The observed buds were all recently formed so it will still
be a few days before the first poppy blossoms will be open. Once the bud is formed, a short blossom stem
grows before the bud opens and none of the observed buds showed any sign of
stem growth. Although we checked random
poppy plants for buds throughout the visit, all of the half dozen or so poppy
buds found were located very near the western end of the south leg of the Poppy
Loop Trail; just south of the junction with the Tehachapi Vista Trail.
The primary objectives for this Reserve visit were to record
the rain gauge rainfall from the 10 Mar ’18 rainstorm, re-inventory the
permanent monitoring plot near the Visitor Center, and inventory several
locations along the south leg of the Poppy Loop Trail. In addition, general observations were made
documenting the different plant species now with open blossoms.
To read the entire March 12, 2018 newsflash, please download the pdf below:
