Newts swimming in reservoir at Salamander Flat.
A nesting female at the local nursery. In a Cut-leaf maple with a sold sign on it. The buyer is having them hold the tree until the chicks have fledged.
The only woodrat I've ever seen in the flesh
This is the same slime mold I've looked at in previous weeks. Today I went back with Leslie Flint, and she both pulled off the remnants of the one atop the log, and also noted a larger mass of slime mold below.
This piece of lichen had fallen off of a nearby lichen-laden rock. The first shot is from below, the second (unfortunately out-of-focus) is from above.
We were hiking at the right hour to see the soap plant bloom! We even saw one open right before our very eyes! We watched a large bee pollinate it.
This time I was hiking with Leslie Flint, so I feel more secure in *our* ID
many of the lower branches of the oaks are infested with the caterpillars this spring
Photos 2 is of the frasse or Oak moth droppings upon a spider web.
Nesting female in an Alder branch hanging over the trail. Three youngsters underneath!
Close up shot of the dorsum of a harvestman (Opiliones, suborder Palpatores), Redwood City, San Mateo County, California - July 2008.
Gouty Stem Gall Wasp (Callirhytis quercussuttoni), found on Quercus wislizeni (Interior Live Oak), Huddart Park, San Mateo County, California - September 2008.
Gall of Spiny Leaf Gall Wasp (Diplolepis polita) on California Rose leaf - Arastradero Preserve, Santa Clara County, California - June 2008.
Pumpkin Gall Wasp (Dryocosmus minusculus), gall on leaf of Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni), Huddart Park, San Mateo County, California - September 2008. This tiny, 1-mm gall was induced by a cynipid wasp.
The male was hovering around the female who was flicking the water with her tail (depositing eggs?)
