

And just to let everyone know, we got deluged with more rain yesterday. We even had more rain showers this morning. But this afternoon and evening we started to "dry out." But the sun still wasn't shining. I'm hoping to see some sunshine tomorrow.