Wow, I had a chance to speak with two wonderful ladies on the telephone today.  I’m doing a dragonfly/damselfly article for a Tuleyome Tales release to press in August, and got to speak with Kathy Biggs (the author of Common Dragonflies of California) who gave me some great information on where best to look for Flame Skimmers and Vivid Dancers, along with some of their quirks.  It was so informative!  And I was so excited that I wrote a draft of the article immediately after I hung up the phone…  And the enthusiasm was contagious.  My co-worker, Charlotte, said she wanted to write an article too! (I think she’s decided to do one on Horned Owls.)

As I was winding down my interview with Kathy, though, she mentioned that a friend of hers, Nancy Bauer, was at her place and Nancy had written a book about creating natural/native habitats in your backyard to attract wildlife.  That sounded neat to me, too, so Kathy turned the phone over to Nancy, and Nancy and I talked for a bit.  Nancy’s done a couple of books, but the latest is called The California Wildlife Habitat Garden.  I was so excited about that, that after I was done talking with her, I actually ordered one of her books so I could see what it entailed… and maybe I can interview Nancy for a future article, too!

All this wonderful feminine energy!  I love it!

I know that some folks have trouble getting outside and walking around, but you miss all sorts of stuff when you confine yourself to the indoors.   Walk from the car to the office and look around…  walk down the street and get a better look at that mural you noticed when you drove by it the other day… walk around your backyard and see what Nature is up to…  There are plenty of opportunities for photo-taking everywhere.  Just get outside!  Here are a few things I saw just yesterday…

Just got an email from the Awesome Foundation saying I didn’t get the grant from them, but I can apply some other time.

:–(

After work, it was warm but breezy outside, so I took Sergeant Margie over to the WPA Rock Garden for a walk.  I got a few photos, but was totally fascinated by a huge hornworm that was munching on one of the plants there.  For some reason, a fly was harassing the worm, buzzing around it and poking it, until the worm just got aggravated and tried body-slamming it and biting it to get it to go away.   I’d never seen anything like that.  I was able to get a short video of part of their interaction, along with some still shots of the worm.

CLICK HERE to see the video.

And here are some still shots:

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