Last two photos contrasting the flowering heads and phyllaries of H. paradoxus (left) with the co-occurring H. annuus (right).
An unusually large number of plants were still vegetative at this late date, and follow-up visits to the area indicated that many of these would likely not flower before dying this year (as the species is an annual).
Dominant in this area making up a majority of the vegetation cover, with sometimes thousands of plants within a single square meter.
Some sort of Dinosaur track
Odd calls but listen to the much more WESO-like call at 0:40
Along with Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wilson's Warbler and House Wren