Time Out

 I stopped at Quincy Natural Foods Coop for a cup of tea between visits to Oakland Camp, and got a few photos of this beautiful flower and a nearby companion that had gone to fruit.  I'll write about this plant after the Warriors game, then also post some photos from this morning's successful adventure out to the camp among the orchids and daisies.

Close Encounters are the best

 I missed this opportunity, but my wife got a close view of a rattler while hiking up the Sierra Buttes on the Tamarack Lakes Trail.  Unfortunately, the extreme contrast between the bright sun and the shade of a pine tree was too much of a challenge for her cell phone camera.  She did see rattles and the characteristic head shape although the latter is not to be relied on for ID.  We both tried to enhance the original photo on our laptops, but this was the best we could do.  I would have guessed it was a California King Snake if all I had to go on was this photo, but I trust her on-site ID.

On the same day, while wandering around Oakland Camp, I got a great view of a Yellow-bellied Racer, but it wouldn't sit still and I got no photo.  Or, I should say, I got several good photos of where it had been a fraction of a second before I clicked the shutter.

Wandering around Oakland Camp

You can see a lot if you look

 This pearl of wisdom is usually attributed to Yogi Berra (not Yogi Bear), but I use it here to reflect on my photo adventure Friday whose initial goal was to update the condition of the Mountain Lady's Slippers and predict how long they'd remain in bloom.  People are constantly asking me about them.  When such a flower dominates our attention, a great deal can go unnoticed.  The above flower cluster, a lily, was formerly known as a Brodiaea, a genus of Lilies that has been broken up into several genera and even different families as our technology has incorporated affordable DNA analysis.  I think this one is now a Dichelostemma.

 An orchid found in the shade in the same vicinity as the Lady's Slippers is the Spotted Coralroot, often mistaken for Pine Drops, in the same family as Manzanita - not particularly close to the orchids.

 I photographed the first California WIld Rose I saw just to record it.  These were not particularly attractive specimens (above) but soon came across a spectacular one (below) and made note of the fact that there were no aphids and no evidence of pesticide use.  In past blogs I've mentioned my comment to participants in my guided hikes that I have a hobby of raising aphids.  This is mentioned after pointing out large masses of aphids, usually on Salsify flowers, that are being "herded" by a species of ant that feeds off aphid excrement.  The ecology of the relationship is usually fascinating

 enough that people will ask how I raise aphids, to which I reply, "It's easy; I just plant roses."

 These tiny blue beauties grow in or near water and are in the Borage family, the family of Forget-me-nots.  I usually call them wild forget-me-nots, but they are mostly known as Stickseed, of which there are several species in the Sierra.

 The American Dogwood is blooming profusely along the section of Spanish Creek near Oakland Camp.

I'll have to check this one out.  I'm rusty, but I think it's Chickweed.

Bug Magnets

My favorite two flowers, or flower categories, when it comes to photographing the bugs they attract, are the daisies and the various species of milkweeds.  My first bug-on-daisy of the year, taken a few days ago by the side of Golden Eagle Avenue, is the one above with some sort of fly on it.  I've photographed this type of fly in years past, but have never identified it.  It looks similar to those hard-biting horse flies and deer flies, but this one has never seemed interested in me, so maybe it's a pollen-eater and not a flesh-eater.

 A short while later, I found my first Checkered Clerid beetle of the season on another daisy.  Then, around a week later, out by Oakland Camp, I found my first Goldenrod Crab Spider (white phase)

 on yet another daisy at the edge of the road.  This one was aware of my approaching camera and poised for attack in case I happened t be an edible insect.  I teased her a little with my finger and she

 darted for cover beneath the petals.  To follow the action, I had to lie on the ground.  It was cold, so I cut the drama short.  Looking forward to many more opportunities to observe and photograph this beautiful spider, including some in the yellow phase.

As for the milkweed family, now combined with the dogbanes as Family Apocynaceae, their season is just getting started.  The Purple Milkweed (above), also known as Heart-leaf Mikweed, is just beginning to bloom around Oakland Camp, and is attracting a few beetles.  The Narrow-leaf Milkweed growing nearby has lots of buds but probably at least another week until blooming.  I've seen the Showy Milkweed at several places around Oakland Camp and the greater American Valley.  Some have barely broken ground, while others have buds.  They'll be the last to bloom.  The Indian Hemp have very early buds while the Spreading Dogbane have some flowers but not nearly as plentiful as in some years.  It might be early yet, or they might be experiencing trauma from the recent years of drought.

Great photo day to start the month of June.

 Not necessarily great photos, but I had a great time taking them.  The Mountain Lady's Slippers are looking great.  I hope they'll be around another couple of weeks.  Most of my other favorite plants for photo subjects are not looking so good.  The drought and various human activities have taken a toll.

 As is my habit, so far, I try to find beauty anyway.  In the above photo, the deceased cluster of Purple Milkweed blossoms are as much the "subject" as the butterfly.  This scene was at the edge of a mud puddle in the dirt road the runs north of Oakland Camp.

This crane fly posed at the edge of another part of the puddle.  Many more satisfying photos taken today, but I might not get to post them until Sunday.  Busy day planned for tomorrow.

Messing around while iPhone updates

 Uploading these photos was the slow part.  I'm going to take a quick break with my camera, then add the narrative to these photos later.  The above pair of beetles mating was pulled from my archive.  The next four photos were taken during the last week or so while waiting for more flowers to bloom.