It's Epiphyllum Season

Yellow Epiphyllum in the back yard, San Diego, California.

Seal Nap

Harbor Seal Napping on the beach. If there is one thing seals and sea lions like to do, it's nap. This seal is no exception!

Mutant Ninja Squirrel!

Mutant Ninja Squirrel in motion! California Ground Squirrel, Santa Rosa Plateau, California. Have you ever noticed how amazing, unnoticed details show up when you review your pictures on the computer? I snapped this photo way back in March. This was just a CA ground squirrel back then. On closer examination, I found that the little guy has a forked tail! Now squirrels appear to communicate both through their chirps and through active tail shaking. So, does a forked tail work any better? More intimidating perhaps? This guy was rushing off to confront another squirrel competing for the territory so perhaps...hmmm...beware squirrel who speaks with forked tail?! (If you didn't get the joke/slash reference to early American history, never mind...).

Swallowtail Butterfly Browsing for Food

Unidentified Swallowtail Butterfly browsing for nectar.

Coots in Motion

Coots taking a running start to get up in the air... Mission Bay, CA.

A quick picture for you all and then back to studying for finals...

Surfing

Nice ride on a nice wave, Sunset Beach, Hawaii.

Baby Elephants Hugging?

Two baby elephants at play. The little one kept trying to get up on the bigger one's head! The bigger one very patiently endured the abuse... They spent a lot of time following each other around and seemed to be really attached to each other.

Natural Beauty: a Passing Red and Black Butterfly

Red and Black butterfly pausing on a leaf...

Enjoying San Diego

A couple out enjoying the San Diego outdoors, Mission Bay. The couple that jet skis together stays together, right?

Sealion or Seal?

California Sea Lion pup, Zalophus californianus. So, how do you tell sea lion from seal? Sea lions have ears and walk on their flippers like awkward feet. Their flippers will angle downwards and support their weight. Seans rear flippers go straight back and their front flippers off to the side. Hence seals tend to undulate along the sand/ground rather than use their flippers for land propuslsion. Oh, and for you snugglers out there, sea lions like to snuggle one atop the other while seals almost always lie alone even in the midst of a colony.

Exercise for tomorrow: just for fun, go out, take a stroll and turn off all the labels and pretend like you're seeing everything for the first time. Touch the leaves and feel their coolness and texture. Feel the roughness of tree bark. Run your bar toes through the grass. Stop and look at the cool colors and shapes of bugs and lizards. Look at leaves and flowers really close and see the amazing structures that make them work. It's really fun to do every now and then just to remind you of the wonderful things around us that we normally zip by and take for granted.

Is Nature Wilder Than Fiction?

Fig Leaf with backlighting. I love the way the light plays along the veins like pulses of light coursing along an information highway. Who's to say fig leaves aren't exciting? ;-P

Octopus Sunday

Octopus, Honolulu, Hawaii. This little octopus is putting up quite a stare.

The Great Eggfly Butterfly

Great Eggfly, Hypolimnas bolina. These are found in Southern Asia, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. I suspect they received the rather unflattering name for their large egg-shaped spots on the wings. They are found in lightly wooded deciduous habitat.

Random Flowers from Mom's

Red flowers at Mom's. Mom's had this little shrub for years. I've no idea what it is but it is always blooming for Christmas and makes quite a show of it. The yard is still a little botanical garden after all these years.

All Puffed Up.

Puffin flexing his wings...

PIneapple

Pineapple, Foster Botanic Gardens, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Weedy Sea Dragon

Weedy Sea Dragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. These little guys have evolved to match the seaweed they live in. They are native to the Southern reefs of Australia.

Surf Sunset

Surfing Sunset Beach.

Eye Spot

Eye spot on the wing of a butterfly! Ever notice the tiny, reflective scales that make up a butterfly wing? These are arranged to look like a large eye to scare off hungry birds.

Mammilaria

Mammillaria species blooming in the back yard.