Journal archives for August 2022

August 8, 2022

August 7, 2022 Malibu Bluffs Park

It's been a hot summer, but then lately all our summers have been hot. As have our springs and falls for that matter. In an effort to avoid the heat, I headed out to Malibu Bluffs Park along the coast. Though I usually avoid the beach area during the summer, Malibu Bluffs Park tends not to get busy...at least the natural part of the park doesn't. I did see about 6 people but they were all spread out during my visit and I had the place mostly to myself.

I'm sure one of the reasons this area doesn't get many visitors is that it looks quite unremarkable. It's basically a big open area along the coast. Yes, it boasts nice views of the ocean, but there is nothing but chaparral here. No big attractions and probably a less natural feel due to the busy traffic going by on PCH and the helicopters whirring over the coastline.

While I didn't find anything remarkable here, it is a place where I've had good luck finding things that I don't find elsewhere. And while I'm always on the lookout for new species, any time I can find something in an area that I haven't seen in that area before, or that hasn't yet been recorded in that area, I am happy to add it to the inaturalist database.

My favorite find today were two, yes, two great spreadwings. I don't see these often so it was really nice to find them. I'm frequently discouraged when I don't see species that I used to see a few years ago. Yet I'm often encouraged when I find species in a new location where I wasn't expecting to see them.

In addition to the spreadwings, what I found interesting were the number of marine blue butterflies around. I actually was at this park last week and counted over 50. I'm sure there were still at least that many if not more. Interestingly enough, there are really not that many records on inaturalist of these butterflies in the coastal area of Malibu--or at least not anywhere near the observations that reflect the abundance I saw last week and today. It certainly reminds me that the data we add, while very valuable, often does not reflect what is actually happening out in nature.

In addition to seeing a large variety of bee flies, I also was pleased to find an ashy gray lady beetle. I've seen them before, but this was my first sighting in the Santa Monica Mountains area. Another cool find, and one of my favorite genera was a scriptured leaf beetle. I saw a couple of these last week but I always enjoy seeing them again.

Finally, I'm still amazed at how well animals are able to "hide" in plain sight. Today I saw both a moth and a spider, which had I not been looking very closely I would never have seen. I've posted both in conjunction with this journal entry and it makes me wonder how many things we all overlook as we're going about our visits in nature.

The more I observe nature, the more I learn. Not only have I discovered that many things that look the same are not necessarily the same, I've also learned to spend a lot of time looking over everything to make sure I'm not missing something interesting. Some of my best finds have been when I spent time in one spot looking at something, only to find something else crawling/flying by that I never would have noticed had I not stopped in that spot.

Posted on August 8, 2022 03:58 AM by naturephotosuze naturephotosuze | 6 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment