One iNaturalist Observation a Day, 2022 Edition

What does the daily practice of making one iNaturalist observation a day look like? Take a read of this blog post highlighting one observation per each week of 2022. Insects! Fungi! Wildlife! Plants! Costa Rica! Canada & California! Perhaps you’ll be inspired to start your own streak of observing something in nature every day!

Featured Creatures of November ’22

What do sea slugs and fruiting fungi have in common? Both are poppin and full of color in Northern California throughout November of 2022. Fall and winter is full of diversity!

Featured Creatures of October ’22

Learn about some of the creatures I observed in Northern California in October of 2022. Parasitizing fungi, salamanders, slime molds, a special frog species, and more!

Frightening Fall Fungi

Witch’s Butter? Jack-O’-Lantern? Bleeding Tooth? Many fall fungi of Northern California are fruiting, just in time for the spookiest time of the year. Take a look at some of the most “frightening” fall fungi.

The Summer of Stoneflies

Every summer an insect arises to the forefront of our search image. This summer, the stonefly, Order Plecoptera commanded our explorations. Learn about this interesting insect and a few rarities we observed in this blog post.

Nature Journaling, Monday to Friday: Backyard Flowers

Looking for a way to combine your creative side with an interest in botany or nature? Nature Journaling is the activity, the practice, the mindfulness activity for you! Each day Monday to Friday I journaled a flowering plant that was currently blooming in my backyard in Fernbrook, CA.

Sweepin’ for Bugs

Ever curious how entomologists, experts and total noobs find insects? What is sweep netting? As a beginner in the insect-finding-game I’ve found using a sweep net to be very useful, so I investigated what it’s all about, and highlight a few recent insects found through the tactic!

Why So Many Yellow and Purple Flowers?

Why were all the flowers I was seeing in Central CA yellow and purple in color at the end of summer? Take a read to see what I discovered, or didn’t . . .

What I learned from The Cougar Conundrum, by Mark Elbroch

Even though I finished reading The Cougar Conundrum by Mark Elbroch I am still thinking of multiple topics months later. Whether you are passionate mountain lion advocate, or just curious about this beautiful creature take a read of my thoughts on the book, and then go read it for yourself. You will absolutely learn more than expected.

Calochortus, The Coolest Lilies of California?

Have you ever found yourself oo-ing and aww-ing over a Mariposa Lily? Or a Cat’s Ear Flower, or a globe flower? Well you were looking at the Calochortus genus! It’s a beautiful and interesting genera, let me tell you a bit about it!

Five Fantastic Fire Following Flowers

Fire is a natural process is in California’s natural history. Once a wildfire has come and gone the landscape can be transformed into a sea of color, it’s not all doom and gloom. I investigated five fire following plants and tell the tales of how I stumbled upon them.

Marin County and Beyond! What this naturalist got up to in April

Wow, April was the month of wildflowers! Exploring from our home base in Mill Valley we camped, hiked and explored many different habitats in order to see as many flowers as possible. If you are curious and want to see a sampling of our finds and hear about the corresponding adventures, read on!