Newport Back Bay August 21, 2010

A few weeks ago I visited Newport Back Bay to take some morning shots. I was surprised at how crowded the one way road was, with the occasional car, streams of bicyclists, and teams of runners. Happily this didn't do much to detour the wildlife from going about Summer as usual.
I managed a few shots of this little fellow. You'd think the chirps would help to locate him, but they only helped me generalize an area I might see something. I mostly had to rely on glimpsing the tip of a moving reed and then followed it half down the stock, tricky when most stalks were obscured by several more reeds,







According to The "National Audubon Society Field Guide to California", he is a "Common Yellowthroat" bird (technically known as a "Geothlypis trichas") of the Wood Warbler Subfamily.
They are 5".
"Male upperparts and sides uniformly olive-brown; throat and chest yellow; midbelly white; black mask over forehead and cheeks; broad white line above mask. Female and imm. olive brown above; pale eye ring; throat yellow. Imm. male has blackish cheek. Feeds low; often raises tail at wren-like angle. VOICE Song: rollicking witchity-witchity-witchity-witch. Call: flat chep. HABITAT Riparian thickets, marshes, shrubs. RANGE Resident in c and s CA on Pacific slope; inland valleys. May-Sept.: n CA, valleys east of Sierras. Apr.-May, Aug.-Oct.: all CA."

5-30-10 Honoring Dan Colby for Memorial Day

Westminster Memorial Park

05-14-10 Crystal Cove

I gave you a break from Crystal Cove for over a year. Yes, I know it's hard to believe---you'd seen so many pictures of that little beach you probably thought my camera had become allergic to it. Actually, we were getting our "beach" fix on the sail boat. Now that it's gone we must revert to the old methods. Sorry.
So this is Mothers day at Crystal Cove. The wait at the restaurant was an hour and a half, so we passed on that feature, but still enjoyed taking a few pictures. Don had purchased a new camera that had arrived mid-week and wanted to try it out here. Those pictures are still in his camera though, so it may be awhile before they make their way here. Meanwhile, here's a few of mine. (Smile)

Chicago?

In my last post I promised a posting about Chicago, yes? Well, it IS posted, but not at So. Cal. Day Trippin', because, in case you were unaware, Chicago is not IN So. Cal.. (Smile)
Also, I went to Chicago for work, so it's on the "All in the Name of Work" page. There's not much there yet in the way of photos, but there are a couple, and there are links to the photos. Eventually I will get a few more on the blog though, because they look better with a black border. :-)
Here's the blog where it's (kind of) posted: http://all-in-the-name-of-work.blogspot.com/

Just to avoid any possible disappointment though, I'll post ONE here. (smile again).

Before leaving Anza . . .

OK, it's time to move on from the desert to Chicago, but before we do...I just want to add a few more photos, lest you think that Anza is all about little stuff --i.e., Gnatcatchers, butterflies, beetles, flowers, sand grains, cactus needles, etc.
For some folks, Anza is about palm trees, streams, horseback riding, and four-wheelin'

Jumping Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida)

Looking up the identifications and locations of the plants we'd photographed our first time out, I happened to read that the desert was still in bloom, and expected to be through the coming weekend. Don was all for a return visit and read that many more of the Jumping Cholla, also known as Teddy Bear Cholla, were now in bloom, so off we went on April 3rd for another photo excursion.
According to Wikipedia, "It grows at elevations ranging from 300 to 1000 m (1000 to 3000 ft). While the name "jumping cholla" is applied especially to this species, it is also used as a general term for all chollas."









The previous weekend had also provided some good Cholla photo ops:

Blue Palo Verde

According to Wikipedia "Parkinsonia florida (Blue Palo Verde; syn. Cercidium floridum) is a species of palo verde native to the southwestern United States (southeastern California, southern Arizona) and northwestern Mexico (Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California). Its name means "green stick" in Spanish, referring to the green trunk in which the tree does photosynthesis." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsonia_florida ). When they bloom they are smothered in yellow flowers. It's rare for me to like a tree sans leaves and flowers, but I find this one very attractive through it's entire cycle.

