rainbow from home

This was taken the morning after I returned home from visiting a friend going through rough times in SoCal. I will miss her dearly.

relative of the Johnson jumping spider
Phidippus sp.
family Salticidae

ps 04/13/10 - Thanks to MObugs' post, I was reminded of my pic from a couple years back. I'm fairly sure this jumping spider is NOT Phidippus johnsoni, although several online sites show remarkable variation within this species (IMHO I believe those IDs are incorrect). As I'm looking into this, I found this nifty quick spider list from UC Berkeley.

This is my first spider and first Fremont Peak SP post to Nature ID. We haven't been back to Fremont Peak in a while since we heard it was closed due to budget cuts; it's nice to see they're still open on a limited basis.

rainbow ~ 11/09/08 ~ at home

rainbow from home

This was taken upon returning home after cheering on a few friends who were running the Big Sur Half Marathon down below on the Rec Trail. This goes to show that not every year of the Half Marathon is gorgeously sunny.

sunrise ~ 10/30/08 ~ at home

Pacific Grove sunrise from home
October 30, 2008

I remember coloring a Halloween drawing in the 2nd grade with similar colors to this pic. Even as a little kid, I paid attention to the sky.

ps 06/05/10 - For another photo of this same morning sunrise, check out Greg Magee's Flickr.

sunrise ~ 10/21/08 ~ at home

Pacific Grove sunrise from home
October 21, 2008

This was before I paid more attention to the dates I took pics, so there's a 10 day period when I could have shot these. They are another same morning succession of sky color changes from deep orange to lighter blue.

ps 03/09/10 - I think I finally figured out the dates on older photos are accurate. Silly really, but before Nature ID, I never really cared. Before, I didn't trust the dates since we have two computers and have been sharing files haphazardly. For the past many months, I've been using the dates on the camera after I download and before I delete the camera memory. I haven't been kind to my husband and haven't shared pictures by taking the time to download almost a year's worth of pics to our cherry red, portable hardrive.

brown pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis

I was surprised to see these fellows so tame (and obviously posing) in a high-tourist area on Old Fisherman's Wharf.

bush lupine and fiddlenecks ~ 04/08/08 ~ Carmel Valley Road

bush lupine and fiddlenecks
Fabaceae and Boraginaceae

This was an incredible color combination on the hillside.

ps 04/05/10 - I originally labeled this with poppies. After looking at pictures from March 4, 2010, I now believe the deep yellow are due to fiddlenecks, not poppies.

wedding tree ~ 04/08/08 ~ Garland Ranch

wedding tree
Fagaceae

I can't find a picture of our wedding tree from 2007. We had just come back from several weeks in New Zealand and were tired of taking pictures. As long as we're in the area, I think it'll be our goal to visit this tree during the week of our anniversary.

sunrise ~ 02/23/08 ~ at home

Pacific Grove sunrise from home
February 23, 2008

This morning's sunrise was absolutely spectacular! The sky continually changed colors. These photos are not doctored or color corrected.

northern elephant seal
Mirounga angustirostris

This was the first time in all my years of living in CA that I went to actually see the elephant seals in action. I was surprised to hear how deep and loud they were; it reminded me kinda like hearing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle roaring through the redwoods. Molting, birthing, and mating all in one place at the same time, thanks to a wacky delayed fertilization process. Nature continues to amaze me!

Btw, the official BLM lands is just north of here around the lighthouse. The BLM is starting to attract my attention and appreciation since it also takes care of most (not all) of the Fort Ord Public Lands.

habitat ~ 01/13/08 ~ Elkhorn Slough - NERR

Elkhorn Slough - National Estuarine Research Reserve entrance
January 13, 2008

For a January walk, it was very beautiful at Elkhorn.

oyster mushroom
Pleurotus ostreatus
more information

You'd think it'd be easy to ID fungi, but it's NOT! The terminology messes me up. I'm guessing this is an oyster mushroom, but I really have no idea.

ps 01/01/11 - I'm fairly sure about the oyster mushroom ID and have added names and embedded links above. It has a different look to me from the oyster mushrooms in this post, but who am I to argue?