Lots more hoots on recent nights. I still haven’t seen one, but I’m happy they are hanging out. Eat some gophers please!
owl at night
Month: November 2022
diospyros
Waiting for these beauties to ripen.
rainy day gifts
Curly wet eucalyptus bark found on the driveway.
opuntia
The prickly pear’s in fruit.
Book group(s)
I’m in two book groups; these are our November picks. Have you read either? I thought the McEwan was excellent. I just started the Gray last night.
heteromeles arbutifolia
The toyon berries are putting on a good show right now. This is the shrub for which Hollywood is named, though it’s not a type of holly at all. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a prominent component of the coastal sage scrub plant community, and a part of drought-adapted chaparral and mixed oak woodland habitats. It is the sole species in the genus Heteromeles.
Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love the summer flowers, and the autumn berries are devoured by a large variety of birds, including cedar waxwings, quail, towhees, Western bluebirds, robins, and mockingbirds.
Selasphorus sasin
I think it was either a female or immature Allen’s hummingbird sitting still among the bougainvillea flowers. It was a fat, sturdy little thing with mostly grey colouring.
corvid comparison
vaccinium corymbosum
This variety of blueberry is meant to grow in our climate, but ours just … don’t, really.
Erythrina fusca
The coral tree (Erythrina fusca) is the official city tree of Los Angeles, and is widely planted in frost-free areas. We have large one at our place, and while it needs annual pruning, we never cut back as far as this specimen. I feel sad for street trees that get pruned to within an inch of their lives.
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