wow: amazing, moving, timelapse of incredible star/galaxy-scape

 


wow.

Thanks, @GrrlScientist.

What an amazing place we live in, and what amazing places we live among.

*sigh*

xobb

Wordless weekend: May 27 fieldwork snippets

  

 

bb

been in the field, pardon... =) 2 rattlers, today!!

 
So, my fatty Nikon D50 is harder to carry around, yank out of my pack at a rattler, etc. BUT, it has the advantage of me knowing how to USE it to actually, you know, FOCUS. On the SUBJECT.

Today's BEST shot of a rattlesnake. (erg.)

The BIGGEST rattlesnake, of course, I did NOT get a picture of. My task was to grab it out of a burrow and move it to the happy side of the wildlife fencing (i.e. the side that does NOT lead to cars and squishing). Did not succeed 'cause it decided it did NOT want to move so glided further into a ground squirrel burrow complex (outtareach and undaground).

I will admit that it was HUGE, I was a little intimidated.

Here's a co-worker moving a very cranky gopher snake to the happy side of the fence.

Doin'

the go-fa-snake

shuf-fle.

Zoom in on me. The chick who took my photo cannot use her new camera, so every time she crops a shot, well, almost, the computer says the new shot is 0KB. And I'm handsome!

Honestly, I just ate a scone post dinner (what's up with that??) so I gotta get to the gym right now. More some other time. When?? Hard 2 say.

=) Back in the field next week, more snaky rescue, possibly with my bulky-yet-beloved Nikon fatty. =)

Hope y'all are well!

xobb

hazards of being a biologist and a foodie...

 
... just now I was listening to a food show and looking at biology blogs.

Right as I was staring at a big picture of a spider, Lynn Rosetto Casper says "Slice those babies up, fry 'em and eat 'em."

Before I knew it, the image of slabs of giant spiders plopping into a hot, oiled cast iron pan appears in my head.

oog...

And it's not even 7 a.m.


Hm, and now I've passed it on to you.

So... to make up for it, here's shots of TINY tiny turtles, one of which is 2 inches long and looks like a circular saw. SO CUTE!!!

=)

New Camera

And, FYI, I've tested our new little Nikon Coolpix (a.k.a. camera much easier to have with me in the field than my Nikon D50), and it seems to work like a charm.

The very first photo our camera takes: Scout on bb's lap.

Our little black kitty which the camera did NOT see to focus upon in the 1st 2 shots. A DARK cat. The 2nd attempt to focus, the camera put up a grid of rectangles to indicate the focused area, divided into two columns of three rectangles, and every rectangle EXCEPT the one on Bucky was highlighted.

He's our little invisible/silent assassin ninja kitty. =)

I like that picture 'cause he looks like a muppet.

So, this means I may be able to take some shots in the field next week and get them to you BEFORE the memory card for my cell phone (so many steps to get those photos OUT Of my phone!) arrives in the mail. =)

UPDATE on Mother Nature is Trying to Kill Me

There's a tiny chance of rain and I'm praying it happens: was again attacked by nature at the end of last week and again only got home thanks to allergy pills and nearly lethal amounts of coffee.

Eyes were FREAKY puffy and red yesterday morning, frightening poor Bear.

Spent yesterday getting symptoms to go away, staring out the window spaced out on allergy pills. AND washing my field clothes to get rid of the pollen.

I'm MUCH better today, tho' still scratching at red dots on wrists, some of which were from dropping to the ground to catch/rescue a small lizard and thus impaling my wrists on a bed of thistle... Oops. =)

Garden Update

K.

I have TODAY ONLY to plant ALL my garden plants

(tomatoes, peppers, basil).

Check out how CRAZY tall that one tomato plant got. Jeepers!

The rest of my garden will appear via seeds at a later date.

Just to freak you out (as it does me), a reminder:

bb's garden SEVEN DAYS AGO.

So, wish me luck! =)

You know, if you feel like it.

I've recently decided I don't like bossy blogs or tweets ("follow this person" "vote for my kitty in this photo contest" "put ur right foot in, put ur right foot out, put ur right foot in, and shake it all about").

For some reason my reflexive response to these is always  is "No!"

Even if it's "Go here and click on the SAVE ME button to become immortal, perfectly healthy for all time, and infinitely powerful and good."

No!

Maybe because I was the baby; kinda resistant to being bossed around.

  

=)

ANYhow, what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Any cool gardening/nature haps?

