Western Lynx Spider

Oxyopes scalaris on my Rose of Sharon. Here's a cropped version of the picture someone else (at the link) took. You can see this guy's crazy eyeballs better than in my pic. I know: the face looks totally fake, right?!

"Teddy Bear" Bee

This male Xylocopa varipuncta a.k.a. Valley Carpenter Bee immediately caught my attention because of his large size, bright color, and zipping about behavior. He kept circling the Mexican Sage (for a long time!) without ever landing and without ever slowing down or hovering in place, which is apparently what the males of this species typically do (according to BugGuide). That flight pattern made him really hard to photograph. Eventually, I went with manual focus and just snapped away, hoping to get lucky. I have about 350 pictures that look like these,

but I'm pretty happy with a few shots. (The headache this critter unintentionally gave me, I'm not as happy about. I think my face is still partially paralyzed in squint position!)

BIig Deal for Our Little 'Hood (LAPD 'Copter)

We live in, like, the boring-est neighborhood ever. Which I mean in the most positive way. (Hey, it's why we're willing to add the extra ten or fifteen minutes to our commute!) There practically no riffraff, rubbish, ballyhoo, hoopla, or what-not. One can truly feel the calm, the peace — one can just relax, gaze at the mountains, go for a hike, grab a bite, shop the farmers' market, and just mind one's own business most of the time. Which I do not take for granted, especially after living in Baltimore for six years. 

Not to diss Charm City. It's just that crime abounds there. (As do drugs and STDs.) The map below shows various events that took place during the last two months. Our former neighborhood, Hampden/Wyman Park, which we loved (and still love) for lots of valid reasons, is right there where you see a lot of blue guys (thefts) and a red bulls-eye (shooting theft). (And that's now that the area is all gentrified and hip. When we lived there, it was perhaps transitional or as some say, "in renaissance.")

Map with Baltimore, MD crimes (4/9 to 6/9/2012) from crimebaltimore.com.

Below is the crime map I could find for our current neighborhood. It's not a perfect equivalent of the Balto. map, but the visual contrast still reflects the truth. That's us, and this is our annual crime index. (There's more info. at the source site, though they try to get you to subscribe.)

Map with crime annual crime rate info. for La Crescenta from http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/.

So, that's what I mean when I say boring in the best way. The reason I say this is that when there is police activity nowadays, it's a big deal for our little 'hood. Today when this LAPD helicopter kept circling low over our house, we're like, "Gee whiz, honey, what could possibly be going on?" My first (humorous) thought was that the police had heard about our Robber Fly situation.

The last time we had a whirly-bird involved disturbance of this caliber was on March 7 when the nearby Toyota dealership found a World War II hand grenade in a trade-in car. The L.A. County Sherrif's Department Bomb Squad came out, as did all the local news 'copters, but it turned out that the grenade was inert.

Our biggest "breaking news" events in 2012 have revolved around wildlife hijinks — such as the culinary exploits of a big-ole black bear.

This bear, affectionately nicknamed Meatball, was eventually tranquilized and relocated to a spot deeper into the L.A. National Forest. I should also mention that some folks referred to the bear as Glen Bearian, and he had his own Twitter account, as this national (!) TV news story (wittily and/or cheezily) reports.

Our favorite part of the drama was this bear's (hilariously) surprising a clueless texter (is there any other kind?) one day while a local news helicopter filmed:

Ha! Ha!

Who knows what today's situation may have been. I'll update when/if I find out.

Mystax is Back (Robber Fly Sips House Fly)

A Robber Fly has a fuzzy mustache (the mystax) designed to protect its face from prey.

You can totally see that this Robber Fly is using its proboscis to suck out liquified fly innards while perched all pretty on a Rose of Sharon leaf. (Cool info. on Robber Flies in my previous Robber Fly post.)

Just a couple of days ago, I saw a Robber Fly who was briefly stuck in some spider webs near the ground among pointy succulents. A small Alligator Lizard made some quick, careful lunges after it, but the fly freed itself before the lizard made a meal of it. (I have to admit I was rooting for the lizard.)

Left: Robber Fly in Web (Lizard Barely Visible). Right: Defeated Alligator Lizard.

