Bird's Eye View of Dried Up River Bed at Eaton Canyon

Animal List

Animal List:

• Blue-Bellied Lizard (Sceloporis Occidentalis)- As the name suggests, they have blue bellies and throats and often sunbathe. Abundance: 2 seen

• Blue Jay (Cyanocitta Cristata)- A bird quite commonly seen in Eaton Canyon. Abundance: 1 seen

• Gray Tree Squirrel (Spermophilus Beecheyi)- A common squirrel seen throughout the chaparral Abundance: 1

• Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)- A mammal often as a household pet. Abundance: 1

Plant List

Plant List

• Laurel Sumac (Malosma Laurina)- A small native shrub growing 7 feet tall with taco-like leaves Abundance: 4 seen

• Agave (Agave Americana)- A tall shrub with a fleshy inside like a cactus, branches out immediately from the root. Abundance: 3 seen
• Mule Fat (Baccharis Salicifolia)- A tall shrub eaten by mules by which its name came from. Abundance: Many (30-50 estimated in about 15 square feet)
•  Western Sycamore (Platanus Racemosa)- A tall tree growing to about 30-40 feet tall with white bark        Abundance: 5 seen
• Coast Live Oak (Quercus Agrifolia)-A tall oak with spiky ovalish leaves and can reach 80 feet high       Abundance: 6 seen
• Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia Littoralis)- Just a regular cactus with little pink and yellow flowers Abundance: 10-20 seen
• Whipple Yucca (Yucca Whipplei ssp. parishii)- A spiked shrub that is similar to an agave and upside-down palm tree Abundance: 5 seen
• Cliff Aster (Malacothrix Saxatilis)- A tall native perrenial plant with flowers on the end.                       Abundance: About 100-200
• Poison Oak (Toxicodendron Diversilobum)- A small plant that grows its leaves in clusters of threes and when touched causes extreme irritation to the skin. Abundance: 3 seen

Site Description

Site Description:

Location; 1750 Altadena Dr. Pasadena, CA 91107 (Eaton Canyon Natural Area)
Habitat: Chaparral
Site size: about 20 by 20 meters


            The area in which Bradley and I sat at classified to us as a somewhat different area to the chaparral. We were sitting in the shade under lots of oak trees and sat on a twisted, perhaps fallen tree. Just guessing by the whitish bark of the tree, I felt it was a sycamore, but it had peeling bark. The ground was littered with dead, dried leaves. The leaves were the kind of leaves that had a spiky tip. but were small in an oval shape. These leaves were most likely from a coast live oak. So, on the way to our site (about a quarter mile trip), we saw at first lots of prickly pear cacti. The prickly pear cacti were on what seemed like a dried riverbed or more plausible, just an ordinary trail branching out like a river with lots of tributaries. Once it got a little hot, we both went under some shade and noticed some whipple yucas which look like upside-down palm trees. About half-way through, we noticed lots of sycamores which are basically trees with white bark. Finally, when we were about 50 feet from our site, we had to go through a thick amount of cliff aster, a tall perrenial native of the chaparral. Once we got to the site, the only other identifiable plant was poison oak with its red leaves in bunches of three. Along with an abundance of plants, we saw many animals. On the way to our site, we saw no animals. However, when we were there, we heard two different types of birds, but we couldn't identify them. On the way back, we saw some animal tracks, perhaps from a rodent and some dung along with it. A little bit farther up the trail, we saw a small insect that reminds one of a grasshopper. Including that, we saw a gray tree squirrel scurry up a tree  Besides that, we saw two blue-bellied lizards doing "push-ups" (a sign to signal off intruders in their territory) in the sun and a rabbit scurry off into the bushes before we got a good look at it. Other animals we saw were two birds seeming to "fight" with each other, but they were probably doing a mating ritual. We could not identify their names. The final animal we saw was a blue jay perching on a tree. Overall, we had a success at Eaton Canyon with the biotics.

Coast Live Oak

Coast Live Oak
Native to Eaton Canyon
Have spiky little leaves in ovals
Adaptions: Exceptionally Fire Resistant

Poison Oak

Poison Oak
Area: South Eastern U.S.
Have leaves of three
Adaptions: Have very dangerous oil on leaf that causes extreme itching. Only 1 Billionth of a gram is needed to start itching

Observation Log-Horowitz

11:45
-sunny, no clouds, slight breeze
-bird chirping
-rodent running around in leaves
-facing northeast
11:55
-weather is the same
-lizard on a log
-bird chirping
-can hear people in the distance
12:05
-weather the same
-flies in my ears
-crying baby in the distance
12:15
-weather the same
-notice poison oak a few meters from me
-leaf blower in the distance
-I leave the area of oak trees that I was sitting in

Blue Bellied Lizard

Blue-Bellied Lizard
Found in Oregon, Idaho, and Southern California
Can be seen in areas of elevation of over 6,000 feet
Often seen in the sun sunbathing such as here on a rock
Adaptions: Detachable tail

Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus
Found in Southwest America, like Southern California
Grow on Rocky, poor soil
Adaptions: Conserve water

Tobacco Tree

Tobacco Tree
Often farmed, invasive species
Grows to 20 feet tall
Other: Toxic parts of plant

Observation Log- Bhav

Observation Log- Eaton Canyon

Weather- Sunny, clear skies, slight breeze, about 76 degrees Fahrenheit

Area- Camping in the middle of a dead tree, under lots of shade close to the mountain facing North East.

Time; 1145-1215

1145-We set up camp and begin our observations, listening for birds, looking for animals, or trying to identify trees.

1150- We start to hear birds chirping, but we are unable to identify them.

1151- I hear odd bird noises that sound like monkeys

1154- Although it seems unlikely to be crickets in broad daylight, we heard cricket-like noises

1157- We see a large lizard and flies begin to start bugging us.

1159- We notice several spider webs on our oddly shaped tree and also hear human babies off in the distance

1205- We see poison oak and make sure not to touch it

1211- We see squirrels in the bushes running around

1215- We depart realizing that perhaps the trees around us were oaks still hearing birds

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Also as an extra on the way back:

1216- We see a bunny

1217- We see a blue jay and bluebelly lizards.