Colorful wildflowers + easy to spot birds
Egrets are nesting in green trees against a blue sky and wildflowers brighten our trails
I alluded to wildflowers in last week’s newsletter, but let’s feature them this week. I’ve been keeping track of the bloom for about a decade in Orange County. It’s maybe the weakest year in wildflower showing since I’ve been keeping track because of the lack of rain this year. However, I did see purple lupine starting to bloom as I was getting on the freeway this morning! So flowers are there, but you just need to look a little closer than usual.
Now is actually a good time of year to look up and around for the bright white birds around town. This is an egret nesting at Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach. Last year, we were lucky enough to attend a free presentation by an expert on the birds. I’ll talk a little bit more about them below!
And I just found out today that this OC Tiny Hikes weekly newsletter is the #82 Top Bestseller in Parenting on Substack! I’m not big into numbers, but I am happy you’re here every week inside this local newsletter with me. Thank you for being here and telling your friends about it.
In play,
Michele
As a friendly reminder, make sure you ALWAYS check official sources when you are heading out to any of the locations I share. These are merely suggestions. Only you know what works for your family. Plus, your experience may not be the same as mine — and there can be changes to the hours or unforeseen circumstances or conditions at the suggested locations.
NEW! Question of the Week
This is just something new & fun to start the newsletter each week!
Feel free to also reply to this email if you have something to add — and I’ll share the results next week!
LAST WEEK’S QUESTION: Have you ever visited a national park?
According to those who filled out the poll, 84% of you have and 16% of you have not. In Orange County, national parks aren’t super close in terms of drive time. Joshua Tree is up in the desert over 100 miles away.
If you want to be able to answer “yes” to that question by this time next year, maybe you can try visiting one of these options:
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch in Malibu - A small visitor center and gift shop in Malibu Canyon that’s not as easy to get to due to the Palisades fire, but still relatively close if you are daytripping up in LA.
Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center in San Diego — A fun day trip and Visitor Center with amazing views and lots of tiny hikes for families.
The Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park in Ventura Harbor — Ventura and Oxnard is a great family trip destination and this cozy little center is the park headquarters and a lovely spot when you aren’t up for an Island Packers trip out to the actual islands. And make sure you take the elevator AND the stairs (if you can) up/down from the lookout.
Also, if you have a 4th grader, there is a free national park pass for you (at least for now — the federal government website was being glitchy for me). Go to the program website called EveryKidOutdoors.gov to get your pass.
We need to keep speaking up to protect our national parks and our public lands employees. The fight is not over and will probably never be, but our collective voices can help preserve and conserve these places for our children.
Play Trips: Kid-friendly spots for wildflowers + pirate ship playgrounds
Remember, especially this year, California wildflowers come in little patches!
This post has information about wildflower hotlines and cams around SoCal. I did see a family who tried Anza Borrego this past weekend and there was no bloom this past weekend (which tracks because their wildflower updates are not even posted this year!). These are places in Orange County to go that are kid-friendly, and also a quick guide to the flowers you might see while you are out there!
I just updated this post with the George Upton All Access Playground in Santa Ana which has an accessible playground and ability to get up on the pirate ship via ramps. Are there any that I’m missing??? Please help me keep the list up to date!
PLAY: What are those birds?
This is the section of the newsletter where we talk about PLAY or connecting to nature each week. I might share a video, an article, a book, or something inspiring. Just trying to help keep you empowered to prioritize play to benefit development and preserve childhood!
Have you noticed these white birds when you are out and about in Orange County? You may be thinking they are the same bird, but you can teach your kids about a fun subtlety. There are Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets here in Southern California.
This is a GREAT Egret. See its gold beak? It also has black feet.
Snowy Egrets have the opposite coloring! Black beak. Golden feet. And so much smaller!
So now you know the difference and you can try to notice when you see them! Or you can just be happy that they are easy to spot!
Summer camp updates
Many of the registrations have already opened and a couple will open up on April 1st. I want to point out #23 is a new one that I’ve never had on the list before and it seems somewhat affordable if you live in the area. (Not an endorsement! Just something you might want to check out.)
Get the Guide!
Did you get your guide yet? It works great after a rain, but it’s also perfect if you want stroller-friendly routes or easy nature walks on mostly flat surfaces that you can even do with grandparents!
There’s a full description of what’s inside this printable guide over in the bookshop!
Play-Filled Extras are waiting below this paywall each week for all paid subscribers. And the guide is actually included in your annual subscription. Thanks for your support!