matt_bristol's Identifications

Teddybear Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) A.k.a. Jumping Cholla. The easily detached stem-joints encourage widespread distribution and vegetative reproduction. This cactus has a tree like form with densely spiny branches that grows on rocky alluvial fans in creosote-scrub habitat. Max. height of 6 -8 ft but 3 - 4 ft tall is more typical. Upper parts are straw colored and lower branches and trunk are dark brown. Inconspicuous, small yellowish-green flowers in April. It's widely distributed through the southern Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert where it grows on the lower slopes of alluvial fans, usually below 3000 ft. A large, concentrated colony can be found in the cholla cactus garden in Joshua Tree National Park. Hemostat (pliers) are required to remove these barbed spines from skin or vibram sole hiking boots.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=80393

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowershttps://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=C&family=&name=Teddybear%20cholla

Cacti, Agaves, and Yuccas of California and Nevada. Text and photos by Stephen Ingram. Cachuma Press, 2008, pp. 50-51.

Cacti of California, E. Yale Dawson, 1966, 3rd printing 1975, p. 17-18.

Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996, pp. 134-135.

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A Munz, 1962, p. 17-18.

A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants http://naeb.brit.org/ (species not listed)

Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972

CalFlora's Southern California Plant Communities http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa) A.k.a. White Bur-Sage. Formerly called Franseria dumosa. Native, perennial plant in the Asteraceae family. It is very common in the creosote-bush scrub plant community throughout the Mojave desert. Herbage is softly canescent-strigose. Stems are stiff and tomentose. Leaves are 1 to 2 cm long and irregularly divided into deep lobes and deep rounded teeth or smaller lobes. The whole leaf surface is crinkled and light gray-green. Flowers. . .

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Ambrosia%20dumosa

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=823

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, pp. 127-128.

Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996, p. 93.

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975, p. 106. (Formerly called Franseria dumosa.)

Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coachella Valley Preserve: For thousands of years, particles of sand from the San Bernardino Mountains and Indio Hills washed into the Coachella Valley forming a system of sand dunes. Today, these dunes are part of the Coachella Valley Preserve System, a 20,000-acre sanctuary.
The Coachella Valley Preserve also contains several palm oases that sit on top of San Andreas Fault lines. Underground water rises to the surface through these cracks. California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) grow along the cracks where the water seeps up creating a desert oases.
Coachella Valley sits at the convergence of four vast ecological systems - the Colorado (or Sonoran) Desert, the Mojave Desert, and the coastal and peninsular mountain ranges.
https://www.blm.gov/visit/coachella-valley-preserve

A flock of Wigeons using their wings to scramble up a pond embankment.

American Wigeon (Mareca americana) medium-sized waterfowl that is larger than a teal, but smaller than a pintail. In silhouette, the wigeon can be distinguished from other dabblers by its round head, short neck, and small bill. Both sexes have a pale blue bill with a black tip, a white belly, and gray legs and feet. The breeding male (drake) is a striking bird with green feathers that flare backward from the eyes and a cream-colored cap running from the crown of his head to his bill. This white patch gives the wigeon its other common name, baldpate (pate a.k.a. head). His belly is also white. In flight, drakes can be identified by the large white shoulder patch on each wing. These white patches flash as the birds bank and turn. In nonbreeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female. Hens are much less conspicuous, having primarily gray and brown plumage.
American Wigeons are versatile in foraging. Flocks often feed on land eating grass or grass seeds. They feed in shallow water, taking items from surface or submerging head and neck. May feed by day or night.
Sound recordings below.

Bird Songs and Sounds I.D. worldwide https://xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Mareca%20americana

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-wigeon

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp. 30-31.

E Bird https://ebird.org/explore and https://ebird.org/species/amewig/

The Cornell Lab https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ and https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Wigeon

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species)

Found Feathers: https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php