zaf2103's Favorites

11/7/North Fort Scott neighborhood, top of the hill that goes down to the stop sign at Lendrum & Armistead. No visible tags. I saw the same coyote on 11/9 on Lincoln above the stables just before 7am, and on 11/14 Letterman next to the Presidigo stop after the Lucas Film building at approximately 5:15pm - he was very close to multiple people and their dogs.

Surprisingly active sloth climbed up the tree and moved around a lot. They are very well camouflaged with the tree bark. Markings on this male's back is normal color variation.

Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus) The sloths crawl down from canopy once a week to defecate on the forest floor, then climb back up. They eat tender shoots of tree branches. One of their favorite is the Trumpet-Tree (Cecropia obtusifolia). Once they've defoliated one tree, they move on to the next.
"The brown-throated sloth is of similar size and build to most other species of three-toed sloths, with both males and females being 42 to 80 cm (17 to 31 in) in total body length. The tail is relatively short, only 2.5 to 9 cm (1.0 to 3.5 in) long. Adults weigh from 2.25 to 6.3 kg (5.0 to 13.9 lb), with no significant size difference between males and females. Each foot has three fingers, ending in long, curved claws, which are 7 to 8 cm (2.8 to 3.1 in) long on the fore feet, and 5 to 5.5 cm (2.0 to 2.2 in) on the hind feet.[6]
The head is rounded, with a blunt nose and inconspicuous ears. As with other sloths, the brown-throated sloth has no incisor or canine teeth, and the cheek teeth are simple and peg-like.
The brown-throated sloth has grayish-brown to beige-color fur over the body, with darker brown fur on the throat, the sides of the face, and the forehead. The face is generally paler in color, with a stripe of very dark fur running beneath the eyes.
The guard hairs are very coarse and stiff, and overlie a much softer layer of dense under-fur. The hairs are unusual in lacking a central medulla, and have numerous microscopic cracks across their surfaces. These cracks are host to a number of commensal species of algae, including Rufusia pillicola, Dictyococcus bradypodis, and Chlorococcum choloepodis. The algae are generally absent in the hair of young sloths, and may also be absent in particularly old individuals, where the outer cuticle of the hair has been lost" https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47067-Bradypus-variegatus

adult male coyote out for a stroll with 5 pups. the most pups in one photo was 4 (see third photo), but I thought I saw 5 of them.

adult male coyote has a limp, and he also seems to currently be sporting a cloudy right eye (see last photo). I wondered if the cloudiness was because of lighting, but his eye is cloudy in every photo I have of him this morning, and the pups eyes looks normal in comparison.

Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata), photographed along the banks of Stevens Creek at McClellan Ranch Park in Cupertino, CA. Note especially the 2-pinnate structure of the leaves; each leaf is divided into moe than 6 pairs of first-order leaflets, which are then further divided into numerous, much smaller second-order leaflets. The first-order leaflets are arrange at angle to one another along the main rachis of the leaf. This leaf structure distinguishes A. dealbata from the other wattle species that can be found within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Link to True Bug observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/151889686

Creamcups (Platystemon californicus)--many white stamens COMPARED TO Narrowleaf Queen Poppy (Hesperomecon linearis)--few yellow stamens surrounding green ovoid fruit.

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Creamcups (Platystemon californicus) Native, annual, fire-follower, shaggy-hairy plant in the Poppy (Papaveraceae) family that grows up to 30cm (12 inches) tall in open grasslands and sandy or serpentine soils in many plant communities throughout California. Leaves are linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong. Young flower buds are nodding. Flowers are 6-petaled, ovate to obovate, creamy white with yellow at base, shallowly saucer-shaped, turning pink with age. Stamens are generally white, > 12 (many), densely grouped in center of flower. Filaments are flattened. Peak bloom time: March- May. Fruits are ovate to widely linear, generally narrowed between the seeds.

Calflora (with species distribution map): https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=6635

Flora of North America http://floranorthamerica.org/Platystemon_californicus

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp.230-231.

Jepson eFlora (with botanical illustration) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38664
"Annual 3--30 cm, shaggy-hairy; sap colorless to orange. Leaf: basal and cauline, alternate and whorled, 1--9 cm, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, entire. Inflorescence: axillary and terminal, 1-flowered; peduncle 3.4--26 cm, > leaves. Flower: buds nodding; sepals 3, hairy; petals 6, free, 6--19 mm, narrowly ovate to obovate, cream with yellow base, tip, or both (or all yellow), often persistent after flower; stamens > 12, free, filaments flat; carpels generally 9--18, fused, glabrous to densely long-hairy, separating in fruit. Fruit: 10--16 mm, ovoid to widely linear, generally narrowed between seeds, breaking transversely into 1-seeded, indehiscent units. Seed: 1 mm, elliptic to reniform, smooth, black."

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 161

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 247.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/papaveraceae-xpoppy/

Leaf Terminology: Simple Diagrams/Definitions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Native American Ethnobotany: Traditional Native Plant Uses (U.S. plants for medicines, fibers, tools): http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Platystemon+californicus

5-minute video of Fort Ord Flora and Fauna, produced by David Styer: https://fortordcleanup.com/archives/2020/natural-treasures-of-fort-ord-90-amazing-photographs/

Fort Ord A Love Story, Dorothy E. Denning, 2024 (includes 1,000+ color photos) pp. 167-168.

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COMPARED TO

Narrowleaf Queen Poppy (Hesperomecon linearis) A.k.a. Narrow-leaved Meconella. Native, annual plant in the Poppy (Papaveraceae) family that grows up to 40 cm (up to 16 inches) tall open grassy slopes and meadows. Stems are sparsely long-hairy. Leaves are mostly basal, linear, narrow, ascending from base, and pilose (covered with long soft hairs). Young flower buds are nodding. Flowers are 6-petaled, ovate to obovate, creamy white with yellow at base, and shallowly saucer-shaped. Fruit capsules are green, ovoid, and usually visible in center of flower. Peak bloom time: March-May.

Calflora (with species distribution map) https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=10925

Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Hesperomecon_linearis

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 230-231.

Jepson eFlora (with botanical illustration) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=28048 "Annual, 3--40 cm, spreading-hairy. Leaf: basal or +- so, 5--85 mm, linear. Inflorescence: terminal, 1-flowered; peduncle 2.5--38 cm, > leaves, spreading-hairy. Flower: buds nodding; petals 3--20 mm, 2--10 mm wide, ovate to obovate, cream, base yellow or not, or outer 3 yellow, inner 3 cream; stamens many. Fruit: 10--15 mm, ovate. Seed: 0.4 mm, reniform-obovate."
Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=28048

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 160.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 246.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/papaveraceae-xpoppy/

Leaf Terminology: Simple Diagrams/Definitions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Native American Ethnobotany: Traditional Native Plant Uses (U.S. plants for medicines, fibers, tools): http://naeb.brit.org/ (species not listed)

5-minute video of Fort Ord Flora and Fauna, produced by David Styer: https://fortordcleanup.com/archives/2020/natural-treasures-of-fort-ord-90-amazing-photographs/

Fort Ord A Love Story, Dorothy E. Denning, 2024 (includes 1,000+ color photos) (species not listed)

Ravens steppin! At first 3, then +1. Standing tall facing each other with puffed-out throat feathers, continuously changing position and shuffling around each other. Sometimes one of them (seemed to always be one of the smaller ones) would dip/bow with wings slightly spread while making a soft clucking noise.

Video of the foursome (there's wind noise, turn down your volume): https://youtu.be/yKP4aRBCM68

Video of the threesome: https://youtu.be/JXmmGKTS6IU