tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86627673109203481302024-03-13T13:12:03.537-07:00The Changing Year Orange CountyMonth by month records of a few amateur Orange County, California naturalists.Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-73713675720108781522015-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:002015-09-07T15:15:58.682-07:00Skeleton Shrimp, Feather Duster Worm, and 18-scaled wormThere are two skeleton shrimp on top of the piece of kelp in the center of the container in this video. The one to the left is carrying many, many juvenile skeleton shrimp on its body while the one above seems to check on the other. Perhaps a pair? Or a curious neighbor? There is something curiously cute about these skeleton shrimp and their mannerism.
To the left you can see a feather duster Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-79521032567778131412015-06-14T01:06:00.000-07:002015-07-29T23:29:29.290-07:00Pelagic Crabs in OC I woke up Sunday morning reading in the news about a rare occurrence of pelagic crabs washing ashore in San Diego and was pleasantly surprised later that day to see them all over our favorite beach in Dana Point.
They wash ashore and get stranded and apparently they're showing up here because of warmer winter waters earlier this year. Poor things. Imagine if they were clean and we'd Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-12176645833703063772015-06-11T23:25:00.000-07:002015-08-04T02:36:12.139-07:00Parasites on Navanax and more eggs
Here is a navanax with its internals showing. Can you see the tiny orange creatures running around on it? What do you think they are? Parasites? Sea slug fleas? Why are they on it? For protection? Food? Do you notice the two leg-like limbs coming off the ends of them? This begs a specimen and a microscope don't you think? I looked it up and believe they're copepods, Why do you think the navanax Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-4743427036159662262015-05-01T22:28:00.000-07:002015-06-17T00:45:29.517-07:00The Dramatic Life of Aphids
We always get these yellow oleander aphids on our Monarch caterpillar host milkweed plant. They are beautiful and match the beautiful colors of the flowers.
And they move. Together. In sync. Isn't that odd? What do you think they're doing? Watch it here on this video:
Why? Why do you think they move like that? How do they know to move? Is it triggered by one aphid? Or is Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-62681116054625616082015-04-10T14:24:00.002-07:002015-04-10T21:20:10.233-07:00Newborn Monarch Under MicroscopeFound this little guy on our milkweed this morning. I watched it for a while and he was so afraid to leave the safety of the rib of the leaf where he clung... or so it seemed to me :)
Here are some images of an unhatched egg from the same plant under the microscope. I had to see if it really looked like the corn cob image in the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar - it does!
BothNaomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-45830783976441261352015-02-17T00:43:00.000-08:002015-06-17T00:50:42.616-07:00Bubble Snails at the BayOn a nice day in February, we headed to the bay in Long Beach, not exactly OC, but close enough. The waters here are calm on this side of the peninsula creating a different habitat for sea-life.
As we walked in the water we could feel slime at times on the bottom and saw many of these bubble snails all over. We guessed Spring is on its way and it's mating season.
When you put Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-90447914006981521742015-02-02T22:08:00.000-08:002015-02-06T00:47:41.670-08:00Song Sparrow and a Carpet of Greens
Our song sparrow is back! We heard it's unmistakable song for the first time yesterday and again today. In 2013 I noted in a notebook that I heard it the first week of February. This is a video posted by someone else on Youtube of its sweet song announcing the coming of Spring!
The maps of its habitat shows that they are a year round resident here so maybe it is like the Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-69675945968975242532014-12-31T11:29:00.000-08:002015-03-18T11:29:47.004-07:00New Year's Eve Snowfall in OC
The beautiful sight Orange County woke up to on New Year's Eve! This picture was taken in the afternoon so much of the snow had melted already. Pictures of friends' kids playing in the snow abounded on social media that day. What a great way to end the year.
