During a visit to Kakadu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory, it began to rain. The wind kicked up, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Listen to the storm!
HD For more one minute adventures around the world: Visit us at TheEarthMinute.com
The Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus sp.) is also known as a potato bug or an earth baby, nino de la terra. It is not poisonous or dangerous in any way. It can pinch, but that's all. It lives in the soil and is active at night.
This large insect is an important decomposer. Just like earthworms, the Jerusalem cricket eats decaying leaf litter and turns it back into the soil. Don't be afraid of this big bug. She can't hop, doesn't see well, and just wants to get away from scary giant humans. Look for her thread-thin antennae that help her find her way. On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for creatures like the Jerusalem cricket. I think she's beautiful. She has a job to do and she stands up for herself.
Nothing more to say. We all need to find our Happy Place again so we can move forward. Take a minute for a Romp on the Beach! HD
Leo Carrillo State Beach just north of Malibu has a beach area north of the 3rd Life Guard station were dogs are welcome. Stay on-leash and pick-up after your four-legged pal so we can keep this beach open for dog folks. Dog Friendly Beaches in Los Angeles
Yes, southern California has seasons! They are just different from the expected and therefore are typically discounted. HD
Summer is a time of dormancy for our plants, not winter. Winter is our time of growth and renewal. With recent Fall rain, bulbs are appearing. It is also time to plant. Native plants are more likely to be successful if planted in the Autumn. This gives them all winter to establish themselves before the harsh realities of a dry hot summer. We're planting natives that we picked up at the CA Native Plant Society plant sale last weekend.
desert sunflower
Sages have been successful for us and they provide nectar for Valley carpenter bees and hummingbirds. We're trying a new Salvia leucophylla. This desert sunflower, Encelia farinosa, is a new species for us. Hopefully its flowers will provide nectar for bees and butterflies (Name this Butterfly).
Creating habitat is a year-round effort, but Autumn in Los Angeles is the time to start something new. Native plants attract wild creatures and bring Earth Minutes to you. More on native plants and native plant gardens.
Nature sometimes lets us in on the private lives of animals. Share a private moment with a Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) and a common raven (Corvus corax).
HD While we have song birds in and out of the bird bath all the time. Occasionally, birds of prey come down to the bath as well. This immature Cooper's hawk was most likely hatched in our neighborhood this spring.
female common raven
The raven pair have been neighbors for several years. The recent batch of youngsters are finally out of the nest and off on their own. The pair are back to romancing and renewing their pair bond. The female has this strange clucking/gurgling sound that she calls to the male. He was flying overhead between the trees. Our bird neighbors frequently open up their personal lives, we just need to take a moment to observe. More Earth Minutes with Ravens and Birds of Prey
After a week of indoor work, an Earth Minute can seem elusive. But all it takes is a few moments outside and an Earth Minute finds you. This adult southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) is living under one of the native California lilac, or ceanothus, in the front yard. She is probably the mother of the juvenile we rescued from the garage.
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If you look closely you can see where she has lost her original tail and regrown the current tail. The coloring is less complex and doesn't quite match her body. Alligator lizards can let their tail break off in order to startle and redirect a predator. It is an amazing evolutionary adaptation. The breakage occurs through a vertebra; kind of like the perforations between saltine crackers. The musculature comes apart at these breakage sites as well. There is little blood loss and nerves in the tail will continue to make it twitch for several minutes. The continued movement of the tail tricks the predator into thinking it's caught the whole lizard. The tail grows back, but the bone is not replaced. The replacement tail can break again if needed. Science has yet to figure out exactly how this tail replication takes place. This alligator lizard is one of our yard's natural predators and the benefit of a yard that provides habitat.
A garage can be a dangerous place when you're a young reptile. What looks cool, quiet and safe, can be a food desert.
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This juvenile southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) is an effective hunter of insects and other arthropods in the yard, but the garage was nearly its doom. It just took a moment to scoop it up and move it outside where it belonged. A few weeks later we had a minute with an adult alligator lizard that is probably this little guy's mother.
Though small right now, this alligator lizard will grow up to prey on the western fence lizards. (When an alligator lizard hunts its neighbors.) It's a jungle in our suburban yard.
To walk among valley oaks (Quercus lobata) and coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) is to travel back in time.
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These trees are hundreds of years old. Some of them watched the first Spanish explorers and gave limbs for the construction of Mission San Fernando.
These oak trees are not just beautiful, their shade is a cool oasis on hot days. Resident acorn woodpeckers tap on their limbs. Squirrels frolic and butterflies soar. Migrating birds seek out this ancient oak woodland for food and rest. Wilson's warblers, lark sparrows, western wood-peewees, and a Pacific wren were all visiting among the trees.
valley oak acorn
Orcutt Ranch Park preserves this slice of ancient California. Walk among the oaks, hold an acorn in your hand, and realize experience the community of life dependent upon these trees.
Crater Lake was formed in Oregon only 7,700 years ago by the eruption and collapse of a volcano, Mount Mazama.
The cinder cone near the western edge of the lake is known as Wizard Island. It's in the center of the picture.
I took a walk to Sun Notch and the Phantom Ship viewpoint and found a few friends on the trail !
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Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels Callospermophilus lateralis are adorable! Visit them with me!
The water in the lake is only from rain and snow melt. Climate change concerns are being felt, as less precipitation is falling in the Oregon Cascades mountain range.
