It's finally fall in SoCal even though most of the country wouldn't
except our weather as being "autumn -like" it is for us and that's what
matters. It's the most wonderful time of the year! I think many people's
love for summer comes from two orientations. One, their weather sucks
during most every other season (some lucking out in spring) and two,
that's traditionally a time for vacation and removing oneself from the
"rat race". Also in colder climes we tend to burn more calories, there
are fewer annoying insects, lower temps decrease inflammation,
one's mind becomes clearer and memory is improved and the global atmospheric electrical circuit is alive and energizing!*
On the walk and photo front, here's what's been happening over the past few weeks...
101815...
WWII planes out for their semi-regular weekend jaunt.
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| Black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) |
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| Bulbine frutescens |
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| Water lily, up close |
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| Female rufous on salvia darcyi |
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| Same bird, same plant |
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| Leptotes marina |
1st look a the latest Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) to arrive in the garden.
Later on the east side of the garden our new little friend is spotted preening.
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| Male monarch on Salvia uliginosa |
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| 2 |
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| Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) |
This is how I imagined these eucalyptus branches to appear before I took the shot. I think this is a curious aspect of using tools like Photoshop for 25+ years (I began with a pre-release version) and how one develops to see things not as they are but as you'd like them to be. That, as part of a creative process, is it any less "real"?
102515...
A week later our young Calypte anna is still hanging around and has been given the name "Huey." Anna's hummingbird was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli (1802–1887) whose husband was François Victor Masséna, 2nd Duke of Rivoli. François was an amateur ornithologist aquainted with a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist named René Primevère Lesson who gave the bird its Latin name. Nevertheless we prefer Huey for this guy.
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| No, I never take this personally |
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| Starting to look more adult |
There's a fungus among us...
Close up...
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| Hare today... |
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| Maybe a Song sparrow |
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| White-crowned sparrow |
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| Another example of an Idunno plant |
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| Western scrub jay, one of two competing for... |
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| ...Docken's supply of almonds |
103115...
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| Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) |
This was fun to watch. A western fence lizard makes its way to a fountain for water.
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| Northern mockingbird (mimus polyglottos) |
This Leptotes marina was flashing her wings in an attempt to find a mate. Perhaps her tattered appearance was holding her back.
110115...
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| Barrel Cactus flower |
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| 2 |
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| Probably trichocereus pachano |
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| Female rufous in western redbud |
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| Opuntia flowers |
110715...
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| Another black phoebe looking for flies above the pond |
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| Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) |
110815...
Colors in the clouds.
and by special request from Docken...
111415...
Disabled Orthoptera...
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| Schistocerca nitens, missing its right hind leg |
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| This katydid or bush cricket is missing both the left hind leg and one foreleg |
Waiting for something yummy.
That's all. Both flora and fauna are becoming fewer and farther between as we rapidly approach the winter solstice. Thanks again for joining the walks and remember comments and corrections are usually welcomed.
* Cuddling on the couch by the fire with my girl is really wonderful too!
