Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez Valley
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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Ojai Raptor Center - 07Apr2013

Last weekend the Ojai Raptor Center had their spring open house.  Here are a few images from that event.


American Kestrel



Western Screech Owl



Eastern Screech Owl



Barn Owl



Golden Eagle



Great Horned Owl



Red-tailed Hawk


Saturday, April 6, 2013

April Flowers 2013

Today we made one of our springtime drives up to Figueroa Mountain to check on the status of the local wildflowers.  Because it has been a pretty dry winter, not a lot of wildflowers are expected.  But we had a fairly decent show of flowers during today's drive.


Mariposa Lily (Calchortus catalinie)






Bluedick (Dichelostemma capitatum)




Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja affinis)




Scarlet Bugler (Penstemon centranthifolius)



Globe Gilia (Gilia capitata)



Purple Nightshade (Solanum xanti)



Variable Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas chalcedona)



Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida)




California Buttercup (Ranunculus californicus)



Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa)



Tidy Tips and Goldfields (Lasthenia californica)



Goldfields



Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria biflora)



California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)


Hillside covered in Poppies and Lupines



Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum)




Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)




Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Costa Rica - Part 12

To finish up with Costa Rica, here are some images of larger and smaller birds.


Emerald Toucanet



Collared Aracari



Keel-billed Toucan



Rufous Motmot



Crested Guan (turkey family)




Great Curassow



One of the guides was showing this Swallow-tailed Kite.



Black-cheeked Woodpecker



Rufous-tailed Hummingbird





White-necked Jacobin




Black-crested Coquette



Violet-headed Hummingbird