Diario de lugefool

I Ran down to Aquatic park to see if I could find what was found down there last year.
Extra credit hike: http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/lugefool/2014/4/26

I made a guide to Russian Ridge on the Peninsula, part of the Midpeninsula open space reserve district. It is a park that I have enjoyed photographing.

Spring Break trip to AZ with EPS 119.
I haven't had the time to track some observations down to see if I can ID them better.

My observation of a bombylius isn't research grade but this is an interesting fly.
The bombylius, also called a bee fly, is a bee mimic and resembles bumblebees. The thing that is most interesting about the bee fly is what is does with its eggs. The female uses her hind legs to flick eggs toward or into the nests of digger bees and other bee and insect nests. The bee fly seems to have a preference for diggers bees like the ones that we saw on campus. When the larva hatch they are a parasitoid and pray on the larva of the digger bee. They will also consume any of the food provided for the digger bee larva.

Failing to find a place suitable to flick its larva the bee fly will deposit its eggs in a location, usually on flowers, that other pollinators frequent in the hopes that the eggs can hitch a ride back to the nest of the prey species.

The bee fly is mean looking with its long proboscis but it is not a stinger. The long proboscis is used for feeding in a similar way to humming birds. In its adult stage bombylius feed on nectar.

For plants the reproductive structures seem to be the most distinctive characteristics. I observed several ferns and focused on the leaf shape as well as the underside of the leaf where the spore structures are.

For the pine I have photos of both the male and female cones
The two lichens that I observed are a good comparison of their structures, one small lobe shaped structure and the other much longer in structure and hanging from the branches of a tree.
Animals move a lot faster than plants and it is hard to focus in on individual traits. The easiest characteristic is coloration. Examples the red tail's tail, The butterflie's orange wingtips, and the beetle's wing casing.

On the field trip to the Berkeley marina area there is a mixture of niches including dump. In the intertidal niche we saw a number of interesting species form different branches of the tree of life. Birds were particularly obvious and are adapted in many ways: long legs for wading, long bills for probing or sharp for fishing. Under the rocks the crabs exploit the fact that not much can get to them.

The small periwinkle is adapted to hold tight to the rocks while being battered by wave action.

Further inland there is grassland habitat. Bur clover has adapted its seed to hitch a ride on passing animals as well as exploit disturbed ground. Willows are adapted to wet areas at the edge of the grassland. Himalaya blackberry has defensive thorns to protect its niche. Salt grass and pickleweed exploit a niche between the intertidal and the grassland where salinity in the soil is high. They both are adapted to deal with salt. Pickleweed concentrates it and then drops that portion of the plant.

Starting with the trees, the buckeye clearly hasn't been in leaf for very long with the new leaves not to their full size yet. This is good phenologic data in that the leaves are likely only a few days old. The willow is a good data point for both flower and leafs. The flowers are out but the leave buds have not yet opened.

Not knowing anything about the timing of fumitory I don't know if it is unusual for it to be flowering now. Sweet fennel I know flowers later in the year and wouldn't expect to see it flowering now.

What I am guessing is a walnut tree was the only species that I saw that was truly dormant, with no leaves or flowers. Another tree of the same type was nearby so I can also conclude that is wasn't dead.

I went out Friday and Saturday (1/31/14, 2/1/14) to Tilden Park. The fist iconic taxa, one that is everywhere, that I recorded is an example of a plant. I chose to record one that seemed out of place, there were a few cherry trees blooming along the trail.
On one of the cherries I photographed a honey bee as an example of an insect. I found another insect behind the bark of a rotting log, there was a colony of ants.

The most exciting thing that I found was the California newt. It was crossing the trail on Saturday. Newts are amphibians in the salamander family.

I went out Friday and Saturday (1/31/14, 2/1/14) to Tilden Park. The fist iconic taxa, one that is everywhere, that I recorded is an example of a plant. I chose to record one that seemed out of place, there were a few cherry trees blooming along the trail.
On one of the cherries I photographed a honey bee as an example of an insect. I found another insect behind the bark of a rotting log, there was a colony of ants.

The most exciting thing that I found was the California newt. It was crossing the trail on Saturday. Newts are amphibians in the salamander family.