Busted So Bad!

The Darling Dog has been at it again! He jumps from the floor to the chair to the table to the glass stove top, squeeks around the dish rack without falling, goes through two sinks and over the the counter under the microwave, taking out the trusty scrub sponge in the process. He is shown here with the last bit of the scrub sponge, having hid it for later retrieval. Sneaky thing...

Hot Pink

Cymbidium Plum Passion 'Etsuko', Torrance Orchid Show. It's the season for orchid shows. There were lots of huge, well grown Cymbidiums at the Torrance Orchid Show. This one was a bright pink that jumps out and grabs you.

Dendrobium speciosum

Dendrobium speciosum var. curvicaule 'Bee Creek' X Dendrobium speciosum var. grandiflorum 'Kroombit Gold'. This is blooming in my living room right now.

If you know Dendrobium speciosum, you know that they get really large (a.k.a. washing machine large) and put up an amazing display of white to yellow flowers that are uber-fragrant. Simply amazing. This species originally hails from southeastern Queensland Australia where it grows both as an epiphyte on trees in rainforests or as a lithophyte on rocks at elevations of 300 to 1800 feet. Notably, both of the parent varieties have been moved to specific status by some taxonomists. They would, in some circles, be referred to as Den. curvicaule and Den. rex, respectively.

Best in Show!

Dendrobium Nagasaki [=Den. moniliforme x Den. Sagimusume], Torrance Orchid Show. This won best in show at the Torrance Orchid Show. It also won an HCC/AOS (highly commendable certificate) and an award of cultural excellence.

Nemo

Amphiprion percula, a.k.a. Clownfish. Nice dark color varieties are being line bred instead of wild caught.

Apparently, Amphiprion percula larvae are drawn to specific anemones, Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla gigantea, through chemical cues released from the anemones which will act as protection for the fish as the fish acts to feed and clean the anemone. Cool huh?

Twisty, Curvy Fun

Mormodes hyb. Yes, these are orchids. They come from South and Central America and come in all sorts of lurid colors, stripes and spots.

Banded Pipefish

Banded Pipefish, Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus. These little guys live on live copepods and can be finicky eaters in the aquarium. However, they are otherwise unassuming and will breed regularly.

Packed Like Sardines in a Can

School of Sardines, San Diego, California. Note that the name Sardine is actually a common name that applies to a rather large number of smallish schooling fish including the:
Rainbow sardine - Dussumieria acuta
Slender rainbow sardine - Dussumieria elopsoides
Slender white sardine - Escualosa elongata
White sardine - Escualosa thoracata
European pilchard (true sardine) Sardina pilchardus
Round sardinella (gilt sardine, Spanish sardine) Sardinella aurita Sardinella longiceps, Sardinella gibbosa (Indian sardines)
South American pilchard (Pacific sardine, California sardine, Chilean sardine, South African sardine) Sardinops sagax (Jenyns, 1842)
Dare I say I haven't bother to ID which one this is...

Duck Tails

Northern Pintail, Anas acuta. The Northern Pintails come South, some to San Diego, to Winter in warmer climates. Some ducks/geese dive for food (e.g., Scoters and Ruddy Ducks), some dip their heads into the water (Brant)...Pintails go bottoms up (okole maluna!) while they browse for water plants, seeds, snails and crustaceans in the muddy bottom. It's pretty fun to watch. Clearly not worried about being eaten...

Colored Dragons

Bearded Dragon, colored hybrids. Another beautiful line-bred bearded dragon! This one's on sale at Reptile World of San Diego. He could be yours if you hurry!

Protea Biology

Red Protea Hybrid, Leucospermum. A photo in indoor lighting of the latest addition to my back yard menagerie. Leucospermum flowers appear to actually be an aggregation of a cluster of tiny flowers.

The hairs probably have something to do with pollinator specificity. It appears that, when in active bloom, Leucospermum are pollinated by birds, sugarbirds and sunbirds who perch on the flower heads or the stems and probe into the flower head in search of nectar. However, the Leucospermum seeds have an elaiosome that attracts ants who carry the seeds away to their nests to consume the elaiosome while dispersing the seeds which eventually grow, particularly after fires. Thus, the hairs may keep the ants out while the plants are in active bloom but the elaiosome serves as an ant attractant to the withered flowers with mature seed.

On Barbed Wire

Common House Finches on Barbed Wire, Tijuana Slough Estuary Park. Clearly, the finches didn't mind the barbed wire. In fact, it's probably easier than some of those tree branches they squeeze into.

Split Rock

Pleiospilos nelii, Split Rock Plant. These hardly little clumping plants look just like stones until they bloom in glorious yellows and oranges. They are about two inches across and are native to South Africa. They prefer a dry spell during their Winter dormancy although this one is doing just fine on my back deck. They are hardy down to about 23F.

Honolulu

Honolulu from Ala Moana Beach Park. Sometimes you get the lighting just right. In this case, the setting sun had gone below the storm clouds, lighting up the beach and city in radiant light against the stormy backdrop.

The darker colored water is the reef that keeps the waves out of Ala Moana Beach, making it one of the favorite places for locals to swim. The turqoise blue water is the channel where there typically is a turtle or two swimming by. Those buildings are largely new, having been built in the last 10-20 years.

Coaching Crew

Coach and Crew Team, Fiesta Island. Notably the coach gets a motorboat! The crew team was out practicing and wasn't letting a little drizzle get in the way.

Electric Blue Peacock Cichlid

Electric Blue Peacock Cichlid, Sciaenochromis fryeri, Pet Kingdom. A really cool African cichlid from Pet Kingdom. The African cichlids come largely from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika and are some of the most brightly colored cichlids in the world (and unfortunately largely pretty aggressive).

Some Lake Tanganyika facts from our friends at Wikipedia: Lake Tanganyika is the second or third largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia, being divided between Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia. Click on the link to find out more!

Getting Cold Feet

Getting Cold Feet. Hoho, I wasn't putting my feet in there in the middle of Winter.

Getting Wet

Waterskiing, Fiesta Island, San Diego, California. A little drizzle didn't keep this waterskiing enthusiast at home. Why not anyhow, water is water right?

Fiesta

Playing catch at Fiesta Island dog park. It's been raining on and off today but not enough to stop us from getting a little exercise at the Fiesta Island Dog Park.

Handstands in the Sand

Handstand in the sand, Dog Beach. Wow. Real cool. I was feeling inspired so I looked up how to do a handstand. The wiki page makes it sound real easy although I'm not totally convinced. Here's what they said.