This is the other snake I mentioned seeing while hiking down from Black Mountain last week.
I think this is a Night Snake. Please correct me if I’m wrong! Not the best photo I know the background isn’t great, but he picked his spot well didn’t he.
I’m seeing snakes on nearly every hike these days. While up in the Sonoma area last week-end I nearly stepped on a large Gopher Snake…and Thurs. I saw Kingsnake sunbathing in the middle of the trail. Signs of Summer!
This morning I rose early to hit the trail. The PG&E trail in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. I needed a good hike since we didn’t do nearly as much hiking as I had hoped to do last week-end.
Getting out in the country early in the morning is wonderful for so many reasons; it’s cool; there is usually no problem finding parking; there is hardly any one else around; and the wildlife is out and about. That was the case this morning;
Here’s what I saw this morning while on the way up to Vista Point.
A widdle wabbit!
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
A Junco surveying the land.
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
The flowers have changed and will soon be plump and juicy berries!
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
Oh, we startled each other. He was curious about my shutter clicks and would look at me each time I clicked. After 3 clicks he thought it was safe and began to munch on these leaves. I let him graze a bit then moved which scared him up the hillside.
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
Just after I rounded the bend in the trail I nearly stepped on this guy.
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
My sunny day companion…
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
Lilies…I saw only one other plant of these while going up today. I don’t think they fit here. Are they indigenous or not?
Photo by Deborah M. ZajacPhoto by Deborah M. Zajac
It was warm by 7:30a.m. I’m glad I got started early. Here’s Vista Point!
There isn’t much here, the power tower, a sign, and a bench you can’t see on the other side of the tower, the view was hazy this morning too, but I made it here in my best time yet. 1h34m!
Photo by Deborah M. Zajac
The trip down was interesting and had wildlife too. A King Snake, and fawn and its Mother, and …well I’ll save that until next time.
I spent a long week-end up in the Sonoma Coastal area with Naturalist Jon Menard and 6 other hikers this was one of the first places we stopped to visit. I enjoyed the garden so much I didn’t have a chance to go in the house! You know what that means don’t’ you? Right! I must go back.
For the Historians:
The famed horticulturist Luther Burbank made his home in Santa Rosa for more than fifty years. On this garden site and in nearby Sebastopol, Burbank conducted the plant-breeding experiments that brought him world renown. His objective was to improve the quality of plants and thereby increase the world’s food supply. In his working career Burbank introduced more than 800 new varieties of plants- including over 200 varieties of fruits, many vegetables, nuts and grains, and hundreds of ornamental flowers.
Two days ago Nikon released a new free software calledRegsweeperwhich will remove all registry entries after uninstalling Nikon software from your Windows based computer:
Yesterday afternoon I hiked up to Black Mt. starting from a new to me trail-head. On the way down he was sunbathing on the side of the trail. Heman nearly stepped on him! He was about 2ft long, not too fat, and only had 4 rings on his rattle. I didn’t get all that close to him. I stayed on the other side of the fire road/trail.
About 1/2 mile from the end of my hike I saw another smaller one sitting on the side of the trail.
Yesterday afternoon was the day for wildlife. I saw a deer, a rabbit, 2 rattlers, and a hawk eating something. I couldn’t tell what it was I was too far away.
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18-200mmVR @ 170mm| f10| 1/25 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Hand-held
Hike details
Black Mt Trail via Rhus Ridge Trail
Total hike 10 miles
Total feet gained 2,549
Total time: 4h 33mins.
Average speed 2.2mph
Correction- Thanks to Correcamino for correctly Identifying this rattler for me!
Circadianreflections Blog 
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