The Good, Bad, & The Ugly

Mantis religiosa

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

This big beautiful girl is one of many Praying Mantids (Mantis religiosa) we've encountered while doing yard clean-up around mom's place during the past 12 days. They are in the process of depositing their foam-like egg cases right now (see photo below) after which they will die. Each egg case or sac can contain up to 300 eggs. Praying Mantids are an insect species beneficial to humans because they are voracious predators of other insects, many of which are damaging to flowers, vegetables, and fruit.

If you're not convinced of the predatory skills of this amazing insect you can see photos of one that actually captured and ate a hummingbird (click here). Yes, she may be a lovely long-legged green-thinking biocentric female but I wouldn't want to get too close to her if we were any where near the same size.

Mantis religiosa Egg Sac

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

What's Scary About This Picture?
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Many people think insects are ugly or scary looking, especially big insects like Praying Mantids, but to me they're elegantly beautiful in design and fascinating to behold. What's creepy looking to me in this picture is my hairy old arm...


Melanoplus sanguinipes
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom


Another handsome colorful bug in abundance here is the large Migratory or Spur-throated Grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes), but this insect is a pest to humans, notorious because of it's appetite for agricultural crops, grasses, leafy vegetables, fruits, flowers, buds, and even tree bark. My guess is that these critters are a challenge to control with organic methods when you're surrounded by miles of cornfields, but, not surprisingly, these grasshoppers are a favorite food of the Praying Mantids above, which, I'm sure, is why the mantids are also here in such great numbers.

A Mother With Her Nine Ducklings At Sunrise

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Last Friday, shortly after sunrise, Peggy, Dallas, and I came across this family of Mallard Ducks gliding along beside the footbridge at Stanfield Marsh.

The dim early morning light required me to use a fast & rather grainy ISO setting of 400 to capture this moment which I later softened with a light touch of watercolor effects in Photoshop.

The results are beautiful to my eye, portraying the scene with an artful interpretation beyond what the photograph captured.

Every Day Is Earth Day...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

We came upon these two male Wood Ducks along the shore of Stanfield Marsh during our morning walk last Friday.

Peggy and I were loving the spring weather last week, working in the garden and the greenhouse, while today we are enjoying a brief return to winter with 4 inches of fluffy new snow on the ground.

Every drop of precipitation makes for a more bountiful spring as over 100 species of well established native perennials bring our wild garden back to life.

Today is just one of 365 days in which the year 2010 gives us the opportunity to celebrate the miracle of life on Earth.

~HAPPY EARTH DAY~

My Best Eagle Photograph, or...

...what I did yesterday Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

This magnificent American Bald Eagle is a resident of the Moonridge Animal Park here in Big Bear. The eagle has been injured, is blind in its right eye, and can no longer survive in the wild.

My original photo has the plywood ceiling of the eagle enclosure as a background. I replaced that background with the actual color of a Big Bear sky from one of my other photos because I couldn't bear to continually look at such a gorgeous creature in captivity. So, I set the eagle free, at least in the Spirit of a Photograph.

It took me more than 5 hours of working in Photoshop, pixel by pixel, to redefine the feathered edges of the bird to my satisfaction, a chilly afternoon well spent if you ask me.

The original photo was made on the same August day in 2007 as the Turkey Vulture photo below, these birds are next door neighbors. The sky color was taken from the Red-Tailed Hawk photo below the Turkey Vulture.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Monday morning, during our walk along the shore of Stanfield Marsh, Peggy and I were privileged to catch this Red-Tailed Hawk on the dead tree where I've also photographed a Bald Eagle now & again. I've seen this bird here a few other times in the past couple of weeks but this is the best photo I've been able to get.

Anniversary...

...30 Years TodayClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peg and I are celebrating our 30th Anniversary today.

And just how are we celebrating it?

By immersing ourselves in the common everyday beauty of our simple fragile lives, by taking an early morning walk with our beloved Dallas, and, by sharing a delicious home-cooked breakfast together out on the junk-shop patio before we get back to work painting the house and cleaning up the yard in preparation for winter...

To live a life of voluntary simplicity, "Simple in Means, but Rich in Ends", to borrow a phrase from the Deep Ecology movement, has been our goal for many years, and our commitment to that ideal strengthens with each passing day.

Extravagance and consumerism are not habits either of us find attractive, sustainable, or rewarding, but we did purchase a gift for ourselves which is in harmony with what we've accomplished thus far in our lifestyle changes.