Hi-ho the Derry-o, a Mantis in the Palm

Taking pictures of palm tree seeds, which I think look really cool but of which I didn't get a picture I really like (example below), I was lucky enough to spot a little tan Praying Mantis (above). The mantis had already spotted me, cocking its head to look me right in the eye. He (or she) was about 2/3 to 3/4 of an inch, not as small the tiny green nymph I spotted last June, but it was a treat to see him (or her) nevertheless.

I adore mantises and consider them both beneficial and lucky. I'd like to think that this guy (or gal) is a descendant of the ones I introduced to the yard a few years ago via store-bought egg casings. Maybe that's the case!

A neat fact about mantises: Their "praying" limbs are called "raptorial legs" because they grab and hold their prey with them. Reh! It makes sense that some folks substitute "preying mantis" for "praying mantis" because this creature more hard-core predator than holy contemplator. (Although who am I to say that mantises aren't being ultra-reverent while chowing down on their victims?!)

P.S. Apparently "prey"/"pray" substitutions are called EGGCORNs in linguistics! How awesome is that term?!

"Katydid! Katydidn't!''

Did Katy do it or not? That is the question.

According to Animal Planet, this bug's name comes from the male's mating call, "Katydid! Katydidn't!'' which "is produced by rubbing a scraper on one forewing against the toothed edge of the other forewing." My katydid was silent. I only noticed it when it hopped from leaf to leaf while I was watering the Rose of Sharon. (This plant has a remarkable array of inhabitants!)

Katydids are pretty harmless vegetarians, and I guess this isn't a "true" katydid because those live east of the Rockies. This is cool: "The insects hear through organs, called tympana, located on the forelegs."

(All info. from Animal Planet. I'll update this post once I've done more research about this particular type of bug.)

Raven Hassles Hawk (& Vice Versa)

At first it was hard to see what all the noise was about, but by the sound of it, a Raven was definitely involved. (Both birds are in the center of this picture.)

When they rose up over the hillside, we could see that the Raven was totally going after the Red-Tailed Hawk. (Only they know who started it.) The Raven chased the Hawk all over the place.

Once the Hawk turned the tables, the Raven coasted off, nonchalant as can be. The end.

Violet's 13th Birthday

The white tufts of hair that emanate from the bottoms of Violet's paws grow longer with age.
They have now officially entered the "streamers" phase of development.

Our little chimp celebrated her 13th birthday today by doing what she does pretty much every day, chowing down on kibble at Deukmejian. (She won't eat her kibble at home, probably as insurance that we won't forget to take her to the park.) She's still wobbly, but there are still at least a few bucking broncos left in her.

We look forward to many more pounces, bounces, barks, kisses, and sniffs from Violet. (Her nose and mouth are clearly still fully functional, even if those little kidneys, pancreas, and legs are on the blink!)

More about Violet.

Luciano, Bradley's Pet Spider

Luciano Eats a Fly

My husband finally admits that he's keeping this spider as a pet. It's right above/behind his computer monitor, where BP spends most of his time. My picture shows Luciano (the spider) eating a fly that Bradley threw (live) into the web. Below, the screen grab shows BP's FB confession.

Luciano is a Long Legged Cellar Spider from the Family Pholcidae (a.k.a. Cobweb Spider Pholcus phalangioides). According to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, "It was hoped that this spider [Luciano's near relative Holocnemus pluchei, to be precise] would displace the black widow in many areas when it became established; however this has not proven to be the case."

Tell me about it! We can't open the clothes washer enclosure or the recycling roller-can without disturbing a big-old Black Widow. Our neighbor's stone retaining wall holds at least a dozen honker Black Widows at night. (We counted!)

Pretty Violet

Little Violet is such a trooper. Here she is on April 5, just beginning to recover from another serious bout of pancreatitis. She's going to be thirteen years old this spring, and I really wasn't sure she'd make it through this illness (again). We decided not to hospitalize her any more. (The last stay was so horrible.) Bradley — a trooper himself — never relented with her extensive at-home medical treatments (subcutaneous fluids three times a day, etc.), and on this day, she feels well enough to sit out front and watch the world go by (especially her dog pals on their evening walks). Pretty face.

What I didn't know when I took this picture is that she was also about to face another "bad back" episode (on top of her usual achy arthritic knees issue, for which she takes Tramadol and gets weekly cold laser treatments). She has some kind of herniated disc that acts up now and then when she takes a spill or jumps off the sofa the wrong way. This time, she was pretty much paralyzed for a week, gradually able to lift her head, then kind of sit up, then to stand (with help), etc.

