California

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Seeking Justice for a Sea Otter: It’s a Small World

July 22, 2010 Bay Area Faves

I received a notice tonight from Defenders of Wildlife, asking for help in finding the killer of a young sea otter. The female otter was found along Morro Strand in June of this year — slain illegally, with the post-mortem revealing a shot to her head. In seeking additional information on this case, I landed [...]

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To Sleep & Dream

April 18, 2010 Mammals

Not in the Shakespearean sense . . .

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Not the Easter Bunny

April 2, 2010 Mammals

Those ears serve this Black-tailed Jackrabbit well. A jack will usually hear you coming long before you see him. And he can regulate blood flow in these ears to adjust for external temperatures. The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) — any jackrabbit — is actually a hare, not a rabbit. This particular jackrabbit wasn’t keen on [...]

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Shorebird Nation Rises Again

October 22, 2009 Animal Behavior

Ever since I picked up a telephoto lens and aimed it at my first non-human earthling, my seasons have morphed into migration schedules. Winter = Ducks. Spring= Babies. Fall (best time of all) = Shorebirds. I used to be an urban-girl-night-person — before I knew what I was. Autumn was: early darkness, early cocktails. (Okay, [...]

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Squirrel for a Day

August 24, 2009 Mammals

Our latest outing to Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline rendered two contenders for the feature. The first, a perfectly posed ground squirrel who had to assess my safety level before resuming his meal. And second, a squirrel clinging to a fence which begged the question — who’s really on the outside? (He was fine [...]

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The Art in Bull Kelp

July 4, 2009 Bay Area

I never appreciated kelp until, 1) I first saw this particular monster of a kelp, and 2) I saw close-ups of kelp shot by better nature photographers than I — capturing the golden palette of this gargantuan plant.

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The Short Story of the California Red-Backed Jumping Spider

May 11, 2009 Arachnids/Spiders

Phidippus johnsoni – Red-Backed Jumping Spider Edited to add (7/11/11): Thanks to a couple of knowledgeable and generous commenters (below) the positive ID on this jumping spider is “Ms.” ——————— I found this little Mr. (or Ms.) on the kitchen ceiling a few days ago. Before I could grab my telephoto to see precisely what [...]

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