Up at about 6:30 this morning and then headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. It was lovely, breezy and relatively cool all morning, and got up to a high of about 84°F by the afternoon.
I was anxious to see if the bees were still in the “bee tree”, so I walked along the Pond Trail to check that out first. I was so happy to see that they were still there. The queen must be well-settled now.

The Black Phoebes have fledglings in their nest now. I saw the dad coming with food to assist mom. The last time I saw them, I didn’t see the male around and worried that the mom was on her own. It was good to see she has help.

The Showy Milkweed on the grounds is starting to come into bloom, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for any Monarch caterpillars as the months go on. We saw nothing last year, but hope we’ll get a glimpse of some this year. I’ll be loading my observations to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper site) when I see anything.
CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.
The Goldwire is starting to bloom, too, and it’s nice to see the joyful bright yellow starting to dot the landscape.

I saw mostly “little things” today: ladybeetles in various stages of development, tiny moths, plant galls, spider eggs sacs and caterpillars.
All along the trail I kept seeing these little insects scurrying along. To the naked eye, they looked like dark bugs with a pale rim around their bodies and legs, and I couldn’t tell what they were. So, I got out the macro attachment for my cellphone and took some close up photos of a few of them. They looked like small crickets – like tiny brown versions of the Jerusalem crickets, with smooth shiny bodies and long antennae. I haven’t ID-ed them yet.

I saw quite a few birds, but most of them were back-lit or in stickery bushes, so I couldn’t get a lot of photos and that was a bit disappointing. But it was still reassuring to see them… life goes on.
I walked for about 3 hours and headed back home.
Species List:
- Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
- Asian Ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis
- Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
- Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
- Boxelder, Box Elder Tree, Acer negundo
- Buffalo Treehopper, Stictocephala alta [exuvia]
- California Buckeye Chestnut Tree, Aesculus californica
- California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
- California Manroot, Bigroot, Marah fabaceus
- California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
- California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
- California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
- California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica
- California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
- California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
- California Wild Grape, Vitis californica
- California Wild Rose, Rosa californica
- Camel Cricket, Superfamily: Rhaphidophoroidea [small, found on trail]
- Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
- Common Fringepod, Thysanocarpus curvipes
- Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens
- Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
- Coyote Brush Bud Gall midge, Rhopalomyia californica
- Cranefly, Mosquito Hawk, Tipula dietziana
- Darkling Beetle, Mountain Beetle, Coniontis sp.
- Downy Leather-Winged Beetle Podabrus pruinosus [kind of looks like a Soldier Beetle]
- Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger
- European Earwig, Common Earwig, Forficula auricularia
- European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
- Feral European Honeybee, Apis mellifera
- Fimbriate Gall Wasp, Andricus opertus [on Valley Oak leaf]
- Fruit-Tree Leafroller Moth, Archips argyrospila
- Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum
- Green Leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens
- House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
- Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
- Lace Bug, Corythucha sp.
- Leaf Gall Wasp/ Unidentified per Russo, Tribe: Cynipidi [on Valley Oak]
- Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis
- Lupine, Chick Lupine, Lupinus microcarpus
- Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor
- Mugwort Weevil, Scaphomorphus longinasus
- Oak Apple Gall Wasp, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
- Oleander Aphid, Aphis nerii
- Plum, Prunus cerasifera
- Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
- Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Western Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
- Popcorn Flowers, Plagiobothrys sp.
- Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
- Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
- Rose Clover, Trifolium hirtum
- Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa
- Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
- Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
- Western Tussock Moth, Orgyia vetusta
- White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis
- Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
- ?? spider egg sac with black tips
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