Autumn in the Canyon

Summer cobwebs are catching dust now, their architect/owner’s duties complete. Here are recent neighborhood sightings which deserve to be shared.

After a summer of nocturnal harmonies, calls of the Baja California tree frogs are making way for the crickets’ jingling bell calls. It was glorious when they were performing together.

Great Horned owls’ calls are reverberating across the canyon. Click here to listen. Starting at dusk and continuing intermittently until dawn, their songs are an eerie ricochet of sound and a hopeful indicator that this local ecosystem is healthy enough to provide them with nourishment.

The Pink Floss tree is blooming, its extravagant hibiscus-like flowers a distraction from the thorns arrayed on the trunk and branches.   We give these trees a wide berth when walking by. Remember life jackets when they were bulky and stuffed with a stiff material? Kapok is the cotton-like substance found in the seed pods of some members of this tree family.

On the patio, our Erigeron Daisy is blooming, its array of pale purple petals surrounding a citrus-green pincushion of pollen for the pollinators. That’s a lot of alliteration packed into one sentence!

We have a new addition to the patio garden: a Matilija poppy.  Native to the coastal region from Santa Barbara to San Diego, it only germinates after the seeds are subjected to smoke or fire. Known as the fried egg plant, the springtime blossoms are anchored with a yolk-yellow center and six fragile white petals. Look for an update next spring! Ours is pictured below. Great photos of the plant in flower can be found here.

Native California Sycamore trees are dropping their velvet-backed leaves. Now the color of dried wheat stems, the leaves whirl noisily on the pavement. With the leaves down, it’s much easier to see the seed capsules. It’s comforting to have a deciduous tree in the landscape. (I still miss the change of leaf color in the Midwest.)

A single late-blooming poppy was spotted at Will Rogers State Beach last week.

The warblers arrived last Saturday. Upstaged in their tiny size only by the hummingbirds, they flock together and appear jittery. Maybe they’re tired from their migration. I will post if I get a decent picture.

Our swallows have departed for their winter climes. It was such a delight to see the aeronautical masters of the avian world zipping over the surface of the swimming pool while picking up insects hovering just above the water.

Have you met our state’s insect, the California Dogface butterfly? This luminous creature, a female, was flitting around the verbena on a recent walk. Click here to see her in action.

Lastly, I spotted this Arizona Mantis on a car. The reflection makes for an intriguing silhouette.

Take care ‘til next time.