June 28, 2022 Zuma Canyon

It has been six months since I visited Zuma Canyon. I used to visit this area quite regularly as it has some nice trails and habitat. Since the 2018 fire, though, things have changed. I was quite disappointed at my last visit in December 2021, as it looked very dry and inhospitable. The ongoing drought has not been kind to this area that used to regularly have a bit of water in the creek at least further back in the canyon.

While no water was present, and hasn't been for some time, I am pleased to report that the habitat looks much improved. For some reason our weird rain storms...a big one last December and another decent one in April, with almost nothing in between seems to have been just what our flowers needed.

I've certainly seen a lot more flowers this year than last year. What struck me most at Zuma Canyon was the sheer number of flowers in bloom. There must be over 100,000 flowers in bloom. Are there flowers everywhere? No. As usual, when you first start on the trail, the vegetation looks fairly dry with a few flowers here and there. However as you head back on the main trail, more and more flowers appear and though the variety is somewhat low, this being the end of June, the quantity is great. Thousands of cliff asters line some portions of the trail and hillsides and chaparral bush mallow plants are looking great and spread throughout. The coastal buckwheat is almost at peak and as everywhere in the Santa Monica Mountains, the laurel sumac bushes are filled with flowers. And, there are still some flowers to come, at least in this location.

That being said, things are far from perfect. This area used to be one of the few locations with western gray squirrels. I haven't seen one since the fire. I checked inaturalist and it doesn't appear that any have been reported since then either. Sadly, I notice that none have been sighted in Solstice Canyon this year at all--and this was the other reliable place to see them. I hope there is a population somewhere still hanging on but I'm a bit concerned. I know I saw a roadkill gray squirrel last year near the turnoff to Solstice and that worried me. With such low numbers, it's difficult for animals to maintain a viable population.

I haven't seen a rattlesnake at Zuma Canyon either since the fire and another check of inaturalist shows no reports of rattlesnakes since the fire. While that doesn't mean there aren't any, as not all people are using inaturalist, it does seem as though the fire has had a very tough impact on many animals.

The good news though is that the lush vegetation is definitely attracting lots of insects and pollinators. As someone who photographs a lot of insects, it is a bit overwhelming to see so many flying around and try to find cooperative ones. I saw many, many bees, several of which I'm still waiting for ID's on. Many were visiting ground nests in several locations, and I'm sure they will have plenty of pollen for their offspring.

As for butterflies, there were many. It's been a great year for checkered whites and Zuma Canyon was filled with them. There were also many marine blues. One interesting thing I noticed was that though this area used to be a haven for variable checkerspot butterflies I didn't see a single one (although it is getting late in the year for them). I used to see dozens of these along with a few gabb's checkerspot butterflies. On this day I saw one gabb's checkerspot and I notice that there have been no variable checkerspot sightings in this location since before the fire.

At least the insects and flowers seem to be having a good effect on bird life and though many cool birds have been reported on ebird, I wasn't able to spot or take photographs of as many species as I'd like. However, it's always nice to see the resident nanday parakeets and there were several black headed grosbeaks. Being able to photograph a juvenile quail (probably at the "teenage" stage) was also a highlight of the day.

Interestingly enough, many of the charred sycamore trees have sprouted a tremendous amount of leaves that are predominately growing at the base of the trees while the charred trunks are still on top. I don't know if the trees will grow taller and the leaves eventually rise but it's an interesting phenomenon...so instead of a canopy, there is more of a "skirt". Still it is nice to see life return and the amount of leaves on some of the trees is amazing.

If I've learned anything from visiting and revisiting areas over time, it is that the impacts of fire are long lasting. While the initial shock was difficult to take, the great rain year of 2019 seemed to mitigate that feeling by bringing lots of life back to those charred areas. Since then, we have experienced three dry years and are anticipating more of those along with higher and higher temperatures. From this review of just one small area, it is obvious that things are far from "back to normal". I do so wish more people would feel a sense of urgency to do what they can to protect our planet. So many animal lives depend on it.

Publicado el junio 30, 2022 05:55 MAÑANA por naturephotosuze naturephotosuze

Observaciones

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Picogordo Tigrillo (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 09:43 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Mariposa Parche de Gabb (Chlosyne gabbii)

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 10:01 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 09:57 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon
Many bees in a few areas digging and/or entering cavities in the dirt

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Codorniz Californiana (Callipepla californica)

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 10:15 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon
Nice to see this juvie

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Ñanday (Aratinga nenday)

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 11:12 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Mariposa Blanca con Parches Negros (Pontia protodice)

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 01:16 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

naturephotosuze

Fecha

Junio 28, 2022 a las 01:40 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Zuma Canyon
On black sage

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