The world is on fire... or at least California is.

This freaky sunset brought to you by the Butte Fire (taken last Friday)

This was my drive into Sonora, Calif., last Thursday afternoon...

 The Butte Fire started the previous afternoon, about 43 miles from Sonora,

and since spread quickly and moved a lot closer.

Drive to Sonora Friday afternoon... a wee bit smokier.

Note how dark it is, at 5:30 p.m. Spooky stuff.

I've never been anywhere with such thick smoke.

Tiny bits of white ash fell like a very light snow. Odd.

I have relatives who've been evacuated from their home for days, now,

due to this fire. Happily the fire missed their house,

now they're waiting for the power to come back on,

so they can move back (no power=no water if you're on a well).

Last Sunday afternoon DH and I tore ourselves away from scanning fire info

(re: the Butte Fire, the Valley Fire, and the Rough fire)

and head to the golf course.

DH golfs, I bird/peruse nature.

Acorn woodpeckers living up to their name.

"This one goes here..."

I love how this branch is so densely drilled

that in parts it's see-through. 

I love the white eyeliner on this California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi).

Cutie. 

Non-native mullein affected by fasciation

(note normal mullein bloom on lower left).

I love fasciation and the super interesting shapes it brings about.

Another herbivore (desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii), diggin' the golf course habitat.

Their habit of freezing when startled is great for photography. =)

Canada geese, another herbivore species that favors this place.

Considering I didn't have the auto-focus telephoto lens,

I'm very happy with how sharp this shot is. Luck!

So, with a couple soothing, non-fire-focused hours under our belt,

we see this...

Oh, dear. Another fire?!?

It was the Sundance Fire, near Oakhurst.

Happily, we also saw this large air tanker a little while later,

 and the smoke cleared pretty soon thereafter.

Phew!

And last night it actually rained a little bit (minor miracle),

which is very exciting.

I hope it helps quiet some of these fires.

It's also about 20 degrees cooler than it was last week.

Also good.

Anyhow, I don't have a profound way to end this post.

It's been very sobering seeing what's been happening

in Middletown (via the Valley Fire) and elsewhere.

If there's a vote re: whether or not summer should end now & fall should start?

I'd vote YES, please.

Let's do that.

Stay cool, everyone.

xoxoxobb

friend or foe?

who's that chick w/ the Nikon? 

Trying to accept hawks (red-shouldered, specifically) around our property (chickens, specifically) because we have, this year, TWO ground squirrels (who are FAMOUS for wreaking havoc in gardens) shacked up where once there was ONE. AND they're working on making more squirrels.

Last year we had 1 single squirrel who NEVER went into my garden (P.H.E.W.).

Now she's got a man and he's ALREADY ventured into the garden. NOT good.

Those males and their tendency to wander far and wide. hmph.

SO, I'm trying to allow our local red-shouldered hawk to hang out. Just not sure I can trust a red-tailed hawk around our chickens. Although we have pretty big chickens...

hawk monitoring squirrel shack

Anyhow, that's why I did not shoo this beautiful creature away.

So, bonus of being tolerant is

you can get closer to some very cool things.

=) bb

our visitor whom I smelled... a BABY picture (so CUTE!!!)

Was a striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis.

baby skunk photo by AnimalPhotos

And a lovely, snowy scene with adult.

From the almighty Wiki and it's most delightful commons.

This pic was taken near Yellowstone.

Apparently, due to its strong scent, no mammals are

particularly interested in eating skunks.

Raptors, on the other hand, will.

They used to be hunted for their pelts, but skunk fur went out of vogue,
happily for the skunks, I'm sure.

Also, according to the University of Michigan

Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web (ADW),

90% of skunks die during their first winter.

Apparently, winter is ROUGH, out there.

"Striped skunks are nocturnal, sleeping during the day in underground burrows and emerging around dusk to search for food. They prefer to use burrows made by other animals of equal size or natural burrows under tree stumps or buildings. They use their long front claws to build their own den if necessary." ADW.

This nocturnal pattern explains why both here in the foothills, and back in San Diego years ago,
I typically smelled a passerby each night at 9 p.m.

Just starting their "day," on a regular route.

So cute.

Photo by Benefactor123

The more I learn about wildlife the more I realize how TERRIBLY IMPORTANT are those animals that dig burrows. Like ground squirrels in grasslands.

San Joaquin kit fox need them (well, certainly if the ground is at all hard), California tiger salamanders need them, red-legged frogs need them (all 3 species use squirrel burrows to escape the summer time heat), golden eagles need to eat them, etc.

Part of habitat suitability analysis for San Joaquin kit fox is whether or not these guys are present.

Kind of a lynchpin in the ecosystem, yet the frequent target for extirpation.

I guess, like the skunk or the ground squirrels, you don't have to be popular with everyone to be terribly important to many.

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

ground squirrels?!? and bluebird acrobatics

 
Since when do we have ground squirrels?

Chatting with friends who also live generally in the area, ground squirrels are a NIGHTMARE re: gardening. Until, oh, YESTERDAY, I'd never seen one, and was exceedingly grateful.

I confirmed species i.d. TODAY. Right on my back porch. Def. Spermophilus beecheyi (that link has fascinating info about squirrels' defense against rattlesnakes, possibly their chief predator, and, now that I think of it, a snake species I've NEVER seen on our property).

I just took a few quick shots of it running RIGHT through the fence into my garden, a place our abundant western grey squirrels never seem to go.

See his/her fuzzy buns on the cement block I use to prop the door open (for my chickens)

Much clearer view of same, leaping off block, happy tummy and tail nicely lit.

Drat.

Right now it's perched on top of the compost pile.

It's a young one, but for how long?

Yes, cute, but agile, quick, small (hard to exclude from garden), and probably very ready to eat anything I'll plant.

Well, I guess I'll just have to take it day by day. Be yogic about it. =) Take long, slow, deep breaths, and think happy thoughts...

--------------

So, BLUEBIRD crazy aerial acrobatics yesterday.

Unfortunately, no pictures, but saw a bluebird hop down from the tree right outside my backdoor (which I stare at all day, just beyond my computer screen) into the grass and pull up a HUGE, pale buffy FAT grub. Bird flew up and landed on the doorway to our garden, and proceeded to beat the brute senseless.

This went on for a time, then the bird lost it's grip and, having accidentally flipped it away, DOVE OFF THE DOORWAY AND CAUGHT THE GRUB MID-AIR and SWOOPED BACK UP and landed on a garden post.

O
M
G!

SpecTACular.

I freaked.

And, I'm sure for the blue bird, just another day.

wow. Color me impressed. IN AWE. Pulse elevated.

Once again nature is blasé and I am blown away.

bb