On west fog line in defense posture, moved to ditch
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)
(Limekiln Trail)
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.
Is it sticking its tongue out at me?
(Limekiln Trail)
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.
With E. cicutaria mom right.
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!
Tiny flower blooming among the grass.
Blooming still going strong
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