|
Crystal Cove State Park
Crystal Cove State Park is a state park of California, United States, encompassing of Pacific coastline, inland chaparral canyons, and the Crystal Cove Historic District of beach houses. The park is located in Newport Beach, and is part of the larger South Coast Wilderness area. Crystal Cove is a stretch of coastal cliffs and a beachfront cove situated between the Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean just north of Laguna Beach. The park was established in 1979. The entire park hosts a total of 3 miles of beaches and tide pools, a 1,400 acre marine Conservation Area as well as underwater park, 400 acres of bluffs, and 2,400 acres of canyons. History Up until the arrival of the Spanish Missionaries, the region was a series of native villages built around two different natural springs. The natives were then drafted to Mission San Gabriel and Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was later known as "Rancho San Joaquin", until it went into debt and was sold in 1864 to James ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, and more populous than 19 American states and Washington, D.C. Although largely suburban, it is the second-most-densely-populated county in the state behind San Francisco County. The county's three most-populous cities are Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine, each of which has a population exceeding 300,000. Santa Ana is also the county seat. Six cities in Orange County are on the Pacific coast: Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, and San Clemente. Orange County is included in the Los Angeles-Long Beach- Anaheim Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county has 34 incorporated cities. Older cities like Old Town Tustin, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange, and Fullerton have traditional downtowns dating back to the 19th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Irvine Company
The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more than 300,000 people mainly designed by the Irvine Company. The company was founded by the Irvine family and is currently wholly owned by Donald Bren. Since the company is private, its financials are not released to the public. However, Donald Bren is the wealthiest real estate developer in the United States, with a net worth of $15.3 billion as of April 2021. History The Irvine Company traces its history to a ranch founded by James Irvine I, Benjamin and Thomas Flint, and Llewellyn Bixby in 1864 by combining three adjoining Mexican land grants. A drought 1864 killed the livestock of Jose Antonio Sepulveda, forcing him to sell his coastal Rancho San Joaquin to Irvine and his partners. In 1866 they purchased Rancho Lomas de Santiago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arboreal Salamander
The arboreal salamander (''Aneides lugubris'') is a species of climbing salamander. An insectivore, it is native to California and Baja California, where it is primarily associated with oak and sycamore woodlands, and thick chaparral. Description ''Aneides lugubris'' is SVL (snout-vent length), with plain purplish-brown coloring, usually spotted dorsally with gold or yellow, although it may also be unspotted. The tail is prehensile. The juvenile is dark overall, clouded with greyish color and fine yellow speckling on the back. The male of this species can be distinguished by its broad triangular head, with the front teeth of the jaw extending beyond the bottom lip. This species is an excellent climber and difficult to capture. It is nocturnal, spending daylight hours and dry periods in the cavities of oak trees, often with many other individuals of its species. A large adult can inflict a painful bite. Arboreal Salamanders hatch from eggs laid and guarded in burrows. Hatchlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anniella Pulchra
''Anniella pulchra'', the California legless lizard, is a Legless lizard, limbless, burrowing lizard often mistaken for a snake. Description These lizards are around long from snout to vent (not including tail). They have small, smooth scales typically colored silvery above and yellow below, although black or dark brown forms exist in Monterey County, California which were thought to be a separate subspecies at one point. Taxonomy There were formerly two subspecies of California legless lizard recognized based on individual color morphs: the silvery legless lizard, ''A. p. pulchra'', and the black legless lizard, ''A. p. nigra''. However, contemporary taxonomy considers them simply a melanistic morph. More recently (in 2013), ''A. pulchra'' has been split up into five different species: ''A. pulchra'' (with a narrower definition), ''Anniella alexanderae, A. alexanderae'', ''Anniella campi, A. campi'', ''Anniella grinnelli, A. grinnelli'', and ''Anniella stebbinsi, A. stebbinsi' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Sparrow
The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus ''Passer'', the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird. The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, and deserts away from human development. It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, but it is an opportunistic eater and commonly eats insects and many o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New World quail are placed in the family Odontophoridae. The species of buttonquail are named for their superficial resemblance to quail, and form the family Turnicidae in the order Charadriiformes. The king quail, an Old World quail, often is sold in the pet trade, and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption, and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. In 2007, 40 million quail were produced in the U.S. New World *Genus ''Callipepla'' **Scaled quail, (commonly called blue quail) ''Callipepla squamata'' **E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Roadrunner
The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus ''Geococcyx''. This roadrunner is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer. Taxonomy and systematics Greater roadrunner fossils dating from the Holocene and Pleistocene have been found in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The oldest known fossil comes from a cave in New Mexico, estimated at an age of 33,500 years. In the La Brea Tar Pits, fragments from 25 greater roadrunner fossils have been found. Several other fossils are also known from Santa Barbara and Kern counties, as well as Northern Mexico. Prehistoric remains indicate that up until 8,000 years ago, the greater roadrunner was found in sparse for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Raven
The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages in length and in mass. Although their typical lifespan is considerably shorter, common ravens can live more than 23 years in the wild. Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory. Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests. Part of their success as a species is due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring-billed Gull
The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description Measurements: * Length: 16.9-21.3 in (43-54 cm) * Weight: 10.6-24.7 oz (300-700 g) * Wingspan: 41.3-46.1 in (105-117 cm) The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a dark ring; the back and wings are silver gray; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims. This gull takes three years to reach its breeding plumage; its appearance changes with each fall moult. The average lifespan of an individual that reaches adulthood is 10.9 years The oldest ring-billed gull on record was observed in Cleveland in 2021, still alive at the age of 28 years. Distribution and habitat The ring-billed gulls' breeding habitat is near lakes, rivers, or the coast in Canada and the northern Unite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mourning Dove
The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Carolina turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds and a popular gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to . Mourning doves are light gray and brown and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs (young) per brood. Both paren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey Vulture
The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus ''Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts. Like all New World vultures, it is not closely related to the Old World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The two groups strongly resemble each other because of convergent evolution; natural selection often leads to similar body plans in animals that adapt independently to similar conditions. The turkey vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion. It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequentl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_immature_Udaipur.jpg "Click for more on -> House Sparrow")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Ring-billed Gull")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Mourning Dove")
_in_flight.JPG "Click for more on -> Turkey Vulture")