King Tide Tidepooling at Pleasure Point

 November 5, 2025

The cosmic and oceanic phenomena that is King Tide is a special time to look at tidepools because the tides are at extreme lows (and highs), so viewing of the ocean floor tidepools is possible by us land walkers only a few times a year. This is because the moon must have the following two spatial characteristics for the 'king tide' (just meaning extreme tides) - either full or new and is in orbit the closest it will ever get to the earth. 

On our first day of viewing the tide pools at low tide at Pleasure Point, students found many hermit crabs. We had a shorter day here due to the days rain. 

Day 2 we found a Nudebranch, spider crab, plenty more hermit crabs, and sunburst anenomes of course. 

Spider Crab

Hiltoni Nudebranch

                                                    Great Egret

Community coming together over shared love for special natural phenomena and animals

Moving seagrass around is most of the work of tidepooling!

Animals identified: Great Egret, Hermit crab, Hiltoni Nudebranch, Spider Crab, Sunburst anenome, Pelican

Predator Prey in action

 November 4, 2025

Underneath a pine tree along the road leading down to Natural Bridges State Beach, a red shoulder hawk devoured its prey using its curved beak for piercing and ripping and sharp talons for gripping. Many students had never seen a red tail hawk up this close, let alone engaging in the ancient act of eating its prey. The hawk showed no sign of disaproval of us watching either. 

Connecting some fun facts from this book, read before to most of the students- hawks- like the red shoulder before us, have UV vision, allowing them to detect the urine trails of small mammals, that glow under fluorescent light, or for hawks, their own vision. How illuminating! 

Red Shoulder Hawk eating prey

Rope swing

Killdeer by the natural bridges estuary 

Animals spotted: Red Shoulder Hawk, Deer, Rabbits, Killdeer bird,

Plants: Willow, Eucalyptus 

 

Monarch Migration, Eucalyptus, Aim Games, and Nature Popcorn

 October 22, 2025- 

Visited Natural Bridges State Park and walked the Monarch Butterfly trail at peak monarch migration time. We identified butterfly clusters down at the eucalyptus grove and played some aim games tossing eucalyptus nuts into circular shapes 'goals' formed by the roots of the gum trees. 

Eucalyptus trees are non native and highly flammable, they came over with Australian immigrants in the 1850's gold rush. This was a era for wood power, so lots of highly flammable wood sources were coveted. Eucalyptus trees did great in California, able to grow in poor soils at very fast rates, growing anywhere from 4-6 feet in height per year. 

People learned that Blue gum wasn't great for building- it split and cracked. There was predicted to be a timber famine, so companies began planting Eucalyptus plantations all throughout California, hoping that these fast growing trees would make a profitable venture. There never ended up being a timber famine, leaving plantations of gum trees throughout the state. 

Back to it's flammability- the bark sheds and dries quickly, creating the perfect thin burning material. They are also very oily, adding to their flammability. 

Alas, they are where the butterflies choose to stop at Natural bridges, so native or not, they are providing habitat. 

Made popcorn with camping stove and set up a temporary rope swing along the beach. Students played further in the willow mazes along the beach.

Animals Identified- Red tail hawks, Monarch Butterflies 

Plants Identified- Eucalyptus, Rattesnake grass, Willow 

Goldback Fern Prints and Purple mystery fungus!

 November 3,  2025- 

Found lots of mushrooms popping up after our recent rains. We found an eye catching purple fungus growing on a fallen oak tree, and I have not been able to identify it. 

Additionally found shelf mushrooms, (fun for drawing on the underside), and my favorite fern, Goldback Fern!

These ferns have powdery, yellow colored spores that release on impact, so if you find this fern you can place it on any dark colored clothing you have, smack it, and the print will stay!

Plants Identified- Live Oak, poison oak, blackberry, Goldback fern, shelf mushroom 

Animals Identified- Crow, Red tail hawk

Print tracking, DIY Hangbars, Alligator Lizards, Insects

 October 21, 2025

Sometimes we find our first creature of the day barely leaving school grounds! A student caught an alligator lizard right by where the van was parked, to which I quickly grabbed my handy terrarium. Alligator lizards are capable of biting pretty hard, so upon careful inspection of this guy (and it's differences from Western Fence lizard) we released them. 

At our location today we played Jays and Juncos in an oak meadow (how to play: Earthlings Adventure Club Blog: Jays and Juncos, Banana Slugs, and Weavings), 

and afterwards found and identified tracks in some nearby mud. Whenever we see scat or tracks I like to pretend we are detectives figuring out which animals have been there. A great way to zoom out and consider the animal's that mark their tracks in the places we visit and make our own tracks as well. 

Found some cool insects, including a huge Steatoda Nobilis, or 'Noble False Widow' for its resemblence to Black Widow. Can bite, similar to wasp sting. 

Broom Moth Caterpillar

We made a hangbar/small rope swing using rope and a stick using the Marlinspike Hitch https://www.facebook.com/reel/1256473432916821/ (tutorial on easy rope ladder/hangbar with just rope and stick). Grip strength and upper body strength builds confidence and is amazing for the spine and body. 

