Well my friends, Spring has arrived to Loma Mar and the central coast of california. The spring winds are blowing cold air for the north west, the south swells are domnating the seas, the whales are migrating north and the birds are also in the middle of their migration. These are very exciting times to be a naturalist.

Canyon and Lincoln schools brought the magic to the outdoor school. We had a beautiful week with many interesting sightings. For the most part, we had perfect weather which ended with cloudy skies and precipatation as soon as the buses left on Friday. Here is what we saw:

Ocean: Great and Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons (roosting at the marsh), buffleheads, common yellowthroats, yellow rumped wablers, orange crowned wablers, wilsons wablers, greater yellow legs, whimbrels, ruby crowned kinglet, song sparrows singing, marsh wrens, bobcat.

Forest: wake robins, trillium blooming, california salamandars, hygrocybe, horn of plenties, candy caps, springtime amanitas, steelhead trout in river, deer (many in the meadows), red-tail hawk, red-shouldered hawk, northern flicker, bushtits, quail, golden and white crowned sparrows, spotted towhee, mergansers on the creek (both male and female), american dipper, calypso orchid blooming

I recently heard that the first harvest of strawberries happened last week on the coast! Times are changing and the equinox is our indicator that summertime is on the horizon. Enjoy