I don’t often see a California thrasher around here, so I’m always happy when I do. One has been hanging about the bird bath and bushes close to the house the past few days. Sweet!
Toxostoma redivivum
Month: October 2022
condolence card
Thank you, Virginia Woolf, for giving me the words when I couldn’t find the right ones myself.
lithobiidae
I asked Trisha if we could examine a centipede some time, and even though they are not insects, she kindly collected one in her yard and put it under the microscope for us to sketch.
There are about 1000 species and subspecies in the family Lithobiidae, mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere. (The house centipede I posted last week is in a different family.)
Fun fact: centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment. Millipedes have two.
Punica granatum
shore finds
‘Twas a lovely afternoon at the rock pools.
Crotalus helleri
A Southern Pacific rattlesnake came calling, but we didn’t want what he was selling. So we popped him into a lidded bucket and took him for a short ride to a better location.
chrysalis vs cocoon
I am not sure how I got to be middle-aged before learning that butterfly caterpillars don’t spin cocoons. Moths do that. A butterfly’s chrysalis forms INSIDE its caterpillar-y skin. It sheds that skin and voila, it’s now a pupa. 🤯 Learn something new!!
Plecoptera
If you see stoneflies by a creek, you can be happy that the water’s clean and well-oxygenated.
wild food
These acorn cakes were good! Thanks to our instructor Rob Remedi, and to the Malibu Creek Docents for providing continuing education.
beta vulgaris
Chard is just a variety of beets that doesn’t have an edible root. Learn something new every day.
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