California Red Legged Frog by Michael Marchiano April 1, 1998 Michael Marchiano The Calaveras Jumping Frog is a story written by Mark Twain in the 19th century. Contrary to popular belief, the frog in that story was NOT an American Bullfrog but rather California’s largest native, the California Red Legged Frog. The Bull frog (a non-native species) was not introduced to California until the turn of the 20th Century. The Red legged frog, is a species in decline at this time due to habitat destruction (75 % of its historical range altered), fragmentation of its environment, water pollution, pesticides, mining, fertilizers, and the introduction of the bullfrog which eats red legged frogs and tadpoles as well as its food sources. The Red legged frog can grow up to five plus inches (half the size of a bullfrog) and lives up to 8-10 years. The frogs are reddish brown, olive, or gray with black spots. The legs have a dark banding and a dark mask like steak runs from the shoulder to the front of the upper jaw. Normally found near water it will often sit on the bank blending in to its surroundings. It will use its powerful hind legs to leap into the water when threatened or attacked by a predator.It takes two to three years to reach breeding age. Breeding takes place from December to March in seasonal ponds, streams, stock pools, and reservoirs. The female can lay up to 2000 eggs but only about one percent will metamorphosis into frogs. Tadpoles mature into frogs in three to seven months, often depending on the availability of water. Water sources with shore line growth of willows or cattails are ideal breeding locations, providing hiding place. In drought years many ponds that start out with breeding populations will dry up before metamorphosis is completed. Although a riparian frog, it is capable of traveling several miles overland in rainy weather. During dry spells it often seeks refuge in leaf litter, animal burrows (especially ground squirrels and gophers) and under fallen trees. They must stay cool or wet enough so as not to dry out. Predators consist of the afore mention introduced American bullfrog, cats, garter snakes, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, egrets, bass, and introduced mosquito fish eat their eggs and newly hatched larva. Their food consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates but they have been known to eat tree frogs and small mice when available. This very attractive amphibian is now protected under both State and federal law as a threatened species. Several populations of red legged frogs breed in Mount Diablo State Park but with our current drought situation many of their breeding sites are drying up before the frogs reach maturity thus causing a decline in their population. by Michael Marchiano by Michael Marchiano BACK TO LIST

Barn Owl Owls and Nightjars Barn Owl Tyto alba All Year Owls and Nightjars Daniel Fitzgerald The white heart-shaped face and dark eyes are distinctive. It has no ear tufts and has an unstreaked light colored underparts.

Brewer's Blackbird Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus All Year Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Here’s one where the eye color distinguishes the sexes with the adult male being whitish and the female being dark. The male can appear purplish in good light and otherwise black where the female is brownish gray.

Wildflower Mount Diablo Alkali Mallow Scientific Name: Malvella leprosa Family: Malvaceae Blooms: Apr-Oct Color: White Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald

Wildflower Mount Diablo American Nightshade Scientific Name: Solanum americanum Family: Solanaceae (Nightshade Family) Blooms: Mar-Nov Color: White Annual or perennial herb Native Toxicity: Do not eat any part of this plant. Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald

Wildflower Mount Diablo Johnnytuck Scientific Name: Triphysaria eriantha Family: Orobanchaceae Blooms: Feb-Apr Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald

Wildflower Mount Diablo Daffodil Scientific Name: Narcissus pseudonarcissus Family: Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllis Family) Blooms: March Color: Yellow-Orange Perennial herb (bulb) Introduced Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Terese Dixon Terese Dixon Terese Dixon

