Weekend walk report: Plus, bonus extras from last week!

 Walks and picture taking along the way for Saturday, June the 24th and Sunday, June the 25th, 2023. Plus, some images from last weekend (June 17 and 18) that didn't fit the theme of last week's walk report.

First some images from last weekend. Ducks. I didn't mention this but on June 11th, when I pulled into the parking these ducks, who go back to this post in May and the male goes back even farther, were walking through the parking lot toward my parked car. I, however, was paying attention to a young couple walking their dog about to pass in front of me and I had decided to wait for them before exiting my vehicle. Just as they passed the front of my car both the dog and the ducks became aware of each other and the ducks wanted no part of the dog so they flew off. I saw them in my rear view mirror. The dog was on a leash but ya know something, dogs aren't allowed on this campus due to livestock. I was kinda bummed. Did the ducks know it was me? Were they coming to greet me and the dog spoiled everything? It crossed my mind to open my car door and yell out, hey, your dog just scared my ducks!

This island in the parking lot is where the ducks were hanging out, apparently on June 11th too. Under that tree is approximately 63 yards (57 meters) from where I park my car. That's a bit of a walk for a duck, don't ya think?

 
Anyway, here they are on June 18th. I saw them as I drove in and I walked up to them. Actually, they were sleeping. 

Docken Duck II recognized me and wondered if I might have some more kitty kibble.

I did.

This rufous hummingbird was hovering over my head in the parking lot on June 17th.

Here are some monarch butterfly shots, also from the 17th. There were two of them dancing about in flight but I'm pretty sure this is the same butterfly on both the eucalyptus and the milkweed.

This ground squirrel was watching me follow the butterflies. They like to get inside the Senna bicapsularis shrub and think they're hiding.

Onto this weekend...

Saturday, June the 24th.

Just out of the car I noticed this common raven mulling around the parking lot. I believe this is a female, her mate was hanging out in a tree behind her. I tried to offer her kitty kibble and she was interested in my shaking the plastic bag but was a little apprehensive of me when I was tossing it to the pavement. I decided to back off. There was a previous experience where I came back later and found a pair of ravens eating the cat food I had tossed earlier. In fact, it's this same post from May with the ducks. 

Saturday was relatively sunny in the morning, today, Sunday was not. Here are a couple of shots of Saturday's sky.

Our male Calype anna friend, Dusty was playing hard to get.

Pictures of the sky are also an indicator of not much of interest on the photo front. I attempted to get some walking in and here's something nobody needs to know, I was becoming increasingly aware that I had gone in just a tad too far when I trimmed the big toe nail on my left foot shortly before leaving home.

Once I finished my usual lower campus 1/2 mile loop, I decided I was done for the day. I only put in about a mile total.

Sunday, today, June 25th.

June gloom was back for me all morning, the sun started to show shortly after I came home.

Hummingbird, Dusty was much more accommodating this morning.

In fact, I think he was excited to see me.

Along the loop.

That's about all I took out of the garden this morning. Since my toe felt much better, thank you, I decided to put a lot more into the walk. The idea of going from the garden, do the lower campus westbound loop and then head southeast to the horticulture department and truck around the Braille Trail was an idea I had yesterday. It was a good idea. It still needs a lot of work but the Braille Trail, originally dedicated in 1970 and rededicated in 1995, is starting to shape up a bit. In fact, despite some dilapidated antiquity, it looks like there may be an effort going on to reshape the entire area dedicated to horticulture. 

I entered via a short road that dead ends along side the weather station. The walkway you see on the left of this, one of many, pomegranate trees is the walkway into the weather station.

Here's the office... you go first.

 Again, there's a lot that needs work. There's a lot of garbage and clutter that needs to be removed.

But there's also a lot being added to the path the makes up the trail plus quite a bit on the periphery. 

Quercus Palustris (Pin Oak).

These tepee shaped supports for climbing plants are scattered about in several locations now. I only recall one maybe two from the last time I was here.

Some type of Bigonia.

 Garden inventory, also a bit of a mess. I'm afraid I've seen some plants go to waste before.

This sparrow seemed to have a very complete understanding of design flaws in this rain bird sprinkler.

Sayornis nigricans, the black phoebe is looking quite dapper with this beautiful background.

One of the hoop house green houses is donning a new plastic cover. I didn't get very close but it looked packed inside from a distance.

I believe these are Bellis perennis, the common daisy, often considered the archetypal species of the name daisy.

Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America.

There's considerably more of it on the ground than up on it's tepee. 

Cotinus obovatus, AKA, American Smoketree.

I believe this is chamomile. I'm a firm believer in the medicinal properties of chamomile. I found a mix of chamomile and ginger tea so calming that I started in on some research about a year ago. It's all about apigenin. The largest group of naturally occurring polyphenols are the flavonoids, including apigenin, a natural bioactive flavone-type molecule that could play a key role in the prevention and treatment of emerging global health issues. Its calming effect is due to apigenin binding to the same GABA type A receptors as do benzodiazepines. All without the downside of taking benzodiazepines. Namely, dependence, suicidogenic potential, cognitive defects... 

There are multiple therapeutic functions of apigenin including cell cycle arrest, apoptosis (a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms, see cancer), anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant functions. Apigenin has been considered as a potential natural treatment for inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis. Apigenin has been associated with antiviral effects, together with quercetin, rutin, and other flavonoids. Apigenin is considered safe, even at high doses, no toxicity has been reported. Nonetheless, at high doses, it can trigger muscle relaxation and sedation. Not necessarily a bad thing under the right circumstances, right? Go ahead look it up, there's a lot more to it than I'm telling you.

So, if this goes to waste it would really bum me out. This image represents about 1/4 of what was in a raised garden bed.

On my way back to the car, my little detour added over a mile to today's walk and it was quite pleasant. 

I think this might be Gaura lindheimeri,  commonly known as Lindheimer's beeblossom, white gaura, pink gaura, Lindheimer's clockweed, and Indian feather.

This was a really fun song on Saturday's walk, it made me forget all about my left big toe.