May 7, 2023
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
It was time to head home from our trip to the desert, although we did still have one more adventure ahead of us (in addition to a loooooong day of driving). After packing up the vans, and taking the traditional Zzyzx “swings” photo (although the swings are apparently long gone), we headed north to California City, to the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area. A few of us had stopped here last year, and had some fantastic sightings, although the weather was oppressively hot. The weather was much more comfortable this year, and we had even more amazing sightings that on our previous visit!
Before we’d even arrived at the reserve, we’d spotted our first herp of the day: a Western Whiptail crossing the dirt road. When we stopped for a closer look, I also noticed some very large black-and-red beetles: Master Blister Beetles, near some pretty purple Thistle Sage.
At the reserve, before we’d even left the parking lot, we noticed one thing that was different from last year: Grasshoppers. Now, I’d seen several grasshoppers last year, but this year there were THOUSANDS of them. They were mostly staying very low to the ground, but with every step a dozen or two would be displaced. Some of my students were a bit freaked out (and when I was a child, I would have been crying and run back to the car). But they weren’t actually a bother, except that I was doing some gymnastics to avoid squishing any of them. I think they were mostly Pallid-winged Grasshopper nymphs, but I think a few other species were present, as well, including Valley Grasshopper.
As I was very near the start of the trail, a woman approached me, walking back to the entrance, and she turned out to be the naturalist (Christine, I think her name was). She was super friendly and helpful, and let me know that she’d seen an Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise just a few minutes prior, moving north from Marker 20. So, I looked at the map to try and find the shortest route . . . it turns out there wasn’t really a short route, as Marker 20 was at the further-most point on the loop, no matter which way I took the trail. So, I followed in the direction that some of my students had gone.
Lizards were out in full force today. Several Western Whiptail were seen, and I had a really nice look at a Common Side-blotched Lizard on one of the trail markers. Multiple Long-nosed Leopard Lizard were seen, and the grad students found a pretty Coachwhip. Small, pretty Elegant Blister Beetle were seen on many flowers (and also landed on my feet and shoes). I saw lots of lichens and/or mosses at the reserve, but haven’t been able to get them identified yet. But some of the possible species include Yellow Cobblestone Lichen, Emery Rocktripe Lichen, Bumpy Rim-Lichen, Pepper-Spore Lichen, Crater Lichen, Hoary Cobblestone Lichen, and Brown Cobblestone Lichen. There seemed to be different wildflowers in bloom this year, as well, including Common Goldfields, Desert Woollystar, Whitemargin Sandmat, and Snake’s-head.
Finally, I made my way to Marker 20, and we fanned out until one of my other students called out that she’d found the Desert Tortoise, resting in the shade of a bush. Right around this same time, not terribly far away, someone called out that they’d spotted a Desert Horned Lizard. OH YEAH!
I really, really love Desert Tortoises, and this was a BIG friend – I’m pretty sure the largest one I’ve ever seen by quite a bit. What a cutie pie, sitting under some Creosote. My student also seemed super happy to have been the one to spot the tortoise, which also made me happy.
After a while with the tortoise, I went over to see the Horned Lizard. A gorgeously-colored lizard, and such an adorable grumpy face!
After this, I was definitely ready to head back to the vans. We’d seen so much great stuff, and I was starting to feel a bit warm and dehydrated, and when I looked back to see how far we’d come from the entrance, I was a bit dismayed to see that I’d hiked WAAAAY farther than I had the previous year. Ah well. Nothing to do but start the hike back (after bumming some water from one of my students haha, since I’d foolishly left mine in the van).
On the way back, I saw a White-crowned Sparrow, and then one of the other amazing finds of the day . . . another Long-nosed Leopard Lizard, but this one was right out in the open, and we were able to get GREAT views of this gorgeous female in breeding condition, with bright orange stripes along the sides of her body and tail. SO PRETTY!
While we were taking photos of the Leopard Lizard, we had another super interesting sighting. We spotted a Western Whiptail in a nearby bush, and it clearly wanted to move to another location, but was faced with both the Leopard Lizard and myself and three students blocking the way. We watched as the Whiptail came very near to us, crossed in front – giving the Leopard Lizard a wide berth – and then ran into some bushes. I realized that the Whiptail was actually more afraid of the Leopard Lizard than it was of us, which was genuinely fascinating. Either way, both friends were unscathed when we finally continued on towards the vans.
Once again, this was a fantastic stop on our way home. My very last bird of the trip was a Great-tailed Grackle that I saw fly across the highway while driving the van. We still had a bunch of miles ahead of us, but I don’t think anyone could possibly complain about the amount and diversity of wildlife that we saw on our trip to the Mojave Desert!
Species List
Western Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris), Master Blister Beetle (Lytta magister), Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), Yellow Cobblestone Lichen (Acarospora socialis), Emery Rocktripe Lichen (Umbilicaria phaea), Common Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana), Valley Grasshopper (Oedaleonotus enigma), Elegant Blister Beetle (Eupompha elegans), Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii), White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), Bumpy Rim-Lichen (Lecanora hybocarpa), Pepper-Spore Lichens (Genus Rinodina), Crater Lichen (Diploschistes scruposus), Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum), Mojave Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), Hoary Cobblestone Lichen (Acarospora strigata), Brown Cobblestone Lichen (Acarospora fuscata), Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos), Thistle Sage (Salvia carduacea), Common Goldfields (Lasthenia gracilis), Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata), Desert Woollystar (Eriastrum eremicum), Purple Mat (Nama demissa), Whitemargin Sandmat (Euphorbia albomarginata), Snake’s-Head (Malacothrix coulteri),Mojave Woodyaster (Xylorhiza tortifolia), Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
Let me know what you think!