Wildflower Mount Diablo Sulfur Buckwheat Scientific Name: Eriogonum umbellatum var. bahiiforme Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) Blooms: Jun Color: Yellow-Orange Perennial herb Native, endemic to California This plant is rare in Mount Diablo State Park. See full list Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Vernal Pools by Glenn Keator, Ph. D. (Excerpted from MDIA's book Plants of the East Bay Parks) Plant Communities of Mount Diablo State Park January 1, 1999 Vernal pools have only recently gained the publicity -- some would say notoriety -- they deserve. Long called hog wallows as well as other degrading names, vernal pools are specialized habitats within our grasslands. Wherever clay soils form small depressions underlain by cementlike hardpans, vernal pools appear. As their name indicates, these are spring pools, filling with water during winter rains, slowly dying as days lengthen and soils warm. Such miniature wetlands are whole ecosystems unto themselves, with special circumstances: seeds, perennial roots, and bulbs must start growth when covered with water, yet they must wait until water levels recede to put on their full growth, blossom, seed, and die. Growing while covered with water is particularly difficult since little oxygen mixes with water, yet plants require oxygen for healthy growth. How vernal pool annuals manage germination under these circumstances is still poorly understood. The floral displays of vernal pools are impressive indeed. As water evaporates from each level a ring of flowers appears. Most flower species occupy a specific level in their pool, and rings of flowers constantly change. It is not uncommon to see complex swirls and whorls of color like a fine Persian carpet. Whites may blend with yellows, or yellows segue into purples and blues and, lower, mix with more whites. Vernal pool annuals include downingias, lobelia relatives with perky blue flowers marked and splotched white, yellow or dark purple; glue-seed (Blennosperma mana ), with pale yellow daisy flowers and white pollen; vernal pool mint (Pagogyne spp. ), with minuscule, white forget-me-not-like flowers; button parsley (Eryngium spp. ), with spine-edged parsley-scented leaves and tight buttons of spiny-bracted green or bluish flowers; fragrant clover (Trifolium variegatum ), with small heads of honey-scented white and purple flowers; and annual forms of golden monkeyflower (mimulus guttatus ), with perky, golden-yellow two-lipped flowers. Vernal pools are easily destroyed through habitat degradation, as for example when fields are leveled for agriculture or suburbanization. Since they most often occur in desirable, low, rolling foothill country or on valley bottoms, vernal pool habitats are the first to be developed in any given area. Sadly, the East Bay has lost most of its vernal pool habitats. Many were destroyed before the importance of these special wetlands was appreciated. Coulter Pond Oak Reflection | Joyce-Chinn BACK TO LIST

