It's Alive!

“April showers bring May flowers.” San Diego's climate does not usually follow that popular adage. This year at Torrey Pines State Reserve, though, it's true.

A walk of the Guy Fleming trail loop on May 13 showed the coastal maritime scrub flowers in all their glory. A literal rainbow of color draws the eye across the landscape: pink sand verbena, yellow pincushion, encilla, and golden yarrow, red monkeyflowers, orange poppies, white popcorn flowers, purple snap dragons, purple nightshade, blue-eyed grass, yellow barrel cactus, and ground pinks, to name a few. This year’s display will probably last for another month or so before the flowers start to fade away.

Along with the floral display, the indigenous faunae are showing signs of life; on Thursday afternoon, hikers, joggers, and vehicular traffic on the park road to the Lodge at Torrey Pines were briefly halted to let a three-and-a-half-foot-long western diamondback rattlesnake cross the road. It gave everyone that witnessed it a great view of its beautiful markings as it slithered across the road.

Besides being home to lizards, rabbits, and squirrels, the reserve is renowned as a place for great bird-watching; a couple months ago, a juvenile bald eagle was seen and photographed.