Large milkweed bugs are seed-feeders; their main diet is, not surprisingly, milkweed seeds. So I’m not sure what this lady was doing on the sweet potato vine.
Oncopeltus fasciatus
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Pieris rapae
The cabbage whites (Pieris rapae) are all over my brassicas, of course, but I’m also seeing them in the Park and on ornamentals in the neighbourhood. They seem to especially like purple lantana flowers. Do they also lay their eggs on the plant? Do their larvae eat the leaves, as they do my kale?
On the subject of lantana, it’s highly invasive where I‘m from. It covers an estimated four million hectares in eastern Australia, often to the exclusion of wildlife, people and livestock. So it’s taken me a long while to get used to seeing it as a cultivated garden plant here in Southern California.
Eat up, cabbage whites—lantana not kale!
Quercus lobata
I have many beloved trees at Malibu Creek State Park; this young-ish valley oak near the amphitheater is definitely one of them. It’s been a while since I sketched it.
Porophyllum ruderale
The papalo I planted two months ago has grown to about half a metre tall, and is flowering. It’s an annual, so I’d better eat more of it before it dies!
hotel at the corner of bitter and sweet
Sketchnotes from book group. As always, I know I missed a lot of our discussion but I hope I captured all the salient points.
spores
Today’s art prompt was egg. A spore’s kinda like an egg, right?
more plants of MCSP
Some more additions for our Park-specific field guide to use on school walks.
at the tech store
After many months without a working cell phone — it wouldn’t hold a charge for even a minute — I finally got a new battery in it today. Voila! I can unplug and it stays charged! New life for the 8 year old phone! Certain friends are going to be very happy about this. You know who you are.
Mystery bug
Nature journaling very tiny things, with the help of a microscope. I was interrupted by the grosbeak strike, so got no further with this page.
Sitta carolinensis
White-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) eat insects and large, meaty seeds. They get their common name from their habit of jamming nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. They nest in holes in trees (either created naturally or excavated by woodpeckers) and are most commonly found in deciduous woodland. I was very happy to meet this one today.
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