(no subject)

[elainegrey]

I've spent the morning going through photos, identifying a sandhill skipper, posting my butterfly IDs to http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org . I've joined http://bugguide.net/, but i don't know if my photos are needed there.

I've logged and illustrated one day of our trip: 20131109 Fort Ross and Salt Point. (More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elainegreycats/tags/20131109momanddad/ )



Yesterday, Christine and i took a walk in the Palo Alto baylands between Ponds A & B (not the most evocative names). Pond A had dried up, and i walked out on the cracked playa. It felt surreal. I returned to where Christine was sitting on a bench and looked out over Pond B. There were Northern Shovelers plowing up and down the water, heads down, strongly reminiscent of some sort of earth moving equipment. Very focused, the ducks were, and i'm pretty sure two hens ran into each other.

Four different kites -- probably White Tailed Kites -- hovered high and hunted, while a large hawk skimmed low across the wetlands. Occasionally honking flights of Canada geese flew near by. From our vantage point, with grasses taller than us surrounding us, the geese skimmed just over the grasses.

It was a soothing walk.



I've added all my observations from last Saturday to http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/judielaine . I was startled at how quickly one butterfly's ID was confirmed and another's was disputed.