The county fair & photo exhibit + 3 bonus photos just 4 u. =)

 So, 1st: apologies for NOT POSTING in MAY. Wow.

(Throws biodegradable glitter to distract you.)

Fair Foto Fun

Annnyhow,

I entered some of my photos in a nearby county fair at the end of May.

Very exciting & less totally nerve-wracking than last time.

Perhaps experience breeds calm? Or, at least lack-of-total-freakout. =D

The fair itself was last weekend, and that's when I learned how I did.

Which is pretty well! =)

Got 1st & 2nd in 8/9 photos.

I'll take it! =D

I ALSO got to ogle other's lovely & inspiring work.

Which is MOST enjoyable.

One professional/advanced photographer's work I LOVED was Christopher Viney.

His 1st place photo in landscape:

gah!

And his 1st place agriculture photo:

How surprising & abstract is that for "agriculture?" Too cool.

So, I got curious & googled his name.

Apparently, when he's not being a rockin' great photographer,

he is teaching physics at UC Merced.

Clearly, not much goin' on, there. =D

Here's another shot I LOVED (flower)

but unfortunately didn't get the photographer's name in the shot.

Crazy good.

DH's party shirt (white horseshoes on red background)

& me & my Trader Joe's bad made some weird reflections, therein.

Also ogled sundry gorgeous cows.

 Mama & junior looking coy (typo was "cow"). =)

DH in his happy place: Part I

 Petting the cute little goats.

DH in his happy place: Part II

 Look out, honey, your Midwestern heritage is showing!

They have a pretty nice range of old tractors there so we took in the tractor parade.

Fun was had by all.

=)

Bonus Pics

And just for fun, the elegant sphinx moth (Sphinx perelegans) I found on our garden gate

(species ID confirmed by my moth-y expert friend, Dr. Dan Rubinoff)

"Don't see my eyes!"

This is a LARGE moth. From ~3.5" to 4.25."

Made my DAY.

And it blended in PERFECTLY with the faded grey wood. =)

Dr. Dan said they raise their young on manzanita (among other things),

so this pup could have grown up right here. =)

Last, this flower went into a windstorm with wet hair,

and now looks AMAZING! =D

And when open, this bee was VERY happy to be there.

Note the white pollen coating its legs. =)

Thassit! I hope your summer (or winter) is starting out well.

It's been AMAZINGLY mild & wonderful this last week, 

but is on schedule to fling itself into the 100s soon, 

so I'll have to start taking Stop Whining pills then.

For now, I will simply bask in the glory that is our world right NOW.

=) 

xoxoxoxobb

Wild (speedy) wildlife photo fling

Just in case you don't follow me on Twitter or Instagram,

I wanted to be sure you see the lovely creatures

that have been gracing our property, of late.  =)

The grand coyote (Canis latrans) arrived after big splashes of rain.

Was cruising around, hunting gophers,

spending a lot of time looking about (hence, Wily Coyote).

(Note coat is wet fm. all that rain)

The classic LEAP & JAM down into gopher tunnels. =)

We also saw bobcat (Lynx rufus).

That fence is at the northern (and very wild) edge of our property.

Source of many great things for a biologist. =)

Sleepy bobcat in manzanita shade at the edge of our driveway.

Very exciting for me, but I only allowed myself 3 photos, 

then left that window so it could relax w/o the paparazzi. =)

And, here's an animal both the above species love to eat,

and of which we have plenty, the humble gopher (Thomomys spp.).

Attracts SO many exciting carnivores for me to ogle. =)

 Wily Coyote Tale

I'd recently noticed the fencing of our hen's porch

seemed a little more pulled away from the framing than it had been.

As if a creature was helping that process along...

So, investigating it to asses when & how to fix it,

I saw FOUR long hairs right at one of the pulled-away corners.

Pretty sure hair that long is from a coyote.

Funny, when I'm about (& awake) the coyote studiously avoids the hen house.

Looks like when the humans are snoozing,

coyotes return & look into opening that tantalizing snack shack.

Since then I've shored it up & will do more of that work today.

Mechanical exclusion is my #1 method for dealing with pests,

whether they're gophers or deer (gardening) or coyotes & bobcats (chickens).

That way, if I'm smart, there's no need to kill anything.