Globe Lily Trail by J. Frank Valle-Riestra, originally published in Diablo Review 2013 Frank's Favorite Hikes: The Miracle January 1, 2013 The winter and spring months of 2013 were marked by a particularly severe drought. Following some decent fall rains, only a couple of insignificant sprinkles fell upon our parched mountain after the New Year. Such serious lack of moisture promised a poor season for our celebrated wildflowers. Indeed, some species clearly suffered. For instance, Miner's Lettuce—normally a prolific species appearing as early as February—was conspicuous by its scarcity. More serious has been the effect upon Coulter and Foothill Pines, due to side effects such as insect infestation aggravated by drought. You will find withering and dying pines, particularly around the junction of Red Road with Mitchell Canyon Road. And yet other species, unexpectedly and miraculously, have proliferated, still another example of the difficulty of predicting good wildflower years from weather observations alone. In particular, the spring of 2013 was a banner season for the Mount Diablo Globe Tulip (also known as Mount Diablo Globe Lily or Fairy Lantern), a species endemic to the mountain and celebrated for its striking beauty. It is not really rare, but certainly not plentiful, and in normal years its occasional discovery among the golden mature grasses of May and June brings surprised joy to the heart of the observant hiker. Its bright yellow translucent petals, formed into a nodding globe, light up and glow in direct sunlight, indeed giving the appearance of a fairy lantern. But in the spring of 2013, the little beauty was no longer solitary - whole masses of fellow Fairy Lanterns graced the flanks of the Globe Lily Trail and the parallel stretch of Mitchell Canyon Road below, veritable explosions of color. Let us follow the Globe Lily Trail loop, which offers perhaps the best opportunity in the park for identifying a large variety of wildflowers, particularly in the spring. The loop is an easy two-mile walk, fairly level, with only a few minor inclines. Mitchell Canyon Road is a well-graded dirt track, and the Globe Lily Trail is an intimate single-track path. In the springtime the emphasis is upon the flowers, but the loop is an enjoyable walk at any time of the year, with small discoveries and surprises around each bend awaiting you. There are welcome benches at the junction of Mitchell Canyon Road with Black Point Trail and again with Red Road, excellent sites for bird watching in the late afternoon. Start your exploration at the Mitchell Canyon park entrance and visitor center. Be sure to walk through the Native Plant Garden behind the visitor center, the splendid creation of Dave Caniglia, an MDIA docent. This fruit of thousands of hours of devoted work is an excellent introduction to the flora of Mitchell Canyon. Now walk through the gate at the trailhead and follow Mitchell Canyon Road for ½ mile to the first side road, the Black Point Trail. After a few yards thereon, find the start of the Globe Lily Trail on your left. If you are here during the spring, however, continue momentarily upward a couple of switchbacks along Black Point Trail. You just may run across whole miniature carpets of stunted colorful flowerlets in the sandy soil of the road: Baby Blue Eyes, Bird’s Eye Gilias, and many others. If they are not there (nothing is ever guaranteed), the short side trip is still rewarded with fine views of Mitchell Rock across the canyon. Back on the Globe Lily Trail, enjoy the trailside show, and be on the lookout for stands of Yerba Santa along a dry exposed section of the trail. These plants, with their showy white blooms, are hosts to a parasite plant that feeds on their roots, Naked Broomrape. This is a plant justifiably characterized as rare, a leafless individual with clusters of waxy yellow flowers that seem to pop straight out of the ground. Finding one is cause for some excitement, but, again, in the spring of 2013, something happened—and literally dozens of these weird plants punched through the bone-dry soil in this location. Normally you would be lucky to find one. In the same location as the Yerba Santa, you will find a thriving stand of Diablo Mallow, a plant usually seen only after fires, but here still vigorous almost forty years after the last fire in this location in 1977. And now, as you continue along the trail to the point where it turns to your left along a north-facing slope, be on the lookout for Checker Lilies in the lush undergrowth. They are not easy to spot, by virtue of their dark and spotted petals, a decent camouflage. Once you reach the end of the Globe Lily Trail at Red Road, turn left, and then almost immediately left again onto Mitchell Canyon Road to return to the trailhead. It is along the first part of this return stretch where you have the best chance of spotting the elusive Fairy Lantern in late spring, on the left side of the road. A variety of supporting information is available to you to enhance your hiking experience. The Native Plant Garden Guide is available at no cost at the Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center, as well as the illustrated booklet Mt. Diablo Wildflowers. Mitchell Canyon Road is posted as a nature trail, and guiding leaflets can be picked up from a box at the trailhead. MDIA has an excellent audio guided tour of Mitchell Canyon on its website, www.mdia.org . During the wildflower season you may wish to explore other trails in the park with exceptional flower displays. In my opinion, some of the best ones include Camel Rock Trail (poppies on Long Ridge), Bald Ridge Trail, North Peak Trail from Devil’s Elbow to Prospectors Gap, Ridge View Trail, Black Point Trail, Twin Peaks Loop, and Falls Trail Loop. Globe Lilies are found at other scattered locations besides the Globe Lily Trail, notably along the Perkins Trail in the Perkins Canyon area. Be advised, however, that the recent Morgan fire on our mountain encompassed the North Peak and Perkins trails. These trails in particular should have splendid displays of post-fire wildflowers in the spring of 2014. Check out more Spring Wildflower Hikes: Springtime in North Peak Black Point Trail Mary Bowerman Hike Globe Lily Trail Map Globe Lily Trail Elevation BACK TO LIST

Wildflower Mount Diablo Brewer's Rockcress Scientific Name: Boechera breweri ssp. breweri Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family) Blooms: Mar - Jun Color: Red-Pink Perennial herb Native This plant is seen in Northern California counties (Butte, Shasta and Placer), and only in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Wildflower Mount Diablo Mayweed, Stinking Chamomile Scientific Name: Anthemis cotula Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Blooms: May-Sep Color: White Annual herb Introduced Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald