A tiny Marine Blue #butterfly on Blue Chalksticks flowers.
The name might seem odd, but when they open their wings, the inside shades to a bright blue near the body.
On PixelFed.Social
On Flickr
On iNaturalist (crop, no commentary)
Category: PixelFed
Just the regular pigeons. Regularly-spaced, that is.
Pin-Tailed Whydahs
I spotted the bird with the long tail flying around and thought at first that it was carrying something. Eventually it settled on this cable and I saw the other one which was clearly the same species, despite the shorter tail. Male/female pair? Older male/younger male?
They appear to be pin-tailed wydahs, which have been introduced to southern California. There’s a cluster of observations on iNaturalist in the LA area.
On PixelFed.Social
Female on iNaturalist
Male on iNaturalist
Like a ton of bricks….
Stealth Sparrows. I almost deleted the thumbnail because the birds didn’t actually register at that size. Fortunately, I opened the image and looked.
Stealth Sparrows. I almost deleted the thumbnail because the birds didn’t actually register at that size. Fortunately, I opened the image and looked.
I walked along a bike path today and could not believe how many puncture vine plants I saw.
I walked along a bike path today and could not believe how many puncture vine plants I saw. No wonder I've had to patch so many flat tires!
If it's possible for a plant to evolve into the natural enemy of the bicycle, this plant is it. It's literally in the caltrop family. I swear it's lining the bike path, waiting to ambush its prey.
This bee was crawling into one of these trumpet shaped flowers after another.
This bee was crawling into one of these trumpet shaped flowers after another. I finally decided to aim at the flower it had just climbed into, then wait for it to leave and see if I could catch it. Amazingly, it worked!
Found this shot looking through photos from my old phone. It’s from the outdoor part of a mall.
Found this shot looking through photos from my old phone. It's from the outdoor part of a mall.
The squawking of the feral parakeets
Sometimes I’ll hear the squawking of the feral parakeets that live in town as they fly past. Usually I don’t have a camera with me, but one time I managed to catch four of them flying (not very detailed, as you can see), and once I managed to catch one that had stopped in a palm tree long enough for me to use the zoom lens.
#birds #parakeets #FeralParakeets #parrots #nature #FeralParrots
I heard the squawking and went for my camera, but this is the best I could get. Still, you can at least see the green color and a bit of the red on one of their heads.
After they flew on, I saw a few others diving out of palm trees and wheeling back up in the direction they’d come from.
I’ve seen and heard the feral parakeets before, and managed to get some decent pictures a few weeks ago. I can’t be certain these are the same parakeet species as that one, but it seems likely since they’re introduced.
Previous observation of mitred parakeet: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/26590485
TODO: Combine with this post and others.
Two of about a dozen sparrows I saw out in front of the office building on a short walk this afternoon.
Two of about a dozen #sparrows I saw out in front of the office building on a short walk this afternoon. At least six were flitting about in or below a jacaranda tree, some better camouflaged than others, plus a few others scattered around the lot.
I’ve got to admit I still get a kick out of editing bird photos in Aviary.
On PixelFed.Social
Astroturf sparrow on iNaturalist
Wood chips sparrow on iNaturalist
The most sinister-looking pigeon I’ve ever seen….
A spotless lady beetle, um, spotted on a weed growing by the sidewalk
A spotless lady #beetle, um, spotted on a weed growing by the sidewalk.
I saw a lot of butterflies at Madrona Marsh over the weekend…
Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center
I saw a lot of #butterflies at #MadronaMarsh over the weekend, including some pale yellow ones and some black ones and even a few monarchs, plus a lot of these white and orange ones. #iNaturalist narrows them down to the Pontia & Hylephila genuses (geni?). #nature
According to biophilic1 on iNaturalist, these are a Checkered White and a Fiery Skipper.
Bzzzzzz!
Bzzzzzz! A honey bee visiting clover flowers in the strip of lawn along the sidewalk. I still can't get over being able to get closeup photos like this using my phone.
Buckeye Butterfly
Buckeye #butterfly spotted in a field near LAX airport. There were a lot of butterflies of at least three types flitting about in the mustard, but this is the only one that stayed still long enough for me to catch a photo.
Network of soap bubbles in a partially-rinsed olive oil bottle.
Wild oats by the side of the road.
Ground cover. The jacaranda flowers haven’t covered the ground yet, but they will.
Ground cover.
The #jacaranda #flowers haven’t covered the ground yet, but they will.
For now, the oxalis has most of the ground to itself.
On PixelFed.Social
Woodsorrel on iNaturalist (alternate shot)
House Sparrows on a parking sign
These two sparrows were on the ground as I walked across the driveway, flew up to the sign as I approached, and stayed put just long enough for me to pull out my phone. I swear they took off the moment I clicked the virtual shutter. (Time restricted parking, indeed.)
