With more resumption of normal life, I didn’t have my camera out as much as the previous couple years — but still have photos and stories to share. Here are some from our yard and from the special Central California Coast community of Morro Bay, which we have been visiting more. And a couple other places too.
BIRDs….
We had a number of nests in our shrubs – with mockingbirds, jays and towhees all vying for bugs to feed their young. And our Bewick’s wren couple raised two sets of chicks in one of our nest boxes. As a result we had very few spiders on our property, which we missed — we enjoy watching the orb-weaver spiders weave their webs.
In Morro Bay we also witnessed nesting Double-crested cormorants and as they built their nests and raised their young.
More on the Swainson’s hawks (a threatened species in California) above – for the second year in the Spring we documented flights of Swainson’s hawks (sometimes called grasshopper or locust hawks) as they flew over our house on their flyover route from South America, through the deserts (especially Anza Borrego State Park, where they stop for caterpillars after wet winter) and then continue west and up the California Coast to their breeding grounds. They use winds and thermals to save energy on the long flight.
Our insects – which make our world work
Learning insects is a steep learning curve, especially in biodiversity capital California where we have 1600 native bees alone.
As I mentioned above, the multiple birds in our yard — attracted to the insects that go hand-in-hand with our native plants – keep our insects in check. Especially the hoverfly below, whose larvae prey on aphids and even the Asian citrus psyllid, which has ravaged Florida citrus and is here in California.
For more info – here’s my article on habitat gardening and the importance of bees and insects, and on other beneficial insects such as flies and caterpillars – (the latter becomes our butterflies and moths)
And a few fun miscellaneous ones ….
Decomposition example below – I came across this poor young raccoon on the edge of a park on my walk in mid-June, and over the following weeks I watched it get consumed by a progression of insects, though I’m sure there were ravens, coyotes and/or vultures that I missed. Three months later it was completely consumed.
And lastly, below – a sunset photo from Morro Bay. Happy New Year.
Leave a Reply