Visitors 39
Modified 21-Jun-24
Created 20-Jun-24
60 photos
Peak springtime serpentine efflorescence over, it is time for the summer show. Farewell-to-spring, indeed. Also Mariposa Lilies, both Yellow and Clay, the latter garish purple, red, and white. Golden Yarrow and Coyote Mint. Even California Pink, in one area along a serpentine trail. Grasslands, turning golden as invasive annual grasses dry, are dotted with tarweed-like Sticky Calycadenia and a few Farewell-to-spring.
These flowers are there for pollinators, and they come. Butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, and beeflies feast on nectar and spread pollen. Their predators follow. In addition to the acrobatic Acorn Woodpeckers featured in the previous gallery, here is a camouflaged Crab Spider, patiently waiting in a blossom -- so camouflaged that she is only noticed as I review my photos.
Flowers also bring botanizers and photographers – and a predator for them as well. A tick catches a ride home with me. Luckily, I sense her before she digs in.
A sunny June morning with the Escobar birding group. See the previous gallery for woodpecker acrobatics, staged just inside Escobar Gate as a prelude to our walk.
These flowers are there for pollinators, and they come. Butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, and beeflies feast on nectar and spread pollen. Their predators follow. In addition to the acrobatic Acorn Woodpeckers featured in the previous gallery, here is a camouflaged Crab Spider, patiently waiting in a blossom -- so camouflaged that she is only noticed as I review my photos.
Flowers also bring botanizers and photographers – and a predator for them as well. A tick catches a ride home with me. Luckily, I sense her before she digs in.
A sunny June morning with the Escobar birding group. See the previous gallery for woodpecker acrobatics, staged just inside Escobar Gate as a prelude to our walk.
Dan Quinn