London Planetree

The leaves and bark of the London Planetree are similar to that of the Planetree Maple. Both leaf types look like they could be Maples, but alas, their fruits are radically different. The fruit of the London Planetree has brown spheres dangling from long stalks, whereas the Planetree Maple takes the traditional winged helicopter approach for which Maples are known.

NOTE: The tree shown in photos 2 and 3 lives on the rim of the lake. Since I didn't get a shot of that whole tree, photo 1 shows some London Planetrees on a local sidestreet.

Sunday was an 8-mile run, half a mile longer than last Sunday's run. The Jeff Galloway Marathon Training Program increases mileage every Sunday by one-half mile. Yesterday's longer run didn't feel more difficult than last week's, though I was still tired at the end.

[Photo: London Planetree (Platanus acerifolia) Click to enlarge. ]

Double-Crested Cormorant

The Double-crested Cormorant's diet consists mainly of fish, and to catch them it swims and dives underwater, sometimes to depths of several meters. (Much of the lake is shallow, especially around the shoreline. But it was a quarry before it became a public park in 1982 and there are two deep spots of 36' and 43'.) Remarkably, Cormorants can stay submerged for up to a minute (longer than I can). But their feathers aren't waterproof, so they air-dry their wings by holding them open or flapping them. The middle photo and the bottom movie show exactly that behavior.

Dozens of Cormorants used to perch together on a great Sycamore tree that once stood in the pond behind the Santa Clara Water Department building on Almaden Expressway. That tree isn't there anymore, but somewhere I have pictures of it from years past. I remember taking them because it looked pretty ominous seeing all those black birds perched together with their wings outspread and looking like they were ready to pounce on something.

[Top photo: Double-Crested Cormorant (black) (Phalacrocorax auritus), landing next to a Snowy Egret (white). Canadian Geese are in the forground. Click photo to enlarge.]

[Middle photo: Two Cormorants-one drying his wings. Click to enlarge.]

[Bottom movie: Cormorant flaps his wings violently to air-dry them.]





Taken today.

Western Pond Turtles

Note: today I modified the blog's name to include the word "Nature."

Seven turtles sunbathing in Almaden Lake.

(This shot could have used a more powerful zoom than 12X, but if you click the photo you can see them clearly enough. Luckily, being high on the crossing bridge provided a good vantage point. The camera is a 6-MP Canon S3IS with movie mode. It's a great camera but battery life is short. Fortunately, it takes AA's (four). I bring the camera with me on all bike rides, but it's a little heavy to carry while jogging any distance.)

These omnivorous reptiles feed on vegetation (algae, cattail roots, lily pods), crustaceans (invertebrates with exoskeletons like crayfish), pond animals (fishes, frogs), and insects. They'll eat carrion, too.

Females lay 5-13 eggs per clutch, once or twice per year. They usually build their nest within 100 yards from the water. Lifespan is around 30 years. (Not bad for eating carrion.)

Western Pond Turtles range from Baja California (Mexico) to Washington State (the west coast of the U.S.).

Today was a three mile jog.

[Photo: Western Pond Turtle (Clemmys marmorata) Click photo to enlarge.]

Black Crowned Night Heron

Hey, you're supposed to be nocturnal.

Anyhow, as you can tell from his shadow, I saw this guy at a little past noon today.

Black Crowned Nights are the most widely spread herons in the world. As such, their presence or absence is often used as an indicator of ecological health. Their conservation status is LC (Least Concern), so they have healthy populations.

They breed all over the US in the summer, then migrate to Mexico for the non-breeding winter months.

Their diet consists of fish, lizards, snakes, rodents, invertebrates, eggs. They grasp their prey and don't stab it with their bill. They nest in trees or cattails in groups. This fellow (or lady) was hanging out on a rock next to the crossing bridge.

Guess he's up for a late night snack.

[Photo: Black Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) Click photo to enlarge]

More about Almaden Lake

Almaden Lake is the only park in San Jose with a sandy beach and swim area. Fishing and paddle boating are among its other recreational uses.

The water is shallow at the shoreline, but it plunges to depths of 43 and 36 feet respectively in two spots. That's because it was formerly a quarry operation that began in the late 1940s, before it opened to the public as a park in 1982. A gravel berm separates the two holes, and occasionally you can see egrets standing on it fishing.

Almaden Lake Park is 65 acres and the surface area of the water is 25 acres.

Easy three mile run.

