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Red-tailed Hawk by Dan Sandri January 1, 2024 Dan Sandri Keep an eye out and an ear open! The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is probably the most common hawk across the country, and is often seen above and around Mount Diablo State Park. Our Red-tailed Hawks are most numerous across California in Winter, when many hawks return from northern lands. These are large, broad-winged hawks that usually (but not always!) exhibit an orange-red tail. Along with the tail, the best indicator that the hawk you are looking at is a Red-tailed Hawk is a brown-streaked “belly-band” (sometimes dark, sometimes more finely-streaked) across the tummy, and dark patagial lines on the front edge of the underside of the wing when seen from below. See the photos for examples of the belly band and patagial lines. Identification can get tricky if the bird is dark Harlan’s subspecies or a dark-morph adult or juvenile. Their preferred food is mammals, such as voles, gophers, ground squirrels, rabbits and the like, but they will also eat lizards, snakes, birds and other animals. Because they have hollow bones, these large hawks are quite light in weight - an adult female might weigh in at only 3 pounds. Their classic, recorded scream can be heard in many a Western movie, even when the bird shown is an eagle or a kite! Bird Guide: https://www.mdia.org/birds-1-1/red-tailed-hawk red-tailed hawk1 DSandri.jpg red-tailed hawk2 DSandri.jpg BACK TO LIST

Wildflower Mount Diablo Hill Star Scientific Name: Lithophragma heterophyllum Family: Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage Family) Blooms: Mar - May Color: White Perennial herb Native, endemic to California U-shape sepal Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Steven Beatty Stephen Smith, Steve Beatty Comparison of Hill Star with Woodland Star

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

Wildflower Mount Diablo Oneflower Broomrape Scientific Name: Aphyllon purpureum Family: Orobanchaceae (Broomrape Family) Blooms: Apr-Jul Color: Blue-Purple Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants

California Fairy Bee Perdita californica Andrenidae Perdita Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Description Genus Perdita is named for Shakespeare’s heroine, Perdita, in The Winter’s Tale, who loved wildflowers best of all. Perdita californica is a beautiful, colorful, small bee with a gold/red abdomen. There are 2 submarginal cells and a large stigma in the wing. The bee is about 6 mm in length. Shown with a truly tiny chalcidoid wasp, on Mariposa Lily. Nectar/ Pollen Plants Associated with Mariposa Lily (Calochortus venustus ) as pollen collector. May visit other flowers for nectar. Habits Ground nesters, but details are not known. Season April - June, timed to blooming of Mariposa Lily

Wildflower Mount Diablo Smooth Cat’s Ear Scientific Name: Hypochaeris glabra Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Blooms: March Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Introduced Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald Flower detail Daniel Fitzgerald Full plant

Wildflower Mount Diablo Black Mustard Invasive Scientific Name: Brassica nigra Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family) Blooms: February Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Introduced Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald Flower detail Daniel Fitzgerald Full plant Daniel Fitzgerald Leaf detail

Wildflower Mount Diablo Rosilla Scientific Name: Helenium puberulum Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Blooms: Jul - Nov Color: Yellow-Orange Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa

Wildflower Mount Diablo Chaparral Clematis, Old Man's Beard Scientific Name: Clematis lasiantha Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family) Blooms: Jun - Sep Color: White Perennial herb or vine Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Steven Beatty Flower Form Mike Woodring Seed Form

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 Golden-carpet Wild Buckwheat Scientific Name: Eriogonum luteolum luteolum Family: Polygonaceae Blooms: Jul-Sep Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants

Wildflower Mount Diablo Western Waterleaf Scientific Name: Hydrophyllum occidentale Family: Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf Family) Blooms: Apr - Jun Color: White Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa