Reader John Harshman is a birdophile, but he sent us photos of plants (we don’t get nearly enough plant pix) and a reptile as well. His captions are indented:
Here are some things I found in my neighborhood. First, a hooded oriole (Icterus cucullatus) a nectar-feeder who likes the Australian bottlebrush (Callistemon sp.) in my back yard.
Next, a hillside full of blooming California buckeyes (Aesculus californica). You can see all the huge, white flower spikes.
Here’s what they look like closer up. Unfortunately, the trees I can get close to are inside a canyon and aren’t as far along as the ones above. Imagine a spike in which the entire spike is covered with those little white flowers. California buckeyes are related to eastern species, but the seeds are much, much bigger. To use the standard sports analogy, they’re about the size of a racquetball.
CA buckeyes are famous for their radical change in appearance with the seasons. They’re deciduous, but not the way one would naively expect. They drop their leaves in the summer and start regrowing them when the winter rains come. The flowers arrive in spring, and the seeds, inside pods that look like brown pears. So you can usually spot a buckeye easily: the flowers in the spring, bare branches in summer, and bare branches with huge seeds in the fall.
These are flowers of madrone (Arbutus menziesii), a common tree in the mountains here. It’s closely related to manzanita and in the same family as rhododendrons and azaleas.
And finally, here’s a huge Southern alligator lizard (Elgeria multicarinata), relaxing on the trail.
And a photo by Stephen Barnard, who never runs out of wildlife to snap:
Young bull moose (Alces alces) growing what must be his first pair of antlers.
Love the moose. I’ve always thought of the moose like an Edsel. Appears to made up of what ever spare parts are lying around…
I’d have to agree. Looks like whoever put this guy together forgot to add a fly swatter to the back end.
I had to click through to the big picture to spot the antlers. The small picture makes them merge into the eyes. If I didn’t like pigs, I’d say, small, beady, piggish eyes.
Thanks for the pictures! And it is always good to stop and learn more on the contrivances of plants.
I never knew there was an animal called the alligator lizard. Now I have a much better understanding of the lyrics for the song Ventura Highway!
Here in Washington we call the Arbutus menziesii a Madrona and north of the border, in BC, it is simply an Arbutus.
Great pics, thanks for sharing.
John, where did you see the alligator lizard?
On the trail at Belgatos Park.
Great pictures! Its nice to have some botany added into the usual mix!
That lizard looks like he’s recalling something that annoyed him once.
That’s a Hili-esque comment if ever I heard one. 🙂
Alligator lizards always look like that. They are actually rather choleric little creatures.
Poor things.
Very nice, John! I knew nothing of the California buckeye–what a fascinating tree!
Cute little moose, Stephen! Love the gait he’s showing.