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.
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.
We had a dinner disaster last night, when the old stove’s exhaust vent suddenly rained a flood of debris down into the skillet of beans and asparagus. Dinner went to the compost, and I remained grumpy for a while. But today I took the cover off the vent and banged the pipe to try to completely clear it. A lot of what emerged was mud wasp nests.
Mud daubers fill their nests with spiders to feed their larvae. Unlike some wasp species that fill a nest cell with one or two large spiders, mud daubers pack up to two dozen smaller spiders into each cell.
To capture a spider, the wasp grabs it and delivers a sting. The venom from the sting doesn’t kill the spider, but it paralyzes and preserves it, allowing it to be transported and stored in the nest cell for later consumption by the larvae. The mud dauber typically lays its egg on the prey before sealing the nest cell with a mud cap. Afterward, the wasp moves on to construct another cell or nest. The young larvae survive the winter inside the nest.
I’ve now sealed up the vent with foil (the exhaust fan is non-operational) so hopefully there’ll be no more dinner mishaps from that direction.
A long time MCSP docent discovered a rare Interior Live Oak and brought us a twig to admire.
We’re staying in a manicured, gated community, so the nature pickings are somewhat slim. But I did bring these lovelies home with me from my morning walk. I’m getting a nice little collection of seed pods here.
This iridescent little beetle (about 8mm long) was on a milkweed plant at the Park yesterday. So bright and metallic!
Both adult and larvae C. cobaltinus life stages eat dogbane and milkweed species. These plants contain toxic molecules known as cardenolides, which the beetle is resistant to. In fact, it stores the cardenolides in its glands, and uses them against predators.
Cobalt Mikweed Beetles are similar to click beetles in being able to launch themselves a couple of times the length of their body. Little but mighty!
As I was falling asleep last night, I could hear adult and young Great Horned Owls out in the darkness. The babies were screaming for food; I imagine the parents were hooting “Patience little ones! We’re coming!“
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