The Last Week of Camp

 When it gets this late in the summer, especially during a dry and hot one like we've had this year, I worry a little about whether my guided nature hikes will be interesting, especially to people who come from wetter areas like the coast where it's always green.  This is the last week of the 2013 season at Oakland Camp, and I wanted it to be good for the visitors.  Today nature didn't let me down.  It rarely does.  I had around 10 people on our walk to Berry Creek, but for me the excitement began in the men's room.  The sink had Silverfish visiting.  Living in the Sierra where summers are dry, the only place I see Silverfish is around sinks, bathtubs, and leaky faucets.  They like moisture and are mostly nocturnal.  The question that came to mind was Where did they live before people invented bathrooms and leaky faucets?  I occasionally see them beneath logs that still have moisture under them, but in a season as dry as this one the soil under most logs is bone dry.  I'm thinking that maybe these human-created habitats have allowed for an increase in the Silverfish population.  Hmmm....

 Earlier in the summer I was not seeing many moths in the restrooms; quite a difference from past summers when restrooms were great places for moth observation.  I figured it might have been due to an excessive use of cleaning chemicals.  Well, today there were a number of attractive moths.  Maybe the cleaning chemicals have worn away or evaporated.  Good!  I like moths better than cleaning chemicals.  The above photo is a typical moth position, but the one below reminds me of a high-speed, delta-wing aircraft getting ready to take off.

 The shower stalls in the rest rooms have windows covered with hardware cloth so the moth in the photo below couldn't get in, but it made for a more interesting photo.

 I finally tore myself away from the restroom expedition and led my group down the road toward Berry Creek.  Very few wildflowers still blooming, but we had a wonderful olfactory tour.  We sniffed Pennyroyal, Angelica, Mugwort, Sierra Mint, Horse Mint, Choke Cherry, Yarrow and Tansy.  Maybe a few others. Lots of fun comparing fragrances to common kitchen herbs.
The other highlight for most of the group, since they were from all over the country, was learning about our major tree species.  Then, when we got to Berry Creek, which is barely flowing, there were more flowers blooming.  The California Thistle has been common all summer, but this one was a landing pad for a Skipper which gave me the opportunity to talk about butterflies, moths, and skippers.  There's a slight difference between these last two photos. A slight difference in focus makes the Skipper the subject of one and the Thistle blossom the subject of the other.  Click each one for an enlargement in order to see this difference more clearly. 

Several of this morning's guests had cameras so we also enjoyed chatting about nature photography.  Berry Creek is barely flowing, but there were still some good-sized trout in the pool below the railroad tracks.  Tomorrow we explore Tollgate Creek which is still flowing well.

Because I Did Stop for Death....

 The plan was to lead a nature hike this morning and talk about life.  I brought my camera.  But, a brief stop at the gas station made me think about death.  When I saw this beautiful Pine Borer squished on a metal plate with her eggs and some of her innards lying off to the side, I thought of certain Emily Dickinson poems, particularly "Because I Could not Stop for Death."  I felt bad for the beetle, but even worse when some passersby seemed to mock my concern.  When I picked her up to move her out of the traffic pattern, her legs and antennae started moving.  I hoped her small brain wasn't capable of feeling much pain, or that maybe she was in shock and wouldn't feel anything before dying.  The image of someone purposely stomping on the beetle haunted me on my way to work.

I stopped by one of my standard Milkweed spots and saw that the Red Milkweed Beetles were gone.  They've probably already laid their eggs and died.  The seed pods looked good, and if I'd had time I would have taken more than these two photos.  I'll be back, though, because I love photographing the pods during their burst and catching some of the seeds when they are airborne.

 Then I spotted a large patch of Tansy without any bugs.  At least I didn't see any.  I don't very often photograph Tansy just to celebrate the beauty of Tansy.  It's always because of the bug guests, especially the Ambush Bug.  Well, you can click on this photo to enlarge it, and myabe you can find a bug or two.  I couldn't.

 Then I had to stop for death again.  I titled this photo "Human Intervention" because I felt bad that the fox was struck in a road.  The only obvious injury was to the hindquarters which meant it could have been a slow, painful death.  But maybe it was immediately in shock and didn't suffer much.

I prefer to remember her this way, so I titled the last photo "Rest in Peace."

MaRcHiNg To A dIfFeReNt DrUmMeR

I've been thinking.  Maybe too much.  Each time I get an email from LinkedIn, it seems that there are many, many strangers, and some acquaintances, who want to link with me.  The list grows very rapidly.  Then LinkedIn sends ads: if you upgrade in the following ways, and pay such and such a fee, blah, blah, blah....  The etiology of LinkedIn resembles that of a tumor.  If I spent time responding to each contact, that's all I'd be doing.  I found myself being analyzed.  I began to wonder why I got on board in the first place.  I did the same thing with Facebook a while back, then dropped it, believing LinkedIn would be better.  Better in what way?  Not sure.  Seems to be full of inane crap.  Yes, some possibly useful professional exchanges, but mostly social drivel.
It's just that a lot of my colleagues and friends were doing it, so why not?  Then I saw LinkedIn's recent profit statement. Voila!  I even checked a book out of library titled "The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success."  Yuck.  I hate the phrase "power formula."  I want to thank colleagues and friends who recommended me for one thing or another, or stated that I had certain skills, etc., etc.  I really do appreciate that.  However, I get more than enough "networking" at coffee shops and at my places of work.  Beyond that, I'm really more interested in solitude and family time.  My email address is on this blog site.  My phone number is in the phone book.  The NSA knows where I am.  That should suffice for anyone who wants to find me.

