After the rain
After some several days of very welcome rainy weather, the flowers and foliage are refreshed. One of the first blooming California...
Yellow Faced Bumble Bee and the Verbena De La Mina
This is the first time I've ever seen the Yellow-faced bumble bee on the native Verbena De La Mina shrub. In the past years I've only...
Our first California poppy of the year
Poppies have always had such a special place in my heart, ever since I first saw fields of red poppies. I was a little girl at the time,...
Ray Hartman ceanothus in bloom
It's always such a treat to witness the Ray Hartman ceanothus blooming overnight. Okay, the blossoms were buds for several days. Then...
The promise of Spring
Last autumn I strew California poppy seeds around the native patches in our yard. After the atmospheric rains this is the result, lush...
Bushtit in action
Between light rain showers this bushtit landed on a cluster of dried blackberry blossoms. Either it is eating seeds or insects on the...
Bushtit and Abutilon blossoms
This bushtit was determined to snack on the sepals of an abutilon blossom. It perched on the branch of the California figwort as it eyed...
Winter visitors
They are all out there in the garden. I hear them in the trees and shrubs, foraging in the garden, or in the bird bath. But when it comes...
White-crowned sparrows finding treasures in the rain
During a day of steady, soft rainfall, birds were out and about foraging in the nature patch of the garden. I observed twelve...
Gulf Fritillary in the late autumn sun
Now that the days are much cooler here, there are few butterflies around. When the daytime temperatures hit the mid-60's at the warmest,...
