I got up around 6:30 this morning to get Esteban fed and pottied before getting myself ready to go with my fellow naturalist and friend Roxanne in search of wildflowers on Mix Canyon Road in Vacaville.

We had never been to that location before, but had heard about it from birder Sami LaRocca. When she was up there, she’d found wildflowers that Rox and I hadn’t been seeing around Sacramento, so we thought we’d give it a try.

During the first part of the drive, we weren’t too impressed by what we saw, but as we went further up into the foothills to the ridge, the views and discoveries got more and more interesting.

The road is really narrow and winding, so it was a little difficult to find spots where we could pull off and get out of the car and really LOOK at what was around us. You can see a lot from your vehicle, but it’s not the same as getting right out next to stuff and really looking for the little details and hidden flowers. We were also surprised by the number of cars that were going up and down the road. There’s aren’t many homesteads up there, but apparently everyone has three or four trucks, and they use them all the time.

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When we got to one spot, we found a good pull-out on the side of the road, next to a wooden fence, and stopped to take photos of the poppies and Hummingbird sage on the hillsides. While we were talking to one another, we heard a dog barking from the other side of the fence and a woman asked what we were doing out there.

Roxanne let her know that we were naturalists and we were just taking photos of the flowers along the road. A few minutes later, the woman came out, introduced herself as Eleanor, and invited us onto her property. She had streamside access and a natural plants and vegetable garden she was working on, and she’d let us take photos if we promised to share them with her. I thanked her, and handed her my card that has all my contact information on it.

Eleanor allowed us to just roam her property at will, and we identified and took photos of as many plants and flowers as we could – along with getting picture of her handsome rooster and chickens. We saw several different butterflies on the wing including Pipevine Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, and Cabbage Whites. Roxanne also saw several Orange Tips (white butterflies with orange tips on their forewings).

A first for me was seeing a pair of Black-Headed Grosbeaks (male and female) in the trees around the property. There’s one of these birds in the Effie Yeaw nature center, but I’d never seen any in the wild before, so that was a neat find for me. We also saw some Steller’s Jays along the road, but there was nowhere to park near them so we could snag some pictures of them.

We saw different species and felt a definite temperature change the higher up the ridge we climbed. Some areas along the road gave us panoramic vertigo inspiring views of the surrounding foothills, while other spots treated us to dark, shaded deeply forested views (which I LOVED). The air was fresh and clean, and filled with the sounds of chorus frogs, crickets, birds and cicadas. Just lovely!

CLICK HERE to see the full album of photos.

Among the flowers we found were Yellowrockets, Scarlet Larkspur, Chinese Houses, Hummingbird Sage, Warrior’s Plumes, and Diogenes’ Lanterns (yellow globe lilies). The only things we didn’t like seeing was all of the invasive Periwinkle and Arundo along the road.

We drove up to near the top of the ridge, but stopped for lunch where the road went from paved to gravel. After lunch, we headed back down toward Lake Solano Park (which was closed due to CORVID-19) and the city of Winters.

We continued on toward Davis, and stopped for a moment to see if there were any Burrowing Owls out. It was about 2 o’clock by then; not the most advantageous time of day to see the owls, but we did get to see one. They’re so tiny, it’s easy to miss them, so I was pleased to be able to get photos of the one we saw. It was a sweet way to end our excursion.