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-47954843050181378492014-10-11T02:16:00.001-07:002014-10-11T02:16:21.218-07:00House fly
My daughter dissected a house fly for a microscope lab so I thought I'd post the pictures here - these are 'officially' pictures of a fly found in OC so they fit the topic here. Here is its eye:
Wing
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And this I did not know, flies can walk on the ceiling because of these sticky pads on the ends of their legs. They 'stick' to the walls, not cling to them as I Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-52132221384879564812014-10-11T02:07:00.000-07:002014-12-30T02:34:36.230-08:00Post summer recap 2014
Conditions have been extreme this year - extreme drought conditions and heat have brought on multiple fires. On Sept. 12th Silverado Canyon burned again;1600 acres was the last I heard. Kings fire in the Sierra Nevadas burned over 75,000 acres shortly after - just massive.
Eastern Pacific hurricanes have come on, one after the other this year - I think it was Norbert, then Mary, Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-43962763923710070852014-07-06T01:05:00.000-07:002015-04-10T21:21:10.837-07:00Monarch
The kids found this monarch on the cement path in front of our home this morning. They don't typically land on the ground so they went to look at it wondering if it was a newly emerged butterfly still learning to fly. It turned out to be injured under its wing. They thought maybe a bird tried to eat it and asked me "Do you like birds or butterflies better? Because birds eat butterflies." As if Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-21247871457564767352014-06-22T03:08:00.000-07:002014-06-27T03:09:14.765-07:00Mollusc eggs?
This is a mystery find on the kelp (red fringe?) at Strands. From pictures, it looks like it may be some kind of mollusc eggs. Do you know? If you look very closely, you'll see each white strand consists of many tiny little eggs within it.
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-43894850553999117942014-06-05T02:47:00.000-07:002014-06-27T02:56:36.831-07:00Miniature gooseneck barnacles
A quick walk down to the point at Strands where all the beached kelp seems to pool, I found a clump with these little white geometric creatures on them. I am amazed at the number of nursery creatures we discover on the kelp here.
Looking closer I could tell they were gooseneck barnacles because of their "neck" or stalk. These are talked about in Pagoo.
Look closely, you Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-61382779163173669132014-05-25T02:31:00.000-07:002014-06-27T02:41:05.937-07:00Brittle stars and orange eggs
We found this giant kelp holdfast washed up on the beach today.
Look closely, can you see anything?
There are brittle star tentacles. There were literally hundreds of brittle stars within this one clump of kelp. And I noticed an orange substance on my hands after I touched it. I'm pretty certain they were eggs. You can see them, orange in color, on the stems (stipes?) in the Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-36173261044032085652014-05-12T14:35:00.000-07:002014-05-12T14:36:13.171-07:00Pressed Flower Notebook
A few weeks ago a friend asked if I knew that Emily Dickinson had kept a large collection of pressed flowers and plants. I didn't know. You can read more about it and see actual pages of her books here.
I bought a flower press last year after another friend shared hers with us one day. Leafing through pages of perfectly pressed flowers inspired me to want to do the same, and hearing Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-61970841016331877512014-04-26T23:42:00.000-07:002014-06-05T23:52:25.901-07:00Monarchs in our April garden
Two of our milkweed plants from last year survived in pots and today a Monarch laid eggs on the undersides of the flower bud clusters and leaves.
Here's a picture of a newborn, fresh from its egg, ten days later.
We bought two kinds of milkweed last year to try and provide enough food for the ravenous caterpillars, but $60 of milkweed later, it still wasn't enough. We doNaomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-36860720680165855882014-04-17T23:00:00.000-07:002014-06-06T00:31:09.372-07:00Flowers on Homestead Hoffman Trail, O'Neill Regional Park
We hiked along Homestead Hoffman trail in O'Neill Regional Park, a trail with a lot of poison oak, but worth the trouble if you can manage to avoid it. It's one of the cooler trails covered by oaks and vegetation, but less remote since it runs parallel to the road most of the way.
