For #EarthDay I invite you to come along on a descriptive journey of a tiny section of coast that has won my heart and will hopefully be the home of future field sites. #wildflowers #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 1/12

Walking on careful trails in this wide open scenery, it’s hard to fully grasp the beauty and diversity found at the level of your feet. So let’s get down to their level. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 2/12

First up is a carpet of colorful lupines. Bluish violet from a distance, so multicolored up close! Sky lupine, Lupinus nanus. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 3/12

Amongst the lupines, soft pink on a tall stalk: Sea thrift, or Ameria maritima, a name that rolls as sweetly off the tongue as the plant it describes. ( @Lua_Science do you still owe me a song about this pink beauty?) #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 4/12

Farther along is a beautiful specimen of seaside daisy, Erigeron glaucus, with a little yellow tarweed varietal, but I am am not sure exactly who it is! So tiny, though! #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 5/12

Always important to watch your step! These little baby blue eyes (Nemophila) were growing right into the trail! A recent seminar I saw suggests there are more species of these living side by side than we knew, so I’ll leave it at genus level. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 6/12

Lining the edge of a slight dip to a seep we find the bright yellow wide open flowers of silver cinquefoil, Argentina anserina, and the small white flowers of watercress, Nasturtium officinale. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 7/12

While in the seep, a treasured find! Beach starwort, Stellaria littoralis. This simple flower is a local endemic with a very small range. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 8/12

What’s this?! I found a fake flower. Oh no, it’s not fake. This ridiculous looking specimen does not add to its credibility with its common name, creamcups, which sounds like a dessert (Platystemon californicus). #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 9/12

If you happen to glance up, you may catch someone watching you from up the ridge. A herd of deer who were practicing such #SocialDistancing I never managed to include more than one in the frame. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 10/12

If you look farther below, be not alarmed, but it appears you are being watched from both sides! The lower watchers are a group of Harbor seals, Phoca vitulina. #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 11/12

I was also serenaded by the constant babble of Oystercatchers, Haematopus bachmani, (not depicted) along this walk. Thanks for joining me. How do you celebrate this beautiful Earth we call home? #EarthDay #berkeleyadventures #BodegaBay 12/12 Fin