This was absolutely astounding. I've read about this phenomenon, but never witnessed it myself. Thousands of convergent lady beetles in this spot, but nowhere else along the 3 miles of trail.
posting it because of the color
Mt San Jacinto, San Bernardino National Forest, Riverside County, California
Third jackrabbit of the day. The top part of its left ear was missing and its right ear was torn. But it survived!
(Hotel Trail)
Doing morning pushups. Notice his blue belly and throat.
(Monument Peak Road)
Not my photo, asking for a friend 🤣
Followup to this post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147508667
The "white stuff" on the leaf does not rub off on fingers like mildew would. It instead appears to be made of a number of fine hairs. And there are very small black things inside those hairs!
The first pix is is a 30X microscope view, with the camera pix through the eyepiece enlarged. I've scraped back some of the white hairs with a microscope probe, which revealed this black "surprise". The diameter of the black "surprise" is 0.25 mm. It turns out the black surprise was just minute soil particles, except for the first pix which indeed was just a hole in the leaf; see comments below.
I looked at some other leaves yesterday morning at 9:00 a.m., and when I looked at them again at 10:00 p.m. that night, 13 hours later, similar black dots had emerged from the small white hairs as the leaf dried and shrank. Those turned out to be soil particles too.
This was so cool... I turned the bend and saw a jackrabbit coming down the path. Since we were on a 10-ft. wide levee, there were only two ways to go - either forward or back. After considering it for a moment, he came straight for me and passed only a couple feet from where I was standing. So fast! So cool!
There’s stork’s-bill all over this property. There is about a ten foot patch in which a few of them are partially white like the one in these photos. Outside of this ten foot patch, the rest of the stork’s-bills on this property look normal. It’s like this every year. Any idea why? Is this the plant’s natural color or a fungus or what?
The heads seem too large for T. cernuum, but that's where I keep landing in Ruygt's Flora of Napa County key. Is it just an odd looking T. ciliolatum perhaps?
Is there such thing as an albino clover? 😁
It was really interesting to watch the jackrabbit interact with the two baby ground squirrels (at first I thought it was a baby jackrabbit). The jackrabbit hopped around them, then stopped to sniff them, and then went on its way. The baby squirrels weren't in the least bit scared of it.
Recorded with Tascam DR-05X.
Edited with Audacity according to the recommendations in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYqogvHYn28
High-pass Filter:
Frequency:1000 Hz
Roll-off: 48 dB
Normalize Peak Amplitude: -3 dB
Silenced a few clicks.
Can someone help me figure out what is eating the leaves of this Island Mallow? There were thousands of holes in nearly every leaf of this young plant.
Golden Eagle was being dive-bombed by two red-tailed hawks, but it smoothly rolled over and avoided a direct hit.
Crescent Meadow Trail
this observation is part of an ongoing study to document the newt roadkill problem around Lexington Reservoir. To learn more about it, go to https://www.bioblitz.club/newts
We need your help! If you'd like to join our team, please message me!
These seedlings were observed in the morning along Hwy S-2 on the way to Mine Canyon. E. botrys is on the right (I think)
I didn't see this bird. The Merlin app suggested this ID. There's a CA Scrub-Jay on this recording as well.
Recorded with Tascam DR-05X.
Edited with Audacity according to the recommendations in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYqogvHYn28
High-pass Filter:
Frequency: 1000 Hz
Roll-off: 48 dB
Normalize Peak Amplitude: -3 dB
Silenced a few clicks.
Unusual cluster of plants with all white flowers.
E. cicutarium, botrys and brachycarpum are all present on this section of the trail, offering ample comparison. (E. moschatum is far away, one day I'll get all 4 together!). E. cicutarium at top, E. brachycarpum at right, and E. botrys at bottom.
I took this opportunity to study these 3 species, most importantly botrys and brachycarpum, the differences of which are poorly documented. I observed 160 E. brachycarpum, and 242 E. botrys.
E. brachycarpum flowers are very small, often a third smaller than the widespread E. cicutarium.
Is this an optical illusion, or what? Look at the reflection - it shows the duck's bill open, but in reality, it's not open. Weird!
This bolete was extraordinarily beautiful! It was growing on the side of a hill under an oak tree.
Colors: brown, tan, blue, yellow
This observation is for the Hermit Thrush in the foreground. This recording was taken near the lake where there's a lot of bird activity.
Other birds: There is a Say's Phoebe call in the distance at about 15 secs, and a California Thrasher call starts at about 1:07. Also, some Acorn Woodpeckers.
