Gophers & Robins - who would have guessed?

Gophers love roots and moles love worms.

Robins also love worms. They all came together one year just about this time.

I was watching from my second-story window as a gopher bumped up against the concrete slab that is part of my patio. The gopher was pushing its mound of soil (a throw) against the concrete. A robin landed on top of the throw and ate worms as they appeared from below.

It was the vibration that sent the worms topside to an ugly death. This is not just a single weird occurrence. There are worm “hunters” in Florida that gather worms for fishing bait by “thumping”. They have a wide, long board which they insert into the soil. With a wooden mallet they strike the top of the board that’s sticking above the soil. A gradual, rhythmic “thumping” causes a vibration that in turn causes worms to come crawling out of the ground. This time to lure unsuspecting fish.

That gopher was the thumper for the robin.

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This Tree Needs Caterpillars

Caterpillars are pests aren't they? Not always.

It turns out the native coast live oak (Quercas agrifolia) that grows around my house co-evolved with a tiny caterpillar, appropriately named the oak-leaf caterpillar. Without the caterpillar, the oak tree might die during years of stress.

A nursery in Los Altos, CA has a gorgeous coastal live oak about 75 feet in diameter. During the drought of the early ‘70s a lot of trees were very stressed. A neighbor near the nursery sprayed their oak, “to get rid of the messy droppings and fallen leaves”. The nursery carefully watched their tree lose many leaves and be riddled with leaves partially eaten by the oak-leaf caterpillar.

Guess which tree died?

The neighbor’s. Because it had 100% of it’s green leaves to transpire moisture. Even an organic spray, such as Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, would have lead the tree to an early death. At the nursery, the tree survived as much of it’s leaf area was consumed by the caterpillar, offering less area for transpiration.

Judging by the moths at my screened windows and the partially-eaten leaves, the first round of oak-leaf caterpillars is here. There are two to three groups of moths each season depending on how dry the year is.

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Grevilleas & Hummers

This is a photo of my Grevillea spp. in bloom. Alas, I lost the species name. However, that hasn’t stopped the humming birds from frequenting these remarkable flowers all year round. This plant along with most Grevilleas blooms throughout the year. During Spring the amount of bloom dramatically increases. They are all deer-resistant and drought resistant (hardy). I have never watered this plant when I planted it in the fall some 12 years ago. These plants are from the Mediterranean climate zone in Australia. They come in every shade of red, orange, yellow, pink, and nearly white. I don’t know of any with blue flowers. I find the unusual form of the flower to be quite fascinating.

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NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert

Floating Butterflies

A common summer visitor to my garden drifts into my garden meadow. It is the tiger swallow tail butterfly. The swallow tail darts about with bursts of flight. Sups from the sweet nectar of the South African red-hot poker. Flies off to careen by the wild huckleberry shrubs north of my house, they’re not in bloom. Swirls around the other sides of my home where there is no nectar. Returns to lick within the trumpet-shaped flowers of this colorful exotic plant. Another swallow tail butterfly joins in the flirtation with plants, the breeze, and the first butterfly. Up, fluttering. Dips. Floats. Surveys the huckleberries again. Around the house. Past the red-poker to sail past the leaves of an apple tree past bloom. Coasts back for a treat from the glorious torch. They circle the house. Flirt with each other and an apple tree, and the drifts into my garden meadow with its pale-green leaves. Flutters around my house. Drinks from the trumpet-throated poker blossoms. Darts off to another pasture of floral nectar.

Where is the pattern? The repetition of the nectar-driven flight around my house? Broken by erratic flight. There’s really no design to be found. I amuse myself by looking for a pattern within the fanciful chaos of nature’s gossamer treats—a butterfly on the wing on a warm spring afternoon.

The tiger swallow tail butterfly is the most common butterfly around my home, expect, perhaps, the white cabbage butterfly. The photo above shows the butterfly as collected in my youth—over 40 years ago. I was a regular ecological disaster looking back from 2008. But collecting butterflies was just one of the myriad exploits of a young “naturalist” in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Besides, we had no idea what the future would bring (or not bring as the case may be). Now catching a butterfly for mounting as a specimen would be a heinous crime.

In my early years there were dozens of butterflies and moths. A friend here in Sonoma county had a collection of over 70 varieties. Now, I spot only 10-15 or so varieties each summer. The swallow tail eats the leaves of the prolific wild anise (Pimpinella anisum). But there not much habitat left for the delights of other butterflies. Other losses of butterflies could be the increasing vineyards and their use of pesticides and fungicides. Other reasons remain a mystery.