These giant brains can be very useful, if we employ them. =)

xoxobb

February flash, flung 1 day late =D

 He is glorious; she has the munchies.

It's that time of year, turkeys parading all over.

I LOVE the percussion males provide to accompany their dance. SO COOL!

Squirrel-y cunning leads to tasty breakfast.

Extremely impressive core strength in this creature.

BIG THING FOR FEBRUARY:

new-to-me species!

Common sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) I found while raking around the grape arbor.

 Pretty gorgeous tummy, eh?

Those are pine needles, so you can see this is a SMALL snake.

It was kinda cold, so I righted the snake for a photo,

then returned it to its home under a bunch of leaf litter.

Such an exciting discovery, and I'm glad it was unharmed (far as I could tell).

For more info on this species, I highly recommend its page at Calherps.

Now that gardening activity is on the upswing (here in the northern hemisphere),

a friendly reminder to CHECK under your row covers

EACH a.m. & release anything trapped w/in. =)

Beautiful male wasp (ichneumon, I believe)

I found under my row cover and released. 

It was 0% aggressive and, btw, males don't have the

equipment to sting. Note LACK of pointy barb @ end. =)

From February 1st--note the snow on the ground.

Seems like FOREVER ago. =)

Super cool stuff soil does when the cold freezes the water out.

I didn't grow up in really cold places, so this is fascinating to me. 

One of the first macro photos I ever took was

of this non-native early bloomer, red-stemmed filaree.

Changed my view of the world.

I'm a sucker for visible pollen grains, especially on purple anthers! =)


A lovely little flower...

Gorgeous small beetle I saw clambering across the greenery as I photographed the above flower.

So glad I got to see it.

Wildlife prints I found at the work site:

best part is the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) print...

you can SEE the fur on the underside of the fox feet. SO cool!

K. That's some of the myriad delights that transpired in spring.

March onward!!! =)

xoxooxbb

I FINALLY planted milkweed seed. WOOT! =)

Did some work in the a.m., then in the afternoon felt unwell.

DH prescribed gardening.

Who am I to question him? =)

So, planting milkweed seed was priority one.

I weeded this iris plot (protected fm. gophers via that wire mesh)

and got to work.

I took photos 'cause I've learned that where I plant X Y and Z

stays in my brain about 15 minutes.

Next day, it's gone.

SO, I made these! =)

And here's the details, re: the seed packets.

I'd researched it in the past to find spp. native to California

and which help monarchs specifically, butterflies in general.

Note the one above likes to be over 1,000 feet in elevation: we're 3500, so we're a go!

Note: "packed for 2014" means I shoulda planted them 2 falls ago,

but, whatever.

Planted is better than not planted.

Part of learning to garden is learning to quash the perfectionist.

Just. Do. Something.

Also, I paid for these (& a bunch of to-be-planted-in-spring kinds)

versus looking for a free source. 

My priority was get the right spp. for our area & bugs.

Didn't cost much, anyhow. =)

Next, I had to protect our seeds from the HOARDS of hungry seed-eating birds:

Before I learned this trick, I'd plant seed mixes and get almost nothing.

I concluded I was a crap gardener.

Turns out, dark-eyed juncos (& friends) kick through & eat seeds on & under the ground.

So, I protected newly planted areas in the above manner

and suddenly I had LOTS of BABY PLANTS! Total miracle.

=)

Next I need to attach that wire mesh to wood so it's safe for wildlife.

But, now, having followed my husband's recommended cure,

I am now well, AND I've got 3 species of milkweed planted in our garden.

Some of which can grow to 5 feet. SWEET!!

One of the best things about gardening is it gives you things to look forward to.

Like stunning, fabulous flowers attracting stunning, fabulous insect life

that I then get to ogle and PHOTOGRAPH.

Woot!

xoxooxxobb

Rando photo fling

Gotta go do fieldwork, but gonna fling a few photos 'cause it's TIME, jeepers! =)

Lovely cosmos face in November.

The Three Faces of Eve (or 3 stages of a cosmos blossom).

We got 2 inches of rain a few days back, so I looked for soggy green stuff.

Lichen and moss assemblage on the shady side of a rock.

First hygroscopic earthstar I've seen this year.

