Blowguns? Seriously??

Because the adult was too quick (and I couldn't bring myself to take my eyes off of it, not even for a second) I missed the shot of the mother bobcat. But because it took her cub two tries to follow her across the road (and may I say that even more amazing than seeing these two was the fact the cars didn't slow down AT ALL) I got a few frames of the little one.


Here he is, emerging from the underbrush, looking at where his mom just vanished:

Check out his little kitten face:

I moved up against a tree to be less of a distraction and he crept forward, eyes glued to mom the entire time:

He raced across the road and all I had time for was this shot of his derriere.

Good luck little bobcat. Be careful out there.

*Yep, Florida again. But too cool not to share.

What says Thanksgiving better than a wild turkey?

Two wild turkeys--

...looking both ways--

...as they cross the road--

"No photos please!"

...in pursuit of their own Thanksgiving dinner.

*Full disclaimer: Florida, not Malibu. (But topical.) (And pretty neat.)

First, I just realized that's Walt's tail in the shower pan of the guest bathroom. At one point I heard one of the guys give a shout and a minute later there was Walt, trotting through the living room with a huge sponge on his mouth.

This is the 'during' of the second bedroom as we drywall, and close off the Jack-andJill door to the bathroom. After that, it's just the final details. (Subtext: eek!.)

Look! Marina del Rey:

And Catalina Island:

And there's the OC coast:

And then the guy in front of me reclined his seat back ALL THE WAY and your blogger was pinned in place for the next four hours.

Thanks, Virgin America!

I know it's a shock but this photo's from just a couple of days ago, one of the scores of trails here in the northwestern end of the Santa Monica mountains.

It turns out that you're looking at what may soon become a rare sight out in the wild -- monarch caterpillars feeding on milkweed.

It's not just the plant that, thanks to rampant development, is getting hard to find. The monarch butterfly, which feeds on milkweed during its formative stage, appears to be vanishing.

From the New York Times:

This year, for or the first time in memory, the monarch butterflies didn't come, at least not on the Day of the Dead. They began to straggle in a week later than usual, in record-low numbers. Last year's low of 60 million now seems great compared with the fewer than three million that have shown up so far this year. Some experts fear that the spectacular migration could be near collapse.

(skip)

A big part of it is the way the United States farms. As the price of corn has soared in recent years, driven by federal subsidies for biofuels, farmers have expanded their fields. That has meant plowing every scrap of earth that can grow a corn plant, including millions of acres of land once reserved in a federal program for conservation purposes.

Another major cause is farming with Roundup, a herbicide that kills virtually all plants except crops that are genetically modified to survive it.

As a result, millions of acres of native plants, especially milkweed, an important source of nectar for many species, and vital for monarch butterfly larvae, have been wiped out. One study showed that Iowa has lost almost 60 percent of its milkweed, and another found 90 percent was gone. "The agricultural landscape has been sterilized," said Dr. Brower.

I'm not even quoting the most alarming parts of the piece, which talks about the plight of the wild honey bee and other vital insects.

Will the final sentence of the story prove to be a call to action, or is it an obit?

Photo from September 2011.

This sign at the decades-old Malibu Riviera Motel (lord knows how this PCH original has escaped the gentrification pandemic that's erasing our little town) is no longer in use. More's the pity.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

I can't explain why, exactly, but you can tell from this beach scene from January 2013 that it's winter in SoCal, and it's cold.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

In keeping with today's weather, here's the Cove bluff after a storm in January 2011.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

One of my favorite Jake-and-Maisie interactions, from January 2008:


She's too close.

OK, better now.

"We're fine, really. Don't we look fine?"

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

The weather reports keep promising rain, so let's remember what that actually looks like. Here's the Cove pier during a storm in February 2009.




* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

When you're car shopping, you can't help but think of your favorite ride. Here's the Plymouth on the bluff in the Cove in October 2007.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

Puppy Maisie, racing along the beach in Oct. 2006.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

See your blogger in the corner of the O in the Hollywood sign?

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

A hummingbird in the canyon in August 2007.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

From February 2008, a cool, gray winter morning.

* Pix from the archive as your blogger takes a little break.*

Taking a little break (car shopping! Yay! Oy!) here at nature central so for a week or so I'll be posting pix from the past. Pretty ones, such as...oh! The morning view from the bluff in the Cove in August 2006:

I feel more relaxed already.

First -- yes, Malibu has an independent bookstore, a beautiful one, located in a cozy corner of the Country Mart.

On Sunday afternoon word spread among scores of shoppers and book lovers and for three hours, the place was mobbed.

Literally.

There were books:

And chats:

And multiple generations:

Co-owner John Evans joined the fun:

People ate free pie:

Expressed opinions:

Sorry, Gwyneth:

And the shoppers just kept on coming.

For a day like this, there needs to be bigger language than "thank you".

(And btw, that's my dad on the right, with a fellow soldier in France during WWII.)

Picture cold, quiet, the scent of sage, and then a hawk's cry, and you're here in the Santa Monica mountains this morning.

Considering the month so far, it's a toss-up whether this was a warning or a threat.

The weather, that is. Cold and ever colder, the nights pushing oaks and maples and sycamores closer to winter. As chlorophyl production slows the green camouflage recedes and the reds and browns and golds, the leaves' true colors, show through.

Ahhhh.

The happiest place on earth:

Let's continue the practice of tempering unpleasant news with soothing photos of the natural world. Ready?

Look! It's Bluffs Park in Malibu, the ocean breeze sending clouds across the blue, blue sky.

And look -- it's the Prius, now declared a total loss by my insurance company.

More than $8k in damages and the appraiser wasn't even halfway done yet.

I think that calls for another photo -- this little trail, for instance.

So, car shopping, anyone?

I know it looks as though Walt is awake here -- his eyes are open. Don't let that fool you. The 8(!)-month-old puppy just spent the better part of an hour RUNNING AS FAST AS HE COULD through the trees and paths and up trails and after the scent of deer through 450 acres of pure wilderness. And now, he's in denial. No, not tired. Definitely not sleeping with his eyes open.

While it's wonderful to return to non-shifted time, it's in spring and summer that I miss it the most. With DST, you don't get to feel the true swing of the seasons, to rediscover each spring how very early the sun comes.

To dump us back into natural time at the close of the year, just as dark eats away at each end of the day, that's nothing short of sadistic.

So, this (deer; it ran away; I'm fine; Prius not so good) happened:

Shall we soothe ourselves with this, instead?

Better now.

This didn't happen today, but I figured we could all stand to look at it again.

Lucky sailor.