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.
Pepsis mildei
Tag: paramount ranch
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.
topanga banjo fiddle contest
The thing I love best about the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival is not the contest itself, or the professional acts, but the many folk and bluegrass jam sessions under the oak trees.
Despite the event’s name, it’s not held in Topanga, but rather at Paramount Ranch, famed Western movie set turned National Park, which suffered terrible losses in the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Nearly the entire Western Town burned down; only the church and railway depot were saved. Then COVID came along, putting a stop to the festival for the duration.
But now it’s back! It was good to return to the Ranch yesterday, and hear the music once again. I wandered from jam to jam, sketching the artists and audience while tapping my toes. Good times.
hashiworks 