In order to keep my solitary hen company,

she lives with a mirror that she can cuddle up to.

It needed washing, so I brought it outside in the shade & this happened.

One of the joys of stormy weather: places for the sunset to play.

xoxoxobb

Late summer: Yosemite, clouds, cowboys & cutting out California wine...

Home...

Tiny, gorgeous fork-tailed (I think) bush katydid nymph on California poppy, chez-nous.

This young creature is backing verrrry slowwwly away from yours truly. =) 

Got a twitter-heads up that "mares tails" were in the Mariposa county sky,

so I looked out the window:

They're lonnnnng, thin clouds

(streaky left-to-right thing, not the vertical contrail).

And this one had a rainbow in it. BONUS.

The garden is underwhelming this year (I'm being very stingy with water),

but these pea flowers really do have the golden sparkles you can see, here.

It's one of the few things our local Anna's hummingbird gets excited about in my garden.

I need more flowers, next year.

I'll have to make additional drought tolerant, flowering plants happen.

Maybe next year the (very drought-tolerant) pomegranates I planted will bloom?

And the baby California roses? Maybe? Crossing fingers. =)

And Away

Hiking to Lukens Lake in Yosemite, recently, 

we happened upon a family of

one of my favorite & most rarely-seen birds: mountain quail.

Can you see them atop the log?

Cropped.

Adults have exclamation points atop their heads (v. Calif. quail have commas).

And cropped again. Such a stunning bird, jeepers.

Crap photos, but I was thrilled.

A stunning bird with a haunting call that can

send a chill up your spine when you're hiking in the forest.

The ever-picturesque Lukens Lake. A super easy hike, even at ~ 8,000 feet in elevation.

Note smoke on horizon, from the Rough Fire.

At the lake, I ogled this beautiful snag.

I have a thing for dead trees...

 I love how 'neath the bark is what looks like

a mysterious language scrawled into the tree.

What does it say?!?

 I wanna know.

Sat at the edge of Lukens lake with dozens of blue damselflies.

Sharpest shot I got (via my non-telephoto lens):

Such gorgeous animals, jeepers.

A favorite plant, California corn lily (Veratrum californicum).

See the little damselfly, center right, resting on a leaf?

Most of the corn lily was past blooming,

but this one, in the shade by the lake, was still going.

There were numerous happy bees merrily visiting these flowers.

Recently, in Tuolumne county, I was later to a work site than I'd planned, due to a traffic jam.

They had a bunch of cows & their young on the road. Poor creatures sounded stressed.

It took several men & horses, a dog & lots of yelling & arm-waving to get the job done.

Finally, cattle off the road, I drove past slowly, stealing a shot of this horse & its super fit bod.

Check out that crazy butt. This was back in August,

so you probably want to be lean in that heat

(daily over 100F in central CA).

Horses are SO beautiful (IMHO), I find it confusing.

Why do they affect us this way (from an evolutionary perspective)?

Did we co-evolve with them, so a desire to have horses could be selected for?

Or have we just selectively bred them to increase what we consider attractive traits?

Last, but not least, a tiny conservation vignette,

and why I may never accompany DH to this golf course again.

This sign calls the vineyards an "ecologically sensitive area."

Biobabbler's head exploded when she read this.

The quotation marks definitely indicate sarcasm, to me, in this case.

The baby vines are in the white tubes, in front of the mature vines (green in the background).

I never golf ('cause Imma conservation biologist), but I accompany DH and look at birds.

However, I used to love this course 'cause it had

large stretches of native California habitat in it

(vs. an entirely transformed, non-native landscape).

This is very unusual for golf courses in California.

But, this summer all those native spaces were razed and converted to vineyards.

=(

Vineyards are crawling across California,

taking out so much of California's remaining, unique native habitats,

it is a serious source of habitat destruction.

For something we do not need to survive.

And who knows how much water they are using?

Yours truly doing fieldwork in California habitat.

Thinking deep thoughts.  =)

Therefore, I've decided will not drink California wine, pretty much as of now.

I'm sure this decision won't be felt by the wine industry,

but I cannot reward this behavior (by giving them my money)

and feel OK about how I'm living my life.

So, thank you, darling peeps, for letting me express this.

I feel better, now.

=)

xoxoxobb