I met with Kurt Leushner and a group of mostly faculty from College of the Desert near the Agriculture building at C.O.D., and we left in a car-a-van for a wildflower expedition. Kurt passed out small radios to drivers of their respective cars and down the freeway we went. He called out flowers and birds as we sped along on the radios.
Kurt told us we were going to Joshua Tree, as far as the Visitors Center, then back around toward Mecca, looking for various wildflowers. He led the way with his lovely wife, and two other passengers in his car east bound on the 1-10 freeway. He stopped first at the rest stop past Indio, where we took a short break, and took a look at the ponds behind the rest stop. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees near the picnic tables, but nothing else truly exciting.
We mounted up and headed further east to our first official stop, the pumping station. Kurt said he liked it there because you pretty much have the place to yourself as no one stops there. Kurt stopped looking for a particular flower, the Ghost Flower, that is supposed to be pretty rare. According to Kurt, three out of four years we don't see these flowers. We were there for a few minutes and Kurt was showing us various flowers and shrubs when Bob, (who rode with Elizabeth, you remember her from leading the birdwalk at the Wildbird Center earlier in the month), called out he had found a Ghost Flower. Kurt confirmed the find and pointed it out it was exactly where it was supposed to be, at the edge of a wash in the sandy area before the rocky bank. This was where we found our first Beavertail Cactus in bloom as well. Kurt showed us how the stamen inside the flower closed up on whatever found its way inside the flower, so that they all shared their pollen with the visitor and not just the chance one the visitor happened to brush up against. I had never seen this in a plant other than carnivorous plants, and found it fascinating.
(Kurt showing us different plants)
(Kurt showing us how the stamen close up on visitors inside the Beavertail Cactus flower)
(Beavertail Cactus flower)
After the Pump Station, we went further east on the I-10 to the Cottonwood Canyon off-ramp toward the east entrance of Joshua Tree. As we turned onto the roadway and headed north into the National Park, (us old-timers still mistakenly call it the Monument), Kurt began to call out flowers he saw growing alongside the roadway until we found a pull out with a trailhead. We parked there and took the little loop where Kurt showed us Chuperosa, our first Monkey Flower, Purple Mat, as well as Bladder Pod and Chia. The interesting thing about the Chia, (no not the pet on t.v.), was that it grew up in a spiky ball that had small flowers that sprouted from the ball. The flowers bloom randomly and at different times in order to prolong their blooming season, all around this spiky ball, not all at once for a short time like some other plants.
(Chia flower)
(Ghost Flower that we didn't find was so rare this year)
We saw Yellow Cups, Yellow Poppy's, Arizona Lupine, Desert Chicory, Brown-eyed Primrose, Silver Cholla, Fiddleneck Desert Dandelion and Dune Sunflower, and more. Kurt was happy to find Fremont Pincushion and Wild Heliotrope or Phacelia as well. He walked us back away from the loop to show us the beautiful blue flowers of the Canterbury Bell that grew along the roadside in the gravel, right where they were supposed to be.
(Canterbury Bell flowers on roadside)
Even though this was supposed to be a so-so year, walking among the tall flowering Ocotillos, looking at all the flower cacti, and small flowers of bright yellow, purples, and blues covering the rocky and sandy soil was exciting and fun for me. I kept snapping photos. Several of the flowers like the Chia, Monkey Flowers, Purple Mat and others were what Kurt called "belly flowers" because to get a good look (or photo) they make you get down on your belly to see them. We also saw more Ghost Flowers here at the stop as well.
(Monkey Flower)
We then moved up to the road and pulled off in a small turnout parking lot. There we found Monkey Flower, Desert Filaree or Storksbill, Spanish Needles Dune Evening Primrose and more. I began walking down a wash area with Julie Bornstein, another attendee, while Kurt, Amy, and a couple others went over a small hill. I was walking and talking to Ms. Bornstein when I spied a Desert Tortoise propped on a rock. The rock was on a spine of sandstone that separated our two groups, one on one side of the hill and us on the other. I left Ms. Bornstein in mid-sentence and climbed the short distance to the tortoise calling for Kurt. My first wild Desert Tortoise, how exciting! I got up close and was looking for the best vantage point to take a good close up picture when I spied a small rattlesnake along the top of the spine of rock, just a couple feet from the tortoise. This was a small Speckled Rattlesnake who was fine until the rest of the group came to investigate, then he got a little nervous and worked his way down into a hole. The tortoise sat still the whole time and we left it alone, content to take pictures. Kurt's wife explained that trying to move or handle the wild tortoise could cause it to panic and expel its stored water, or hurt itself trying to escape. She explained it was best to leave it alone, but this was hard as the tortoise appeared to be in a kind of precarious position on the edge of a rock a foot or two up.
(It may look like I planted this Tortoise for the picture, but I swear this was what I saw while talking to poor Ms. Bornstein)
(The little rattlesnake near the tortoise as he decided it was better under the rocks)
The other dilemma we had was there was a much larger group coming behind us that was led by a Park Ranger. Kurt's wife caught the Ranger and told her about the finds, but the Ranger chose not to disclose this to the group in order to leave the animals in peace.
In all the years I have been hiking in the deserts, these were my first tortoise and rattlesnake to see in the wild. working in Palm Springs I found several rattlesnakes crossing roads, but never on my hikes in their "natural environment" like this one. This was worth the entire day for me. I wonder how many I tromped past in my hikes over the years, oblivious to their presence?
Of course, there were birds as well. We saw Loggerhead Shrikes, Phainopeplas,Black-chinned Sparrows, House finches, and Ravens.
We continued up into the Park to the Visitors Center where we had lunch and got to know each other better. After lunch we headed back down and out of the Park, across the freeway and onto Box Canyon Road toward Mecca.
I really enjoyed this drive as 1) it was new to me and I like the feeling of discovery; 2) the geology was very different, with the canyon we drove through changing from varicolored sandstone to sandy conglomerate of rocks that grew in straight walls on either side of the road. Sandy washes ran alongside the roadway, and every so often an open area would appear and trees or canyons would empty into these open areas and we would stop and fan out looking for new and different flowers and creatures.
It was in one of these wide areas with a couple large trees that we saw a Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, and Anna's Hummingbirds. There was also a pair of Phainopeplas that were battling with a Ladder-Backed Woodpecker for position in a lone tree that surprised me. Elizabeth blithely stated the Ladder-Back was exactly where you would expect to find it, but it was a surprise to me, I didn't expect it. They apparently like dry open areas, and being woodpeckers, like trees as well. This fit the bill, but I didn't expect it when we started up this canyon.
Kurt announced he was looking for a "holy grail" flower called the Five-Spot. While we hiked around Kurt found another rare plant, the Desert Hibiscus in a small canyon off the wash. One of the participants, a math teacher whose name escapes me now, brought Kurt his pocket camera to show him a flower he found and didn't recognize. Kurt's wife and I were following a small Desert Iguana when Kurt began to call us over to him. The math teacher had found the Five Spot flower and we all got a good look, as well as photos.
(Five Spot Flower)
(Desert Hibiscus)
After hiking around and finding all sorts of cool things, we drove through the canyon and found Highway 111 and drove to Coachella, where we stopped and had Date Shakes.
All in all a great day!! I got to see some things I have always wanted to see in the wild, some things I had no idea were out there, and spent the day with a good friend and some new friends. I learned stuff, and spent some time in the wild.
You might be a bird nerd if...You take any and all excuses to get out and see what's out there, even a wildflower outing!
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