Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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Buzzards and Moss Balls
Buzzards and Moss Balls
A tall Cordon, serrated if that?s the correct word, to allow it to absorb rare rains when available by expanding its ribs like drawing a deep breath
into lungs.
There are many cordon in the central desert. Most have several vertical ?fingers? that project into the blue sky here in the mid-peninsula. I drove
by one today with four fingers. There were only a few feet between the projectiles. Large Buzzards were perched atop each. As most birds are
territorial I was surprised to see them so apparently friendly toward each other. But there they were with wings spread in the heat of the day,
fanning themselves, perhaps appreciating their own comparative size against the others in the small flock. I thought of a bookend it was so
picturesque. I wished I?d have brought my camera, but sometimes images are better captured in the mind than on film or paper. The mind can recreate
the image as one wants it. Often an exaggeration.
I stopped my truck in the road to appreciate the birds. They were unafraid and peaceful as I watched them from my driverside window. Black, very
black birds against a blue sky and I wondered what, if anything, they were thinking. Who was this two-legged beast staring up at them? No feathers,
just skinny arms and a small amount of fur covering them. How could he stay warm at night?
Several weeks ago I went with some friends into the desert to visit San Borja, a mission in the central peninsula. On the road I noticed something, a
plant I?ve never seen before even though, on looking it up in Norm Roberts Baja California Plant Field Guide I didn?t recognize it. It?s called Ball
Moss. While it does grow in the form of a grapefruit-sized ball, it is not a moss and it seems to be endemic to Baja California?s central desert. I
made the erroneous assumption that it was a parasitic relationship between the cactus and the ball moss. I was wrong. It is symbiotic. Both sides
win. The ball moss captures water from the air to sustain itself without drawing energy from its host. I wondered if the small patch of shade cast
by the moss could be beneficial to the host. So many things to ponder and I?ll never learn them all thank goodness, else what would I do with my
time?
As I type tonight Mary Ann tells me a bat just flew in the open door. This is common and never a problem. Bats are smart enough to find their way
out, even avoiding the dual-glazed panes on our doors and windows. The weather is warming. Soon it will be hot, so hot it will be uncomfortable for
some, not all. I enjoy the heat. Shorts and a lightweight shirt and flip-flops clicking and clacking along the sands of summer. The bay will fill
with foreigners fishing for Jurel and the locals will make good money guiding the visitors.
A tiny slice of time destined to carry us forward into yet another century and life. Sometimes it moves so fast and at others it drifts between
cloudlike blurs it?s just almost not real.
We are lucky indeed.
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Bedman
Senior Nomad
Posts: 523
Registered: 9-4-2002
Location: Orange County, CA.
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As always, a pleasure to visit the bay through your eyes.
Bedman
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cpg
Nomad
Posts: 262
Registered: 4-10-2006
Location: Livermore, Ca.
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Are thes moss balls?
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
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CPG...
I can't answer your question except to say that the ones I've seen are dark green and slightly larger than the ones shown in your photo. They are
shown on page 97 of the 1989 publication of Norman C. Roberts Baja California Plant Field Guide.
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
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These look like what we call Coyote Gords, bright green while growing on vines, then changing to yellow/brownish as they dry.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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John M
Super Nomad
Posts: 1906
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: California High Desert
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Ball Moss
The 1975 Roberts, Field Guide/Plants of Baja, on page 53 shows the attached photograph of ball moss. It looks to be on a Cardon. It attaches itself to
many things according to Roberts. It is not a "moss" but a member of the pinapple family.
The gourds shown, we call coyote melons. In the book Gathering the Desert by Gary Nabhan there is a chapter about gourds of the Sonoran Desert region.
This interesting book is a gathering of essays and fables relating to desert plants. The Coyote gourd, or, chichicoyota as Nabhan names it, is just
one of the stories in this book.
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cpg
Nomad
Posts: 262
Registered: 4-10-2006
Location: Livermore, Ca.
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Thank you!
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