Do you have a hairy butt? Why, yes, indeed! I once used this question to distinguish between bumble bees (hairy) and carpenter bees (not hairy) in Ohio. Now that I'm looking at my beetle pics, thanks to my new Beetles of California book, I think hairy butt is the best identifier for this stink beetle.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
sky lupine ~ 05/08/10 ~ Fort Ord
sky lupineLupinus nanus
Fabaceae
There was a very impressive showing of sky lupine at Fort Ord. Wow! It smelled really nice, according to my hubby since a cold has taken out my sniffer. I liked how they appeared straight down from above; you'd almost never guess what it was. I couldn't believe the white one we found. I wonder how often that happens. CalPhotos has a picture of a white sky lupine, too. It was a challenge to take non-fuzzy flower pictures in the afternoon wind, but the lighting was amazing! These pics make me think of late-summer, due to the low lighting angle, but we all know lupines here in CA are definitely a spring bloomer and the grass turns bright yellow come June. Compare the density of the lupine to last year May 6, 2009 at the same location, and I thought that was the year of the lupine. Nope.
Steller's jay ~ 05/08/10 ~ J's place
Steller's jayCyanocitta stelleri
This pic was taken at a friend's house across town. It's more of a forest setting over there on the ocean side of the peninsula. I've never seen any Steller's by our place.
We have the pesky scrub-jays... and, yes, I'm still offering peanuts to them when they ask. Don't know if that was a good idea since there's this one scrub-jay in particular who stares in at me through the window, not-quietly waiting for me to go outside.
We have the pesky scrub-jays... and, yes, I'm still offering peanuts to them when they ask. Don't know if that was a good idea since there's this one scrub-jay in particular who stares in at me through the window, not-quietly waiting for me to go outside.