=)

xoxobb

P.S. Since I'm in true confession mode, I CANNOT take Facebook quizzes (which is a good thing) 'cause frequently the grammar is SO BAD it makes my head hurt. I'm sure if I was a bigger person, I could get past it, but I'm not really motivated to spend more time on Fb anyhow... How 'bout you? Any of your electronic media buttons getting pushed?

Insect spirituality -- explained by Dr. Science

 
"Because he knows more than you do."



=)

bb

just ordered a TON of seeds 4 the garden...

  

Totally excited.

The joy of garden planning:

images in your mind of swaying choruses of bright sunflowers,

cathedrals of pole beans clambering higher and higher,

pumpkin & melon vines crawling low,

ferreting out unclaimed patches of sunshine,

and the sweetest, richest tomato ever, cut up in your bowl,

still warm, swilling aged Balsamic vinegar.

And other delightful produce.

And all the buggy friends we make along the way.

Ah.....

And then they arrive, those potent packets of potential.

So exciting! Time to embark!

Then I'll read the directions of the first packet.

Envision the work I have to do:
add ash, compost, manure to the soil

when to plant,
how deep should the seeds go, how far apart,
thin the seedlings when and how far apart,
early vs. later watering needs (we don't get rain),

the pH the plant prefers (vs. what we have),

potential bug or fungal foes and ways to foil them,

do I treat the seed before planting it
(soak, scarify, refrigerate, inoculate),

do I stake,
prune,
fertilize,
shade it,
& if so, when?

Okay, it'll seem like a lot. But, doable. And worth it.

Then I'll read the next packet. And its instructions.

And the next one.

And the next.

Until I freeze. Overload.

And stare out the window at the garden, asea. 

I'll never get it all done.

And I'll take a break.

Maybe for the rest of the day.

Maybe a week. Maybe more.

But, eventually, on an irrationally cheerful day...

it begins again.

=)

Every year is a new beginning.


And I can't wait!

xoxobb

ooh, shiny! amazing living gold & silver art posing as bugs

 
Learned about this article, which explains how these bugs are so CRAZY shiny, on Twitter (@bug_girl, a.k.a. bug girl blogger). And I realize my blog is about biology, science, nature, etc., so I should probably talk about the discovery...

But I just wanna stare at this picture, credit the photographer, Eduardo M. Libby, and stare some more.

(sigh)

bb

no guesses?? Phriday Photo Quiz ripe for the picking

A little low on doses of GLORY in your life?

Well, then, try out Friday's photo quiz. Even if you get VERY creative (i.e. have more imagination that botanical know-how), you may soon bathe in glory, at least within the confines of this blog.

Just in case you're intimidated, let it be known that I, little Miss "I have a Master's Degree... in science,"* only know one of them for sure, the 2nd is one of 2 options that I know of (we'll see if I can figure out which), and the 3rd, well, I'll be having to figure it out, too, in order stamp "Yea" or "Nay, brave soldier" on the no-doubt impending FLOOD of inspired guesses.

=)

Oh, by the way, yesterday I weeded my garden-to-be-but-current-refuge-for-all-sorts-of-nasty-exotics for two sneezelicious hours, accompanied by fellow dirt disturber, Fanny, our Rhode Island Red. Mature grass clumps were ripped mercilessly from the Earth, while they exacted their own revenge by stealing topsoil from me, clutched by their tangled roots.

ANYhow, I'm STILL feeling the effects of that spectacular face-in-grass-pollen fest. Ears itch, hearing not great, a bit blinky (won't scratch eyes--I've learned), right pinky still sporting small, black splinter-owie...

Anyhow, so yesterday dust and pollen and grasses, oh my.

This morning?

That is my garden.

Hunh. Was supposed to snow down to 5,000 feet. We're well below that.

An under that snowy coating is a fat layer of hail,

based on last nights soundscape.

Guess I'll wait until my return (from fieldwork) to plant the

precious peppers, tomatoes, and basil plants.

They're getting awfully tall and spindly...

Anyhow, please warm up that brain and fling some guesses toward that Phriday Photo Quiz.

And have a great week. I may not post much as will be fieldwork-ing. We'll see.

Any freaky weather your way? Exciting gardening action?

=)  xobb


*Extreme minutia: I went to a show by Duck's Breath Mystery Theater with my dad when I was about 12. I bought and kept a black t-shirt from that for a VERY long time and TO THIS DAY am BITTER than I chucked a t-shirt from THAT long ago that I still dearly loved. What kinda spring-cleaning mania was I ON?!?

bb's industry rewarded by nature, pays it forward 2 U!

