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”
Tag Archives: California Sycamore
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”
Oddments
~ The American robins have found the seeps in Santa Ynez Canyon and are flocking to drink, en route north. Larger than their European counterparts which are house sparrow-sized, they are reliable visitors to birdbaths and often found around hackberry trees in winter. In spring and summer, they’re easily spotted with earthworms and insects in theirContinue reading “Oddments”
Lesser Goldfinches
California sycamore trees are frequently seen in gardens and on public property around Southern California. The seed pods of the trees that dangle in winter are brown orbs, about one inch in diameter. But to lesser goldfinches, these seeds are lunch! Malibu Lagoon has sycamores growing between the Pacific Coast Highway and the estuary. OnContinue reading “Lesser Goldfinches”
Mashabu 