wordless Wednesday

white-lined sphinx ~ 04/15/14 ~ Pinnacles

white-lined sphinx nectaring on giraffe's head

Hyles lineata nectaring on Lamium amplexicaule 

Lamiaceae

Well, I won't win any photography awards for these photos, but it's good enough to show how impressively long its proboscis is and for an ID.  I've been casually calling these hummingbird moths.  Problem is no one knows what I'm talking about.  In my defense, I spotted what I believe was a Hyles lineata during a break in the rain at SFB Morse Botanical Reserve on February 28, which happened to be around the time when I also started seeing rufous hummingbirds on migration.  On an overcast day, the overall coloring for both the hefty moth and the tan bird are remarkably similar, and the name stuck in my head.  I have Paul to thank for correcting me when we saw another white-lined sphinx along the butterfly highway. 

Thanks to the blurring of memory through time, I had forgotten all about the clearwings (hey, if you don't use it, you lose it).  Back when I lived in OH, I was familiar with the hummingbird clearwing (Hemaris thysbe), which can have the more traditional green and red coloring of hummingbirds.  They were popular subjects of insect question calls to the museum and were frequently described as hovering like a hummingbird with a lobster tail.  Pinnacles has a different clearwing, the bumble bee moth (Hemaris thetis), formerly classified under the eastern snowberry clearwing sphinx (Hemaris diffinis).  I plan on keeping my eye out for them, because day-flying sphinx moths are fun to watch.

hairy woodpecker ~ 01/19/14 ~ Black Hill

 

hairy woodpecker

Picoides villosus

more information

Ta-da!  This has got to be one of the crappiest pics posted to Nature ID.  I digitally enhanced it as much as possible, too, which is something I rarely do.  Oh well, I think it's good enough to make a positive ID.  It's another new-to-me sp.

The first thing that caught our attention was the tree seemed to be dropping bits and pieces.  What the hey?  Turns out this woodpecker was pulling bits of bark off the tree trunk in between brief bouts of drilling.  Well, that's different.  Hey, where's the red head?  Usually, whenever I notice woodpeckers (rarely), they almost always have a red head, which I assume (probably inaccurately) are the clown-like acorn woodpeckers.  The last thing I noticed was that long white stripe.  Visually it didn't make sense to me that it was located in the middle of the back, because I kept wanting to believe it was on the edge of the wing, like with the sapsuckers.  It really confused me until I looked at my pictures and read up on an ID.  Turns out there's a smaller, cuter look-alike called the downy woodpecker (P. pubescens).  I liked the description on Cornell's site that said the larger hairy woodpecker has a "somewhat soldierly look".  True, true.  Oh, and that pulling bits of bark is to find tasty insects.  They're apparently pretty decent at pest management.  Btw, males do have a small patch of red on the back of the head.

Cool.  Slowly expanding my bird awareness...

spotted towhee ~ 01/19/14 ~ Black Hill

spotted towhee

Pipilo maculatus

more information

Considering I still have my bird books out, I might as well continue with the crappy bird photos... hop, hop, hop, nah, nah, nah, you can't get a good shot.  This is a new sp. to Nature ID.  Except for its shape, it looks nothing like the related California towhee.  I like this striking bird, which reminds me more of a bolder and more colorful dark-eyed "Oregon" junco.  What would be the evolutionary advantage of the dark executioner's hood that many birds seem to have?

pelagic cormorant ~ 12/19/13 ~ Monterey Bay Aquarium

pelagic cormorant
Phalacrocorax pelagicus

I love how the pelagic cormorants don seasonal attire appropriate for Christmas.  They have such a cute red face this time of year.  The sun has to hit them just right for the greens and purples to appear in the feathers, otherwise they look kind of drab.  A couple weeks ago, I noticed several already had their white butt patches (properly called flank patches), but not all of them yet.  I'll have to try to get photos of that, even if they are crappy like the first one above.  I gotta tell you, I so appreciate good nature photography now that I know how difficult it is.  I've really enjoyed watching the pelagic cormorants hang out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all year.  They build their nests on those ledges under the building.  Their presence at the Aquarium is a relatively new occurrence, maybe within the past 10-12 years?  I believe the MBA is one of only a few places you can easily observe breeding and nesting up close, because they typically nest on inaccessible rocky cliffs.  Back in August, I suggested to Jim Covel that they add a cormorant nest cam to their relatively new Web Cams.  We'll see...