  
These are some of the things I came upon during this morning's outdoor flurry of hosing the sidewalk (watching the lemon yellow pollen foam wash away--yikes!!!) and our screens and other things right near our windows which facilitate the placement of TINY pollen grains in my eyes, nose, throat, ears, skin, etc.

These shots are all big, today, so feel free to click on them and zoom in to get a better look.

The first is the moth, which has rich orange in its hindwings, but I didn't catch that via camera. I scared it up from the grass via hosing.

This looks like the one that skepticalmoth said was Noctua pronuba "an invasive species introduced to the east coast from Europe a few decades ago. Not a horrible invasive, they feed mostly on grasses and are common around houses/lawns."

Any expertise input re: id would be greatly appreciated.

Next, this beauty was posing nicely by the second faucet that I moved our super-short hose to in order to continue with the pollen spraying.

Isn't she pretty?!? And rather regal. Very poised.

Woah, I was GOING to call this Pseudacris regilla, feeling all smart 'cause I knew that what USED to be called Hyla regilla is now Pseudacris regilla.

Yeah, well, in reading Wikipedia and CaliforniaHerps.com, looks like what I have is a Sierra treefrog, Pseudacris sierra--check out the distribution map on CaliforniaHerps.com. Apparently MOST of what I'll encounter is now called Pseudacris sierra, including where I'll be doing field work NEXT WEEK, so good to know.

Love how this blog keeps me learning.

Isn't she gorgeous? I'm assume, based on sizable ROUND belly, this is a lady and she's gravid.

So, then, after hosing off the north side of the house, I return the hose to it's original site, and see this:

I took about 7 shots of this TINY spider (note it's dwarfed by water droplet) and only this LAST one was sharp and WOW, what a difference! Click and zoom in, this one is especially rewarding.

What a beauty! Anyone have a guess what it is? It looks like a crab spider, to me...

By the way, I was SO industrious (dumping out and WASHING and drying litter boxes, hosing down sidewalk, screens, pulling weeds out of sidewalk, spraying the cars) this morning, that Bear said, before taking off, "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'm not going to do anything to fix it."

=)

bb can be phenomenally LAZY and blob-like, so this is a happy occasion.

Years ago, we were camping. FYI, I am not super skilled re: outdoors, but I pride myself on breaking camp like a bandit (FAST FAST FAST). Like get OUT of my way or you may end up rolled up and stuffed into a duffel bag, then the trunk (erf!).

Right after we got up, Bear wandered off to powder his nose. The moment he left I decided to see if I could break camp and get EVERYTHING back in the car before he returned. So I was speed packing, collapsing poles like my hair was on fire, cramming sleeping bags into stuff sacks, etc. but, alas, I was not QUITE done when Bear returned.

However, he did remark, smiling quietly while I madly flung pillows into the car: "You're cute when you're industrious." =) So, I felt like I'd won.


Anyhow, the animals pictured above are the lovelies who showed themselves to me during my cleaning mania, leaving me richly rewarded. Thus, I wanted to share the wealth with you.

I hope your weekend is going wonderfully.

xoxoxo

biobabbler

* I really DO need to figure out how to add a page to my blog to assemble all the species that have been identified... Any of y'all know how to do that in blogger? I can do SOME HTML but don't really feel like doing this whole thing from scratch, so if you know of a reasonably simple way to add a page, I'd GREATLY appreciate your tossing me a clue.

I seldom do this, but you must see this...

 
From the blog, nature of man, apparently they set up a camera "trap" just outside where they knew coyotes were denning.

21 hours later the batteries died.

Very unusual.

Normally, speaking from my experience, this means something BORING happened, like a tuft of grass triggered the camera every time it bowed in the wind. Once happened to me and the cause was waves in the Pacific. Every time a wave rolled up, CLICK! Yeah.

So, NOT THIS TIME.

=)

Dozens and dozens of shots of baby coyote pups playing and playing and playing.

CHECK THIS OUT! =)

There's SEVEN pups.

It'll lift anyone's mood. =)

Oh, and I realize this is also on my blog roll, but in case it gets bumped down the list, check THIS out, too. AWESOME. Nature is SO stunning sometimes, I can barely take it. And in my comment on MOBugs I put a link back HERE to ANOTHER natural STUNNER who took my breath away (scroll down...).