9:30 A.M. April 3, 2010. Approaching Anza-Borrego

These are a few shots of the Anza Borrego desert valley taken from the top of the "Montezuma Grade" on S22.
The route to Anza Borrego from Orange County (CA) that we take is the 22 Freeway East to the 91 East to the I-15 South to Temecula. Highway 79 is then taken South about 41 miles to the S2 where we turn left. Then another left in about 4.5 miles on the S22 which leads into the desert valley. Once on the desert floor, the first intersection is Palm Canyon Drive. We turn left here and follow our noses to the visitor center so that we can find out which areas are in bloom at that time.

Aposematism

These too are photos I took in Anza Borrego a week ago. This little fella is called a Desert Blister Beetle (Lytta magister), so named for the effect of the cantharidin toxin he excretes that will blister skin or sicken any would-be hapless diner. Such beetles have proven fatal for horses who've inadvertently consumed them while munching alphalpha hay.
"Aposematism" is warning coloration, in this case his bright red accents, that serve as a warning of the toxicity. If this little fella lands on your skin, you are likely only in danger of blistering if you startle him. So it's probably best not to scream or whack at him. (smile)








I haven't figured out yet what type of spider that little white fella is on top of that flower.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and West Coast Lady Butterfly

I've been so busy and preoccupied with that pesky jury duty, that I have not had a chance to post any of our photos from our desert trips the past two weekends.

They are all loaded at our Flickr site though, and clicking on either of these images should take you there.

2010-03-23

Yikes! Who'd have thought that jury duty would involve so much exercise? I feel like I've been to a gym!
The jury parking lot for the Santa Ana courthouse is a block from the courthouse. So I walk the length, get into line at window one to show my summons, and realize I've left my wallet with the jury summons and my id in the car. So, I set my purse, computer, and jacket down in a corner and jog back to the car and then back again to the court.
"Boy it's hot in here! Is anyone else hot?"
By 10:30 a.m. I have been assigned to a court room....on the 9th (!) floor. I don't like really crowded elevators, so I took the stairs...since we were already on the third floor. It's just as well we had no morning break --it would have involved choosing between a crowded elevator or the stairs again.
At noon, after eating the lunch I brought, I think I actually took the elevator down to the third floor, as I needed a spoon from the cafeteria to finish my lunch. From the third floor I still needed to get to the first, so took the escalator...which, because folks seemed to be in a hurry, I treated like stairs.
I walked back to my car...relieved to unload all the crap I'd brought to entertain myself, finished my lunch and then headed back, taking a few photos on the way.
Again the elevators were crowded by the time I was ready to return to the 9th floor. I had 20 minutes to get back still, so I decided to go ahead and do the stairs again, since I had time to stop every two floors and read awhile at each stop. That's what I did, but I was still exhausted when I arrived on the 9th floor.
I was thirsty be the afternoon break, so took the elevator both ways.
When we left I was ready for the stairs again...got halfway back to my car and realized my parking ticket needed validation. Argh! Oh, and guess what? I had to go all the way to the car to get it, as I'd left it there when I unloaded all my crap at lunch time.
So I walked back to the courthouse with my parking ticket, validated it, and walked back to the car.
I'm tellin' ya, that was exhausting! And I go back for more fun and exercise tomorrow!

2010-03-22 older stuff

A couple of people have asked me for pictures, so I need to be able to refer them somewhere. These were taken during 2009.

Me at the Christmas party at Professors Ronald and Kyndra Rotunda on December 12, 2009.


Don when we were at the Getty Museum:


Don when we were in the Beachcomber Restaurant at Crystal Cove


Don in El Segundo before a Toastmasters contest:


Me in El Segundo before Don's Toastmasters contest:

2010-03-19 Evening in L.A. to attend "Sacred Fools" Theater Co.

Don and I went to L.A. to attend a play called "Neighborhood 3" on Friday night. We arrived early so walked around town awhile. This was a little courtyard behind the Buddhist center where Don had attended a lecture the previous night.

2010-03-07 Happy Birthday to me--Balboa Island stroll

2010-02-28 El Dorado Nature Center

I took this picture because I loved the deep blue of the flowers. It wasn't until I was uploading the pictures to my computer that I realized it's the plant we were seriously considering planting in our front yard last summer.



It's common name is "California Mountain Lilac". It's complicated name is Ceanothus Concha.