On Monday mountain bike rides up Albertson Fire Road, she sometimes stops at a high point along the way where the utility tower, so-called Tower 45, holds court on the flattened top of a ridge. Here she can take in a 360 degree view of the valleys below and of the mountains near and distant.… Continue reading Tower 45 Terroir: Holocene Days
Category: Nature
A Long-horned Bee: Subgenus Synhalonia
Long-horned bee species that are active in the spring to early summer are in the genus Eucera. Synhalonia is the only subgenus of Eucera present on the North American continent. Synhalonia comprises 55 species, with most of them occurring in the western states. The three bees featured here might be of the same species, but… Continue reading A Long-horned Bee: Subgenus Synhalonia
Coast Live Oak and Toyon
In December of 2018, a little more than a month after the Woolsey Fire burned through much of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Conejo Open Space, a friend and I headed out for a hike starting from the Albertson Motorway trailhead. The well-groomed, exotic greenery and cultivated lawns of the adjacent Lang… Continue reading Coast Live Oak and Toyon
Swallowtails
As I learn more about the behaviors of butterflies, I am getting a little better at photographing them. Swallowtail butterflies, like many other Lepidopterans are fast moving. At this stage in my education, I can usually observe a butterfly in flight and determine within a minute or two whether, with the requisite patience, I have… Continue reading Swallowtails