merry christmas
Tag: nature
resprout
We spent the afternoon on our burned-out lot, and I did an assessment of the many trees we’d planted, to see what was worth salvaging. The fruit trees are sprouting from their root stock, which means the graft is dead and who knows what kind of fruit we’ll get from them. The leaves on the mulberry suckers look remarkably like fig leaves, and a little research tells me that yes, mulberries can be grafted onto fig rootstock, so that’s what I’m seeing. Invasives are taking over. The usual suspects like mustard and spurge are thick on the hill, but trees and shrubs too—there are now acacias sprouting in the cracks around the pool.
The hours spent looking closely at the changes grieved me in a way that my previous visits have not. So many days and years of labour on that land, undone.
waterfall
My niece is visiting; I took her to Sisar Canyon and we hiked further and found a waterfall off a side trail. Magic!
Phidippus johnsoni
This little cutie has been hanging out on my desk for a few days. I’m not 100% certain of the ID but it’s my best guess. The red-backed jumping spider is one of the largest* and most commonly encountered jumping spiders in California. In 2012, NASA sent one into space!
*Largest = still really tiny!
Feron kingi
Feron kingi, commonly known as the red cone gall wasp, is a member of the Cynipidae family.
The adult female lays her eggs within the leaves of several white oak species, including the valley oak (Quercus lobata). Once the egg hatches, the larva begins feeding on the leaf tissue, triggering the plant to form a hard, protective structure—a small red cone about 5 mm tall. This gall benefits the insect, providing it with additional plant tissue to consume. Inside the gall, the larva pupates and eventually matures into a parthenogenetic female adult before emerging from the tip of the cone. That’s right — there are no male gall wasps.
in sycamore shade
I had a slight miscommunication with A, which had me arriving at our hiking spot first (most unusual!) But of course, waiting is never a problem when you have a sketchbook handy.
Pepsis mildei
Fun times with the nature journal club. Turns out that adult tarantula-hawk wasps eat milkweed nectar, when they’re not catching tarantulas and laying their eggs in the paralyzed bodies. How sweet.
swimming hole
Epipactis gigantea
My docent buddies Rick and Tom showed me a secret (off-trail) trove of stream orchids in the mountains. The hike included bushwhacking through poison oak, and getting wet in the creek. Some blood was shed (by the guys, not me). But we were rewarded with the best stand of Epipactic gigantea I’ve ever seen. Thanks Rick and Tom, it was awesome.
mystery nest
We found a lovely soft nest on the ground, mostly made of oak catkins and cobwebs, with decorations of feather and lichen. It actually looked like two conjoined nests, but I assume it had been teased out by an interested critter, before or after it fell. Who built it? I hope the eggs hatched safely.
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