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Around for 500 Million Years
They are 95% water but jellies – ancient marine invertebrates – never cease to fascinate me! These are a few snapshots I took recently of some of the jellies at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. The...
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A walk by the River in Scotland
There is a river in the highlands of Scotland carved out of the valley floor. It is a special place and I always relax when I think of it. It rains a great deal here and the land is rich with greens...
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Ireland in the Spring. First Walk
Reblogged from NaturalistNotebook: The morning after i arrived I went for a long walk in the woods and meadows near the lake. Almost the first animal I saw was a Red Squirrel. I think it's the...
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Some of my Favorite Birds
Some of the most charming woodland and hedgerow birds in Europe are in the Tit family. At this time of year in Ireland Blue Tits are busy feeding their young in gardens and woods everywhere. Great Tits...
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Orchids at the Edge of the Wood
Early Purple Orchids are simply beautiful. It is always a joy to see them every Spring growing at the edge of woodland in Ireland. I went for a walk down the grassy lane next to some woodland and saw...
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Irish Spring: Insects and Spiders everywhere
The ground is bursting with new growth and wildflowers are out even though Spring is so late. Insects and spiders are everywhere. It is hard to take a photograph of a flower without including at least...
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Bewick’s Wren trying to distract me
Back in San Diego I noticed a Bewick’s Wren gathering food in the garden. The wren tried to distract me so the nest must be somewhere near. I raised my camera and took several photographs of this...
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Some Irish Birds
At the end of May in Ireland nesting season is well underway and the dawn chorus is full of glorious sounds. As well as Thrushes, Backbirds, Robins and Tit species there are several other birds around....
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Irish Spring More Butterflies and Dragonflies
When I was in Ireland Spring was late and many of the usual species were not around. Within a week the Speckled Wood butterflies were defending territories and courting along the woodland edge in...
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A Walk in the Lake Wood in Ireland
The mixed woodlands in this corner of Ireland are deep and green with hints of old walls where fields once were. Paths follow roads long gone. In May the rich, new growth of late Spring is...
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Watching House Martins Building Nests
It is fascinating to watch House Martins build their nests. Recently I was staying in a house in Scotland near Aberdeen. The house was near a river and I was delighted to find that Martins were...
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Mayfly
I was in Ireland this year at just the right time for the Mayfly. Large quantities of these ancient insects crawl out of the limestone lakes and crawl up reeds to hatch into adults. The nymphs live...
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Birds at San Diego Zoo
We are very lucky to have a world class zoo in San Diego. I greatly admire their conservation and education programs. I went there recently and focused on some of the birds. Seeing some of these...
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Beautiful Desert Near San Diego
In the hills above Ramona in San Diego County lies beautiful desert country. I went for a walk there last weekend. It was hot and and still even in the early morning. Lovely vistas of Chaparral and...
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Black Jellies
The mysterious Black Jellies are back in the news. These large maroon colored jellies are turning up every Summer on Southern California beaches in recent years. Before 1989 they were rarely seen and...
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Summer in San Elijo Lagoon: Raccoons
Even in the heat and silence of mid-day there is a surprising amount of activity on the short loop trail by the Visitor Center at San Elijo Lagoon. Some birds are busy collecting food for their young....
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The Black and White Clownfish Have Eggs Again
Our black and white Ocellaris Clownfish have eggs again and they are such fun to watch. These Clownfish are the same species as the often more familiar orange and white Clownfish as in The movie...
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Unlikely Ocean Relatives
Not all gelatinous, transparent animals floating in the ocean are jellies. Some of the most fascinating of these animals are actually tunicates called Salps. This means they are Chordates and are more...
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Going Back to Antarctica
I started looking through my photographs again and could not resist sharing some penguin photographs from my favorite place on the planet. Antarctica is a wonderful area for taking photos – the...
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Antarctica: Celebrating Weddell Seals
I love Weddell Seals. They are large and fat and rather clumsy on land, but very much at home under the ice. I took several photographs of a Weddell that came ashore on the Antarctic Peninsula. It is...
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