Monday by Gilson Creek, Part 3

 The title of today's post is slightly misleading as none of the photos were taken near Gilson Creek.  However, when I parted with my guests after hiking to Gilson Creek and back with them, I scouted an area near Berry Creek on my way home.  I know I'd be accompanied by the same people on today's hike to Berry Creek, and I wanted to check on the status of certain plants in that area.  I found that the Leopard Lilies, Self-heal, St. John's Wort, Crimson Columbine, and several other notables were all doing fine, and there were a few small trout in the creek.  As a brief side trip, we were going to check on the area where the Mountain Lady's Slipper bloomed a few weeks ago.  I knew they would be wilted, but I found that the remnants of the blossoms combined with the well-developed seed pods were still a good photo subject.

 Likewise, another orchid, the Spotted Coralroot, had totally gone to seed and their seed pods made a nice subject.  Today my guests vowed to come back to this area when the orchids are blooming.  It's an exciting little micro-habitat beneath some very tall Douglas-firs.

 The Douglas's Spiraea is one of the hardiest and longest-blooming flowers around Oakland Camp, and it is now hosting lots of exciting insect and spider activity.  In fact,m last week, when I didn't have my camera with me, a group of campers and I saw a Goldenrod Crab Spider feasting on a large Bumblebee several times larger than itself.

 On the way home, along Chandler Road, the Teasel are beginning to mature and I stopped for a few photos.

 The weed eaters that passed by this area two weeks ago only mowed a five-foot-wide path, so another zone at least five feet wide remains between the mowing and the barbed wire fence.  Thus, not all my botanical adventures were destroyed.  There will be a couple more months of botanical adventure here so long as no one decides to mow right up to the fence.  These weedy zones are very important to wildlife.

This Just In....

 I was getting too sleepy to post Part 3 of yesterday's Gilson Creek hike and begin to post today's Tollgate Creek adventure when my son Greg sent me these two photos from the FRC campus.  At home in downtown Quincy I just got a couple of hail stones and some thunder with barely a sprinkle.  We did experience a sudden drop in temperature, and the clouds made it seem much later than usual.

I've never seen hail of such varied sizes in a single storm.  There must be complicated things going on in the atmosphere.  I can hardly wait to check out the status of the three creeks where I hike at Oakland Camp.  If Mt. Hough got significant rain, then all three creeks should rise.  That's Berry Creek, Tollgate Creek, and Gilson Creek.  And the net effect should cause a noticeable rise in Spanish Creek.  I hope this brief storm will extend the season for wildflowers and their pollinators.

Yesterday by Gilson Creek, Part 2

 When my guests and I arrived at Gilson Creek yesterday, I only photographed the California Sister Butterfly.  I had already photographed the many species of flowers that were blooming, so I concentrated on chatting with my guests about those flowers, where the creek came from and where it was going among other topics.  But, on the way back to camp, we walked through a field that is a center of bug activity and I couldn't resist being a photographer again.  My guests had their own binoculars, so they were not feeling ignored.  The first stop was a dense patch of Narrow-leafed Milkweeds.  The visitor on the one above is a Spotted Assassin Bug. On the one pictured below there were lots of very active Common Checkered Clerid beetles. There were constant take-offs, landings, and mountings.  There should be plenty of Checkered Clerids again next year.

 The Clerids also land often on the Showy Milkweed, as the next two photos indicate.

 When I came in this close, I was worried they'd accuse me of working for the NSA. 

 On this Ox-eye Daisy, I saw some very tiny black beetles that were scrambling around with some sort of plan.

 Ah, this looks like the plan.  Two's company, three's a crowd.  The one on the left took off right away, realizing he lost his chance.

 I believe this striking bug is the Spotted Assassin Bug.  I saw them on many different plants including the milkweed in the top photo, but I couldn't tell which plants, if any, it was feeding on or just resting.

 Another view of the Assassin Bug, but this time with another flying insect in the upper right hand corner.

