The cheetahs were out at the Wild Animal Park. It was a cool, drizzly day and that suited them just fine. Ironically, the keeper was in the pen with them yacking away about Cheetahs, their lack of genetic diversity and other topics. Would you get in a cage with not one but three Cheetahs? He barely seemed to be mindful of them being there. But wait, is that a cheetah scratch on his cheek?
Have you ever had one of those grouchy days when you just wish everyone would leave you alone? This American Coot, Fulica americana, is certainly having one! I spotted a female with eggs in a nearby papyrus clump and the male may have been acting territorial around the nest. Whatver the case, he was chasing all comers!
Happy Palm Sunday! It's a beautiful sunny day outside here in San Diego (if a bit nippy). It was hailing something awful last night but you wouldn't know it from today's sunshine. The hail was coming down so hard I was wondering if it was going to come through the skylight. I have pictures but it's just the pea sized stuff. Maybe I'll throw up a picture for the next posting.
Meanwhile, the ducklings are out! Yay!!! They are always so adorable. These two were following mom in drinking from the pond. I'm not sure what species they are since most of my books key off of Dad, not Mom and especially not the babies. Mom had a brown head with a white bar just up from the beak and a white bar between the head and the neck. Below the neck she looked kind of like a teal with a patch of purple feather on the wingtip (see picture above!). Suggestions are welcome.
I'm off to enjoy my Sunday! Have a good one.
Blue Morpho Butterfly, Morpho peliedes, perched on a leaf. It's tough getting shots with their wings open as they seem to largely keep them closed for camoflage when they perch.
This is a photo of Paphiopedilum var. album 'Arnie'. Paphiopedilum is an Asiatic species of slipper orchids. In North America and Europe, we have Cyprepedium and in South America, Selenepedium and Phragmipedium. As noted by the name, this is an albino form of the normally stunningly colorful Paph. haynaldianum with its greens, vibrant magenta and chestnut browns. It normally hails from the Philippines. The seed on this takes around a year to mature and the alba varieties of this species self-pollinate.
It's Springtime, the flowers are blooming and the Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens, is back (and with a girlfriend, I might add)! Scrub Jays are a member of the crow family and frequent brushy areas and chaparral, which I happen to have in my back yard. They are rumored to tame and get quite used to people although the pair in my back yard are pretty shy. This picture was taken with a 500mm lens.
A Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, stands guard near its nest. It occasionally would lift a wing as if it was broken in a disply meant to lure off predators. It is so named for its noisy nesting behavior (why would you want to make noise when you are nesting anyhow?). This picture was taken at Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve.
Poor Mr. Badger looked so sad I decided to take his picture as kind of a badger memorial. Mr. Badger, you see, was part of a stuffed exhibit at the nature center at the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve. I would guess he was donated or perhaps confiscated. Hard to say really. In any case, let this be his little badger memorial of happier times in the meadow at the ecological preserve.
Coyotes get around. However, by my house, they only seem to come out at dusk or at night. However, at the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve, this large coyote was wandering around in daylight. Admittedly, it was around 5pm so perhaps he was just getting a head start. He was marking the territory and howling without so much as a flinch at the people staring at him.
The alpine meadows at the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve were full of Chocolate Lillies and Shooting Star, Dodecatheon clevelandi as well as a whole host of other wildflowers. It was quite a sight. There was also a lot of variation from plant to plant which was fun to speculate about.
Here is a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, tending her nest just outside the Anza Borrego Wildlife Preserve Guest Center. I saw her hopping around and followed her back to her nest for the photograph. I didn't see the babies pop up in spite of all the fussing she was doing around the nest. Perhaps she was still in construction? However, if they were in there, they're pretty well protected up there in that very spiny cactus.
Chinch Weed, Pectis papposa,blooming along the roadside near my office. It was growing in a carpet among the grasses, turning the hillside yellow.
Here's a close-up of the Lupine growing along Highway 805. They have a whole big patch of it growing making a very dramatic display.
I hauled the Nikon to work to get a picture of the lupine. While hiking down the hill, I saw this Red Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, swooping down after some prey. They are fast and amazingly attractive with their patterned tails and red shouldered wings.
