Laguna’s graced with signs of the season too

ELISABETH M. BROWN

People new to Southern California often complain that we don’t have

seasons.

They miss especially the fall colors of the Eastern U.S. While

it’s true that we have few winter deciduous trees aside from

sycamores and willows, in the open space there are unmistakable signs

of changing seasons here. They’re just a bit more subtle than the

riotous color of the eastern forests.

For example, I recently saw my first Western Bluebird of the fall.

These small, colorful birds arrive in late October. Right after the

1993 Laguna firestorm, when Laguna Coast Wilderness Park resembled a

moonscape, a flock of these birds showed up in Willow Canyon and then

proceeded to spend the winter as usual. They were a most welcome

splash of color in that bleak landscape.

Also very visible was a sizable flock of Mourning Doves, perched

on the charred branches of a large, leafless shrub. The doves seem to

arrive every year in time to escape fall hunting season elsewhere.

Maybe they can read the sign, “Laguna Beach is a bird sanctuary,” but

more likely they’re coming for a new crop of doveweed seeds.

We also get echoes of seasons elsewhere. As winter snows fall on

the high country, covering up their hunting grounds, many raptors --

hawks and owls -- migrate here. Thirty-five years ago we commuted

daily via MacArthur Boulevard. On every telephone pole perched a

large hawk; most were Red-tailed Hawks, large birds commonly seen

circling high overhead. In the morning they all sat facing east,

bright white breast feathers catching the sunlight.

Hundreds of hawks used to congregate in Orange County every fall;

there are fewer now, but we still have noticeably more in winter than

during the rest of the year.

A colorful sign of winter is when the hills turn green. In our

Mediterranean climate, winter means rain. Visitors to the park last

weekend could already see summer-deciduous shrubs break their

dormancy and begin to put out shiny new leaves. Small patches of

nonnative annual grass were already over an inch high and brilliant

green.

Although the evergreen oaks are mostly the same color all year,

there are splashes of seasonal color. Several showy plants bloom in

the fall; goldenbush is especially noteworthy with an abundance of

bright yellow flowers against dark green foliage. Amid the browns and

grays of the dormant shrubs, the Twiggy Wreath Plant stands out, with

brilliant white flowers like small stars on its leafless brown stems.

These flowers would go unnoticed in any other season.

A recent digital snapshot from the Dilley Preserve included dark

red dormant buckwheat and light green coyote brush tipped with white

flowers against the dark green live oaks. It’s all out there; you

just have to look.

Now is the best time of year to hike in the open space. Cool

temperatures tame the steepness of the trails, and the skies have

cleared of haze and smog.

On a sunny winter day a few days after a rain, take a leisurely

hike on a ridge top trail. Above you, vultures and hawks soar lazily

in the sky. Look inland and in the distance San Jacinto and San

Gorgonio sport snowy tops. And unlike visitors to eastern forests,

you don’t have to bundle up or strap on snowshoes to enjoy it all.

* ELISABETH BROWN is a biologist and the president of Laguna

Greenbelt Inc.