THE ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK EXPEDITION

Soraya and Dr. Bug recently led a group of nature lovers on a day hike to view spring wildflowers in Anza Borrego State Park, a high desert ecosystem, east of San Diego and the largest State Park in California.  Anza Borrego is one of the last places where California date palms grow in nature; they are referred to as relics in refugia (relics from a geological past in which they flourished but are now confined to small ecological areas where they continue to grow).  You can also see bighorn sheep in the higher, rocky elevations of Anza Borrego.

We hiked up a wash (a place where water flows in the rainy season) to a vista point.  We were surrounded by native plants in full bloom, such as: desert lily, desert chicory, desert lavender, Bigelow’s monkey flower, buckwheat, sand verbena, creosote bushes, Ocotillo cactus, Lupine, and barrel cactus to name just a few.  Both the flora and fauna of the desert simply come alive in the spring!  Light up a lantern at night and you will likely attract a diversity of stick bugs.  In late spring, you might even see baby birds in nests.  We saw two large, playful red-tailed hawk babies in an Ocotillo cactus.

While walking in the desert, look to the ground and under bushes and leaves.  You might get lucky and spot a fuzzy bug.  These cute bugs have lots of white (glaucous) fuzz on their backs, presumably to reflect the intense sun light and keep the bugs cooler than they would otherwise be.