Again, she was a trooper. (Sometimes a pretty doped up trooper.) I was definitely fazed, but again, Bradley never lost hope. Before long, our Little Monkey was actually well enough to go to the Arroyo Burro dog beach in Santa Barbara! She still walked with a sling around her belly, but she had a blast. So did we. Today she's still wobbly and needs a lot of boosts, but her quality of life is pretty dang good again. She expects to go to the park every day, etc.


A few previous posts about Violet: Malibu Monkey,  Raining, Raining, Raining!,  Violet Spazzing.

Wild Parrot Makes Ruckus in Walnut Tree

Wild Red-Crowned Parrots are occasional spring visitors to our backyard loquat tree, but tonight at about 7:15 there arose such a clatter that Bradley, Violet, and I sprung from our house to see what was the matter.

 

This fellow was in the walnut tree that borders our back yard carrying on with mucho gusto. I started snapping pictures, Violet started barking her head off (she's too short to have been able to see the bird), and our neighbor started chatting it up with Bradley about the bird, some baby opossums, and what-not. 

The parrot seemed to care only enough to give us a few glances before he eventually flew off, making as much racket down the block as he had been here.


Click here to see my previous blog post showing a Wild Red-Crowned Parrot eating loquats.

Yellow & Red Kangaroo Paw

Pink Oleander (Front Yard)

Columbine (Second Blooming)

Click here to see my previous post on this Columbine, which I planted early last spring.

Tea Tree Two

My first tea tree is a dwarf. And pinker (less red). And nearer to the pond. This guy I bought in January with the bonus cash we earned at Armstrong Garden Center for buying all our Xmas stuff there (tree, garland, wreath, poinsettias). He was supposed to go in my pretty ceramic pot on the patio, but Tea Tree Two just didn't like it there. Not enough direct sunlight. Now he's in is in-ground home near the back fence where the massive pencil plant used to be.*

* There's a long story about the pencil plant removal. Short version: I like the way it looks (succulenty) and grows (vigorously), but the abundant milky white sap it ultra-readily oozes is either poisonous or I'm highly allergic to it or both. And once on, it's almost impossible to get off the skin. Since the violent reaction is delayed, you don't even know it's on you until it's too late. (No good, baby. No good.)

Flowering Cacti (from Texas)

Yay! This is the first time this cactus has bloomed in the almost seven years I've had it. I bought it in Austin, Texas at the spectacular cactus show held at the Zilker Botanical Garden. It seemed happy — but flowerless — growing in my Austin yard near a big-ole boulder. Then it was in a pot for the move. Looked fine but lacked flowers. Then it had a super-sunshiny spot in my California backyard. Still looked fine. Still no flowers, though. It wasn't until I moved it to its current, shadier spot near the rhubarb and fennel that it was happy enough (or stressed-out enough?) to flower. I didn't even know what kind or color of flower to expect! These big red ones are very cool (in my book). There were three altogether. I'm very pleased, very pleased.

The other cactus I bought at Zilker back then just finished blooming. Its flowers are modest, but it lets 'em rip every year. This is what it looked like on April 3.

(I wish I could tell you the names of these cacti, but I had posted them to my old garden blog, which no longer exists. If I figure them out, I'll update this post.)

Persian Berry Iris & Flower Crab Spider

Western Tanagers on Cinco de Mayo

It's my niece Hayley's twenty-first birthday (perhaps better known for Cinco de Mayo celebrations), and a beautiful pair of Western Tanagers very quietly pay our loquat tree a visit.


Click here to see the last time I caught a picture of a Western Tanager in our yard.

Hummingbird at Iris, Pond, Juniper

Hummingbirds don't usually seem interested at all in irises, but they seem to adore these super-tall yellow ones that grow in our pond. (This is the first year we've had so many blooms.)

Today I happened to have my camera when this female came to feed and have a little drink from the pond.

My favorite picture is actually this one of the same hummingbird perched in one of the Hollywood Juniper trees near the pond.

Seeing Double. Two Beards: Better than One?

This Victoria Falls iris is extra-neat. One of the falls features a double-beard! (Bee isn't fazed.) Click on the image for a better look.

Better Together: Victoria Falls & Belvi Queen Irises

Belvi Queen Iris (& Friends)