Enjoy!

bb

ah, at last the mowers arrive...

 

The Dawn Lawn Crew. It was early today, so it's a bit dark 'n' fuzzy. Kinda like them.

=)

Did you notice the fuzzy antlers in the hip-high grass? About two yards from our house. Add the peaceful sound track of California quail, California towhee, and my hens trying to sound like roosters.

Very nice.

Happy Saturday!

bb

Yellow flower Phriday photo quiz phor you!

  
Tweeted this, as blogger was down, but this is a better venue, I think.

Here's 3.

Can you identify them (common and scientific name), and if so, can you also tell me which are native or non-native in California?

Took these shots all last Thursday in coastal northern California.

Yellow flower #1

Yellow flower #2

Yellow flower #3

Think these are all big files, so you can click on them and zoom way in.

Good luck!

bb

p.s. yes, was traveling, but also blogger's been freaky for  a few days now, so not really able to post until now.

must forgive but you cannot miss this

 
if you don't tweet (or follow me) & I don't know you personally, there is a CHANCE you've missed this and you cannot.

This is what the internet is for.

bb

crusing No Cal backroads found a STUNNER and gorgeous friends

  

I guessed it was a Calochortus of some kind.

I could NOT wait to look it up;
practically hopped and clapped every 30 minutes or so.

(click on me, soooo much cooler big)

(tangled with the beautiful but, alas, non-native invasive rattlesnake grass, Briza spp.,
my guess based on distribution is B. minor, little rattlesnake grass)

I'd never seen this before. SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

Kinda shy, it faces downward.

And, God Bless Calflora, it's Calochortus amabilis,

a.k.a. "golden fairy lantern"

(my favorite name, such cute imagery, 

and they do face downward to light the tiny pathways), 

"golden globelily", or "short lily."

This GLORIOUS plant is native to California,

and endemic.

ENDEMIC, baby! Meaning, you wanna see it,

driving through back country roads in the spring?

Come to California, Sweet Cheeks.

=)

Sorry, just kinda freaked at how gorgeous it is.

(AND I just drank 2 cups of coffee.)

AND I also got to see these, so still STOKED.

click me! click me! click me!

This is a species of Delphinium (a genus).

There are nine species of Delphinium which occur in Lake County

which are blue and native.

 Hm.... looks like I have more work to do. =)

Wiki says most Delphinium species are toxic and: 

"Despite the toxicity, Delphinium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Dot Moth and Small Angle Shades."

Uh, I'm thinkin' partly "because" they are toxic they are food plants of larvae, 'cause that probably makes the larvae/adults very untasty, yes? Isn't milkweed, the famous food for the famously nasty-tasting monarch butterflies toxic? Although I get "despite" 'cause it might cause tummy aches. =)

Speaking of, also saw this, barely. Sent to moth friend to see if he knows...

According to my mothy friend this is an erynnis skipper,
so Margarethe (see comments) is spot on.
A skipper is a type of butterfly.

Check these gorgeous babies out--so glossy, gotta click on it.

  

These are Sisyrinchium bellum, blue-eyed grass; love-ly. (sigh)

These I actually knew right away--phew! =)

Kinda remember 'cause their scientific name took me

FOREVER to memorize for some reason.

Until I visited a friend who worked at, what, USFWS?

Anyhow, she had only one sticky on her computer screen

and it said:

Sisyrinchium bellum 

blue-eyed grass

 and that is all.

Guess it's not just me who had a tough time remembering it.

And, for some reason, that sealed it. In my brain forever.

Whee!

Uh... it's an aster...

and a beetle of some sort...

uh... 

 (help!) 

 Any of y'all know the acronym GDYC?

I learned it from a USFWS botanist.

Still, I'll give it a shot, but not counting any chickens...

So, we had a lovely day driving around the country.

And among the small country lanes we drove on, was this:

Yup. Pulling over for that one.


=) 

xoxobb

you're gonna have to forgive me, but...

  
SO CUTE!!!

Baby gundis, here... KILLING ME.

so FUZZY.

SMOOCHIE SMOOCHIE!



k.

think I've recovered.

thanks.

bb

[heard over intercom: "Will the SCIENTIST PLEASE REPORT TO THE DESK? Will the SCIENTIST please RETURN to the DESK? ... Is there a science-trained person ANYWHERE in the BUILDING? ... Anyone? Anyone?"]

lunch, courtesy of ma nature and a seed catalogue...

