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 areContinue reading “Autumn in the Canyon”
Category Archives: Insects
Gray Bird Grasshopper—Juvenile stage
Watering the Monstera plant on the patio, I recently spotted this creature. I submitted pictures to iNaturalist and learned that this is a Gray Bird member of the grasshopper family. According to iNaturalist, it is native to “southern North America including Mexico and the southwestern United States from California to Texas.” Known as a vagrantContinue reading “Gray Bird Grasshopper—Juvenile stage”
Winter in the Canyon
On a recent morning in the Santa Ynez Canyon, as I was looking toward Topanga State Park, two native trees stood out. A ribbon-like stand of California Sycamores in the creek bed contrasted with the lush greenery of the upland Coast Live Oaks. The sycamores, like some oaks of the savannah in the Midwest, keepContinue reading “Winter in the Canyon”
Bordered Mantis: A Closeup
This insect was perched on the patio wall, keeping perfectly still when I reached for the garden hose. Thinking it was a leaf that had blown in with the recent Santa Ana winds, due to its color and body shape, I turned away. A second look revealed that this four-inch-long creature was not a storm-tossedContinue reading “Bordered Mantis: A Closeup”
Western Monarch Butterflies
Solemn news this week from the Xerces Society: during the 2020 Thanksgiving western monarch count, only 1,914 butterflies were spotted in 250 observation sites. In 1997, when data collection began, 1.2 million western monarchs were counted in 150 locales in California and Baja California. Habitat destruction and lack of access to milkweed plants (the sole sourceContinue reading “Western Monarch Butterflies”
Monarch Butterflies
Stopping by the Pacific Grove, CA Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary on November 9, we arrived with anticipation. On previous visits in the early 2000’s, I had seen the thousands of butterflies clinging to and wafting on the eucalyptus’ columnar branches in this park, located between Monterey and Carmel. This year, we passed numerous trees with no visibleContinue reading “Monarch Butterflies”
Meet a Jumping Spider
Attached to the front door trim, this inch-long spider was hard to miss with its orange coloring. The rest of the body appears striped gray and black. Why are we seeing these spiders now?Phidippus adumbratus is found primarily in southern California, with a few appearances as far north as San Francisco, according to iNaturalist. ActiveContinue reading “Meet a Jumping Spider”
Mashabu 