ps 12/23/13 - Today I saw my first pelagic cormorant carrying kelp nesting material back to the MBA ledges.  They really don't seriously nest until about March.  Maybe they're practicing?

pss 12/30/13 - Today I saw 2 cormorants actually sitting on what look like nests.  Crazy early?

grunion greeting, 2013 #4

cusk-eel, grunion, and other fish

grunion

Leuresthes tenuis
more information

grunion greeting

new moon cycle, 11:05-12:39, cloudy skies

This was a pleasant night and a nice way to finish off my birthday activities. When we arrived at the beach, 13 people were already there with buckets containing grunion, cusk-eels, and other fish. The local fisherman in the bunch said they arrived at 10pm and saw about 20 grunion thus far. This was their first time out since learning about grunion from the CA Fish and Wildlife schedule.  The other groups were a young family and a couple individuals.  Somewhat unusual compared to past grunion nights, everyone seemed incredibly respectful of the grunion (e.g., waiting until the female was done laying eggs before collecting her) and curious about what else was on the beach (e.g., Charlie and 3 of his night heron friends, a medium-sized sea turtle making its way parallel to shore, bioluminescence they had witnessed 3 nights before while sardine fishing).

I asked to take a quick picture of one of the small cusk-eels they had in their bucket before they let it go. It's too bad it's such a crappy photo. In any case, I discovered it's very difficult to find online information about the different kinds of eel-like animals. Fishbase.org has a searchable db, but like BugGuide in its early days, it needs more content to truly become a user-friendly site. Can anyone recommend an eel ID site?

At 12:07, we were all starting to pack up when another decent run of 60-80 grunion came up with a big wave. We stayed for the next half hour with another 2 runs at 12:20 and 12:37. I've reported this night as a W-1.  It certainly wasn't as exciting as May 26 (W-4), May 25 (W-3), or June 8 (W-2), 2013, but way better than no grunion (W-0) as has happened too many times in past years.

ps 05/18/14 - Thanks to a grunion greeting e-mail exchange with Dr. Guacamole and Dr. Martin and quotes from Bob Lea, the unidentified eel above has been identified as not a true eel, but a cusk-eel.  As to species, I can't say for sure.  Although, spotted cusk-eel (Chilara taylori) is mentioned quite a bit online for this area.  Paperbone (Lamprogrammus niger) and giant (Spectrunculus grandis) are reported for Monterey Bay as well.

grunion greeting, 2013 #3

 grunion

Leuresthes tenuis
more information

grunion greeting

new moon cycle, 10:23-11:40, cloudy skies

Welp, every grunion greeting night we've done has been a little bit different than the others. The only person we knew who showed up was Bob Lea, a retired marine biologist with the CA Fish and Game (er, Fish and Wildlife).  He has that calm, solid demeanor of someone who has spent a majority of his life outdoors.  There were several other people on the beach and the wharf with buckets and big lights, out to experience the spectacle that is a grunion run.  It's open season now, but I wish it wasn't since grunion in Monterey is such a rare sight.  One lady came for her grandchild, and she ended up having more fun chasing grunion than the boy who was quite scared of the fish.  I laughed at her pure joy and exuberance, even though I felt a little sorry for the mating grunion she snatched up.  Bob convinced a couple of the grunion captors to allow him to measure their caught fish.  In a dry bucket, the grunion quickly lose their blush or mint green glow and become quite silvery.  There was also a luau being held at the recently renamed Del Monte Beach House, complete with 80's dance music and karaoke, judging by the tone-deaf singing we heard.

