Wakges: Winter Wildflowers: I Can't Believe It

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Winter Wildflowers: I Can't Believe It

(You can click on any photo to make it larger.)

Wildflower Morning is sponsoring a winter wildflower blog-a-thon and this week we were challenged to find a wildflower that blooms in winter. I thought this was a pretty daunting task considering it has been snowing off and on for a few weeks here in our area of northern California.

But I was so surprised on Monday when my husband and I were driving down the mountain and I actually saw some areas with wildflowers blooming right along the road. I had to go back with my camera and take some photos for you all to see. It actually started hailing on me while I was shooting these photos and my husband thought I was a little crazy for sticking it out.

I think I was a little wildflower starved because I took a lot of photos. I want to thank Elizabeth Joy for sponsoring this event. If I hadn't had the challenge on my mind, I might have missed noticing these beautiful wildflowers. I had my eyes open and alert the last few days searching for something to photograph. I was rewarded for my diligence. Scroll down after the wildflower photos, you will see the added gift I was given while I was photographing the flowers.

I have yet to identify the flowers so I will come back and edit if I come up with something. I tried for about an hour with my field guide and the internet and didn't come up with a name. I am sure someone knows what they are.....pretty much the same, just different colors.

As I got out of the car, my husband motioned for me to look up. There was a hawk circling around right above us! He performed just for us as I scrambled back into the car to grab my new Flip Video camera. This little camera is so awesome and this was just what I purchased it for...all those little impromptu moments you want to capture on video. Here is a treat for you to watch. Our own personal performance from a very happy hawk. It is only about two minutes of video but you will get the idea of how he was soaring on the air just before the big hail and snow. If you wait until about 1:45 into the video, you will see a good view of the hawk.