See the following observation for the Spotted Towhee in the background:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/100214226
Sound recorded with Tascam DR-05X. Edited with Audacity according to the recommendations in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYqogvHYn28
High-pass Filter:
Frequency: 500 Hz
Roll-off: 48 dB
Normalize Peak Amplitude: -3 dB
Silenced a few clicks.
Mandible with teeth and long bones.
What a gorgeous bird!
Clump of gelatinous material in creek. Are these eggs of some sort (fish? frogs? toads?)
Crossing on pause at west edge, alive
2 alive, 9 dead (2 male 7 female+ 2 alive fems); newt at bottom middle of picture is alive frozen in defensive posture; warm, rain 07:00 to 17:00 trailing off at end
This animal was injured on the road after being hit by a car. Moved it off the road.
Apologies for the terrible photo quality.....!
This observation is part of an ongoing study of Pacific newt roadkill on Alma Bridge Road, Lexington Reservoir. See our project page for more info.
Once the light is fading, Baby Owl takes their turn looking out of the box for a while, really getting their groove on (I know, it's a vision thing, but still funky). This night, this baby flew out, and a second baby looked out!
Here's some Baby Owl groove:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WLzXq28fq6oE22U3sAeQqtcDGztqEgQ9/view?usp=sharing
And a longer video of the two babies, lots of flapping, and a lizard delivery:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m2BldszjFpS9GI1kATyuF_4wYE-B7Qw0/view?usp=sharing
Finally, I created a Flickr album with a larger collection of photos and videos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVZPnT5
A flock of wild turkeys. Notice the coyote walking past the flock. They aren't even alarmed! I wonder if they can sense the coyote's not hungry for turkey right now? Their heads turned in unison to watch the coyote pass. Very interesting!
(Ed Levin County Park)
Nectaring on Hawksbeard flowers.
(Ed R. Levin County Park)
Some rather scruffy-looking Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), photographed in a patch of mulch at Varian Park in Cupertino, CA. Note that there are two photographs in the set of poctures documenting this specimen - the lead shot (Shot 1.1), which provides a view of the plant in situ; and the remaining shot (Shot 1.2), which provides a closeup of one of the flowers and some surrounding leaves.
In identifying this plant, I made the following observations:
1) This specimen has bisexual flowers consisting of 5 sepals; 5 petals, a single pistil, and numerous stamens. The 5 petals are partially fused together to fom a corolla tube that is radial in its symmetry. The pistil has a superior ovary at one end 5 linear stigmas at the other. Finally, the stamens' filaments have fused together around the pistil, almost enclosing it completely. Together, all of these traits place this specimen firmly within the Mallow Family (Malvaceae).
2) This specimen is also an annual forb with axillary flowers, with up to 10 flowers per leaf axil. Inside each flower, one can see the anthers arranged in a single series near the top of the filament tube, just below the linear stigmas. Outside the flower, subtending the calyx, are three tiny bractlets that are generally free from each other (verified in the field, difficult to see in the photos). The stems of the plant are prostrate to erect. Together, all of these traits place this specimen firmly within the genus Malva.
3) Finally, for this specimen, sepals are about 4mm long, while the petals are around 8mm long (= 2x length of the sepals). The petals are white to pale lialc pink, with veins that are not darker than the base color of the petals. Together, these traits identify this specimen as Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), a non-native plant originally from Eurasia that has become more or less naturalized in northern California. It is also known as Dwarf Mallow.
Bull Mallow (Malva nicaeensis), photographed at the Stevens Creek Tidal Marsh in Mountain View, CA. Note that there are 5 photographs in the set of pictures documenting this specimen:
Shot 1 - Provides a closeup of an open flower and a recently closed one. Petals are 10mm long and about 8mm wide.
Shot 2 - Provides a closeup of a leaf (upperside only). Note that the leaves can easily reach 10cm near the base of the plant. This is a cauline leaf, so it is closer to 6cm at its broadest point.
Shot 3 - Provides a shot of one of the specimen's stems, so one can see the alternate arrangement of the leaves and the axillary arrangement of the flowers.
Shot 4 - Provides a closeup shot of the seed capsule. Note how the calyx encloses the seed capsule completely; also note how the bracts subtending the calyx remain attached to it, even as they enclose the seed capsule inside.
Shot 5 - Provides a wide shot, showing the plant in situ in its environment. This specimen is already about 5 feet tall, and I have seen other specimens of M, niccaensis get even taller.