You never know what you're going to find on the underside of a leaf. This looked like an interesting Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-580418329127733652014-04-11T01:02:00.002-07:002014-04-11T02:57:17.121-07:00Kelp fly hoards, molluscs and bryozoa at Strands
The weather has been in the 80s so instead of the mountains we went to the beach. It was actually much cooler today with a marine layer cover that stuck around all day. Impossible to avoid were hoards of kelp flies. As you can see in the pictures below, they were all over everything and made it pretty uncomfortable for a while until we just got used to them.
We found this beautiful Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-37973299669338182582014-03-28T01:22:00.000-07:002014-03-28T01:22:33.000-07:00Wildflowers on Edna Spaulding
Here are some wildflowers we found on Edna Spaulding today.
Blue dicks (dichelostemma capitatum)
All 3 colors of California Buckwheat (Erigonum fasciculatum)
Parasitic dodder abounds along the trailsides. I remember my kids trying to remove it to save a plant :)
Dodder, a.k.a. witches hair (Cuscuta)
Our Lord's Candle (hesperoyucca whipplei)
The flowers dangle like lanterns. Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-55303937926221167532014-03-20T01:03:00.000-07:002014-03-28T01:11:25.250-07:00Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwings are one of the most amazing looking birds we have here in OC. I never realized how common they are until I learned their call and how they fly in groups. It sounded to me like a kitten mewing, but the bird looks more like an avengers superhero with its black mask and slicked back crest. Maybe it and the yellowthroat should get their own tv series ;-p
You can hear its mewing Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-63391158749736188092014-03-20T00:51:00.000-07:002014-03-28T00:55:04.607-07:00Tree Swallow
Tree swallows have returned to San Joaquin for a few weeks now. We didn't see any eggs, but saw nesting activity and watched, rather close, as they flew into their nest box, hardly bothered by the presence of loud children nearby.
Here is a video (not mine) of one sitting on its nest box at San Joaquin. Look at its glorious blue coloring, and not a thought of its own beauty.
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-47450140718930297102014-03-05T00:30:00.000-08:002014-03-28T00:38:34.861-07:00Downpour and first wildflowers
Even with the heavy rains we received at the end of February this year, we are still only at about 1/3 of the average rainfall totals for this time of year according to OC Watershed data.
These Altocumulus? Cirrocumulus? clouds reflect a beautiful sunset on March 3rd shortly after the rains.
One lonely, but gorgeous bunch of poppies, "copa de oro" popped up at Aliso & Woods Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-6578729154776094192014-02-28T02:58:00.000-08:002014-02-28T02:58:13.216-08:0023 birds, wasp nests, and insects at San Joaquin
A big rain is on its way they say. Wind, thunder, and I read somewhere they are expecting the biggest rainfall in 3 years! Very exciting news for a drought stricken land; more so for a person who has been waiting patiently for years to see vernal pools fill. I don't think my 2 year old has ever experienced a thunderstorm, imagine that.
We set out to explore San Joaquin today. Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-85785126818628026532014-02-17T00:21:00.000-08:002014-02-17T00:21:03.341-08:00Tumbleweed on Harding Truck Trail off Modjeska CanyonRight across from Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary is the trailhead for Harding Truck Trail. It's a steep, hot trail with beautiful views that eventually leads to the highest peak in Orange County - Santiago Peak with an elevation of 5,687 feet. The 2007 Santiago fire burned portions of this trail and as we hiked along we could see remnants of burnt trees frozen Pompeii-ishly along the hillsides.
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662767310920348130.post-18445817903737108272014-02-15T23:51:00.000-08:002014-02-17T00:31:39.349-08:00Wildflowers at Caspers
A short trek up Ortega Highway, just past the Tree of Life Nursery is Caspers Wilderness Park. It's a nice place off the beaten track, less than ten minutes past Ladera Ranch.
Although we're in our third year of drought, wildflowers can be found if you're really looking for them.
blue eyed grass (sisyrinchium)
A very sorry looking filaree - an invasive plant.
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04725083231063968124noreply@blogger.com0