Saddle Peak Trail
Definitely the strangest insect found today --or for awhile. Not sure what this is but going with one of the AI suggestions
Left side of frame. Saddle between Rosa Point and Mile High Mountain. Coyote Mountain in distance.
Triunfo Canyon
Definitely the best find of the day. A very cool beetle--hard to get a good photo. He was swimming around in one of the ephemeral ponds. The second and third photo show it releasing an air bubble
I encountered this pocket gopher aboveground. Every time I moved, it would lunge forward in a threat display, audibly grinding its teeth. I kept walking past it, then turned back a minute or two later to find that it had burrowed into the hillside (second photo).
Homemade track plate with locally-collected clay. Front left foot. Scale in mm.
super excited to find a nudibranch new to me and not so common on iNat. Taking the time in the tide pools has its rewards and today was special to be in the right place and right time to find this gorgeous pink nudi :)
Point Fermin
Definitely the best find of the day!
with a half-eaten fish
Leo Carrillo
San Gabriel Mountains
Malibu Lagoon
This guy had washed up and a gull was nearby so he puffed himself up. I kept scaring the gull away and I think this guy was able to get back in the water as the tide was going up.
California spotted owl
This female spotted owl raised a few broods of chicks. Unfortunately, a destructive wildfire burned her habitat. This once abundant species is in trouble. It's such a sad situation for such a beautiful owl.
I was surprised to find both T. flavicans and T. chrysophthalmus growing on the twigs of the same deciduous oak; different branches but only a couple feet apart.
Tentative ID...
Five different species of lichen were photographed on a large chunk of greenstone, an metamorphic rock related to serpentine whose origins are deep in the crust of the oceanic plates.
The other lichens recorded are:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63944836
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63945417
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63945000
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63945289
as mentioned by my hiking companion, @andreacala, these birds were a highlight of the day. And though my camera was not equipped for me to do these majestic birds justice, they helped by flying close by and gave me a better chance for a decent shot or two. Of course, the best photos can be found on Andrea's iNat observations of the day :)
Corbin Canyon
I would guess about 6 feet long and well fed
This Leatherback Sea Turtle was seen on a very productive pelagic trip out of Half Moon Bay with Alvaro's Adventures Birding Tours.
Offshore location tagged with GPS.
Tuna Canyon
At one point there were four of these on the one flower head; I took several photos as it appears these two were mating
Las Virgenes Canyon
Appears to have just emerged
This distant herd of Plains Zebra were photographed through the wildfire smoke in the hills above Highway 1 north of San Simeon. These are the descendants of a herd that William Randolph Hearst kept in his private zoo. In 1937, suffering from financial losses, the animals were released. Today, there are over a hundred wild Plains Zebra living in the coastal grasslands between San Simeon and Piedras Blancas. While they are the offspring of captive animals, these are now free roaming. reproducing zebras that survive without assistance from people on the parkland and ranch lands that formally made up Heasrt's quarter million acre estate.
Additional information can be found here:
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/slo-weird/article234196727.html
This female is small, perhaps 3/8" or 10 mm long. She darted very quickly between blossoms but would walk around a cluster which allowed me to get these photos. Note the tan-ish tint to the hairs on her thorax.
See also this link about this bee species:
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=2941
Tarantula hawk dragging spider around. Video at my website: https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a56887_155b74eeb77842aab62d541ed2f594c5/1080p/mp4/file.mp4
Santa Ynez Canyon
Definitely the find of the day. My first encounter with one of these. If you look closely, the antennae are actually quite long so it rules out the short horned walking sticks. Unfortunately, after taking only two photos, I stopped to check my results and when I lifted the camera up to try and get a better photo, it took off and I couldn't relocate it
Hey @thumbwave look who was laying eggs on my clothesline today. Saw your record from yesterday!
I decided to walk down my alley to see what I could find and amazingly, growing out of a small dirt patch that is overgrown with weeds and only about 4 inches square was this poppy. I'm sure it was not planted as the whole area behind this building is overgrown with weeds and looks pretty unkempt
Corbin Canyon
A mating pair
This is the second batch of eggs this female has hatched since I began watching her on May 15, 2020.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46192760
The eggs from this current batch were laid on July 1, 2020
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51742776
and hatched sometime in the morning of July 28, 2020. I believe the white bundle at the bottom of the web is the gathered remains of the hatched spiderings' eggs. I noticed a couple of weeks before hatching the eggs get a distinctive white cap on them.
Grand Teton National Park
So many bees on this Cleveland sage, then a robber fly crashed the party.
A continuing study....
I have been watching this female Marbled Cellar Spider for some time. On May 15, 2020 I photographed her in her maternity web with a bundle of eggs in her jaws.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46192760
By May 27, 2020 her eggs had hatched and there were quite a few spiderlings hanging in her web:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47536239
A few days later, the spiderlings had dispersed and I noticed a male staying in close proximity to her. On June 26, 2020 she was back in her maternity web with another egg bundle in her jaws and the male occupying a space just outside the web
Blalock Wildlife Sanctuary
I am tempted to put this into the flower loving flies genus but AI doesn't give it as a suggestion so I'm leaving at flies.
Eastern Collared Lizard
On petrified wood
On Albertson Fire Road, near China Flat. I don’t know how large these aggregations get; this one seemed enormous to me.
Video for further reference:
First documented on May 15th, 2020, this individual continues to care for her egg sac within her maternity web.
Found in an area lacking roadrunners. Contents examined under dissecting scope = seed hulls. Diameter of coils approx. 2 mm. @ollerton
These little guys have carved up and made a nest inside an old log in my front yard. The females move extremely quick, so it's hard to get a clear picture of them. They seem unbothered by my presence.
To clarify: I did not remove the bee I'm holding on my finger. I actually almost stepped on him so I picked him up and moved him away from foot traffic.
Harassed by 2 Northern Mockingbirds
Endemic Palos Verdes Blurred Hummingbird