Batrachoseps

This Link is about these guys:
Lungless salamanders, genus Batrachoseps are quite common in their range. They are cute. They thrive in gardens even suburban and some urban areas but most people have never seen one. They are very common but people don't look closely at them and think they are just earthworms. They are dormant most of the year and emerge from deep underground after a heavy rain. They are lungless and breath through their skin which must be wet for respiration to occur so never pick one up with dry hands. They eat worms and slugs and are eaten by ringneck snakes and garter snakes.

My own photos taken this morning:

unidentified fungal object

What is the longest amount of time you ever spent staring at a fungus?

This morning

This morning:

Grasshopper













Chamaesyce albomarginata. wikipedia says it is in the Euphorbia genus which is very, very outdated taxonomy, don't always trust wiki for species names. The pseudoflowers are called cyathium.








LBM:
Little brown mushroom


Helianthemum scoparium

San Diego Wreath Plant (Stephanomeria diegensis or possibly Stephanomeria exigua) is a very ruderal native annual, learn more here (scroll down).



with a bee:




Nuttall's snapdragon (Antirrhinum Nuttallianum)






Stink bug with fungus:

Silver and Green

Silver and Green


Here is a Silverback Fern. When dormant it curls up to only show the highly reflective silver underside. After a rain it unfurls to show the green photosynthetic side of its leaves. Winter is the alive season here.




This one is almost entirely unfurled, just the very tip remains unfurled.




Silver and green lichens, there are silverback ferns on the right.












These are liverworts. They are very primitive but have actual sperm with flagella like animals but unlike flowering plants.





Dudleya Pulverulenta is actualy this silver. It's leaves are densely farinose to protect its leaves from intense sunlight.

Blair Valley

I slept in the desert.

There were teddy bear cholla...








and Mammilaria





lots of agave desertii





a few ferocactus cylindricus








and echinocereus







I woke up before dawn and walked to a site that was once a seasonal a Kumeyaay village.
This symbol is all that is left of a pictograph over a thousand years old. Below the black symbol there are more symbols in a red pigment that are very faint. Nobody knows what they mean.




This vertical rock had many smooth dents carved carefully into it.



This is the main grinding stone. The mortero holes are a foot deep and were made slowly by dozens of generations. At the top there are some that were just started.



This is what the place looks like.