I'm hoping that the light rains we got this afternoon and are forecast for tomorrow will extend the time of flowering and bug mating so next week's campers and possibly a few more week's will be able to enjoy these sights.  Living here year 'round, I've come to enjoy all the seasons, but in late summer when most flowers have gone to seed and many insects have laid their eggs and ended their annual cycles, it is more difficult to identify the beauty of nature in a convincing way.  I've led some nature hikes entirely devoted to the subjects of seeds and berries, but people are generally looking for bright colors.  The arrival of "fall colors" is an easy sell, especially when the Indian Rhubarb, AKA Umbrella Plant, turns bright red.  A walk through Oakland Camp and beyond down Spanish Creek in late October can be quite spectacular. 

Yesterday by Gilson Creek, Part 1

 I think I took all these on yesterday's hike to Gilson Creek with a couple from Oakland.  The top photo is of a Small Milkweed bug on a rather wilted cluster of Showy Milkweed,  This bug is known by entomologists as a "true" bug, in the Order Hemiptera, as opposed to beetles and other types of bugs as the term is used more generically.  In some writings the word bug applies to spiders and even snails and leeches.  In a post last week I included some photos of this bug mating. 

 A beautiful flower on the sides of the road to Gilson Creek is the Scarlet Gilia.  Often covered with road dust, I sometimes bring along a mister or flick a little water from my water bottle in order to get a better photo.  In this case, the plants were just far enough off the road to be free of dust.

 Another view of the Scarlet Gilia.

 The first species of milkweed to bloom and also the first to go to seed is the Purple Milkweed or Heart-leaved Milkweed, Asclepias cordifolia.  Soon these will be attracting masses of bright yellow aphids.  The color of the aphids is quite dramatic against the purple of the plant.  Then later still the pods dry and crack open releasing seeds that can be air-borne for many miles.

 There is lots of Pennyroyal blooming around camp these days, and it is attracting many kinds of insects, the most dramatic of which is the Carpenter Bee.  I'm eagerly awaiting the return of the Red-shouldered Ctenucha Moth.  I might have seen a couple today around Tollgate Creek, but they didn't sit still long enough for me to confirm their identity.

 Here's another photo of the Small Milkweed Bug, but this time on the Narrow-leafed Milkweed. 

 When we approach the wet sand near Gilson Creek, we see this sort of scene.  Sometimes there are hundreds of butterflies of several species constantly fluttering around, landing, and taking off.  When they land, they often hold their wings together over their backs.  Since the undersides of wings of most species are of "earth" colors, they blend well with the wet sand.  For instance, can you spot the California Sister in this photo?  Try clicking on the photo for a closer view.  The butterfly is in the center.

 Once they land, they may continually open and close the wings, maybe a sort of air conditioning.  I'm not sure.  But it can be tricky to try to click the shutter while the wings are open.  Note how the orange patches at the ends of the fore wings have black borders on the far edges.  A very similar-looking species, the Lorquin's Admiral, lacks the black borders so the orange goes all the way to the tips.  The difference can be difficult to notice unless the butterflies sit still for a while, or reside on an entomologist's pins.

A beautiful, small lily hidden among the taller grasses and milkweeds is the Harvest Brodiaea.  In wetter areas at lower elevations this plant can grow 2 to 3 feet tall, but in this dry area a quarter mile shy of Gilson Creek, they are mostly around 6 inches tall.

Overheated Brain?

 My report about last Thursday's adventures (6/27/13) included only four photos and I called it a preview.  In the five days that have passed since then we're gone from cool weather following a brief rainstorm to an outright heat wave.  It reached 109 degrees today in the Quincy area.  So, maybe I can blame my overheated brain for a few disorganized posts.  Here I have assembled a few more photos from last Thursday, but it's entirely possible that one or two of these were taken on the following days, but not today.  So, my posts of any hikes taken on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday might be a bit scrambled.  Then, my posts on yesterday's (Monday, 7/1) hike and today's are fresh memories, so I'll be back on track.