A Day at the Office, but....

 I had to spend most of the day at the office, trying to meet deadlines.  However, I had to get out of the car at least once on the way to check on the activity by the entrance to the FRC library.  I was not disappointed.  The large Carpenter Bees were there in greater numbers than last week when I posted a piece about very large bees. 

 The Thread-waisted Wasps were also plentiful and paid me no attention as I took many photos from close range.  I saw just one Skipper, so I think they might be getting ready to have their end-of-summer explosion.  If that doesn't materialize, I'll post some photos from last year at this time.

This last photo is a simple one, and it's Sagebrush.  We're used to seeing vast expanses of Sagebrush while driving by it at high rates of speed, say while crossing Nevada on I-80, or, in my case, driving from Quincy to Reno.  But to get a close look at just one plant is satisfying.  For one thing, it smells great, and the fragrance varies with the time of day.  I also get satisfaction from scientific names that tell a story.  This one is Artemesia tridentata.  Go ahead and Google it.  Can you believe it's in the same family as Dandelions?

Nothing in My Woodpile but Wood

 I spent four hours splitting firewood today.  The real purpose, of course, is to prepare for warming our house when it gets colder.  But I was driven by another motive.  I had my camera close by, and I was hoping that the splitting would release some interesting bugs - larvae of large Cerambycid beetles, or Wood Wasps, and maybe even a Black Widow Spider or two.  Nothing. 

 I saw a few ants crawling over my logs, but they had already been there before the wood was delivered.  I started to amuse myself with geometry games.  When I picked up a new round, I note the size and look at the cracks that were already there.  The wood splits easier if I hit an existing crack.  Also, it's fun to continually practice my aim, always trying for the minimum number of hits per round.  I also try to visualize in advance: will this one split four ways, five, six, seven, or....?  Then try

 to hit accurately enough to get the result I estimated.  While doing this wood splitting, I was taking a break from working on the Nature Literature course I'll be teaching this Fall.  It wasn't a total break as I found myself continually thinking about some of the literature I had chosen, what else I'll look for, and what kinds of essays I'll assign.  Restless mind.  Blessing or affliction?  Sometimes I wonder.

 I love comparing the aesthetics of uncut rounds with the stacked split wood.  It was time to pick up the camera, even though there were no bugs. 

 I think I've split about two cords.  I have at least one more to split, so there's still a chance that I'll have some entomological excitement.  I finished my day's work with a brief stroll into the woods across my driveway.  The green color was pleasing to the eye.  In this photo there are three kinds of plants that I can detect: Oregon Grape on the left, then mainly Thimbleberry with a few Trail Plant mixed in.  No berries though.

 A small bird's nest fell from a California Black Oak.  Only about 3 inches in diameter.  Cute.

 Here is an assortment of things fallen from the large trees along my driveway.  Douglas-fir cones, male and female.  A White Fir cone almost totally eaten.  Needles from both species of fir plus a few from Ponderosa Pine.  A small piece of Lichen.  What have I missed?

Upstaged by a snake

 Thursday morning I set out to visit roadside attractions I'd visited often ever since last spring.  I wanted to keep up with what was still blooming, what new bugs might be visiting, and what was going to seed.  Maybe try a few different perspectives and improve on previous shots.  Then, when I picked up a concrete disc and found a garter snake (previous post) I immediately had to post that and temporarily forgot all the interesting things I saw before the snake.  Here they are now, beginning with two views of a blooming Star Thistle.  The architecture of this flower and its support structure amazes me, even if it is an invasive weed.  So am I!

 The Common Madia are still blooming strongly every morning along Quincy Junction Road and closing up before noon.

 Other interesting critters uncovered along with the Garter Snake include plentiful Earwigs ...

 a Wolf Spider with an egg sac...

 some sort of Ground Beetle, a variety of others that were too fast for me.

 In a flower garden on Bell Lane, I found this black beetle trying to get into several different species of flowers including the not-fully-opened Zinnia shown here.  I didn't stay long enough to figure out whether it was seeking food or shelter.

 This small green Grasshopper seemed mesmerized on the stem of a thistle.  It didn't budge even while I too several shots from only 8 inches away.

 The black beetle again, this time on some Spearmint.

There's a Snake in the Grass

Whenever I see an item like this disc of concrete that looks like it's been in place for a while, I assume there are some interesting critters beneath it.  I wasn't disappointed.  When I turned it over, ...

a young garter snake came to life.  At first he just coiled up, as if to hide, but then decided to seek cover and took off across the lawn.  As I was taking pictures of him as he tunneled through the grass, I thought of the phrase which is the title of today's post.  I don't like the phrase because it assumes an attitude about snakes that I think is incorrect.  Snakes don't pretend to be friends then double-cross.  They are not the least bit devious.  They're quite direct and honest about their intentions.  Like most well-adjusted creatures, they like to eat, sleep, mate, and avoid trouble. 

I don't know if it was memory or the sense of smell that guided the snake back to his original hiding place, or close to it.  As I followed along with the camera, he crawled about ten feet onto the lawn away from the concrete disc, then made a U-turn and came back to the place where I found him.

When I disturbed the disc again, he then crawled under an adjacent rock.  Never tried to bother me, just wanted to be left in peace.  I then went back to the concrete disc as I thought I had seen several other interesting critters under it, but got distracted by the snake which was more exciting.  I did find some interesting invertebrates there.  I'll put photos of them in my next post.