I just returned from one of my favorite late spring hikes - the Mary Bowerman Trail that circles the summit of Mount Diablo.  It is an easy, relatively level, ~1 mile loop with fantastic views in all directions and the potential for unusual wildflower and wildlife encounters.  The trail was formerly called the "Fire Interpretive Trail", but has been renamed in honor of Dr. Mary Bowerman, one of the founders of Save Mount Diablo.  Among other things, Mary was involved in the design of the trail - in particular lobbying successfully to have the overlook deck built as an alternative to the much more damaging plan to blast the trail through the rock outcrops.

This is one of the best places I know to see relatively uncommon Bay Area reptiles like Sagebrush Lizard, Western Whiptail, and even the threatened Alameda Whipsnake (please treat these rare animals with respect).  It is also a great place for botanizing, particularly in the late spring when wildflowers have disappeared from the lower slopes of the mountain.  One of my favorite spectacles each spring is the display of Bitter Root covering the chert slopes on the northeast corner of the trail.

Sagebrush Lizard

Sticky Chinese Houses

Bitter Root

A Presentation to the Mount Diablo Audubon Society

Thursday, June 7th, 2012
Camellia Room of The Gardens at Heather Farm, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek, California
6:00 pm Doors open
6:30 pm Potluck Dinner is served
8:00 pm Announcements
8:15 pm Speakers

Up and Down Chile From Tierra del Fuego to the Atacama Desert

Chile is an amazingly large, diverse, and beautiful country.  The windswept coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego is a gateway to Antarctica, while the Atacama Desert is the driest desert on the planet.  Spectacular volcanoes rise toward the sky from a 15,000’ plain - the Altiplano - while also erupting near the beautiful lakes and temperate rain forests of the Lake District.  Of course you can’t discuss Chile without mentioning the “Dragon’s Back” - the high Andes.

While the landscapes of Chile are stunning, its wildlife may be more so.  Birds range from the iconic Andean Condor soaring above the peaks of the Andes to the diminutive Chilean Woodstar hummingbird perched in a desert oasis near the border with Peru.  Large, flightless Rhea trot past Magellanic Penguins in Patagonia, while endemic and frustratingly “skulky” Tapaculos call – almost always just out of sight - from the dense vegetation of a Southern Beech Forest.  The riches of the Humboldt Current attract seabirds; many, many seabirds  - albatrosses, petrels, diving petrels, storm-petrels, giant petrels, shearwaters – oh my!

Of course there is other wildlife to entrance you during your travels.   Guanacos – the wild form of domesticated Llamas and Alpacas – are familiar residents of the lowlands and foothills, but give way to their beautiful and diminutive cousin, the Vicuña, in the high altitude of the Altiplano.  Also inhabiting the Altiplano are the weird and wonderful, rabbit-like Vizcachas.  Back at sea level, Commerson’s Dolphins cruise the Strait of Magellan and Sperm Whales dive into the Humboldt Current in search of squid (who in turn are hunting other prey).

MDAS members Scott and Claudia Hein will present photos of these amazing landscapes and wildlife captured during their November 2011 trip to Chile with Wings Birding Tours.

Each Fall I create a unique limited-edition calendar containing some of my favorite images captured during the past year. I try to include a mixture of landscapes, plants, and animals and also try to match the image with the season as best I can. The calendar is printed single-sided on 8.5×11″ cover stock and is spiral bound at the top. I only print a small number of these unique calendars.

2012 Hein Natural History Photography Calendar

I also create a separate “Images of Diablo” calendar for Save Mount Diablo that is a gift to supporters who make an end of year donation of $250 or more.