Photo Quiz Phriday Answer, Genius Steepers & NEW Photo Quiz...

Photo Quiz Phriday Answer

So many great guesses re: WHAT the heck I was doing here:

I was NOT weighing a stool-for-tiny-people (it's actually a pitfall trap lid/shade).

I was weighing a lizard, which was in a little plastic bag,

which SPINS AROUND in the breeze when held by a Pesola spring scale

'cause lizards weigh ALMOST NOTHING.

SO, I was holding the lid to block the wind so I could weigh that pup accurately.

POWER NERDERY!! =)

This was all part of the reptile & amphibian inventory,
as designed & implemented by the fabulous Dr. Robert Fisher & all his peeps, at USGS.
Such a great group, the USGS Western Ecological Research Center's San Diego Field Station.
The TINY Cabrillo NM was super lucky to be able to team up w/them.

Behind me is 1 arm of a 3-armed Fisher trapping array.


Genius Steepers

I know this may sound lame, but ALL THE GUESSES WIN!!
They were SO fun & funny &/or accurate.

STEEPERS IN THEIR OWN GENIUS
(w/hyperlinks to their blogs, if they have one)

John Beetham for:
"It looks like you're weighing a stool."

(bb: I 100% look like I'm weighing a stool + bonus points for unintentional wildlife doo-doo pun)

Imperfect and Tense for:
"Are you wondering who has stolen the majority of your vehicle,
as you've been left holding just the steering wheel and column shift?"

(bb: Great imagination & more likely than you might imagine
+ bonus points for British English vocab lesson)

Cindy for:
"You are weighing a land mine (craftily disguised as stool by Navy wonks) to see if it is still active
before you start stomping through the coastal scrub looking for orange-throated whiptail.

(bb: She clearly is READING MY SOUL as this is SO close to what my life was like back then--
working in a Navy bunker & crawling through the CSS* looking for Cnemis**)

sclancy for:

"Calibrating your portable sundial"

(bb: SUPER imaginative + I-wish-I'd-thought-of-that-then)

Diana Studer for:

"hmm, can't be weighing 'cos you're holding it with your other hand.

Reading something off a gauge? Temperature?"

(bb: She's SO close, I AM weighing it, AND the scale is a gauge.)

Thanks everyone!! You cannot know how much your answers amuse & impress me. =)

NEW PHRIDAY PHOTO QUIZ

This one is SUPER HARD, if you're going for accurate,

but could be fun if you're going for creative.

This pup was sticking out of an old stump by the garden.

It's about 2 cm tall.

I had to ask around 'cause I had NO idea.

But, now I know, and I'm psyched about it.

The reward for inspired/accurate guesses is

MARINATING in the MAGNIFICENCE of your own MIND.

xoxoxobb

*CSS = coastal sage scrub

**Cnemis = verbal shorthand for Cnemidophorus hyperythrus, a.k.a. orange-throated whiptail lizard, NOW called Aspidoscelis hyperythra, so says the EVER FABULOUS & useful CaliforniaHerps.com.

What WAS I doing? PHOTO QUIZ PHRIDAY phieldwork phun...

 Just got this photo from a USGS friend & figured I'd share it

'cause it initially confused ME, staring at the me of years ago,

wondering what the h I was doing.

Then I remembered & laughed.

So, WHAT do YOU think I am doing?

Based on presence of chamise, I think it's one of the Navy sites,

near Cabrillo National Monument, in San Diego,

my employer at the time (hence kickin' NPS ballcap).

Based on the buckwheat, it's fall.

Per usual, any and all (family friendly) guesses (in comments) are greatly appreciated,

whether fueled by decades of wildlife experience,

or just a bowl of sugary cereal & NO clue.

And please forgive me for showing a photo where I am SO COOL in blue coveralls. =)

Don't hate me 'cause I'm stylish.

The reward for the most accurate guess & most creative guess is:

Steeping in the Glory of Your Own Genius

I will post the answer next week, and winning guesses.

=)

xoxo biobabbler

why these NPS scientists do what they do... short video w/GREAT scenery

Which has a NUMBER of people in it

whom I was lucky enough to get to know back in my PNW NPS days. =)

2 of 'em even came to my Christmas party. =)

InSANE scenery ahead!

Why We Work from NCCN Science Learning Network on Vimeo.

And if you know of any science-nerdy folks

whose work focuses on nature,

you might make sure they know that the NPS

is one of the places they could work.

xoxobb

this yucca is a siren: alluring and hazardous

 This plant is killing me about eight different ways, right now.

(zoom way in--the blossoms are amazing)

All I can do is ogle and shoot.

Tiny peeks at large flowers through layers of yucca swords.

The ultimate flirt.

From hundreds of square miles of parched, scratchy scrub,
in a singularly shade-free landscape,
spring these succulent, glistening flowers,
glowing high, out of reach,
a calm center in a whorl of yucca swords.

This plant is a siren.

The yucca I know (Yucca schidigera, in California) has an anti-coagulant in it,
which I learned the first (and last) time
I was careless enough to get stabbed by one.

In the micro second between getting stabbed in the hand,
and looking at my wound,
a thick stream of blood had already flowed to my wrist.

Got my attention.

If the yucca in Big Bend NP are at all like those at home,
not only might most sad, parched little land animals
never get to the flowers,
but they may bleed to death at her feet for their efforts.

Sirens don't show mercy.
Yuccas don't weep for thirsty mammals.
Sirens and yuccas need what they need,
and if you are not it,
 best just accept it and move on.

It's not about you.

xoxobb

Gee, are these people a little excited to meet E.O. Wilson?

