could this be a badger den?
I found this Fruit Fly on the fence next to my compost bins. The bins were moist and open at the time. There were multiple Fruit Flies here.
Photos 1 and 2 are unedited. Photo 6 has a Flash White Balance.
Observed decomposing remains of a dead Rodent on the trail. Possibly a Botta’s Pocket Gopher.
What looks to be a Woodrat nest on the ground, built in the open. A pile of Woodrat scat was on a rock a few feet away, posted separately: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109818603
Images 4-5 show the area.
The nest reobserved on July 1st, 2022: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/205351456
This plant was host to many galls. The fruits were sticky and covered in dead insects. The plant is growing along the Bogart Trail.
Host to:
Some kind of nest made in the crook of a small tree. The last photo shows the tree. I walked up to the edge of the nest, but didn't hear any movement inside.
This observation is for these coffee bean like seeds that were in some scat.
A water sample was taken from the bank of the Vuoksi River. The sample was stored at room temperature and observed nine days after collection.
Video: https://youtu.be/YIRBZxNW2qI
1 CR{P} R{255} S{255} T{61F} P{0000} [CAMERA1] M{1} FS{0360 1080 1439 1439
This Spider was on a spiderweb spun between Prickly Pears.
There were many Silver Argiopes around, but this one looks like a different species.
American Coots grazing in the grass at sunset.
This flowering and fruiting Redstem Stork's-Bill was growing next to the parking lot.
I thought this was interesting, as it appears one gopher has been moving along the same route as the trail and making a new mound every couple of feet to clear its tailings.
The nearer mounds (photo 2) appear to be older than the fresh ones at the far end (photos 4 & 5)
Slender grasses, growing as weeds in a planter bed at the post office in San Dimas, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
This Coast Live Oak is lining the road.
The following mushrooms are growing on it:
This post is part of my personal project to post all of the park's oaks to iNaturalist.
Stem-based Oak Gall found underneath a grove of Coast Live Oak trees. Images 3-6 show the host plant.
This plant resembles Nettles, but isn't the Dwarf Nettle I'm familiar with. The plant is covered in stiff bristles. These plants are dotting the riverbank, growing between rocks.
Every night I hear the mice/rats squeaking in my compost bins. This one fled when I went outside, but cornered itself. After a few minutes it escaped somehow. It was capable of standing between 2 vertical surfaces. In these pictures it's between 2 sheds and a fence.
Scat nearby: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/198168167
Photos 1-2 were brightened.
Location Observed: Riverside, CA
Life Stage: Adult, Nymph
Observed contained in insect lab at UC Riverside.
The Turkestan cockroach is an invasive species found primarily outdoors. They are a common pest in California. I took this photo of a lab population. I did see a significant number of these outdoors at night but was unable to capture a photo that was clear enough for identification. These cockroaches are interesting as they are sexually dimorphic meaning the male and female adults look completely different. They tend to prefer more arid conditions which is why they survive well in the Southwestern US; however, this species has been rapidly migrating to the eastern US including Georgia. These cockroaches will inhabit areas around dwellings such as rock piles, wood and debris, irrigation boxes, drainage pipes, etc. The males can fly and are attracted to light and can end up indoors. They are common in sewers and storm drains. Because they inhabit areas with pathogens, Turkestan cockroaches can be more than a nuisance pest. They can carry pathogens from their home environment into residences and transfer them to food or food contact surfaces. They also can expose humans to allergens through their saliva, fecal material and shed exoskeletons. Removal of habitat and moisture aids in keeping these cockroaches away from structure perimeters.
This Western Black Widow was near the storm drain entrance.
These photos were edited to have a Custom White Balance in Photoshop.
On my hikes, I have come across a half a dozen or so decapitated mice. @kyle_eaton_photography speculated owls were responsible. I wondered if it was possible it was a coyote, but a fellow hiker didn’t think that was likely because for a coyote, a mouse would be a quick bite. But this morning, I came across some fairly sizable scat right next to the mouse carcass. Maybe the two are related, maybe not. But if there is a correlation, there appear to be other predators that decapitate small prey. I’m not sure I understand the reason though. (location is approximate)
Observed a couple of Cicada molted exoskeletons in rotting Prickly Pear cactus as shown in the 3th photo.