Once again, the grunion did not disappoint.  Why couldn't we have seen this from 2009-2011? Numerous scouts were first spotted right after we arrived ~10:25.  Then shortly after high tide of 10:43, the grunion runs peaked with a couple hundred on the beach at a time.  The waves had an incredible reach up the sand, leaving many of us soaked.  I'm debating whether to report this as a W-2 or a W-3; the numbers were slightly less than the first night after the full moon 2 weeks ago.  The fish petered out by 11:05, right before last call for alcohol and horrendous singing ensued from the luau. After most of the people left, Charlie and 3 of his night heron buddies joined the after-party.  A gull gobbled up a lone grunion at 11:27.  We ducked out very pleased with our excursion at 11:40.

Nelson's hairstreak and deer brush ~ 05/14/13 ~ Washington

Nelson's cedar hairstreak nectaring on deer brush

Callophrys gryneus nelsoni (aka Callophrys nelsoni, Mitoura gryneus nelsoni)

deer brush

Ceanothus integerrimus

Rhamnaceae

A desire to add new species to my virtual collection has pushed me to use pictures that are heading into the crappy photo category.  The first 2 photos above were taken an hour apart at different spots and are still pretty crappy.  I get frustrated when I just can't manage to get better pictures of what could be now-or-never shots.  I still worry that if I get a fancier camera, I'll spend too much attention attempting to get perfect pictures, instead of focusing on enjoying where I am.  Does that make sense?  It's kind of like how so many people are consumed by their cell phones that they completely neglect the perfectly companionable human sitting right next to them.  I don't want to be like that.

As I was looking back through my entries for hairstreaks or Ceanothus, I noticed how often I've posted various lepidoptera interacting with these ubiquitous bushes: nectaring as shown here, egg laying, larval host, perching.  Cool!  

As two final notes about the deer brush, it was easily the most prolific plant in bloom at Washington, and I noted how not-evergreen the leaves were compared to the Ceanothus found closer to home.

CA condor ~ 01/20/13 ~ Pinnacles

California condor

Gymnogyps californianus 

posted 04/13/13 - Yep, I'm back with my exceptionally crappy photos.  This was our first ever sighting of the state and federally endangered CA condor.  During past trips to Pinnacles, we've been taunted by fellow hikers and campers with their breathless tales of how big they were.  I have to say, from a distance with only massive rocks as references, these condors did not impress me with their size.  Initially, we were flummoxed over what appeared to be white shoulder feathers.  Are those condors or maybe golden eagles?  A little later in our hike we talked with some researchers who confirmed the white shoulders were numbered tags with radio devices attached.  Pinnacles National Park (this designation has recently been upgraded from a National Monument) has a great page filled with condor links.  Also, Don Roberson has a nice summary of condors in Monterey County.  Very cool!

ps 10/22/13 - For a local blog post about a new condor streaming web cam, check out BigSurKate.

crappy photos no more?

blue-eyed darner

Rhionaeshna multicolor

posted 10/09/12 - Here on Nature ID, I've joked about my crappy photos.  It's okay.  I'm good with it.  I'm practically proud, even.  While I sometimes get slightly green around the edges with envy over other bloggers' fantastic photographs taken with great skill and fancy equipment, the fact of the matter is I have little desire to grow in that direction myself.

Our trusty 8-year-old Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 point-and-shoot has served us well.  It's lightweight, fits in my front shirt pocket or Andy's running belt pocket, old enough that I don't care if it gets a few raindrops or specks of pollen on it, and meets most of our wants most of the time. I'm someone who begrudgingly carries water and won't even take my smallest pair of binoculars on a hike because it doesn't easily fit into a pocket... well, you get the picture.  Or don't you?