 

  

Just before I took this picture I said, "Okay, everybody, this is the LAST picture you'll ever take BEFORE meeting E.O. Wilson!"

How stoked are they?

Check out the guy (in civvies) throwing an "EO" gang sign!

=) Love it.

bb

P.S. Tomorrow, the Tale of E.O. and the Ensatina.

wow. whattaday. wordless, but whatever!

 
First, I whine for a millisecond about getting out of the house at dark time (earrrrrly) to get my haircut.

Then, I actually GET outside, and see this:

was much more impressive in person and about 45 seconds earlier...

I should have known.

I had the MOST amazing day.

Bear had asked what I was doing after getting my hair cut. I said something dull like, "uh, cooking those tomatoes into sauce?" and he suggested (WHAT is he THINKING?!?) instead I consider going to the park (Yosemite valley, specifically) 'cause fall is happening and it's really pretty, and it's supposed to rain this weekend.

Now, why would I do that?

Uh, because it's one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and (since we have an employee sticker) it's free?!?

Yeah.

So, yeah.

I went.

Pictures soon.

(okay, here's one)

 (do click on this--SO much better big)

In short: a spec-TAC-ular day, then looking for Bear at his office, ran into an NPS friend, chatted, got him to send me a few COOL pics that I may post, and saw another friend (USGS) which was delightful as ever, chatted with him a bit, then found Bear outside, who'd just run with a co-worker whom I've not seen in ages who needed a ride to his car, so I got the low down on how he became a SMOKE JUMPER since the last time I saw him!!!

Wow. Then went to eat at a place in town, and there were another 7 people I knew there. I SWEAR I saw every person whom I know in this county today. So, totally flying on the intensive nature hit, and then a huge social high from all those wonderful people.

Even learned about some new fungus sampling technique some folks recently used as part of a fungus bio blitz thingy that sounds a-MA-zing and you can BET I'll be sharing it once I learn.

Yow.


Oh, and got zero words written today (you know, for NaNoWriMo) but really don't care. SO happy.

Crikey.

Good night! (if I can EVER get to sleep)

bb

P.S. Predicting total exhaustion tomorrow. Typically follows insanely high energy day. =) Dood, I'll still take it!

Answer to Phriday photo quiz #8

  
As correctly guessed by skepticalmoth (Ding ding! We have a winner! woo-hoo!), it is the Point Bonita Lighthouse, in Golden Gate National Recreation Area (NPS). For a little more detail on it from the perspective of lighthouse enthusiasts, check this out.

This place has the MOST amazing breeze, and the landscape couldn't be any more dramatic. You may see flotillas of pelicans cruising BELOW you along the cliffs. I have a friend who used to work in the visitor's center there and he'd seen SO many species of whale cruising by I was GREEN with envy.

If you are in the bay area on a hot day and need to cool off and chill out, that is a GREAT place to go.

And they have the coolest escaped kale and other plants clinging to the cliffs.

 Very botanically and aesthetically interesting, and if I remember, very nice lichen as well.

And this is also where I took one of my favorite pictures.

biobabbler

Gaga over GOGA

                     

That's Golden Gate National Recreation Area to most. More info @ www.nps.gov/goga.

The view Sunday morning. I was brought there by my charming SF hosts who kindly accommodate my dog-like need to be walked. Happily, they have dogs who like it too, so it's a win-win.

Oh, that bridge...

The biggest miner's lettuce I've EVER seen. It's growing in a very shady, damp area--i.e., in an area NOTHING like our house, where the top leaf of this plant is a little bigger than my thumb.

Happy little boat patrolling, making sure the two ocean colors don't mix...

beach

surf

rocks

foam

Looked much better after red plastic bag was removed from branches...

Dogs corralling me--person holding dog leashes (in one hand) is behind me, dogs walked around me (this happened repeatedly) and then rejoined, so I just stood, caught by happy dogs in a leash hug.

The always-intriguing Sutro baths area, and some very nice looking native coastal habitat. I remember wandering around here in high school, quietly fascinated.

If you look at the historic photos of the baths on the GOGA web site, you can find an interior shot that shows the outlined bath visible in this photo on the right. It was a raised pool, deeper, for diving practice and such.

There's a very weird mix of plant species here. Some seem to be lovely coastal native species (the coastal sage scrub community was my world for years), and then the obvious non-natives I used to get paid to yank for the NPS (but not @GOGA): Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), "ice plant" (Carpobrotus spp.), jade plant (Crassula ovata), various geranium, lily, other clearly escaped (or illicitly planted) ornamentals. Made for some interesting ogling.

As I said, I used to get paid to pull jade plants, among others, so when I was in Michigan and someone very proudly showed me their big, potted jade plant I had to pretend to be impressed versus perplexed. I later realized that what is a weed in California may be quite difficult to grow in freezing Michigan, so then I understood why they were proud. At least I think I did....

Speaking of jade, seeing some of the green rocks on the beach reminded me that this park has serpentine habitat and the associated rare plant community. A very informative paper on the geology of GOGA, including the serpentine goodies, go to www.nps.gov/goga and type in serpentine in the search window (just  for that site, not all NPS). It's an interesting little world, the serpentine.

Anyhow, had a lovely outing in this unit of the NPS, and paid precisely $0 for the privilege. This is one of the reasons I don't mind paying taxes. I heart the NPS, and the opportunities it grants the public. Really substantially contributes to the quality of life, in my view, not to mention the health of the planet.

But to enjoy it, you gotta go.

So, go, already.   =)

the biobabbler