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Autumn is Gone But Some Colors Hang On

Davis Potpourri (12/21/23) Philip Reedy
“Fall may be officially over, but some colors are hanging on around my house and even up in the mountains,” explained Philip Reedy.
 
“I spent Thursday morning on the greenbelt next to my house and then Thursday afternoon l drove up to Downieville along the North Fork of the Yuba River to a couple of my favorite spots. The leaves have all fallen along the Yuba, but the ground is covered with bronze colored Bigleaf Maple leaves, which contrast beautifully with the amazing variety of colored rocks along the river.”
 
Those rocks ensure color addicts can get an off season fix until autumn arrives once again, Reedy added.
 
Happy Holidays!
Strawberry Tree-Davis (12/21/23) Philip Reedy
Christmas Colors (12/21/23) Philip Reedy
Strawberry Tree Flowers-Davis (12/21/23) Philip Reedy

Divine Delta

San Joaquin County, near Isenberg Crane Preserve (12/6/23) Rogersl Dunstan

With the holiday season is full bloom, we’ve fallen behind on a few posts. Get ready to feast your eyes on some beautiful areas in California that still have colors to show off.

Kicking it off here, Rogersl Dunstan exclaimed last week that “Even the delta has some fall color with cottonwoods and some others.”

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“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”

Pistache and berries (12/6/23) Philip Reedy
In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” commented color spotter Philip Reedy this week as he wandered his neighborhood in Davis.

That seems to apply not only to baseball but fall colors as well. 
 
“I’ve been wandering around my neighborhood the past few days with my grandson in tow, looking for last vestiges of color,” Reedy explained. “A lot of trees have lost their leaves, but the Chinese Pistache are still hanging on.  However, even after the leaves have fallen, their colors persist a while longer, providing the enterprising photographer many opportunities. On the greenbelt behind my house are Chinese Pistache, Gingko Biloba, Chinese Tallow, Bradford Pear, maples and oaks, so I don’t have to venture far.”
 
With any luck Reedy thought they may still have fall colors for Christmas, although the storm arriving yesterday may have stripped the remaining leaves from the trees.
Autumn palette (12/6/23) Philip Reedy
Oak Leaf Cluster (12/6/23) Philip Reedy
Maple and Redwood (12/6/23) Philip Reedy
Fall la la la la (12/6/23) Philip Reedy
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Davis Still Gorgeous

Autumn Berries (11/22/23) Philip Reedy

Davis is still looking quite beautiful as of earlier this week when Philip Reedy took a break from putting up Christmas decorations to walk a couple of blocks around his house.

“The trees are in full autumn glory right now,” he says. “The Gingko Biloba are all bright yellow and the Chinese Pistache and Chinese Tallow are great as well.”  

  • Davis (52′) – PEAK (75-100%) Go Now!
Chinese Tallow (11/22/23) Philip Reedy
Autumn Vines (11/22/23) Philip Reedy
Merry Fallmas (11/22/23) Philip Reedy
Owen in the leaves (11/22/23) Philip Reedy
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Davis Double Take

Evening light creates a special ambiance on these fall colors (11/13/23) Philip Reedy

Color spotter Philip Reedy found a unique, fall color vantage point while wandering around his neighborhood this week. Fabulous light and fall color made for two different, but beautiful images from the same exact location. It just goes to show that fall color is best captured when you get up early or stay out late, and in this case, both!

  • Davis (52′) – NEAR PEAK (50-75%) Go Now.
And morning light from the same spot has a distinctly different but still beautiful feel (11/14/23) Philip Reedy
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Davis is Divine

Davis color tour (11/6/23) Philip Reedy

Philip Reedy stayed close to home this week and found color around his neighborhood in Davis.

“As a counterpoint to my recent 500-mile color trips to the mountains, today I took my grandson on a five-block tour of our neighborhood, where the trees have suddenly burst into color,” Reedy explained. “As my recent trips have made clear, the mountains are pretty much done for this year, but the valley is just coming into its own.”

  • Davis (52′) – NEAR PEAK (50-75%) Go Now.
Beautiful color in Davis (11/6/23) Philip Reedy
Owen enjoying the colors (11/6/23) Philip Reedy
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Chasing Water

Sandhill cranes, San Luis NWR, Los Banos (11/8/22) Mark Harding

The combination of drought and water not being released by water agencies, has migratory birds chasing water.

They found it at the the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge near Los Banos yesterday, and Mark Harding found them.

Since this article was first posted, Harding reports that the Sacramento and Colusa NWRs are again wet, and snow and Ross’ geese, heron, wigeon, pintail and mallard ducks are in residence.

Late autumn color is dressing oak, cottonwood and willow. It’s peak in California’s Central Valley.

Tundra swan, San Luis NWR, Los Banos (11/8/22) Mark Harding
Tundra swan, San Luis NWR, Los Banos (11/8/22) Mark Harding
Northern harrier hawk, San Luis NWR, Los Banos (11/8/22) Mark Harding
Mule deer, San Luis NWR, Los Banos (11/8/22) Mark Harding
Black-crowned night heron, Colusa NWR (12/7/22) Mark Harding
Red-winged blackbird, Colusa NWR (12/7/22) Mark Harding
  • San Luis NWR, Los Banos (115′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Tree City USA

Autumn blaze maple and redwood, Davis (12/4/22) Philip Reedy

Among its claims to fame, Davis has been named a “Tree City, USA”.

This distinction is awarded by the National Arbor Day Foundation to municipalities that: 

  1. Have a tree board or department,
  2. Have established a community ordnance for tree care,
  3. Have a forestry program that invests at least $2 million annually, and that
  4. Observe Arbor Day.

Other California cities so designated, include:

On a morning walk through Davis, local color spotter Philip Reedy captured images that show why his town is deserving of the honor. To see how Davis informs its residents what trees to plant, CLICK HERE.

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Back to Wind Wolves

Bobcat, Wind Wolves Preserve (11/22/22) Gary Skipper II

Gary Skipper II introduced California Fall Color readers to the privately managed Wind Wolves Preserve, last November. He returns today on Orange Friday to share the amazing breadth of wildlife he found this week at this remarkable location.

As we reported last year, “Located 32 miles southwest of Bakersfield, Wind Wolves is an ecologically distinctive place where the Transverse Ranges, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, western Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley converge.

“Ranging from 640 to 6,005′, it has a wide array of landforms and habitats. And, at 93,000 acres it’s the west coast’s largest non-profit preserve.”

American kestrel, Wind Wolves Preserve (11/22/22) Gary Skipper II

On his most recent outing, Skipper captured a bobcat. He’s two for two in that category in successive yearly reports. Gary also photographed an American Kestrel (Falco sparvarius), an American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), Mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), Tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) and California Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus californicus).

American Pipit, Wind Wolves Preserve (11/22/22) Gary Skipper II

Wind Wolves is not known for broad displays of fall foliage. Western sycamore, Frémont cottonwood, valley oak, poison oak and California grape are the only significant deciduous foliage to inhabit the preserve. So, it may not be high on a list for fall color photography. Yet, it has a dependable display during Thanksgiving week and is worth adding to a late November trip through the Central Valley.

Western sycamore, Wind Wolves Preserve (11/22/22) Gary Skipper II
  • Wind Wolves Preserve (640′) – PEAK (75-10%) GO NOW!
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Davis, A Study in Color

True to its position as California’s center of agricultural research, Davis is a study of  peak color. Philip Reedy walked his hometown today and found its trees popping with color.

Pear, Davis (11/20/22) Philip Reedy
  • Davis (52′) – PEAK (75-10%) GO NOW!