So, back to Thursday.  The rather inert Bumblebee resting on a Chickory blossom was photographed early Thursday morning near the Evening Primrose in the ditch in front of Safeway.  Most of the bugs hadn't yet woken up so the photography was easy.  I even picked up this Bumblebee and placed it on another flower without getting stung.

 Near the same ditch, the California Poppies hadn't yet opened up for the day.  When I drive by the same spot each afternoon, the poppies are fully opened and the Evening Primrose, among others, have closed for the day.  I love watching these daily cycles.  Makes me feel like I'm participating in natural rhythms rather than always trying to override them with light bulbs, AC, and other nature-cancelling devices.

 The stereotypical Dandelion seed ball is a dry, fluffy thing, awaiting disturbance so it can send its seeds onto people's lawns while provided delight to children.  On this particular dewy morning, I found this damp Dandelion intriguing.

 On the way into camp, I stopped by what is left of a once-large patch of Indian Hemp.  This plant is actually a dogbane and has now been combined with the milkweeds into a single family, the Apocynaceae.  The fibrous stems are a staple of Indian basket weaving.  They also happen to be amazing "bug magnets."  My favorite sighting in this spot was a Thread-waisted Wasp enjoying the nectar.  The Indian Hemp has just begun to bloom this season so the insect riot hasn't yet begun.  The close-up below shows the tiny, bell-like flowers and the sleek leaves.

 Also along the road into camp the Fireweed has begun to bloom.  The first photo was taken from about 3 feet away, then I zoomed in for a better look at the flowers which are in the same family as the Evening Primrose.  The Fireweeds along this road average 5 to 7 feet tall and are mostly growing on the right hand side of the road above the ditch.

 We have several thistles in the area and this Snowy Thistle literally shines as the bright red seems brighter than possible against the silvery white of the body of the plant.  Sometimes the Goldenrod Crab Spider will hang out on these blossoms, usually in its white phase, looking like a small white flower against the red.

 Finally, like a preview of several days of outstanding bug sightings, this Velvet Ant, which is actually a wasp, ran across the road in front of us.  It had probably sat in the sun for a while as it was very hyper and would not sit still for a photo.  If you click on it for a close-up you will find it slightly blurry.

Beware the Weedeaaters!

I titled this photo "Quincy Landscaping."  The occasion?  Scroll back to my June 24 post titled "Reflections on a Cloudy Day," and you will see how much I love the Red Milkweed Beetle. I took those photos on Sunday, June 23, and yesterday I went back to the same spot to check on my beetles.  Well, the weedeaters had arrived and decimated the milkweeds and any beetles that weren't quick enough to take flight.  Why?  Presumably in preparation for the High Sierra Music Festival that moves in later this week.  The above photo was taken on what was one of my favorite wildflower and bug watching spots along the Oakland Camp Road.  This stretch was given the weedeater treatment over a week ago, allegedly in response to an auto accident that was blamed on lack of visibility.  Nonsense!  People drive too fast on the road, and if visibility is improved they'll just drive faster.  Get out of your damned car and smell the bugs!

But it's not evening!

 I stopped by the ditch in front of Safeway around 6:45 a.m. to photograph the Hooker's Evening Primrose.  Interesting how in the afternoon and evening the blossoms shrivel up so thoroughly that you can hardly spot them from the road.  But in the morning, they are in full bloom and it lasts almost until noon, or on cloudy days maybe a little after noon.  So, why is it called Evening Primrose?

A little while later I photographed blooming Fireweed on the road into Oakland Camp.  It's in the same family as the Primrose, and it too is in full bloom in the morning.    I'll post the rest of my morning photos after dinner.  Hiked with some campers out to Gilson Creek and back to camp.  It got pretty hot, so we did all our philosophizing in the shady spots  between flower and bug sightings.  It was a great day for Milkweeds.  Four out of five species blooming and the fifth one already gone to seed.  All are attracting interesting bug activity.  More later.