That really cold weather thing is not over yet. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Thursday, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., for interior areas of Humboldt County above 2,000 feet, including Berry Summit. Snow accumulation of 3 to 4 inches is possible, according to the advisory, creating hazardous travel conditions. […]
Science
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HumBug: Home Again
Returning from a two week vacation near Olympia, Washington, where I saw practically no bugs at all, I was greeted with a large millipede and a spider at my front door. It’s good to be home. Spring, I find, is springing all around. Judging by daffodil blooms here in Humboldt County, we’re about two weeks […]
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Celestial Trifecta Wednesday: A Super Blue Blood Moon
In case you haven’t heard, a rare celestial event known as a “super blue blood moon” — try saying that three times fast — will be unfolding overhead Wednesday morning, if the North Coast’s notoriously gray skies don’t get in the way. Despite the somewhat ominous name, a super blue blood moon is basically a […]
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HumBug: Spiders in a Car
What do you do when you’re driving and a spider runs across the inside of your windshield? Like any good entomological photographer, I pulled over at a safe place and took its picture, of course. Done with the photo shoot, I hearded it onto an envelope and ushered it outside. Really, spiders are nothing to […]
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HumBug: By the River and Under the Sand
Here we are, middle of winter and once again I’m finding variegated meadowhawk dragonflies along the Van Duzen River, where I regularly walk. Although this is a small dragonfly, it is the largest insect I see flying this time of year. I find them perched on rocks in open sections of river bar, often 20 […]
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HumBug: Pushing the Limits of Small
Taking a break from splitting firewood, I noticed dozens of tiny creatures flying in the sunlight. Curious, I captured first a gall wasp, then a tiny rove beetle and, finally, a creature too small for my eyes to discern anything other than a black speck crawling on my hand. A session with my dissecting microscope […]
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HumBug: Winter Butterflies
The winter solstice is passed but I can’t see any lengthening in the days yet. It’s almost not worth waking up for — at least it might seem that way to an overwintering butterfly. I have spotted at least three species flying on recent warm winter days: a painted lady, red admiral and mourning cloak. They’re […]
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HumBug: Heartworm
I caught a new bug recently. Unfortunately, it was not the kind I could skewer with a pin and put in a frame, but the kind where you’re supposed to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest. So I took the opportunity to do a bit of online research to answer a question recently […]
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HumBug: Bugs in the Wood
In July, PG&E sent a crew to take down some big trees on its easement across the back of my property. I had no objection, as this area is unused. Now, six months later, when I finally got around to bucking and splitting it, I find the wood already colonized by insects. The bugs gnawing […]
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Is Bigfoot a Bear?
In a tough break for cryptozoologists, a team of scientists says their DNA analysis of hair samples, scat and a tooth purported to be from Bigfoot’s Tibetan cousin the Yeti are, in fact, from bears. The findings — based on the analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 24 samples, including some collected in the 1930s on […]
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HumBug: Itsy Bitsies
It is a very human thing to look for the largest of anything. Here in Humboldt County, we have the world’s tallest trees and largest stonefly. We have giant water bugs and giant silk worm moths, and so it is easy to overlook small things. But I find them fascinating. Yesterday I saw a column […]
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HumBug: The Return of Old Friends
Tonight, following our second rain of the season, I went out, camera in hand, looking for one of my favorite insects. Pterotus obscurripinis, our local glow worm. They hide in the ground all summer long awaiting the wet season. Serious snail hunters, they feed on some of our smaller local native land snails and slugs. […]