[Photo: Sandy beach. Click photo to enlarge.]

American Coot

[Photo: American Coot (Fulica americana) Click photo to enlarge.]










[Movie 1: American Coot swimming.]


[Movie 2: American Coot call.]


Coots are commonplace at Almaden Lake, as are Canadian Geese and ducks. Coots are water birds and they often hang out with ducks, but they're not ducks. Coots are actually more closely related to cranes. Also unlike ducks, they don't have webbed feet. Instead, they have lobes on the sides of each toe. Aside from their dark appearance, you'll recognize them by their high-pitched quack (Movie 2--the 6 higher-pitched calls) and how they shift their head back and forth when swimming (Movie 1). Though they're exposed to a lot of people too, they seem more timid than the ducks and Canadian Geese; maybe their smaller size makes them shy.

They live year-round our west and their conservation status is LC (least concern).

Today was an early morning 7.6 mile run (round trip) to a point beyond the crossing bridge at Camden.

A week ago today I began following the Jeff Galloway marathon training method (see link below). In a nutshell, you run 3-miles (or 30-minutes) on Tuesday and Thursday, followed by a long run on Sunday. Mileage is increased in half-mile increments, but only on the Sunday run. His method also incorporates 3:1 or 4:1 periodic walk breaks in each run, which lowers the chance of injury. To me, that's a major advantage over more aggressive schedules. Though I didn't walk today, I will as the mileage increases. Cross-training on off days is allowed.

From Mark Bittman's New York Times blog (link below), I also adopted this eating regime: On run days I have a bowl of oatmeal one hour before the run, then have oatmeal again, plus a can of salmon, within 30-minutes of finishing. Oatmeal provides carbohydrates and a little protein, and salmon provides needed protein along with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I do feel more energized during the run and more quickly recharged after it with this regime.

Jeff Galloway:

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/marathon.html

Mark Bittman:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/running-low-on-protein/

Coulter Pine

Top: This Coulter Pine sits on the east bank of the Guadalupe River, between the Coleman Rd. overpass and the dam, two-hundred yards north of Almaden Lake.

Second: Its bark














Third: I couldn't reach this female cone, but it's even larger than the one below pictured with my hand.









Fourth: I'm not kidding: these mature female cones are GIGANTIC. According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees, the Coulter Pine "...has the heaviest cone of all pines in the world, often weighing 4-5 pounds."



Bottom: Pollen-bearing male cones. (Yes, there are boy and girl cones. Who knew?)








Pine trees are conifers (cone-bearing) that inhabit mainly the northern hemisphere, especially the region known as the Boreal Forest (Alaska, Canada, Russia, Norway, etc). Pines do not loose their needles seasonally, so they are able to photosynthesize even when light levels are low and temperatures cool. And the needle's dark green color contains a lot of chlorophyl, which increases sunlight absorption needed for photosynthesis. The needle shape has a small surface area. It evolved that way to resist cold and to minimize transpiration (water evaporation). Conifers dominate the Boreal region because this type of leaf--a needle is a leaf type--grows better than the leaves of deciduous (leaf-shedding) trees in that cold climate.

Coulter Pines grow mainly in the coastal regions of western Alaska and Canada, and of Southern California and Baja Mexico. In California they range as far north as San Francisco. Coulter Pine needles come three in a bundle; I measured my specimens at just under nine inches long.

[Photo: Coulter Pine, aka "Bigcone Pine" or "Pitch Pine" (Pinus Coulteri) Click photo to enlarge]

Man with Chocolate Lab

This two and a half year old Chocolate Laborador Retriever is in high spirits today because he's playing fetch in the lake with his master. At other times, though, he has the calmer disposition that Labs are generally known for, like being great around kids.

Labradors are the most popular breed in the US and around the world*. There are three main types: Black Labrador, Yellow Labrador (the most common), and Chocolate Labrador.

Oddly, they originated from Newfoundland, not Labrador. Newfoundland is an island in the Atlantic off the coast of northeastern Canada, and Labrador is on the mainland adjacent to it. Together, they form the Canadian province of "Newfoundland and Labrador."

The St. John's Water Dog, ancestor of the Labrador Retriever, was used in Newfoundland for pulling fishing nets to shore. When the English subsequently started importing the dogs they referred to them by their region of origin in Newfoundland, known as "the Labrador" region. Hence the name confusion.

