On a recent dry day, I took my camera out to the garden and got what may be technically the best dragonfly photograph I have gotten. A member of the mosaic darner group, named for the mosaic pattern on their abdomens, the California darner (Rhionaeschna californica) is one of the first dragonflies to be seen […]
Anthony Westkamper
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: The Birth of a Giant
Today, near the end of my walk along the Van Duzen River, a little tangle near the tip of a naked willow sprig caught my eye. At first I thought it was a bit of storm deposited flotsam tangled on the end of the branch, but there was a “legginess” to it. Experience told me […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Hitching a Ride
Hoping to attract one of the huge and impressive Ceanothus or Polyphemus moths that live hereabouts, I’ve been running a light trap when it isn’t raining too hard — so far without luck. You never really know what might show up and last night was no exception. Among the expected looper moths, crane flies and […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Come Closer, Said the Fly to the Fly
Recently, scientists have calculated that spiders devour between 400 and 800 million tons of insects annually. Right now in my yard, though, on the fence where the white clematis chokes out everything else, there is a massacre going on and spiders are not the center stage players. Golden haired dung flies are chasing and eating flower […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: In the Key of Bee
We’ve finally had three days of warmish weather and the garden is abuzz with the sounds of busy bees. If you listen carefully, you can hear each species with its own pitch and rhythm. There is, of course, the familiar drone of the honeybee and the heavy bass of the yellow faced bumble bee (Bombus […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Falling Blossoms
It’s been a long rainy spell and my plum trees have been waiting in full bloom for a warm day. I kept expecting them to lose their petals but despite sometimes heavy rains and occasional hail, they kept them. I think they’re like orchids. The flowers of most orchids can hold for weeks or even […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Shoo, Fly
Willows on the River It was sunny when I went to get my hiking boots but by the time I got dressed and out the door, it was 49 degrees and drizzling. I went anyway. The path down to the river was dark, the only sounds were the gentle pok, pok of water dripping from […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: O Hideous Little Bat
American poet Karl Shapiro begins his poem “The Fly” with the address, “O hideous little bat, the size of snot.” No other group of animals is as reviled as flies. Annually, members of the order Diptera account for millions of human deaths through diseases they spread. The ones that pester, infect and disgust us are really only […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Beacon Islands on a Dreary Day
It was sunny when I went to get my hiking boots but by the time I got dressed and out the door, it was 49 degrees and drizzling. I went anyway. The path down to the river was dark, the only sounds were the gentle “pok, pok” of water dripping from branches. The burning in […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Season’s Greetings
Undaunted by the rain, I was out barbecuing a chicken a few nights ago when, attracted by my porch light, a moth buzzed me. I kept working but noted where it came to rest. Of course I had to investigate, and when I did I noted it was decorated with a lacy black pattern on […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Winter Pygmies
Today, on the front garage door was the tiniest grasshopper you are ever likely to see, its body measuring about ½ inch long. Its general body shape, short antennae, and large hind legs, were unmistakably those of a grasshopper (sub order Caelifera). Its size, coloration and the fact that it was out in the middle […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles
The great geneticist and evolutionary biologist J.B.S. Haldane once said, “The creator, if he exists, has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.” It is believed there are more species of beetles than any other order of animals on the planet. They fill so many niches in the environment it is no surprise to happen […]