We got back to the house around 3:00 pm, so that was another long day for me. I was tired and a little sore, but I really enjoyed the outing.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Agave, Century Plant, Agave vivipara
3. American Plantain, Plantago rugelii
4. American Robin, Turdus migratorius
5. Arundo, Giant Reed, Arundo donax
6. Bedstraw, Graceful Bedstraw, Galium porrigens
7. Bird’s Foot Cliffbrake, Pellaea mucronata [ferny]
8. Bird’s-eye Speedwell, Veronica persica
9. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
10. Black-Headed Grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalus
11. Blue Ceanothus, Blueblossom, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
12. Blue Dicks, Dichelostemma capitatum
13. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
14. Blue Witch Nighshade, Solanum umbelliferum
15. Brewer’s Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus
16. Bur Chervil, Anthriscus caucalis
17. Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia
18. Bush Monkeyflower, Diplacus aurantiacus
19. Cabbage White butterfly, Pieris rapae
20. California Black Oak, Quercus kelloggii
21. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
22. California Lomatium, Lomatium californicum
23. California Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum jordanii
24. California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
25. California Polypody fern, Polypodium californicum [like a small sword fern]
26. California Ringlet Butterfly, Coenonympha tullia california
27. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
28. Canyon Live-Forever, Stonecrop, Dudleya cymosa
29. Chinese Houses, Purple Chinese Houses, Collinsia heterophylla var. heterophylla
30. Chinese Praying Mantis, Tenodera sinensis [ootheca]
31. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
32. Common Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
33. Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale
34. Domestic Chicken, Gallus gallus var. domesticus
35. Echo Azure butterfly, Celastrina echo [“typical blues”]
36. Eggleaf Spurge, Euphorbia oblongata
37. Fremont’s Cottonwood, Populus fremontii
38. Giant Deathcamas, Fremont’s Deathcamas, Toxicoscordion fremontii
39. Giant Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
40. Giraffe’s Head Henbit, Henbit Deadnettle, Lamium amplexicaule
41. Golden Fairy Lantern, Diogenes’ Lantern, Calochortus amabilis
42. Hairy Vetch, Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa ssp. villosa
43. Hillside Woodland Star, Lithophragma heterophyllum
44. Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea
45. Indian Warrior, Warrior’s Plume, Pedicularis densiflora
46. Ithuriel’s Spear, Triteleia laxa
47. Johnny Jump-Up, Wild Pansy, Tricolored Violet, Viola tricolor
48. Kale, Brassica oleracea ssp. sabellica
49. Lemmon’s Poppy, Field Poppy, Eschscholzia lemmonii
50. Lilac, Common Lilac, Syringa vulgaris
51. Lupine, Arroyo Lupine, Lupinus succulentus
52. Lupine, Chick Lupine, Lupinus microcarpus
53. Meadow Spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius [spit]
54. Miner’s Lettuce, Narrowleaf Miner’s Lettuce, Claytonia parviflora ssp. parviflora [reddish buds]
55. Modesty Flower, Yerba de Salva, Whipplea modesta [small white flowers]
56. Mountain Phacelia, Phacelia imbricate
57. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
58. Mule Fat, Baccharis salicifolia
59. Mule’s Ears, Smooth Mule-Ears, Wyethia glabra
60. Northern Alligator Lizard, Elgaria coerulea
61. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
62. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii [heard several]
63. Pacific Orange Tip, Sara’s Orange Tip Butterfly, Anthocharis sara
64. Pacific Pea, Lathyrus vestitus
65. Pacific Tree Frog, Chorus Frog, Pseudacris regilla
66. Periwinkle, Vinca major
67. Pineappleweed, Matricaria discoidea
68. Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Western Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
69. Portuguese Squill, Scilla peruviana [purple “porcupine” flower]
70. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus [saw along the highway]
71. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
72. Salsify, Purple Salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius
73. Scarlet Larkspur, Red Larkspur, Delphinium nudicaule
74. Spice Bush, California Sweetshrub, Calycanthus occidentalis
75. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
76. Steller’s Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
77. Swainson’s Hawk, Buteo swainsoni [saw along the highway]
78. Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia
79. Turkey Tail Fungus, Trametes versicolor
80. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
81. Twining Snakelily, Dichelostemma volubile
82. Velvety Tree Ant, Liometopum occidentale
83. Virgin’s Bower, Old Men’s Beards, Pipestem Clematis, Clematis lasiantha
84. Western Kingbird, Tyrant Flycatcher, Tyrannus verticalis
85. Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus
86. White Nemophila, Nemophila heterophylla
87. Woolly Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja foliolosa [red, dark red]
88. Yellowrocket, Garden Yellowrocket, Barbarea vulgaris
89. Yerba Santa, California Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon californicum