As with all electronic gadgets nowadays, things break or become obsolete for whatever reason. Hey, I was "forced" to replace my 10-year-old computer, not because it broke, but because technology and my desire to be online left it in the dust.  Sigh, it's time to start thinking about a replacement camera. Andy came across reviews for Lytro.  I'm not crazy about the awkward shape.  However, capturing an entire light field to create a "living picture" with the capability to refocus after the fact?  Anyone hear of it?  Does anyone know if these active focus pictures can be embedded in blogger, yet?  If so, could you please send me a link to your blogspot?  Any other recommendations?  Granted, like with my computer this may be a 2-year process before I purchase, and by then this new consumer technology will very likely be even better and cheaper.

kestrel ~ 02/18/12 ~ Fort Ord

male American kestrel
Falco sparverius

Yup, I've reached a new low (or is that high?) for crappy photos, especially of birds. Never mind the massive early-blooming silver bush lupine, the coyote brush, the coast live oak, or the dried bit of telegraph weed, there is a kestrel in this pic. Can you find it? Perched on the coyote brush?

When we went to Palo Corona back on January 2, 2012, I spotted several kestrels and was unable to capture any pictures of them. I love how brightly colored the males are with their light-colored breast, slate grey wings, and brown backs. The mere fact that I can actually recognize them is because I've flipped through every single page of the handful of bird books I now have in my possession (some are on permanent loan from a dear friend). It's a sharp learning curve for me to ID birds, but it's been fun.

gray whale ~ 01/21/12 ~ Rec Trail

gray whale
Eschrichtius robustus
for more information click here, here, and here

Yep, these are not the best pictures. It's really challenging to get decent photos of whales, btw, at least with my slow, poor-zoom, point-and-shoot. You can see the mottled back of the whale just to the right of the man in the second picture. This whale was incredibly close to the shore and was moving north around the Peninsula. Considering Nature ID is essentially my personal nature journal, I wanted to record the date and species of this particular whale sighting. I borrowed a marine mammal book from a friend that had cute little graphics of how one is supposed to distinguish between different cetaceans based on the shape of their spray. Ha! A couple times a year I spot various whales in the distance from home, mainly thanks to numerous whale watching boats that circle around any whales in the Bay like sharks. This time, it was thanks to a crowd of folks on the Rec Trail all pointing their cameras that we thought to stop and look. It's been a few years since I've seen a gray whale so close to the shore. The last time (unfortunately, I never recorded when), I was able to run alongside a close-to-the-shore gray from the Monterey Bay Aquarium all the way through Cannery Row, past the Plaza Hotel, and to San Carlos Beach. I've included numerous links above, because there seems to be some conflicting online information about the status of gray whales.

bobcat ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

Do you see it!?!
(click any Nature ID pic for a larger screen view)

Let's zoom in a little closer.

bobcat
Lynx rufus
more information

Oho! Very exciting! Finally! Today I saw my first wild bobcat... and got some crappy photos of it. It's too bad that moments after we decided the log tucked in among the tall dried grasses had moved and really was a bobcat, a large dog came bounding down the trail towards us. During a 4-hour hike, we only met one other group of hikers. Per our typical trail luck, this 2nd group was loudly chatty to each other and oblivious with a loose dog that I was somewhat concerned would bite me before I could continue taking crappy photos.

This bobcat didn't seem too disturbed by their barking dog, nor did it seem to be in much of a hurry to depart the scene. After we pointed out to the other hikers the presence of the bobcat, we took a side trail to see if we could follow it. We didn't find it again, although we spotted an agitated CA gray squirrel high in a tree chirping out a high-pitched alarm call that seemed to spread through the trees.

For much better pictures of local subspecies of bobcats, check out other CA nature bloggers John Wall and Nature of a Man. I've been so keen on seeing a bobcat out in the wild that I've even collected a list o' links from various other bloggers on bobcats. I feel like I could easily retire this ol' blog with a sense of completion. It's as if Christmas came early for me this year.

pink honeysuckle ~ 10/01/11 ~ Garland Ranch

pink honeysuckle / California honeysuckle / hairy honeysuckle
Lonicera hispidula
Caprifoliaceae

I'm starting to document plants through the seasons (like I have with poison-oak) and not just when they're pretty flowers. To see the pink blooms and the fruit before it turned bright red, check out my pink honeysuckle post from 07/14/11 at Garland Ranch.