Animals Identified- Alligator Lizard, False Widow, Broom Moth Caterpillar, Acorn Woodpecker (calls)

Plants Identified- Pinyon Pine?^, Live Oak, poison oak 

Wilder Ranch Coastal Bluff Trail to Fern Grotto Caves

October 20, 2025- Hiked the Wilder Ranch Old Cove Landing Trail trail to Fern Grotto Beach. This is a special location, as the fern grotto cave is an especially scenic cave framed by ferns with its own little beach. Not many people come here, because of the walk (or bike) it takes to get there. That makes this place all the more special when you do arrive here. 

Along the bluff trail one can spot rabbits, frogs, and squirrels, an ode to the farmland that surrounds the area, that has been a working Dairy farm since the 1800's. The California State Parks system acquired the land in 1974, and has since been a place for people to enjoy. On the other side of the cliffs you can easily find harbor seals, large groups of pelicans, seagulls, and cormorants. 

Students engaged in exploring the fern cave, playing football on the beach, and pulverizing sandstone rocks into powder. 

Plants Identified: Thistle, wild carrot, Fern, wild radish, Blackberry

Animals Identified: Rabbit, squirrel, harbor seal, pelican, cormorant, Western Gull

Teepee base building, giant ant hills, and Manzanita!

 October 17, 2025-

Hiked Twin Gates trails at UCSC Natural Reserve, up Empire Grade. Biome is mixed evergreen forest and meadow that includes manzanita and live oak chapparal. This is an awesome place to visit and hike because it's definately off the beaten trail, and has exceptional manzanita trees. Santa Cruz Manzanita species are considered rare even in Santa Cruz and are endemic (native) to the area, I believe the ones along Twin Gates trail to the right of Empire Grade are these species, because they are very tall, reaching at least 12 feet, which is characteristic of Santa Cruz Manzanita, in comparison to common Brittle Leaf Manzanita, which can only grow to usually 8 feet. Manzanita has edible fruits and husks. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band was documented to make drinks with Manzanita berries as well, including teas and ciders. It has been tested that Manzanita berries have three times more antioxidants in their berries than pomegranates and blueberries.

We flipped some logs, found some beatiful spider webs, and spent a good portion of our day collecting large redwood branches and building a teepee. One student worked on their weaving, while others rubbed rocks together and interacted with the surrounding nature. We found an absolutely massive ant hill, about the size of a standard bean bag chair. I shared what I know about ant hills and ant inner workings, that ant hills actually have different rooms and complex tunnels. These tiny rooms even have different purposes, some for storing food. Ant colonies are complex societies that function as a super organism. I didn't take a photo of the ant colony but it resembled this: and was about a foot and a half tall! 

May have been Alleghany Mound Ant, found in Santa Cruz and are known for building very large mounds. 

Identified Yerba Buena, a native crawler plant that can be found in different biomes, has many benefits, and smells amazing! It contains menthol essential oils, which is it's easiest identifyier, by minty smell. It can be used for oral health, to relieve digestive issues, can help clear nasal passages, and can be used on insect bites or plant rashes due to its antiseptic properties. 

We also tied together twine to form a teepee with three large sticks. Students helped to fill out it's shape by placing more large sticks on base structure. 

Found a banana slug and impressive web (no spider present)

Also saw a Spotted Towhee, at first thought was a robin due to it's coloring, but identified white marks on feathers. I might have been the only one to truly see this, by the time I pointed it out it was gone. 

Acorn Woodpecker

Plants Identified: Santa Cruz Manzanita, poison oak, redwood sorrel, blackberry, rattlesnake grass, Yerba Buena

Animals Identified: Banana Slug, Spotted Towhee, Allegheny Ant, Red Tail Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker

Jays and Juncos, Banana Slugs, and Weavings

October 15, 2025- 

Post-rain hiking adventure at Branciforte Creek Trail, which begins at the edge of the baseball courts. Look for a two old wagon wheels and you're close to the trailhead. We saw tons of banana slugs, the first person to identify a slug gets to name it! Students related the up and down terrain of this trail to a 'rollercoaster' (referring this section to rollercoaster on our return as well), and we took turns staggering each 'rider' to get a chance to run the up down windy sections. 

After a relatively steep decline following redwood trees and Branciforte Creek to our left, we arrive to our days camp. On our right lies a steep, rocky, moss covered outcropping, that is a sight to behold. In the center of these two dramatic landmarks hangs a well made rope swing that has been at this location for the past several months. Ensue boundary setting, creek, and area exploration and interaction, and snack time as always. 

We later played Jays and Juncos, a cooperative, yet competitive, bird themed game. Teams of two are chosen to be Jays, or Juncos. Junco teams of two (3-4 teams needed) are responsible for hiding their 'nests' (cups or small containers) in the surrounding area. Their job is to get one bean at a time from the 'bird feeder' (larger bowl with many beans) and bring the bean to their nest. Teams of Jays are trying to find the Juncos nests, take one bean at a time, and bring them to their nest. Jays may not visit the same Junco nest two times in a row. Jays also must count to 60 while Juncos hide their nests (so Jays do not know, in the beginning, where their opponents nests are). This game lasts 7 minutes and is so much fun! Jays and Juncos have the option to switch in the next rounds, so long as the rough ratio of Jay to Junco teams are 1:3. 

