See a Surprised Salamander! Black-bellied Slender Salamander

Starting our Second Year of TheEarthMinute.com, 
we had a surprise guest in our backyard!

 

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A Black-bellied Slender Salamander -
Batrachoseps nigriventris

Coming out after the rains..  tiny but determined.. 

 

 She's a beauty! 
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Close-up with a Red Jumping Spider
Meet a Channel Island Fox  
Meet a Roosevelt Elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti)

http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/b.nigriventris.html

A Winter's Walk at Lake Tahoe, California

Lake Tahoe sits astride the borders of California and Nevada well over a mile high in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We went for an end of the year snowshoe and stroll in the brisk, quiet air.

Join us for a Winter's walk at Lake Tahoe, California!

Look for the white-headed woodpecker! 

We stayed on the California side in South Lake Tahoe. 

Breath deeply!   The Lake level is about 6,224 feet!

The lakeside has fascinating pebble and boulders - and miniature ice sculptures from the melting and re-freezing of the wet ground.

 

For More trips in California, Visit us at TheEarthMinute.com

Meet a Roosevelt Elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti)

Sequoia National Park - More Than Big Trees  

 

Santana Winds Come to Los Angeles October 29, 2015

The Santana Winds have come to Los Angeles.

 October 29, 2015

The term "Santana winds" is said to have originated in Spanish California when the hot, dry winds were called "devil winds."

Maybe you've heard of them as "SANTA ANA WINDS"? 

At the turn of the last century, an Associated Press correspondent mistakenly identified Santana winds as "Santa Ana" winds in a 1901 dispatch.

Raymond Chandler wrote a 1938 short story about them called 

 "Red Wind"

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks.
Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."

View a video from our yard as the winds parch the drought stressed plants early the  morning....

 And view more in Southern California : at TheEarthMinute.com

View more videos!

 Leaves on CA Native Plants Fight Drought

This Morning in a Habitat Yard 

 (CA towhee, band-tailed pigeons, ruby-crowned kinglet, Bewick's wren, CA desert tortoise) 

Visit Pierce College Botanical Garden 

Water for Hot Summer Bees

Provide Backyard Water for Hot Summer Bees!

A birdbath is an important stopover place 
for water-stressed birds and bees.

In dry Southern California, fresh water is at a premium. 

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Listen to the bees thank you for the water! 
 

 

for more California EarthMinute videos, visit us at 
TheEarthMinute.com - and Subscribe!

Backyard Breakfast Buddies - Reptile Style!

A rescued California desert tortoise  (Gopherus agassizii) gives a little buddy a ride to breakfast.

This 2 1/2 inch long baby western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) also known as a blue-belly) is only a few weeks old, scratching out a living during Southern California's summer drought.

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The the tiny western fence lizard jumped from the

white stone to the tortioses' shell.

 Maybe the lizard mistook the tortoise for another rock?

Rideshare! It's one way to save energy!

Did you know that desert tortoises have pink tongues?

 and wide nostrils to sniff out food!

 Want to know more?

This Morning in a Habitat Yard (CA desert tortoise)

Watching Lizards in Southern California (western fence lizard & southern alligator lizard)

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TheEarthMinute.com

Stop and See Yucca Blossoms on Angeles Crest Hghway

It's late spring in the mountains of Southern California.

On the way up to see Chilao Visitor Center off the Angeles Crest Highway (CA State Highway 2), we were struck by the sharp beauty of the native yucca plants in blossom.

See this Yucca plant right along the highway!!

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The light streams through the dense blooms putting many orchids to shame.

 For more wild spots near Los Angeles, visit us here  at 

TheEarthMinute.com

Come Whale Watching off the Coast of California

We set out on a sunny February afternoon for a cruise out of Ventura, California.

Come whale watching with us! 

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Two California Gray Whales swimming together

Each whale's tail has different markings, so individual can be identified with a good pair of binoculars, or a good camera.

It was a beautiful time on the water with Island Packers Cruises!

For more travels in California or around the World, 
join us at TheEarthMinute.com

Sequoia National Park - More Than Big Trees!

California's Sequoia National Park - is more than just big trees!

Approaching from the south, on HWY 138, you'll find the Foothills Visitor Center and park headquarters.

In the picnic area look for local Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) and their larder of acorns in the bark of the large oak tree. This branch was just above the table.

Look what you might miss if you forget to take the trail to Hospital Rock!

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Native American Acorn Grinding Mortars

Hospital Rock Pictographs - Sequoia National Park, California

Don't forget to drive in to see the trees, also!

 See and hear more of California 
by visiting us at
TheEarthMinute.com

Bees Buzzing in the Lemon Tree

Southern California is having early warm days this year, and the trees and the bees are making the best of it.

HD Video

Our Meyer lemon tree burst into bloom in early February.

 

Take a look at her feet - sticky from the bright

yellow citrus pollen. 

With the help of these little ladies, we should have a very good crop of sweet lemons later this year!

Keep pesticides away from your garden and help provide food sources for these important pollinators.

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get a weekly taste of the natural world.

Look at the sunset: Winter Solstice 2014 Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

Los Angeles DOES have seasons! Subtle, but specific.

View the stunning sunset at the Winter Solstice for 2014 at the 

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.

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 Hikers can get access to the park at the Victory Trailhead at the western terminus of Victory Boulevard in West Hills, CA.

Keri and Michael from The Earth Minute have been here many times. 

 But what a sunset!

Take a walk through the Los Virgenes Open Space from earlier in 2014.

 

Visit us every week to watch more at: TheEarthMinute.com

 

Click For more on the Las Virgenes Open Space.  

Taboose Creek, California - What is that sound?

Taboose Creek Campground.

 Off Highway 395 near Independence, California

A nice spot next to the stream to spend the night.

But what was that sound?

  

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Visit each week to see a new The Earth Minute 

Listen to The Earth Minute in an Antique Clock Shop - Pacific Grove, California

Time to listen carefully...  to a minute from an earlier age.

 
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Listen to the Sounds as The Earth Minute visits the Antique Clock Shop in Pacific Grove, CA. 

Hundreds of clocks are ticking away and being wound for the day. 
It was a great pleasure to be among such craftsmanship. Many of these clocks are hundreds of years old.

Visit us every week to listen and watch more at: TheEarthMinute.com