Labs are famous for their happy dispositions and intelligence. Being highly trainable, Labs are widely used as detection dogs, search-and-rescue, military and police, and as seeing-eye dogs. And they are great swimmers due to their webbed toes and somewhat waterproof coat. This particular guy is a pet, not a worker. But at my last company, Lisa, a co-worker, trained Labs as search-and-rescue and cadaver dogs in her off-time. She would occasionally bring the pups in to work for socialization purposes, where they would (usually) lounge quietly under her desk.

Three mile early morning jog.

[Photos: taken near the North Shoreline Picnic Area of Almaden Lake today. Click to enlarge.]

* As measured by AKC registration.

Wed

California Sycamore Tree

Judging from the number people in the park this morning, the unemployment rate in Silicon Valley must still be sky-high. (It's actually around 12%.) But, what better way to spend precious down-time than exercising and enjoying nature?

As mentioned in the August 3rd post, Mexican drug smugglers are growing marijuana in California. Even the park rangers are concerned about going off-trail and stumbling upon a marijuana encampment. Now, according to an article published today (below), the problem takes on larger proportions. The Mexican drug cartel is also to blame for starting the August 8th La Brea Fire in the Los Padres National Forest.

Article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090818/us_nm/us_wildfire_marijuana).

Three mile jog today.

[Photo: California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) Click to enlarge.]

Eucapyptus Trees

These photos were taken at Almaden Lake today.

[Top photo: Bluegum Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus). Click to enlarge.]






[Bottom photo: Red iron-bark Eucalyptus(Eucalyptus sideroxylon). Click to enlarge.]

California Fan Palm Tree

This particular tree is located on the northern end of Almaden Lake, just down a bit from the Peppertree stand. There are several other Fan Palms growing nearby, and I see them all over the place in San Jose.

Today I began the Jeff Galloway training plan with a six mile "long run" to the red pedestrian bridge at Camden and back.

[Photos: California Fan Palm Tree (Washingtonia filifera) In the top picture you can see "the cube" on top of Mt. Umunhum (upper left). It was the early warning radar building at the old Almaden Air Force Station that operated from 1956-1980. The building sits at about 3,486 feet elevation. Almaden Lake is at about 190 feet elevation. Click to enlarge.]

Valley Oak Tree

According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide To Trees, this tree also goes by the names "Valley White Oak" and "California White Oak."

Valley Oak is the largest western deciduous (leaf-shedding) tree in the US, and its acorns are an important food source for wildlife.

Acorns were an important staple food (up to 50% of their diet) for the native Ohlone (Costanoan) Indians that lived in the area from around 600 AD until the mid-1800's. That's when Spanish missionaries and an influx of Europeans contributed to their decline. Pre-Ohlone Indian populations lived in the Bay Area dating back to 4000 BC.

The Tamien light rail station was so-named (I'm guessing) after the Tamien dialect of the Ohlones. There were eight separate Ohlone subgroups, each speaking a distinct dialect. The Tamien subgroup lived in the Santa Clara Valley along the Guadalupe River.

[Photos: Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)]

California Peppertree

The peppery-tasting fruit of this exotic tree introduced from Peru is eaten by robins, mockingbirds and cedar waxwings. Its shallow roots are known to crack sidewalks. There's a stand of about a dozen trees on the northern edge of Almaden Lake next to Winfield. This one has the most knarled trunk and is the shortest of the bunch. Handling the plant may cause skin irritation.

[Photo: California Peppertree, Schinus molle. Click to enlarge.]

Mission Peak guide post

Following up from yesterday's post, this is the guide post on top of Mission Peak in Fremont, California, USA.

Top: looking north across the bay towards San Francisco.

Bottom (left to right): me, Siva, John. (Same year, different hike.)

Today was another rest day. [Photo: click to enlarge.]

View over Silicon Valley from Mission Peak

Mission Peak is a popular Silicon Valley day hike. In 2004, I hiked up with friends John and Ed from Force Computers. At 2517' the view was spectacular. We could see Fremont, San Jose and tall buildings in downtown San Francisco, some 50 miles away. Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Umunhum, and other local peaks were also in plain sight. It was truely a WOW! experience for me.

Mission Peak is located in Fremont, California, about 20-miles north of Almaden Lake. It's a very popular hiking venue that can be ascended from the Stanford Rd. parking lot in 70-minutes if you're in shape. The trail from the parking lot climbs 2200' in three miles, so it's a fairly steep walk (about 8-degrees on average), though no hiking gear is required. At the top there's a guidepost with viewports aimed at all the local sights (see tomorrow's post). Its Google Earth GPS coordinates are: 37 30' 45.26" N, 21 52' 51.71" W.