Some students continued their weavings while others interacted with banana slugs using leaves, explored the felled redwood tree worlds of their imaginations, and played cooperative improv games of their own creation.

 

Animals Identified: Mallard duck, Banana Slug, Crow, Scrub Jay 

Plants Identified: poison oak, Bay tree, Redwood tree, blackberry bush 

Rainy Days, Creature Shelter Building, Balance challenges

 October 13, 2025- Rainy beginning of our day at Schwann Lagoon. While many outdoor activities get canceled due to rain, we know that rain gives us some of the  best opportunities to see nature in action, and to utilize our resources to make shelter, as humans have always known how to do. Not only is exposure to rain invigorating, but it really reminds us to have gratitude for when we do get to our warm homes. No better way to do this than getting out in the rain!

There were many moths flying around an oak tree at the beginning of the trail, and one landed on a student. A fun little doo-dad when out in nature is whoever finds a creature gets to name it, and so Pumpkin the moth joined our group. It was raining, so some students devised a plan to build Pumpkin a shelter to protect it. 

An super simple challenge using only sticks involves finding two straight-ish sticks, and trying to pick up a third stick with those sticks, or balancing a stick between your two sticks and trading back and forth. After a while of this, the rain started torrentially coming down, so we met our sister-group (affiliated with Wildflower Learning Circle, based in Santa Cruz) at the Capitola Children's Discovery Museum. This is always a super fun place to go when the weather gets too intense. 

Animals Identified: Seagull, Cormorant, pigeon, California Oak Moth

Wilder Ranch exploration

 October 8, 2025- 

Explored the aloe forts that live down by the ranch houses at Wilder Ranch. The Aloe forts and massive Cypress tree make for great play and hide and seek games. Noted swallow nests along the gutters of the ranch houses. We didn't see any swallows at this time, but we could see from their nests made from clay and other materials that it was possible that these nests could be inhabited once again.  

But today was all about getting to the treasure, buried mysteriously in the dry creek bed by a very notable Oak tree covered in 'old man's beard' lichen.

 Lichen's are so cool, it is actually a symbiotic organism made of both algae and fungus, that both photosynthesizes (algae), and has strong structure (fungus). So off we went through the echo tunnel, the old cabin, and across the bridge to our buried treasure (guava candies!) in the dry creek bed below. 

We will see big changes in this creekbed from now, end of summer and dry, to winter, when it is fully flowing, and we certainly can't dig up treasure then! 

We returned back to the area by the apple trees and chickens, picked and ate some apples (I've received permission before from a state park ranger), painted with facepaint, many worked on their weavings, and passed around a ball. Turkeys were jumping over the fence into the sheeps quarters which was quite entertaining! 

Returned to our camp at the aloe forts, ate pumpkin bread together. played a card game, called Spot It, and played Fee Fi Fo Fum, a cooperative 'freeze' game where the 'Ogre' has a valuable possession, say, the keys to their car, at their feet, faces away, and says 'Fee fi fo fum', quickly turning back to their item, as the group slowly moves closer to steal the item. If the Ogre catches anyone moving, the whole group must return to the starting point. This involves a teamwork and body awareness to ensure that everyone is moving together. 

Animals Identified: Red Tail Hawk, Chicken, Turkey, Sheep, Goat, Western Fence Lizard

Plants Identified: Aloe Vera, Blackberry, Old Man's Beard, Oak tree, California Poppy, Thistle, Willow 

Herping, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Hiking!

October 7, 2025- 

Hiked the Chaminade Trail system today, and found a huge alligator lizard under a log! One of our students guessed it was a Skink Lizard, which was an excellent guess. Skink's are a very unique type of lizard that are found in Santa Cruz county, with a bright blue tail sure to shock any hiker. More about Skilton's Skinks found in Santa Cruz: https://hilltromper.com/article/skiltons-skink . This is an awesome site with lots of fun info about Santa Cruz nature and current events. 

*Check out this cool video from the same site showing wildlife crossing under the Highway 17 wildlife crossing tunnel https://hilltromper.com/article/highway-17-wildlife-crossings-huge-success-makes-good-show *

Also saw a millipede, in it's mode of primary defense, which is curling up in a tight coil, protecting its legs beneath its hard exoskeleton. Deriving from Latin, 'Milli' implying a thousand legs, is not quite accurate, while millipedes have usually around 40-400 legs. Millipede's are one of Earth's oldest land animals, and appeared roughly 23.5 million years ago! Some of the oldest members grew to over 2 m long! Yikes!!

Also identified Creeping Snow Berry, a native shrub.

Towards the end of our hike saw dozens of Acorn woodpeckers flying overhead near sunset time, identified by the underwing plumage and red heads. 

Animals- Alligator Lizard, Millipede, Acorn Woodpecker

Plants- Poison Oak, Creeping snowberry, English Ivy, Redwood Sorrel