Spring is really gorgeous in San Diego. Highway maintenance has planted all sorts of amazing flowers that just light up in Spring. There are huge swaths of California poppies and even bigger stretches of purple ice plant. This patch has a beautiful mix of Lupine and California Poppies. I used my little pocket camera but it's nice enough that I may need to haul the Nikon to work with me tomorrow (heavy bulky thing that it is...). Stay tuned.
The desert is alive in wildflowers right now. We've had an extremely wet Winter/Spring and everything is blooming. Wow. Miles of sand was just covered with purple, yellow and white flowers. It's a few weeks of glory and then it all disappears but what a sight! Shown here is Coyote Canyon near Anza Borrego. The flowers were growing all along the road and extended up to the hills. Coyote Canyon has one of the few springs that is active all year round and hosts a herd of Big Horn Sheep as well. In the foreground is Dune Evening Primrose, Oenothera deltoides and Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa (purple).
I just finished a major draft of my paper. I know, what a boring, dull way to spend a Saturday. Here's a picture of a flowering plum (I think...) that I caught with the sun highlighting the rain drops last weekend. Spring is here. The desert is in bloom as well. I may have to take a study break for a desert tiki-tour. Laters...
Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, stretching his wings. Or, maybe he was thinking of flying away. Either way, it was a funky pose. They are beautiful though, aren't they?
Here's an Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus, showing us some wing. Perhaps he was enjoying a little sun on an otherwise cool and cloudy day.
Hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil! Well, this swamp monkey is seeing no evil anyhow. They are the most expressive, human-like creatures!
Blue Crowned Hanging Parrot, Loriculus galgulus. Cute little guy, huh? These cute little guys are from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo and are very fond of fruit.
Those herons get around don't they? Into your koi pond for a little sushi? Into your lilly pond for a little frog? On top of your lamp post? Hahah! This Great Blue Heron was enjoying his vantage point. This is a mature one with awesome neck plumage!
Peacock, Peafowl, whatever you call them, they sure do glisten under a good flash. Especially the pearlescent feathers on their head! It was rainy on Sunday so I was snapping with my flash.
Clearly, a little barbed wire was not enough to scare off this Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta. Nor was it enough to keep him from singing a wonderful melodious tune. Not even my passing by with my huge telephoto was enough to phase this Meadowlark. I have heard them for years but, ironically, this is the first one that was audacious enough to pose in plain view for a snapshot. What a sight indeed.
Do you ever dream of flying? Wake up in the middle of a dream of soaring through the sky? Either way, birds make it look so easy. CA Brown Pelican coming in for a landing here.
Even ducks have hissy days. Here are two Blue-Winged Teals, Anas discors, having a hissy (literally). They are discernable by that telltale white crescent on their face. Blue-Winged Teals Summer in Canada through the Southern U.S. and range all the way down to Argentina for the Winter. This one was at the Mission River Preserve.
A posting or two back, I promised a picture of an American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana. Well, here he is showing his lighter Winter colors. I had been pondering why their beaks are upturned so I did a little digging and found my answer. They use the base of their beak to stir up the mud and the little crustaceans which they prey upon. They also have a predilection for Brine Shrimp in the Great Salt Lake although they are more likely feeding on little amphipods in San Diego. Oh, and in case your Latin is a little rusty, Recurvirostra refers to the upturned (recurvi) nose (rostra/rostrum).
This is Clowesia Grace Dunn, a hybrid that strongly resembles its Clowesia rosea parent. Clowesia rosea is a sturdy, drought tolerant, bulbous orchid from Michoacan and Oaxaca, Mexico. It certainly made a stunning display.
I saw these Pelicans in a huge formation flying over Imperial Beach. The California Brown Pelican used to be endangered. DDT was causing their eggs to crack. However, they are now a success story species recovery and for a regulatory change that banned DDT. They are now one of the few species successfully being taken off of the endangered species list!
I saw this Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, at the Mission River preserve today. The ducks were out in force as they typically are during low tide. The seagulls were busy dropping clams on the pavement as well. Also, I finally saw an Avocet. It had me wondering how it helps gather food by having an upturned beak. It's fun being on the migratory route of so many birds.
