Wildflower season has begun.
Primula hendersonii
Month: January 2023
Corvus corax
It’s Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, and I’ve been reading up on him (and re-reading his most famous poem). Any excuse to paint a raven!
Things I didn’t know about Mr. Poe until today:
- He was one America’s earliest practitioners of the short story, and considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.
- He married his 13 year old cousin when he was 27.
- He died at age 40 under mysterious circumstances. The cause of his death has been variously attributed to alcoholism, substance abuse, suicide, murder, cholera, hypoglycemia, rabies, syphilis, influenza, and that Poe was a victim of cooping.
- His character was thoroughly assassinated by a rival after his death.
Leucadendron
Leucadendron (commonly called cone-bush) is a genus endemic to South Africa. The flowers are produced in dense inflorescences at the branch tips; plants are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed heads of Leucadendron are woody cone-like structures, giving rise to their common name.
Piuma Ridge Trail
I returned to my favourite MCSP trail for the first time in about six months. I wanted to see how it was handling all the rain, and the answer is .. beautifully! The many tributaries are gushing, the mosses are glowing neon, and the manzanitas are blanketing the woodland floor in white blossoms.
for Lauren
I don’t normally take painting commissions, but I made an exception this time.
buddha in the grass
There used to be three buddhas out on the trails, placed by locals who respectfully use this undeveloped private land to exercise themselves and their dogs. The statues attract offerings of pretty rocks, flowers, and other treasures. Two of the statues were removed by the land-owner, but the smallest one remains.
tetragnathidae
Even though Trisha is an entomologist, not an arachnologist, sometimes she treats us to a spider under the microscope.
Long-jawed orb-weavers vary in appearance, but those most commonly found are long-legged, thin-bodied spiders. When at rest, they may cling lengthwise along a twig or blade of grass, holding on with the short third pair of legs while the long pairs of legs are extended. They typically live in meadows near water, and around the banks of waterways (rivers, lakes, swamps), usually on low-hanging branches and reeds. These spiders will bite if threatened, but the bite is not harmful to humans.
Psidium cattleyanum
Falco sparverius
The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. They usually hunt by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush – that’s what I saw this one doing –though they also hunt from the air. Diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). American kestrels occupy habitats ranging from deserts and grasslands to alpine meadows.
Happy to have spotted my first one today!
tropical terrace
Tucked up in the box end of Solstice Canyon are the ruins of the Roberts Ranch House, “Tropical Terrace”, designed by renowned architect Paul R. Williams in the 1950s. Although it was specifically designed to survive a wildfire, the pumps, pipes and pools were not maintained after the owners’ deaths, and the home burned down in 1982. Extensive paving, brickwork and chimneys remain, along with many non-native plants and trees. It’s now National Park Service property.
hashiworks 