Walking up is a pretty good workout, and the first time I did it I was kinda proud of myself. But the second trip brought me back to reality as I watched an older woman jog all the way up to the summit. To add insult to injury, as we chatted she casually mentioned that she does it several times a week. So much for macho.

From this vantage point you can also see the outlines of several salt evaporation ponds at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The satellite view shows the salt ponds and Mission peak (upper-right corner): www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4877

The ambitious South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project will restore several of those ponds back to their original status as mudflats and tidal marshes long before man arrived. Since the bay is contaminated with mercury, some of which originates from the Almaden Quicksilver Mines, you shouldn't eat the fish. See the July 13, 2009 post, "SolarBees and methylmercury."

Force Computers was located in Fremont until Motorola bought (and extinguished) it.

[Photo: click to enlarge. I took this shot on the return trip, downhill from the peak.]

Map: http://www.ebparks.org/node/1095
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Peak

Today was a rest day.

Mallard Duck

This female was so preoccupied preening herself (no comment) that I was lucky to eventually get this still profile. The males are more attractive with a green head, white colar and brown chest. (A photo will appear soon.)

The birds at Almaden Lake are almost fearless of people, and you can get pretty close before spooking them. This one let me approach, but if you get within an arms length or two, that's too close for comfort-they're not stupid.

It was hot today so it was three miles on the treadmill.

[Photo: Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) Click to enlarge.]

California Sycamore Tree

These stately trees are located on Almaden Expressway in front of the Santa Clara Valley Water District building, not far from Almaden Lake.

The bark of sycamore trees flakes off in patches, giving them an attractive white-brown appearance. These specimens look mostly white here, but if you enlarge the photo you can see numerous light-brown patches.

Three sycamore types are native to the U.S. A percolation pond is about 100-yards away- behind the SCVWD building, which is good because they like moist soils. I wonder if this one was burned by lightning. [Photo: California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) Click to enlarge.]

Summer swimming

Today was a rest day, so I drove to the lake to take pictures in the favorable low afternoon sun. There were a lot of people there for 5:30pm, possibly because it was warmer than usual. As you can see, the kids were having a blast in the water.

[Movie: Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) and swimmers]

Treadmill duty

An invigorating three miles on the True treadmill. Speed 12, 2-degree incline, 35 minutes burned 400 calories.

Shift over

Canadian geese (Branta canadensis) punch out after another day on lake patrol.
[Click photo to enlarge.]

Armed pot growers: a new hiking danger?

Yesterday was a rest day so I decided to take a drive up Mt Umunhum to enjoy the spectacular view of San Jose. I've been up there numerous times before on my bike, but not yet this year.

As I parked at the padlocked gate (as high up as you can drive--about 2328' elevation), I noticed two park rangers walking back toward their vehicles from Bald Mountain. When they arrived at the tiny parking area where I was, I struck up a conversation about the trail to Lexington Reservoir and how realistic it would be for me to mountain bike to it from here. (I fear mountain lions.) To my surprise, they acknowledged that there are indeed lions around, but the greater danger would be surprising a marijuana grower up there, not lions. In 2005, a Fish and Game Warden was shot, and a marijuana grower killed, in a marijuana raid on Mt. Um. In 2006, about 47,000 plants were destroyed in Santa Clara county, and double that were destroyed the year before. With each plant worth about $4,000 and Mexican drug cartel involvement suspected, it's not surprising that guns are involved.

It's disturbing picture. But, like the ranger said, great white sharks are out there but you still swim in the ocean. Why? Because the overall risk is small compared to the benefit. So, I like hiking and biking in the Sierra Azul Open Preserve and I will continue to do so, mountain lions and pot-farmers notwithstanding. I will, however, heed the rangers' wise parting advice: (a) hike with others; (b) stay on the trails.

For more information check out this article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/high-sierras.

[Photo: The building on Mt. Umunhum once had an early warning radar dish rotating on top of it before Almaden Air Force Station closed in 1980. Click to enlarge.]

Dusk at Almaden Lake

These Eucalyptus trees are "x-rayed" by the setting sun to reveal their skeletons.

[Photo was taken just before sunset at about 7:50pm, hence the red overtones. Click to enlarge.]