 

Note the pollen ALL over this pup. Gorgeous thing, though.

Washed lettuce wrapped in thin, cotton kitchen towel.

Then I go outside (learned this the hard way)

and make like a windmill, SWINGING my arm in a circle,

water SPRAYS all over, and lettuce dries.

Major bonus: NO storage space required for this 

salad swinging technique. Nor plastic.

 Clean and dry. Isn't that all we really want? =)

Lunch. Usually has goat cheese, but out, today. Still tasty!

So, little bitta garden, some organic action, some exercise, pretty colors,

it's all good.

And what did you have for lunch, yesterday?

xoxobb

ps posting from the road, so we'll see how often this haps. xoxo

woo-hoo! Biobabbler is a weiner @ a GREAT blog...

  
I LOVE this blog, Beasts in a Populous City, WONderful photos, charming writing. Two thumbs way up. And, a few of her flamingo photographs are some of the most beautiful, drawing-you-in photos I've ever seen. STUNNING KILLER shots.

Anyhow, the author had a caption contest and the picture I wrote one for just really said it to me. Seemed SO clearly the intent of that fuzzy face, I just typed it. =)


ANYhow, biobabbler WON THE FREAKIN' CONTEST!!!


Can't believe it.

=)

So, check out all the great pics and fun interpretations--so cute. =)

Thanks, Olivia, for having such a fabulous blog and super fun contest. (the check's in the mail...) =)

SWEET! Makes living through that deadly allergy attack that much better.

xoxoxoxo

bb

P.S. Why, no, I'm not the LEAST bit competitive, why do you ask? =) (competitive nut job)
P.P.S. SWEET! Totally pumped. Wanna make-a t-shirt and wear it at all times.

proof my chicken cannot read

 
Allegedly, this variety of chicken, a light Brahma, cannot fly over 3 feet.

Here is Edie, perched on a fence that at least started at 4 feet, but now is still probably over 3.

I see her here, I sigh, and walk outside and plunk her back into the chicken run. You know, in the interest of NOT having her be a tasty treat for any of the 9,000 things we have living here that would love to eat her.

Silly chicken. Perhaps I need to work on a chicken literacy program...

bb

photo phollow up: lovely day, tho't I wuz gonna die

  
In reverse story telling order, yesterday/Friday's post is the story, this is the setting.

As I noted to a co-worker. You look out at the landscape and see hills, grass, and rock. What's to be allergic to?

FYI, I decided NOT to include the picture of my super spotty legs (a la thistle). You're welcome. =)

This is a "jumpout" under construction.

Jumpouts are structures to help wildlife that somehow manage to get into this highway corridor to get out. Part of keeping wildlife out of busy road areas, and directing them toward underpasses, is fencing. That also means that if an animal is IN the road (presumably from somewhere at the extreme ends of this sort of project) it can be hard to get out. This structure will aide that.

This is what we affectionately call the Hill of Death.

If you survey this hill in the morning, it's actually my favorite re: habitat. It seems to host the most native species per capita, as it were.

It is called the Hill of Death because (I believe) if you survey it in the heat of the day, you will be very unhappy. Steepest, longest climb on site.

So, now that we know, we tend to tackle it first thing in the morning. MUCH better.

This project site is largely dominated by non native grasses and there's also LOTS of non-native thistles. However, the Hill of Death sports a few native lovelies. I will be getting the species names soon (from co-workers) but here are photos for now...

 

Nice, right?

This was our "what's that in that tree?" stop.*

Bullock's oriole is the answer.

 Photo by Kevin Cole

This is also the riparian area that, I believe, is responsible for "the eye"

(see yesterday's post).

A treehopper, I believe. On my Honda.

Any help in bug id from y'all is greatly appreciated.

Also from my car, a weevil, trying to evade my camera.

Almost succeeded. Cutie.  =)

Note pollen EVERYWHERE.

So, it is a nice place. Pretty things live there. It's a great job.

And I believe we're helping make it better for wildlife.

But, add a boatload of allergens, and this landscape becomes menacing.

Like a beautiful, charming assassin.

Fun to be with, but will you survive?

=)

As long as there are anti-histimines,
I have my bandanna**,

and I continue to avoid stepping on rattlesnakes,

I believe I will.

bb

*Tribute to the B52's line, "What's that on your head?" (answer: "A wig!")
** Said bandanna is why a co-worker said to me, while I sported the bank-robber look, "You have crap on your face." Yup. No argument here...