Nature notes and photos from BC, Canada, mostly in the Lower Fraser Valley, Bella Coola, and Vancouver Island.
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My place is a popular night spot; last night I got up four times to catch another weevil and send it outside. A couple were being stalked by cellar spiders; they should be grateful. None tonight; it's early, though. There were other beetles, as well. This one is a Small False Click Beetle, in the Throscidae family. I looked these up on BugGuide. Here's what they say: Adults have a remarkable…
Here's another of my midnight visitors. I've never seen an inchworm this tiny before. It was hurrying across my nightstand, a mere thread stretching out, then folding itself in half. I moved a box aside, and it leapt onto my finger. As thin as a sewing thread. Racing across my palm. It's about 4 mm. long. And here it is, folded. The inchworms are the larvae of the Geometrid moths; they get their…
Wow. Reclaiming some waste ground beyond my zucchini patch, I planted marigolds, and they did nothing, nothing, nothing. All June, most of July. Then, suddenly, they took off, and I have flowers. Pot marigold, Calendula officinalis. Not the least bit shy. They even make the dahlias look modest. If you can call this modest. Bonus: the deer don't eat either of these. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ En una…
The Brewer's blackbirds were having a convention down at Tyee Spit. A noisy, chattering bunch, all very busy with their convention duties. Euphagus cyanocephalus, male. The scrap of paper is a cigarette label; I didn't see it at the time. The legend reads: "Fumee du tabac est toxique". (Tobacco smoke is poisonous: obligatory warning on all tobacco products in Canada.) The female is a plain,…
I took a wrong turn and ended up on a small dock I hadn't found before. Not much to see; three or four parking spots, a couple of boats. The water was murky; tiny fish just below the surface made mere vanishing glimmers. But on one side, where the sunlight managed to sneak in, there was a big purple starfish. As seen, scrunched up, it measured about 25 cm. arm tip to arm tip. I like that kind of…
My new plant guide, Plants of the Pacific Coast , replacing the 32-year-old Plants of Coastal British Columbia, has arrived! Both are by Pojar and MacKinnon; this new one includes two more authors, Leigh Joseph (Styawat) and Jamie Fenneman. Looks good; better photos, much more detail for each plant, updated ids. At first glance, it seems to include fewer species, "over 700" as opposed to 794 in…
The last couple of weeks I've been busy, with visiting family. I've been on the road a lot. And saw a lot of blue water, some with birds. Tiny island in the Campbell River estuary. Looking towards the salt chuck and Quadra Island. Coril Air Cessna, landing off Tyee Spit. With a row of tiny buffleheads. Coasting into the dock on the estuary. Just a Pelagic cormorant drying his wings and showing off…
Last time I was at Brown's Bay, ( Aug. 1 ) I was told there was a day-old seal pup in the harbour. I didn't get to see it then, but Sunday I was on the dock there again, and the mother brought her pup over to see us. Luckily, this time, I had a camera in my pocket. Pocket camera photo, in bright sunlight. Mom and pup. They came right up to where we stood on the wharf to look us over. They'll know…
I mentioned a caterpillar bed. I didn't see the actual caterpillars, just their bedrolls, presumably occupied. Leafroller caterpillar's bed. This guy's been eating his sleeping bag. Another, sheltering a tidier sleeper. A Google image search suggested that these tubes are made by the larva of the dogwood leaf roller moth, Acleris cornana. Always iffy, these Google results, even when I specify the…
They're both black. Crow on a windy beach. All black, even the "whites" of his eyes. Same crow, waiting for a handout. And Chia the cat. The "white" of her eyes is yellow. Tomorrow, a caterpillar bed, I think. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Un cuervo, y la gatita, "Chia"; en la categoría de "Cosas negras".
