Today's walk report: 120914

The final leg of the 2014 tour, the year really seemed to fly by. I'm extremely grateful for the companionship I've had since February and am looking forward to each and every future day with my girl, Docken.

Here are photos from last weekend's walks...

I've been trying to get a really nice picture of this black-chinned hummingbird for some time now. These aren't those. Considering this behavior and the current condition of the local botanical garden (flowers are few, moving into winter) it might be awhile before I catch him at plant level again. Anyway, the fly catching thing shown here is something I suspect most people don't really see. Camera data says I'm 28.5 meters (31 yards) away, a lot of that being up, and even at 300 mm the flies aren't too visible until cropping in. Notice the bird's darting tongue in the 2nd image.

Eschscholzia californica (California poppy)

Green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans)

I spent an inordinate amount of time following around this clouded sulphur (Colias philodice) and barely got this shot off before he took off again.

The 2nd landing was much longer, having parked himself in the leaf of a western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) tree.

Buds beginning on the ever popular chandelier plant (Kalanchoe delagoensis).

Unknown succulent.

Unknown succulent.

Yes, we had rain, quite a bit considering the SoCal drought situation. We clocked in at just over 2" from 11/30-12/04 with more on the way. The rain brought mushrooms everywhere.

This is a blue marine (Leptotes marina) it's one of my favorite butterflies to photograph. They fly in such a frenzied manner and are quite small (wing Span: 7/8 - 1 1/8 inches (2.2 - 2.9 cm) so it's difficult to see how pretty they are until they land and that's not often or typically for very long. I discovered in this report that open wings is pretty much just a mating thing and a glimpse of their iridescent wings is rare. The plant is Westringia, 'Blue Gem.'

New flowers from the Tagetes lemmonii bushes, perhaps this will lure the hummingbird back.

I'll probably have a report or two before the close of 2014 but just in case, happy holidays whoever you are!