Jepson Prairie Preserve

Last Sunday was spent here where the sun was bright, there were carpets and carpets of wildflowers and a pod of pelicans above. 

Downingia

The tour started with a docent explaining the wildlife of the vernal pools. I'll be honest, there were tons of people there and I got distracted by the pelicans so I missed some of the names of the creatures. But, I do know that's a tiger newt in the above left and right photo and the red ones in the top left container are tadpole shrimp. 

Then, we meandered down the gravel road in search of the fields of wildflowers. All of them were bright and colorful with swatches of blue, gold, pale yellow and magenta amongst the green of the grass.

As everyone dispersed, I found a nice patch of grass to sit in. The sun was delightfully warm and the wind just slightly breezy. I regretfully wore black so I could feel the heat soaking in through my backpack and the back of my shirt. The wind would pick up just slightly to cool everything down as the wildflowers swayed back and forth. It was a nice moment, very meditative. 

BEE with vetch

Fun fact! The bees here only pollinate one type of flower. I ended the tour chasing bees until I was satisfied that I had gotten a decent shot of them.

Clockwise from left to right: Butter and Eggs, Goldfields and Butter and Eggs, Meadowfoam, Goldfields with Downingia.

Goldfields

DowNINGIA

When I finally left, two hours later, my car was burning from the heat of the cloudless day and dusty from the gravel. I cranked up the AC and the radio on the drive back home and stopped by Pedrick Produce for some strawberries, tamales and other goodies, grateful for the spring weather before the heat of the summer.