Tolenas Elementary and Montair Elementary schools opened the 2008-9 outdoor school year for Exploring New Horizons at Loma Mar.  It was a beautiful week with ideal weather, a full moon, bad tides during the day and a lot of nature highlights.  A 6ft south swell hit the coast early thursday morning which made for a beautiful, warm, beach day. 

The Hot Spot is a list of species seen, heard, smelled, tasted and/or felt during the week.   This is our journal, our data, our way to keep track of the life that we are connected to every week at outdoor school.  The Montair and Tolenas students did a wonderful job living in the moment and being aware of their surroundings.  Here is a list of what was seen on the trails and beyond:

1)  Bobcat in Rode Meadow

2)  Blue Bellied Lizard

3)  Two Bottlenose dolphins

4) Unidentified whale breach

5)  Crawdad in the creek

6)  Fungus under oak oozing liquid substance.  It is believed to belong to the genus Hydnellum.

7)  Pileated Woodpecker

8)  Kingfisher

9)  Whimbrel

10)  Band Tailed Pidgeon Kill

11)  Bats

 12)  Tarantula Burrows in Worley Meadow

13)  Coyote

14)  California Sister

15)  Full grown Steelhead Trout.

Thank you Tolenas and Montair for a wonderful week!  Power to the Peaceful