Ladybug and Butterfly by iPhone

I am still learning how to take photos with my first smart phone, but I am getting better. With patience and the instant feedback that you get from all digital cameras, it is possible to know immediately whether you captured the target wildlife or not. Unfortunately, for me, phone cameras produce so much glare on the screen that it is still very difficult to know if a shot is worth anyone else's time looking at it. That usually isn't discernible until you get home and upload to a computer. It is still hard for me to steady a hand-held iPhone to do a close-up of insects. The clarity achieved by shooting down on the ladybug exceeds that of shooting up to capture the butterfly. Still I am pleased with both efforts, especially the butterfly shot. Let's see what you think.

Photo taken at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

Photo taken at Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

Ground Squirrel and Tracks at the Beach

Sometimes having both an image of the animal and its footprints help me to better develop a sense of the animal. That, for me, is what tracking is about - envisioning the animal that was here before me and left its signs. I joined the San Diego Tracking Team so that I could learn to appreciate my local surroundings more. Indeed, San Diego rewards those who seek wildlife knowledge. As with our subtle seasons, San Diego has much to offer naturalists. We have very diverse habitats abundant with plants, animals, and terrain to challenge and amuse. Today I can be nearly overwhelmed by the cacophony of bird calls, insect hums and buzzes, and the innumerable scents and colors of flora that abound in southern California.

This ground squirrel was shot last year on Mother's Day at a mobbed La Jolla Shores beach area. The footprints were taken further up the coast later in the year at an intensive tracking training workshop north of Torrey Pines State Park. The footprints were left by a busy ground squirrel scurrying among boulders and checking out possible human food tidbits left behind by a family that was enjoying a day at the beach.

Tracking Little Foot in Torrey Pines State Park

 

      

Even the Sure-Footed Slip…

Here is some footage I was lucky to capture. A tired mama bighorn sheep comes back from a foraging bout to feed her lamb. She was clearly laboring as she zigzagged up the canyon wall to a safe location where her lamb bounced down the slope to nurse briefly.

On the Trail of Bighorn Sheep

Anza Borrego Desert State Park has long been a favorite outdoor site to visit in March. Though I've been going there every spring for decades, I have never seen the famous bighorn sheep. Usually I am more focused on the smaller wildlife and spring wildflowers. However, recently, I was treated to an up-close and personal encounter with a small herd of these endangered animals (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) plus viewings of two other herds at different locations along the Palm Canyon trails.

Where are the Waldos?

Vigilant but habituated to people

Yum…  

This shot was taken facing the eastern canyon wall of the park. The sheep were resting high up the slope. There are at least five youngsters clearly visible in this shot (Kodak Easy Share Z1012 IS, 12X). The occasional ear twitches were the primary way that park visitors were able to locate them. Mother Nature did a great job of camouflaging this species.Down below in the lower parking lot for campers and visitors to Palm Canyon (the west side), my husband and I saw a few sheep coming down the slope to feed. I took a position with my camera and waited to see if the sheep would come my way.  They did!  These two rams came within 25 to 30 feet of my position. They kept an eye on me, frequently pausing between chews to look straight at me.As more of the herd came to the canyon bottom to feed, I began to fear that one would come up next to me without my spotting him/her. I determined that I should not move or react suddenly at any time. After several minutes, the herd of about 10 animals took off in a gallop across the parking lot through some high bush.Truly an amazing experience!

Enjoy!

Animal Tracks Under an Overpass

Under the overpass of Sorrento Valley Boulevard above Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, there were many more treasured footprints including my first clear bobcat prints. There are also some bird and raccoon tracks evident. I am still trying to figure out the very small sets of tracks. If you can identify, comments are welcome. 

 

Bobcat

             

Raccoon

Small deer? over cricket

Mouse?

Mystery feet

Palomar Mountain State Park, California - The Weir

The Weir (1)

I've been collecting photos of my favorite local mountain retreat over several years. In 2012, Palomar Mountain State Park was scheduled for closure by the state of California. I am so grateful that with the help of many individuals like my family who were willing to put up funds to keep the park maintained, Palomar Mt. State Park managed to stay open.  Then there were the "discovered" funds that helped to bring back all the state parks. Today, we can continue to visit this special spot nestled in the forests of San Diego County. 

The "Weir" is my favorite spot to "hike" to - I say "hike," but it's actually a short 1.2 mile up and down walk along a gently flowing stream to reach this historic spot, travelling through pine, spruce, and oak, out into a small sunlit patch of "beach" near a stream crossing, continuing on to a small cove-like area (see above) which perpetually changes with the month and season. 

