After listening to a sample of the house finch’s song on the All About Birds website, I’m fairly certain I’ve heard these little birds singing before, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen one so it surprised me with its bright red patches. This male house finch was quite busy foraging along the side of the bike trail […]
Here are a few more macro shots of my coin collection; with the exception of the US penny, above, they all date from the 1950s or before. I included the penny because I had never seen one depicting Abraham Lincoln sitting on a log, reading a book, until I ran across it the other day — I think it makes […]
One of the best things I discovered in my fairly brief visit to the UC Davis Arboretum this afternoon was the Nature’s Gallery Court. Each tile depicts a drought resistant plant in the UC Davis Arboretum’s Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, along with the pollinators and other insects that are essential to the plant’s ecological success. 75th Anniversary Project of the […]
When I encountered these dried pods at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park I mistook them for milk thistle; it wasn’t until I did a little online research that I learned they’re actually teasel. Although they produce very pretty flowers, they are invasive and tend to crowd out the native plants. According to the website Botanical Accuracy (linked above), the teasel […]
Here’s an episode of California’s Golden Parks that I stumbled upon quite by accident; Huell pays a visit to the Paramount Ranch and learns that its rich history includes much more than just serving as a nature preserve or a film set. Sadly, the site was seriously damaged by a wildfire in November 2018, which makes this 2010 episode all […]