R: Sandy Stilt-puffball.
Today it made perfect sense to spend some time in my backyard for a change, before making our way to the Conservatory of Flowers for the Bay Curious event (“History in Bloom”). It really has been forever since I’ve spent quality time in GGPark East.
But, it’s getting late. I’ll say that for highlights, it was fun to hear and see Lesser Goldfinches. But my attention was very much on pollinators, and I was rewarded in the random patch of native plants West of the Lily Pond on the hill. Even spotted a Goldenrod Crab Spider on some Buckwheat, just waiting for an unsuspecting pollinator!
A Great Blue Heron was making lots of passerbys happy, as it eversopatiently waited in the pond. Oh. And, THE POND. I’ve never seen it SO LOW. SO MUCKY. The pump spring thing was all you could see of the water there. And many an Allen’s Hummingbird was trying to figure out how to bathe in it, which was super fun to watch for a while.
Great Horned Owl feathers were strewn on the South Ridge Trail. No evidence of one otherwise in the area, in the Owl Nursery, or in the Fake Nest Tree. Sigh.
But I DID find a surprising Sandy Stilt-puffball randomly on the trail!
Over at Anne’s Garden, I was trying to locate an insanely fast Skipper (that I SWEAR was time jumping), when I noticed a pollinator (Western Honey Bee?) that looked like it had dive-bombed into a Scabious-looking flower. Only when I got home, to see my photos up close, did I see that it was in the process of being EATEN by a terribly well-hidden Goldenrod Crab Spider!!
!!!
On my walk back, I saw that the tall stump tree at the edge of the ballfield with the Barn Owl Box had been cut in half. I theorize it was taken down around the time they removed all those eucs over there. To keep the Barn Owl from nesting in the area again?
Anyhoo. Always changes in GGPark. Always makes me want to return soon to see what will be there next time.
