Looking for something to write about this week, I remembered back in June I posted a photo of a robber fly cannibalizing another one. When it was done, it flew away leaving the dead victim’s carcass in the weeds, so I collected and mounted it. Surprisingly, it fell apart, the back half of it disintegrating […]
Outdoors
Posted inNews (NCJ)
North Coast Night Lights: 1964 High Water on the Avenue
In 1964 a perfect storm of snow melt and heavy rains caused a historic flood in Humboldt County and the greater Pacific Northwest. Along the Eel River watershed, the raging flood waters wiped out roads, bridges, and entire communities. U.S. Highway 101 was submerged at some points. That was before my memory, and now most […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Poor Quality Delays Commercial Crab Season
The start of the North Coast’s commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed until at least Dec. 16 due to “poor crab meat quality test results,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. According to a release, more tests are tentatively scheduled to take place in the region around Dec. 1 and, if […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Things are About to Get Wet Outside
After a mild beginning to the fall season, things are about to get wet. Really, really wet. And, maybe, a bit loud as well. The National Weather Service is predicting the first storm system will hit late tonight and continue into the morning hours with the possibility of coastal thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon into Thanksgiving morning. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Damsels in Fall
The unseasonably warm and dry weather seems to be to allowing some species of insects to linger later in the year than I’ve seen before. Among them are two damselflies. I checked my archives, and this is the latest date in the year I’ve ever noted either the rubyspot or California spreadwing (Archilestes californica). I […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
A Wild Night of Eureka High Football (with video)
It was a stag-gering experience for some folks at last Friday’s Eureka High School football game against De Anza when an unexpected visitor took the field, much to the apparent delight of folks in the stands by the sounds of the video. Watch the video by Sally Graham below: The Loggers, by the way, handily […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
North Coast Night Lights: Camping in the King Range
The Fall Equinox of Sept. 21, 2017, found me camping beneath the stars on Paradise Ridge in Southern Humboldt’s King Range, a BLM-managed area of our beautiful and famous Lost Coast. Friends I’ve known since childhood had invited me out to join them for a night of stargazing and Milky Way photography in one of […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Update: 30 Acre Fire Burning Near Hoopa
UPDATE: Read the latest on the Signboard fire here. PREVIOUSLY: An escaped prescribed burn has spread over 30 acres of steep terrain east of Hoopa, according to Peggi Lawrence, Public Affairs specialist for Six Rivers National Forest. Yesterday afternoon, the Signboard Fire rolled downhill from a planned burn started last Thursday by Hoopa Tribe to […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Smoke from Camp Fire Continues to Impact Region
Smoke from the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County — the deadliest in the state’s history with at least 48 now confirmed killed — is continuing to affect air quality in the region today. According to a release from the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, the impacts are expected to be “Moderate” to “Unhealthy […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumLook: Your Week in Images
Local photographer Jose Quezada has launched a pair of new websites, HumSport and HumLook, showcasing the work of a team of local photographers. Photographers will be uploading galleries of photos on both sites regularly, showcasing their best images of local sports, cultural events and landscapes. High-resolution downloads of the images are also available for $5 apiece. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Lepidoptera
Walking along the Van Duzen River today after three frosty nights, I noted four different kinds of butterflies. We saw many Mylitta crescents (Phyciodes mylitta), got a brief glimpse of what was most likely a woodland skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) and a West Coast lady (Vanessa annabella). A California sister (Adelpha californica) flitted up and posed […]