I can’t say I’m a fan of ground squirrels, given the harm they do to our hillside and garden. But this little fella reaching up to grab some slender oats was pretty darn cute.
ground squirrel
Images
striped racer
After stopping in a shady spot to paint a profusion of Sticky Monkey-flowers, I came around a corner of the trail and surprised a California Striped Racer. It tried to climb the trunk of an oak but didn’t get purchase and fell to the ground! I have never seen a snake ‘fail’ like that, and we were both momentarily stunned. Faster than I could whip out my phone, it recovered and raced off through the undergrowth at its signature speed. Sorry for disturbing you, little buddy!
eastern tailed-blue
I attended a Youtube Livestream last night with a super-enthusiastic entomologist, who weekly magnifies and explains one insect for our edification and sketching pleasure. She goes fast and meanders frequently—it’s pretty hectic (but fun). I filled several pages with scribbled notes and sketches which I consolidated into this page after the session.
digger bees
A large section of our hiking trail was a-buzz with bees, and it was quickly apparent that the action was happening on and close to the ground. Not knowing much about these ‘ground bees’, we gave them wide berth and I did some research when I got home.
What I learned was so fascinating, that V & I went back yesterday to observe them more closely. Each bee, laden with pollen, was crawling into a hole then emerging a few seconds later to collect more. How did she know which hole was hers? How long will she live after her work is done?
Now we know where they are, we’ll try to go back in 10 months to see the next generation come forth and mate. Fun!
cucurbita pepo
Well how about that. A zucchini is a kind of berry.
nesting
To my delight, a house finch couple has spent the last few days building a nest in the cypress tree outside our kitchen window. We can’t see the nest — it’s tucked into the tree’s interior — but it’ll be fun to see the birds come and go as they breed and feed.
eucalypts
Eucalyptus trees (or, as we call them in Australia, gum trees) have naturalised throughout Southern California, including on our 2 acres. I’m pretty sure these are blue gums.
dinner makings
The secret to a cohesive vegan shepherd’s pie is to cook steel cut oats with the lentils. I use this recipe. Hmm-mmm.
bougainvillea
I know nature journaling isn’t about making pretty pictures, but sometimes it’s nice to do both on the same page.
grandmother’s tea tin
A perennially favourite subject to paint: grandmother’s* Bushell’s tea tin. I love its pale green colour and the almost comically inept illustrations, which are subtly embossed into the metal. If I google “bushells tea tin vintage australian animals” I find plenty of examples dating back to the 1930s but none that look just like mine. Those others all have far more realistic depictions of the same four iconic Aussie critters. Mine were sketched by a beginner artist 🙂
* We called her ‘Grandmother’, not a softer diminutive. It’s the kind of person she was.
hashiworks 