Shooting Stars, Miner's Lettuce, and Hound's Tongue

Sierra shooting star
 

My husband and I took a walk today to see if we could find any more wildflowers blooming early. We were not disappointed. It was a cool morning and the trail was damp but the sun was bright as we walked down the hill. Not far past the place where we parked the car, we found several beauties waiting for us.

 

Pacific Hound's Tongue flower

Here is the leaf on the Pacific hound's tongue that gives it its name. The Maidu tribe used this for stomachaches and burns.

Miner's lettuce


Unidentified flower. I think it may be a wild carrot but I'm not sure.


This pretty little leaf is poison oak.....it was everywhere around the trail we were on. We didn't notice it until this time down the trail so we will have to be more watchful climbing up and off the trail from now on. :)

I am learning the value of going on a particular trail more than once to see the differences from time to time. We are getting to know this little hill and every time we hike down it we find something new and interesting.

We stood quietly listening a few times. We were rewarded with the sound of a distant woodpecker knocking on his tree trunk. We heard some California quail with their little unique sounding bird call. If you want to hear what it sounds like, here is a link:
What Bird.com for California Quail if you scroll down the page a bit, on the left side, there is a button to click to hear the quail call.

It was a refreshing hour out in the air and sunshine.