nfs's Journal

I observed these on my walk on the fire trails and near the Clark Kerr track. They represent three of the iconic taxa. The California Towhee is a bird, and more specifically a perching bird. The bramble (waiting for confirmation that it's a Himalayan Blackberry) is a plant. I'm pretty sure that little bug is a blacklegged tick, which would make it an arachnid. In that case, I'm glad we found it because it was on my friend's leg and might have bitten him if we hadn't! If it is a confirmed blacklegged tick, it would only be the second observation of one in California on iNaturalist!

The plant that I'm pretty sure is a French broom has some yellow flowers on it, while the one with the log in the background does not have any signs of reproductive parts (bare). The plant that I took a photo of in the dark is leafed out, while the tree I found on campus has no leaves and is bare.