Smoky sunset

This was taken in 2013 from the top of Cow Mountain. The thick smoke from local wildfires caused the colorful banding and the brilliant pink streaks in the sky.

Buckeye Butterfly

Buckeye butterfly warming up in the morning sun. The spots on the wings are meant to mimic eyes, in the hopes that it will scare potential predators away.

Don't step on it

It's that season again -- wear long pants and high boots when walking around outdoors, and make noise/walk heavily if you're going through tall grass. The  rattlesnakes would really rather not waste their venom on you, but accidents happen.

Spotted Fawn

This spotted fawn has just spotted me, and is frozen wondering what to do -- should it run, or stay still and hope I haven't noticed it yet?

Snowy Tree Cricket

These little crickets produce an amazingly loud and lovely trill on summer evenings. I hunted this one down with my flashlight in a blackberry patch to get a shot of it.

Wild honeysuckle

Sweet pink wild honeysuckle climbing over the fence and perfuming the air with its scent.

Swallowtail butterfly

A very ragged swallowtail butterfly on the top of Hull Mountain.

Hull Mountain

The view from the top of Hull Mountain in the Mendocino National Forest.

Wild penstemon flowers

Wild blue penstemons are among my favorite flowers - and the hummingbirds agree with me, for all that they prefer red.

Baby red-shouldered hawk begging

This hawk might be the same size as its parents, but it is still convinced that mama and daddy should bring its dinner to where it sits. It was making quite a racket!

Sleepy dove

This mourning dove is just waking up, warming up in a ray of sun before it starts its day.

Sparrow bath time

This sparrow is taking full advantage of a leaky drinking fountain by Lake Mendocino to have a nice refreshing bath.

Hunting crayfish

This large crayfish is wandering around in the weeds at the bottom of the pond, hunting for anything that looks edible -- minnows, bugs, your toes....

OK, maybe not the toes. I still kept mine out of the way, just in case.

Baby Acorn Woodpecker

This young acorn woodpecker is sticking its head out of the nest and demanding food from the nearby adults.

Hawk in a pine tree

I'm pretty sure this hawk was deciding I looked like food, by the glint in its eye!

California Nutmeg

This tree is a fairly common one on Cow Mountain near Ukiah, but easily missed - at first glance it looks like a fir tree or perhaps a redwood - but it produces huge nuts!

The needles are also far sharper than you'd expect - they once were used as tattoo needles.

Chicory flowers

Every summer, bright blue [and sometimes white] chicory flowers spring up along roadsides and abandoned lots, bringing some lovely bright color to the landscape.

Singing mockingbird

This mockingbird is greeting the sunrise enthusiastically from the top of its favorite tree. As the name implies, they are amazing imitators - I've heard them doing impersonations of everything from frogs to quail to car alarms. One even learned to do a perfect impression of my alarm clock, which it heard through my window every morning. Unfortunately, it liked to deliver this song at five AM!

Chaparral Lilies

Chaparral Lilies are some of our most spectacular wild lilies. As the name hints, they're often found in chaparral areas, usually growing about a foot or two high. However, in a particularly good spot, some of them get get as large as four or five feet tall!

Gossiping crows

These two crows were sitting and quietly talking to each other while peering down at me - probably debating whether I had any delicious food I was going to leave behind for them to steal.

Soaproot flowers

Soaproot is one of California's native lilies. It has tons of delicate white flowers that spring open in the late afternoon or evening, and bloom through the night, only to wilt when the morning sun touches them. If you go out at just the right time, the lightest touch on the tip of the flowerbud will make the flower spring open like magic.

Firecracker flowers

It's easy to see where these wildflowers get the name! They look like a colorful burst of exploding firecrackers. You'll never even notice they're there until they all spring into bloom.

Wild Iris

White and purple wild iris growing in the redwoods of Mendocino County.

Sea anemone tentacles

These are the colorful tentacles of a sea anemone, exposed at low tide. It's in the process of retracting them to protect them from the air until the water comes back in.

Shasta Daisies by the sea

Shasta daisies growing wild by the oceanside. The moderate climate near the ocean makes it a wonderful place for all kinds of cultivars that want to try their hands at being wild plants instead - they spread everywhere!

Foxgloves

Purple foxgloves growing wild on the Mendocino Coast. Although native to the Old World, these bright flowers have made themselves at home in the damp areas of coastal California.

Stinging Caterpillars

When you see caterpillars with lots of sharp, spiky bristles, like this one, chances are it's one of the stinging varieties.

Most of them don't hurt much - just a little prickle - and need to touch someplace with very thin skin to deliver the poisons at all. But don't worry - they grow up to be very lovely and harmless moths and butterflies!

Wild clematis seeds

The wild clematis is going to seed - big puffy white seedheads that resemble some strange creature from a Dr Seuss book, draped all over the chaparral.

Spicebush

Spicebush is a wild shrub with beautiful bright red flowers in the late spring. The name comes from the wonderful spicy scent of the leaves and stems. It was once used at an allspice substitute, until people realized that it's actually mildly poisonous when ingested. But it's still fragrant and beautiful!

Fog Bow

I saw this fog-bow one morning at Bullfrog Pond Campground in Sonoma County. It's the same principle as a rainbow - the sunlight is just reflecting off the very small water drops in the fog instead.

Yellow wild lupines

Yellow-flowered bush lupine blooming at Big River, near the town of Mendocino