Oct 31 2011
While watering some milkweed plants today I moved an empty pot and discovered this earwig watching over her nest of eggs. Since I didn’t want to disturb her I ran inside to get my giant, menacing, black glass eye (camera with macro lens) so I could get about an inch away from her. To her …
Oct 27 2011
Invaded the intimate privacy of two consenting adult insects just so I could bring these educational images to my viewers. All three of you.
Oct 22 2011
A larger, orb-weaving spider set up shop just outside our kitchen window which gave me a perfect opportunity to get some macro close-ups without actually getting close and with being inside a nice, warm kitchen. Gave me a chance to use my tripod for some really good, steady, sharp images. Can’t believe how something that …
Oct 22 2011
Found a dying Monarch Butterfly that couldn’t fly on our driveway. No idea what was wrong with it. Looked really healthy although with a bit of a skinny abdomen. Picked it up and took it to one of our milkweeds for it to feed. Tried three times. Always ended up falling off and landing in the dirt. …
Oct 22 2011
Came across this little guy on one of our plumeria plants. Apparently they love to destroy tomato plants. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more of them. They have super nasty looking pointy larvae. Their name? Keeled treehopper.
Oct 19 2011
One of the neighbor dogs that I occasionally would dog-sit passed away today. She was quite mature and not in the best of health, but she was a good, loyal dog and she will be missed.
Oct 18 2011
Our backyard Pacific Treefrog, Dennis Hopper, came back for another photo shoot today. Unfortunately I only got one decent one from the entire two-minute session.
Oct 17 2011
My mom and I went over to Ozzie’s house for a chicken dinner that Jeri had prepared for us. Ozzie and Kimi showed up a bit later. After dinner I played with the three kittens and then joined the others who were playing a few rounds of Scattergories.
Oct 15 2011
Sat and waited for a Monarch Butterfly to emerge from its chrysalis this afternoon. Didn’t have to wait too long and it paid off with a lot of macro shots. Also took shots of four other Monarchs nearby which were in various stages of their own pupation. This one came out healthy and perfect. No …
Oct 15 2011
Attended another tweet-up at the San Diego Zoo for a presentation by Zoo Ambassador Rick Schwartz of three of the zoo’s animal ambassadors. First up was Isa the fossa, followed by Phu (pronounced foo) Ket the binturong and finishing up with Rio the Amazon parrot. These tweet-ups are always very enjoyable and informative.
Oct 14 2011
Found a Pacific Treefrog on the rim of one of our flowerpots this evening. He was kind enough to let me get within a couple of inches of him so I could get a few macro shots. Went back a few minutes later and he was gone. I think he may have been looking for …
Oct 10 2011
Since all of our milkweed plants had been completely gleaned of juicy, milk-filled leaves by the few remaining Monarch larvae we have, we bought a few more plants to get them bulked up enough for their upcoming pupation phase. They appeared very grateful.
Sep 30 2011
Helped my niece Kimi feed the three kittens today. She took care of Ron Burgundy and Mr. Blue, and I had Mr. Pink. These kitties are getting so big, so quickly. They look at you, they wrestle, the scratch themselves, all like real cats only much smaller.
Sep 29 2011
While watching a large Monarch larva crawl away from the milkweeds, paying attention to where it might be heading to start pupating, I was very fortunate to discover a juvenile rattlesnake hiding behind a clay flower pot on the grass. (For those counting, this makes five since I’ve lived here.) Had I not been watching …
Sep 28 2011
My mom found this 4″ baby Alligator Lizard on our dining room floor today. Caught it in a styrofoam cooler and set it free in the backyard. He was not a happy little guy. Hope he grows up to eat many Black or Brown Widows.