This shot was taken in November 2009 in the late fall. As you can see, the fish pool was nearly dry.

In the second photo, you can see how the look of the place can vary depending on the year, too. This shot was taken two years later but about the same time of year in the fall. It looks like we got quite a bit more rain in 2011, or it else it just wasn't as hot in the early fall.

The Weir (2)

In the next set of photos (3), you can see the Weir in the winter. There is still color there, but it is subtle. I lucked out because the sky was clear and bright with some wispy clouds. That wonderful light created outstanding reflections in the Weir.

In the last set of photos (4), you can see the Weir in summer green. Verdant. As you view the Weir in different seasons, I hope you will want to visit and  know this small mountain paradise better. Enjoy the photos! Get up here and see it with your own eyes.

I will be putting up some more photos, to give you an idea of the wildlife you might see or encounter on the trail and what other areas of the park look like.
   

         
      

The Weir (3)

The Weir (4)

Encounter between Black Bears and Deer at Sequoia National Park, June 2014

On June 18, 2014 around 4:30 p.m., my husband and I were on the trail from Tokopah Falls near the Lodgepole campground in Sequoia National Park. There was a small gathering of people watching a black bear with her two cubs feeding in a meadow. As I moved up and down the trail trying to get a good angle to take a photograph of the event, my husband elbowed me and said, "Look! There's a deer!" Indeed, the deer was about six feet away from the trail, but the doe was paying no attention to the viewers. Her attention was fixed on the bears, who were now face down, feeding at the base of a large tree. Moments before the deer's arrival, I had heard some soft cries and thought it was the baby bears crying to their mom….

As you can see in the second photo, the adult deer passed very close to the bears as she circled the tree. At first, she was silent, but after a few circles, she started vocalizing. Clearly, she was in distress. Periodically, she would stop looking off to the left of the scene as if she were waiting for reinforcements. No other deer were to be seen during the 20 minutes that we stayed at the site. The next two videos are of the interaction between the bears and deer. Words are unnecessary to sum up this Life 101 event.

Grasshoppers and other insects of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California

Xeracris minimus (Least Desert Grasshopper)

I've been to the desert many times, usually looking for wildflowers, mammals, or birds. However, recently my husband and I walked off trail behind the desert park's Visitor Center, looking as usual for animal tracks or scat. While we did find some of those, we also paid attention to the insects that abound out there. Some of them like this small white-speckled grasshopper (approximately 1.5" long) and the larger-bodied one below were amazingly well camouflaged. This photo isn't mine, but it shows another astoundingly similar camouflage in a totally different form of animal - a reptile.  Mother Nature never ceases to take my breath away.

Unless these grasshoppers were moving or leaping through the air, they were nearly impossible to spot. The large brown grasshopper  blended extremely well with the dried cactus it was resting on.

Near the Visitor Center, we also spotted this very tiny green grasshopper (?) in a palo verde tree. Also, in the same tree were two different kinds of bees. At the bottom on the chuparosa is a black wasp-like or dragonfly-like creature. I've searched for a page that shows photos of insect inhabitants of the Anza Borrego Desert, but I have failed to find an identity for this striking individual.  If any viewer thinks (s)he can identify it, please leave me a comment.

Wildlife Tracking in San Diego

Many tracks at Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

For a few years now, I've been going out and around San Diego County, learning to read animal signs like footprints, scat, and rubs.  The amazing thing is that after three hours of looking at the ground for wildlife, we come home feeling satisfied with our conquests. What were they? Sets of deer track, deer poop, a coyote scat, woodrat scat, cottontail tracks, and one hind raccoon print. What do these things look like?  Below are a set of random photos from various sites to illustrate some of my sightings. And yes, once in a while you actually see the wildlife! Then you know those pellets really did come from rabbits.

Raccoon at Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

Jack rabbit at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park,
behind the Visitor's Center

Wonderful Webmakers in the Garden

Here are a set of photos (above) shot on the same summer day (2008). A spider captured and bundled up a moth. The whole capture and carry procedure took a few minutes, and I considered myself fortunate to have gotten some good close-ups without a macro lense.


Later in the evening of the same day, I again lucked out in that I was able to capture this hardworking spider. This spider had great markings, but looked distinct from the ones above on the plants. I know little about spiders. Does anyone know if color and markings indicate another species of garden spider? How much phenotypic variation is there, and is it significant?

Views from around Homer, Alaska in early summer