I admit I wasn't out this day. I had a flu shot the day before and was feeling a bit wiggy. My doctor wisely decided he didn't want me to have a repeat performance with another hospital stay this year. So, the crappy photos for this day are thanks to Andy. He was on a long trail-run from the main Carmel River entrance all the way past Garzas Creek to Carmel Valley Village and back. It's perhaps 14 miles round trip with a 4,000 foot elevation change (his Garmin wasn't working so this is an estimate). Obviously his heart gets pumping and it's extremely difficult for him to get clear photos with our little point-and-shoot. He knows I like to have close-up shots, shots a few feet back, and scenery shots. Thank you, Andy! For a blogger who regularly takes amazing photos while he runs trails, check out Gary Valle's Photography on the Run.

bluewitch ~ 06/10/11 ~ Pinnacles

bluewitch
Solanum umbelliferum

Solanaceae

Posted 07/16/11 - Popping out another post this evening and trying not to take myself too seriously. Sometimes my point-and-shoot simply refuses to cooperate or the subject moves, hence the crappy photos label. I always wondered what a bluewitch was. Now I know.

bernardino dotted blue ~ 06/09/11 ~ Pinnacles

bernardino dotted blue
Euphilotes bernardino
for more information click here and here

This little butterfly was mud-puddling with several others of its kind in a small area where water was seeping from the ground. As I was attempting to get pictures for a clear ID, I wiped my hand across my forehead to collect sweat and reached down for the butterfly to walk onto it. It stayed there for about 10 minutes with its proboscis probing around my finger as I clumsily tried to take pictures with my other hand. The result was a crappy photo of the butterfly and a lovely shot of a rock that looks like Jabba the Hutt.

tree year project 2011, #6

Columbian black-tailed deer
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

This poor deer was grazing underneath the coast Douglas-fir tree, so I am including it in this year's Tree Year Project. Despite the total lack of photographic merit in the 2nd and 3rd photos above, I wanted to show this buck's torn ears. Indeed, his right ear is nearly torn in half with the outer edge flopping about, and the left has a decent sized notch in it. I'm assuming this is fairly common, as Jim Coda featured a torn-eared buck in a recent post. Those annual antlers must be a pain! I'm wondering if this is the same buck I saw back on October 28, 2010, especially considering I haven't seen another buck around home in 5 years.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/mammals/

with a swish of the tail

See my eastern gray squirrel post or Crappy Photo Blog for more information.

hop, hop

See my beach hopper post for more information.

things I don't see everyday

unidentified massive ship
Monterey Bay
June 26, 2010

I've been seeing some unusual things lately and figured I'd make a post of links for my records:

1) The reason why I remembered I had the photo above from last month is there's ANOTHER massive ship in Monterey Bay this weekend called the USS Mobile Bay. Funny thing is, I can't find any online information on the ship I saw above, which was definitely bigger than the comparatively small USS Mobile Bay.

2) In our Monterey Boatyard there's a cute, 2-person submarine sitting in the parking lot (if you saw it, you'd say it was "cute" too). Yeah, I know, who knew such things existed? I believe it's a yacht-class DeepFlight Super Falcon. I remember seeing a similar one here last year.

3) We drove out to Cachagua at the end of Carmel Valley yesterday and passed an unusual sign and very high fencing. I googled AT&T Jamesburg Earth Station and discovered its for sale or lease. Seriously, who knew you could buy such things? I didn't even know what an earth station was until I looked it up (it's a massive dish antenna with stuff to make it useful). Jamesburg's claim to fame is broadcasting man's first walk on the moon. Interestingly enough, it's only a couple million dollars... very cheap compared to some of our $16,000,000 local homes along the ocean... and look at what you get!?! Of course, it's out in the middle of nowhere in the hot, hot summer heat. As a coinkydink, we've been subjected to several days of jack hammering as AT&T installs new fiber optic cables along our street, which made the impressive dish less useful years ago.

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some recent awesome nature blog posts:
Jessica's Nature Blog - neonatal Risso's dolphin
Walk the Wilderness - Indian wild dogs
Tree in the Door's Fauna and Flora - backyard bobcat