July 23, 2024
Hiking and rehiking familiar areas always turns up new discoveries. This may be because my eyes skim over the most commonly seen phenomena, allowing me to actively search for anything new or anything out of place. Rarely am I disappointed.
A few days ago, we explored one of our favorite hiking areas. Because birds tend to be more secretive this time of year, the best surprise was to hear a black-throated sparrow sweetly singing from his perch atop a cholla skeleton.
Because it’s monsoon season, many plants that bloomed late spring are making a comeback, and are happily spreading throughout the area. So to keep track of how ranges are expanding, I made note of their locations and transferred this information to a simple trail map. I also noted that the most commonly seen flowers were from the composite family …. the sunflowers.
Oh! Couldn’t resist capturing the silhouette of Wile E. Coyote glued to the back end of a dented vehicle in the parking area. That’s was a perfect discovery for the resident roadrunners!
Do you enjoy exploring familiar areas? What surprises have you discovered?
As always, thanks for stopping by!
a curious nature 
Lovely, beautiful map, and I’m drawn to the wildflowers! Also, Wile E. Coyote made me smile — memories of childhood cartoons! It’s great to revisit familiar places because you can notice and track the changes over time. Our retention ponds in the community are my “go-to” nature walk destination, and a few weeks ago what was once covered with daisies and dandelions is now abundant with Queen Anne’s Lace & Ragwort! Thanks for sharing your observations of a favorite trail!
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Thanks for the excellent comments, Karen! Instead of loading up my pages with countless details, thought I’d simplify. I’d be curious to know which approach of mine you prefer! Your retention ponds (how large are they?) really sound like a perfect place to record lots of changes throughout the year. In addition to plants (are there always daisies/dandelions before Queen Anne’s Lace/ragwort (aaahhh-chew!)). Thanks for sharing a bit about your go-to nature walking spot!
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I love all your pages, Barb, because I know that you have a wonderful, curious mind and documenting your findings in the journal is a way of learning & remembering details as well as creating new memories! I do read the details in your pages, but sometimes on the computer, I cannot zoom in on your image to read, but I am able to zoom in on my phone. So, I’m not sure if it has something to do with the layout or the size of the image. We have multiple retention ponds in our greenbelt forest areas, all with walking trails, so the ponds are various sizes, but full of life and wild plants!
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Thanks always for your thoughtful comments, Karen. I appreciate the feedback regarding my posts, and the amount of details in my pages. Maybe backing off with all the minutiae, even a tiny bit, may make the pages easier to read. I’ll keep thinking and resisting where I can without sacrificing information that may be useful as reference in the future. Do you reread your pages occasionally?
I am sorry you have problems reading everything on the journal pages, but glad my written posts fill in some of the blanks.
Thanks again! And you have some cool retention ponds, plural! AwesomeM
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