scottmarnoy's Favorites

At the Bernard Field Station, sitting in a Coast Live Oak next to the main driveway. When we spotted it, we thought it was a Western Wood Pewee, but now Iooking at the photos, I think it's more likely an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

After the copious recent rains, water was rushing in the little seasonal stream that runs next to the Pomello Trail in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. At one point, a little dam of sorts blocks the flow of water, and these newts were in the resulting pool. I'm not sure how many were there – at least half a dozen or so. The photos are not all of the same individual – I gave up trying to keep track of who was who.

In 2020, @mlshanahan posted this observation of a red monkeyflower that was identified as Diplacus puniceus growing next to the loop trail in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. @grmorrison, @naomibot, and I speculated as to whether it was actually just a red D. longiflorus but were unable to tell from the photo.

I tried to check on it last year but was too late, and the plants were all finished blooming, so I couldn't tell which one it was.

This year, however, I got out there in time, and found it – a lone monkeyflower plant with red flowers growing amidst a whole bunch of other monkeyflowers with the more typical yellow flowers. I did get close-ups of the leaves.

The relevant Jepson couplet that would separate these species is:

1. Leaves abaxially puberulent to densely hairy, generally paler than adaxial surface --> D. longiflorus
   3' Leaves abaxially glabrous, not paler than adaxial surface --> D. puniceus

The undersides of the leaves are definitely hairy and paler than the upper sides, so I think it's pretty clear that this is D. longiflorus. I do note that the Jepson description of this species says, "corolla orange to pale yellow-orange to red".

What do you think @grmorrison, @naomibot, @keirmose?

I saw this lizard while hiking. It moved very fast across my path. When it paused I was able to take a few pictures of it but only of the back of the lizard. the habitat was very dry and dusty with lots of grasses and shrubs for the lizard to run and hide inside of

Is it a fish? Is it a slug? Is it a fishy anemone? I do not have a clue what this is!

It is about 30mm long and there were a few of them in the sand - outgoing tide nearly on the turn. Most were buried and only the "fan fin" was showing.

Resting on the wet sand, when the sand collapsed it arched it's face upwards (2nd and third photos) and seem to spawn capsule from somewhere - there are 2 floating in the 4th pic.

Totally hypnotic, by the time my sister-in-law and I carried on the brother had walked 2kms away from us!

Not sure these 3 photos are all the same bird, but we were lucky enough to notice another pair of house wrens nesting- using a hole in one of the big (coast live?) oaks here. One photo is of just a tail as one enters the cavity, a head sticking out, and then one of them sitting on an irrigation pipe. Nice day- 70s.

Found dazed in a warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga. With a wildlife rehabber now. Original thoughts just from pictures because of coloring and feathers was screech owl, but bird in hand: beak and feet are not raptor.