kyle_eaton_photography's Favorites

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.

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:

• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173521080
• (I'll add more links once I upload my DSLR shots from this hike)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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??