Perils of Parenthood

Not only has this Treehopper mom had to contend with a large (to her) human frequently poking a camera into her domain, it seems she's having to fight off spider webs.  This "family," with at least 50 young out of the frame, has occupied the same stretch of a Black Oak branch for a month now.

Higher Elevation Scenes

 These photos were taken near the summit (unnamed?) of my drive last Sunday on the Quincy-LaPorte Road where the PCT crosses.  More later on what I saw around this spot, and more on what I photographed on the long descent to Nelson Creek.  One thing I love about the Sierra is the many opportunities to experience a great elevation change within a relatively short distance (by car or truck) and to see the changes in life zones from one elevation to the next.  In many ways the Red Fir zone roughly between 5,000 and 7,000 feet at this latitude is the most exciting to me.  I especially love the equivalent zone above Buck's Lake Wilderness just north of Spanish Peak.

Every Walk Is Different

 Most afternoons I walk from my house on the hill to downtown and back.  I check many of the same spots for nature activity and photo ops, and it's never the same two days in a row.  If the scene looks the same, my thoughts are different.  Yesterday I found my herd of Treehoppers on the same branch they've occupied for several weeks.  The young ones are getting bigger and the mom is still guarding them.  This time I estimated the number of branches of similar size that were hanging at eye level.  I figured around 50.  So, why were the treehoppers occupying only this particular one?  Then I estimated the tree to be around 40 feet tall and had at least several hundred branches of this particular size beyond my line of sight.  I wish I could borrow one of those arborist's hydraulic lifts so I could check the upper reaches of the tree.  I guess you could say I'm still somewhat obsessed with the Oak Treehoppers.

Across the driveway from the oak was a Stellar's Jay feather caught under a scraggly Chicory plant that I thought was photogenic.
As my walk continued toward town I found the biggest pile of bear poop I've ever seen.  It appeared that he/she had diarrhea, but the tell-tale cherry stones were there and it was definitely bear.  This made me wonder why so many people along Coburn put their trash cans outside Sunday night, ready for Monday morning pick-up.  The bear(s) tips them over every time and drags plastic bags around the neighborhood.  Duh!  This morning, there was a new pile of poop just a few yards beyond the aforementioned on.  No diarrhea. Either a different bear, or the original one found the needed medicine in someone's trash.

Flowers Tougher than I

 On this hot Labor Day, I thought I'd take a break from desk work and go photograph some airplanes.  Too hot for them, I guess.  There were none.  So, I decided to walk around one of the hangers and photograph wildflowers.  It was 96 degrees F, and I was beginning to wilt right at the start.  But the flowers, which are supposed to be the ones wilting, looked quite fresh.  The end-of-summer survivors.  The above Poppy was lonely, but still looked fresh.

 The wild Sweet Peas are the ultimate survivors along our roadsides at this time of year.  Must have deep roots.

 California Wild Mustard doing OK.

 I still haven't ID'd this one, although I suspect it's in the mustard family, Brassicaceae.

 Another variety of Sweet Pea.

 THe Lone Gumplant on this walk was still doing OK and had lots of insect visitors.  Maybe they were flying fast to keep cool?  At any rate, I didn't capture any on camera.

 I take back what I said about Sweet Peas.  Star Thistle probably deserves the honor of ultimate survivors.

 Most Daisies are long gone, but there were a few fresh-looking ones on the north side of a hanger in the shade.  Looked "fresh as a daisy."

 Chicory still looking fresh.  Same insect situation - coming and going too fast for my shutter finger.

In partial shade, near a place where water is often dumped, was a dense group of poppies of another variety than the first one in this series.  I'm back in the shade now, and am not anxious for another hot walk like this one.  At the very least, I'll wear  hat next time.

Holey Rocks

Additional Report on Dellinger's Pond

 There was lots of blooming Tansy along the dam as mentioned in my previous post, and very few bugs.  This Skipper stood out.

 Normally, I don't pay much attention to the fern-like leaves of Tansy, and definitely don't look to them with the expectation of exotic "fall colors."  But this one stood out from the rest.  Maybe a bear stopped to take a pee.

On the way back to my truck, I not only saw several large specimens of bear poop, but also a nice patch of Blackberries.  Very refreshing after a hot, dry photo session along the dam.

What I Saw at Dellinger's Pond today

 A beautiful insect; that's all I'm sure of.  When I look at the pahes in my field guides dedicated to bees, wasps, bee-like wasps and wasp-like bees, I get dizzy.  For me it's a lot like looking at little-brown-birds-that-all-look-alike.  At first I thought it might be a Cuckoo Bee, then I switched to Golden Digger Wasp, then I gave up.  I don't have enough entomology knowledge or guidebooks to go further.  But it was a beautiful sight, the colors contrasting with the light purple of the Spearmint blossoms.  My short walk along the dam that creates the pond revealed a number of other interesting sights that I'll post soon.  Lots of Tansy, for instance, but no Assassin Bugs and other insects I'm used to seeing on Tansy.  I think I might have got one good photo of a Skipper on Tansy, though.  I'll sort through what I have and post a few.  It was a busy morning as I also drove up to the PCT crossing on LaPorte Road and gave my son and daughter-in-law a a ride back to Quincy after their hike from the Highway 49 crossing.  Got some good photos near Nelson Creek.

 Click on any photo for a closer look.  Then click just outside the left margin to go back to normal size and where you left off.

Right after taking this photo I found some ripe blackberries and indulged a few.