I carefully removed one of these exoskeletons as shown in the first two photos. Cicadas are common in this area.
I observed this camouflaged Looper caterpillar on a California Buckwheat flower. The first photo seems to be just a California Buckwheat, but a closer look shows the Synchlora aerata caterpillar camouflaged with California Buckwheat flowers at the top of the flower. The last two photos show why this caterpillar is referred to as the Camouflaged Looper caterpillar.
"These caterpillars of the Wavy-lined Emerald moth disguise themselves with their own camouflage from the plants they feed on. Their Pupa also use plant pieces as camouflage for part of its cocoon.
Looper Caterpillars are members of a large family of moths known as geometrids. The name geometrid derives from Greek roots meaning earth measurer. Another common name for geometrid caterpillars is inchworms, and as loopers and inchworms move along, they do appear to measure the earth inch by inch. Camouflaged loopers eat many types of flowers including ageratum, aster, black-eyed Susan, boneset, daisy, goldenrod, ragweed, raspberry, rose, sage, St. John’s wort, and yarrow. The adult moth of this camouflaged looper is known as the Wavy-lined Emerald."
This large Orbweaver was set up below a tree. It looked different from the other Orbweavers I saw in the area.
Photos 17-20 were edited to have a Flash White Balance in Photoshop. Photos 3-5 and 11-12 were edited to have a Custom White Balance.
Photos 1, 3-6, 9-13 and 16-20 were darkened.
This Coast Live Oak is growing along the Children's Garden Trail.
This observation is part of a personal project to post every potentially wild tree in the park to iNaturalist.
I'll update the photo later and add many more angles.
Small spiky plant growing on edge of trail. Had little flowers oddly growing at the base of the stems.
ID based on AI.
Scrub Oak, Identified by my photography friend. Growing about 7-8 feet high. Sharp leaves. Front and back of leaves shown in images 3 and 4. Growing at the edge of a cinderblock wall in area not watered or tended to.
This hairy plant is growing unplanted in the shade under a palm. The ground is moist from yesterday's rain. This is in a residential yard.
iNat is suggesting Lantanas, but the leaves look different to me. It reminds me a bit of Nettles in leaf appearance, but didn't sting or have the same kinds of hairs on the leaves.
Not sure what species; phyllaries are definitely fused but are not completely glabrous.
A large leafed Mallow growing as a weed in the lawn beneath a tree. The last photo shows detail of the leaf in case that helps. One of multiple.
Still sitting in the nest, hopefully everything is ok with them
Spotted at Caspers wilderness Park on 7/4/21 on a mountain bike ride. The coyote was standing at attention and I was photographing it when the badger crossed interview and the coyote moved off. Presumably this was a symbiotic feeding behavior
Downsview Park. Lost count of how many hawks were flying around.
There were multiple unplanted Spotted Spurges on this watered lawn. It had white sap.
Note seven pictures and first five in chronological order over 15 minutes span... 1 mass of worms in circle crawling over each other in counterclockwise fashion, 2 note white maggot-like critter along edge of mass (there were perhaps 2 of these, 3 circle of worms became a clump as they all moved into this shape and proceeded to 4. two clumps and finally 5 one clump the final two pictures are attempts at close ups... the mass behavior was fascinating...there is a puppy in the yard on occasion??
stunning leucistic individual
A tall, old Coast Live Oak growing in a grove of Coast Live Oaks. It has a hollow trunk that was covered by now rusted chicken wire. The trunk is being supported by a metal pole.
Host to many Oak Galls.
Edit: I took and added 16 additional photos on 3-5-22. This includes the flowers which weren't there when I initially observed the oak in December.
I’m not identifying the snail in the picture, it’s the almost clear creature with black eyes in the middle of the pic!Flipped over a rock in the intertidal zone and almost missed this guy!