Just north of Big Sur and south of Monterey is Point Lobos, a magical nature preserve and phenomenally picturesque part of the California coast. We go to the Monterey coast every January, and have never been disappointed by what Mother Nature provides the senses. Sea otters, once near extinction, now have large populations which we could see from a point to the left of this vista. Harbor and other seals fish and breed in these waters. Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers, Surfbirds, herons and egrets, pelicans, and Black Turnstones are often present. The only thing missing are people, one more reason to go in January.
You might think that winter would be the foggiest time of year on the coast, but actually that would be summer. As Mark Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Check the forecast (BY the hour) before you head off, but although I can guarantee a scene such as this one, we've had 15 years of Januarys with remarkable weather.
Nature Conservancy's Daily Nature Photo for Oct 28, 2014
Tags: Point Lobos Big Sur Monterey northern California coast northern California Ethan Winning E. A. Winning DailyNature-TNC14 North America North America outdoor rock formation People photo Add Additional info Viewing this Public Commenting Any Flickr member tags you follow Safety level Safe Provide feedback new page F Favorite C Comment S Search navigation Thumbnail Z
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Wildflowers of the West ... 8a. I just found this second shot from 2012 - Don't pay attention to the EXIF: how can I process something three years before I took it?
Okay, technically, I could point out that the swallowtail is feeding at a Milk Thistle, but what I really wanted to share again or for the first time with some is my favorite image of all time.
I was on Castle Rock Trail on the western flank of Mt. Diablo. It was alread getting too warm, and as I was walking the three miles to my car, sweating profusely and, for the third time that week, knowing that I'd never make it, "Oh look! A Swallowtail!"
Swallowtails do not fly in a straight line. Some days I think they're been sampling overly ripe nectar; sometimes, I just think their wings are too big for the body. Whatever, I picked up speed which, on that trail, can be hazardous, but I hadn't seen an Anise Swallowtail that summer. Finally, a mile up the trail, and I mean UP, it rested on the aforementioned thistle, and I hurried to get in position, and started shooting. I saw something shoot by in my viewfinder, but thought nothing more about it until I had this up on the monitor!
Photobombed by a "rare" Thread-waisted Wasp! Never in my life had I expected to even get one shot of one resting let alone flying. I've know about this wasp for 20 years: I still don't know how it digests anything!
And now, I had a "rare" Thread-waisted Wasp and a favorite butterfly, not just a Western Tiger Swallowtail, but a forked-tailed Anise, Papilio zelicaon!
The best twofer I'll ever get. I thought I'd break away from Wildflowers of the West for a day and share it with you for the first time or again depending how many of you were here when I posted this in 2014 even though according to the EXIF, I took this in 2015 and digitized it in 2013! That makes this the rarest photo I've ever taken... The swallowtail is okay, but the wasp just makes this shot!
Tags: Thread-waisted Wasp Anise Swallowtail Butterfly Swallowtail Butterfly
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I'll assume that you all know what an adult katydid looks like: kinda like a flat green grasshopper with long antennae and not much going for it photographically, though that may only be my opinion.
I was hiking the skyline trail in the Diablo Foothills, looked down when I saw one of the first California Poppies I'd seen that year, and there right smack dab in the middle was a Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Nymph. In case you think I knew what a Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Nymph looked like, you'd be as wrong as could be. I knew what a katydid looked like. I knew what a poppy was, but I didn't have a clue what this jewel was. All I could think of was that, if this was the Roaring Twenties, van cleef & arpels of Paris would have made a gold pin with emeralds, diamonds, platinum, and whatever else it would take to come up with a gorgeous art deco piece of ... art.
I had to call a friend of mine, a biologist, entomologist, birder, artist, and author on all manner of animal life that live in the Sierra Nevadas and the Diablo Range, emailed a photo, and within five minutes I had my answer. I had to write it down because I knew I'd never remember Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Nymph, and to prove it, I still have to find the photo which I purposely gave it its proper name because none of it makes sense other than "nymph."
Anyway, next time you're hiking the hills or even just walking the dog, if there are flowers, you may not know what you're missing. What caught my attention - other than the gold gold - were the three inch antennae, really too big to get into the frame, but then I wasn't sure I wanted them. The only word I can find for this insect is "lavish." Mother Nature certainly can be creative!
A decade later: James and I are the only ones to have post a Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Nymph's portrait on Flickr - flic.kr/p/2jkyVBK
Tags: Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Nymph Mt. Diablo California Skyline Peak Trail California Poppy Canon SX 20 best insect camera I ever had like a 100mm portrait lens for the Olympus OM-1 and 2 Copyright Ethan A. Winning
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Anna's love Mexican Salvia. It took two weeks on a daily basis to get the shot I wanted. They were feeding on the salvia every 15-20 minutes, but with a point-and-shoot, getting any shot is hit and miss. This time, I got this female between two branches.
Published in 2013 Audubon Society calendar; Birder's World; Birding; MDAS...
Tags: Anna's Hummingbird DailyNature-TNC13 Old Borges Ranch Trail Walnut Creek Open Space Northern California Canon SX40 or SX50 DailyNature-TNC14 North America NA Ethan Winning E. A. Winning
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I was just moving up in digital cameras, but still had a lot to learn. This camera was the one that preceded the Canon SX10, and the ultimate format wasn't great, but the mantis was. I was just leaving the house, and looking at me from a flower pot, was this insect that I've always considered "other-worldly," like something from the bar scene in "Star Wars." She (as it turned out when she started laying eggs the next day) was looking directly at me, and wasn't about to move off until I did. She stayed about an hour, about half the time it took for me to decide to crop the way I did. The most interesting part of a praying mantis is the front half, but there's no question that it's the eyes that captured me. After she laid her eggs, she migrated south (that's what the western species do: I didn't tag her ;-) There are 2,400 species of mantises (mantids are the largest), and I wasn't about to narrow it down, but I do know that this is a west coast species.
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