Imperial beach was empty today. There were some nice waves and only two surfers along the entire beach. It was a tad cold but if you don't like competing for waves, it doesn't get any better.
They have nesting Burrowing Owls, Athene cunicularia, at the Tijuana Estuary Preserve. They are on the inside of the airbase fence so you can only see them from a distance (perhaps 150 feet?). I walked right by the first time. Somebody told me about the tiny little yellow signs the second time and, voila, there they were. It is ironic that the signs are covered with bird poop. I suspect it isn't owl poop either.
They range throughout North and South America and are threatened through most of their range by habitat loss. These owls were far enough away that I could barely see them with the naked eye. Thus, these pictures are the best I could do with my 500mm lens from the fence. I think I'll have to settle for seeing the burrowing owls at the Wild Animal Park if I want to see any up close.
I saw this tiny little female hummingbird at the Tijuana Estuary the other day. After much staring at pictures and gnashing of teeth, I decided that it was probably a female Caliope Hummingbird, Stellula calliope. It was decidedly smaller than the other hummingbirds in the area (Anna's hummingbirds) and quite photogenic.
This charming little bird would perch on the wire fence just about 20 feet. As I walked toward him, he would move a little further down the fence, as if I were playing tag. He was spotted at the Tijuana Estuary Preserve. I looked him up in "Birds of San Diego County," by Philip Unitt (which just showed up in the mail today). He is a Say's Phoebe, Sayornis Saya. It says these little guys are a fairly common Winter visitor on the coastal slope. The rest of the year they are found in open agricultural land, grassland, chaparral and desert scrub. They have been known to breed in the Anza Borrego Desert.
I saw this blooming on the edge of the bog the other day. The flower structure suggests that it is in the Hibiscus family but I'm open to suggestions. Anybody want to take a stab at it? Maybe you have a copy of Hibiscus of the World lying on your bookshelf? Either way, it was pretty so I snapped a quick picture. Besides, it posed better than those tiny burrowing ground owls I was trying to get a picture of.
Much thanks to our anonymous commenter who came to the rescue and provided the name: Lavatera assurgentiflora.
This Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, was singing up a storm. He responded readily to fake calls and was perched in a large bush on the edge of the wetland area in the Tijuana Estuary Preserve.
Just for fun, here's a closeup of that Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum.
Here's one for you budding entomologists. I found this Variegated Meadowhawk (dragonfly), Sympetrum corruptum, perched above a bog in the Tijuana estuary. Much thanks to Kathy Biggs for the identification. This was the only dragonfly that I saw all day.
Sophronitis coccinea is in the parentage of many of today's red Cattleya hybrids. It is a diminutive plant of about 3 inches in height and grows in moist, cool cloud forests. It is tough for many people to grow because of the requirement for cool moist conditions while its hybrids are much more vigorous.
They are having an orchid show at the Newport Beach Fairgrounds this weekend. This is a photo of Pleurothallis gargantua. Many of the familiar pleurothallids are tiny, perhaps not more than an inch tall. However, this one, as denoted by the name gargantua, is perhaps two feet tall with these very exotic flowers in the center of the leaves.
A ghost crab peeks up from his burrow. This was taken out on a beach near Chinaman's hat (now renamed to something in Hawaiian last I saw...so much for being PC) on Oahu. You see lots of these little guys running along the sand at night scavenging the beach.
There is a "boardwalk" along Waikiki Beach. Along the boardwalk there is a small shelter with tables for chess and checkers. Sometimes there are people playing the ukelele. Sometimes there are people singing old songs. Sometimes there is a guy playing the violin. He was decent and had a few people listing. Mostly, I think he just enjoyed the company. Company is good. Sometimes a little company is all the doctor calls for.
Many people have seen Diamond Head or at least pictures of Diamond Head, typically as viewed from Waikiki. In those pictures, Diamond head looks like a long, low ridge. Well, it's not. Diamond Head is a cinder cone (as you would expect) and is really quite circular as this picture, taken from the top of Diamond Head, easily shows.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of having a Giant Grouper looking down at you. Glad that people are not normally grouper food. Wow, look at those teeth, too.
Wrasses have the scariest teeth, don't they? I believe they live on shrimp and small crustaceans although I have seen them tear apart a sea urchin.