Peggy has been researching Haybox Cooking and I've decided to build one for us in the very near future. So we bought ourselves a new Lodge cast iron 5 quart Dutch Oven (regularly $43.99, on sale for $26.99, with free shipping) which will be ideal for use with a Haybox.

Thirty Years...

...and you got Peggy a dutch oven???

Exactlioto Quasimoto, Peggy is the frugal one in our household, and I would've been in hot water had I gone out and squandered a wad of money on some lavish gift. Peggy is extremely down to earth and I really love that about her.

Remember, it was her idea to get rid of the car almost 13 years ago.

Thank goodness, because I wouldn't be the least bit interested in, or compatible with, a 'Material Girl'.

And tonight, after the day's work is finished, we'll be enjoying a nice hot bath together, a little massage, and then, who knows???

;~)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PEGGY SUE!!!

AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PRECIOUS YEARS YOU'VE SHARED WITH ME...

...another anniversary gift

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Shortly before 7 A.M., during our walk this morning, three Great Blue Herons were congregating near the footbridge, two of them sitting on the railing. As we approached I was taking pictures and two of the giant birds flew off before I was close enough for a good shot. But this one here allowed me to get within 12 feet or so, staying there for a good long time while I snapped pictures and Peggy & Dallas looked on.

It's rare for a heron in the wild to allow a human to get this close, let alone two humans with a big black dog.

A gift indeed!!!

Year 'Round Resident?

9:30 This Morning

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

This mature Bald Eagle posed patiently for Dallas and I this morning on the dead tree perch at the east end of the Stanfield Marsh and I saw a juvenile perched in the same place just over a week ago.

Bald Eagles are usually just winter visitors here and I'm wondering if we might possibly be getting some year 'round residents.

An un-Photoshopped version of this photo was given to a local US Forest Service biologist for inclusion in the Bald Eagle slide presentation she shares with visiting youth groups.

American Robin

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

I've had such a good case of Spring Fever that I haven't felt like sitting at the computer but I figured I should at least put up a picture so people will know I'm still alive!

This Robin was in the same tree as the Flicker from the previous post. I took the picture about 10 days ago and used the same Photoshop technique on it.

Red-Shafted Flicker

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Red-Shafted Flickers are the most common woodpecker in our area, and, to me, one of the most gracefully formed & beautifully marked birds of all. They are year 'round residents here.

I took the photo this image is made from back in mid-December, re-discovering it last night while Peggy and I were going through some photo files.

I played with it in Photoshop a bit to come up with this etching-like image.

This male Flicker is on a branch in a small Jeffrey Pine just above the naturally formed bird-bath in our giant boulder.

March Marsh Majesty

Bald Eagle 3-7-09 Click on photo to enlarge -© 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy and I encountered this gorgeous bird perched at the east end of Stanfield Marsh last Saturday at the beginning of our 10 mile walk. I moved in as close as I dared for a decent full-zoom shot (560mm) and then backed away when the eagle gave me 'the look', not wanting to further disturb its morning fishing expedition. The bird was still perched there when we came back through several hours later.

Transitions - Seasonal and Otherwise...

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Ice on the lake cracked, buckled, and melted this year, like always, even as world credit markets remained frozen solid.

The lone Bald Eagle circles intently above the marsh, fishing, unconcerned with the global financial meltdown.

A pair of finches cheerfully weave their nest into the first 'a' of the pharmacy sign, as if Rite-Aid was expected to survive another quarter.

Tilted toward the vernal equinox, the frosted earth warms slightly; wild onions dispatch eager shoots skyward, heedless of greenhouse gases or climate change.

I imagine myself standing in a bread line, during the first Great Depression, finding cheer in tufts of grass growing from broken concrete.

I envision a Final Great Depression, and eventually, masses of lovely wildflowers blooming among the skeletal remains of Wall Street, and the Pentagon.

Spring is on the wind, General Motors is bankrupt, and Peak Oil is upon us.

Take heart, friends of the earth.

Change is in the air…

7:30 A.M. - Stanfield Marsh

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

No Photoshop here. This is just how the picture came out of the camera with the early light filtering through the trees and reflecting back onto the pelican.

Today's Sunrise Walk - A Short Photo Essay

Stanfield Marsh - 6:22 A.M.

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Five Minutes Later Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

And The Morning Glided Along...Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

...To Reveal Nature Be-Jeweled

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

And Dog's Running Free...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom


Life Is Good!!!
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

All this fun, on foot, and we were home by nine o'clock.

For The Contrary Goddess...

Buddha and the Mushroom Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Fellow blogger, The Contrary Goddess, gave me a "tiny challenge" I couldn't resist.

"Name 100 species which live in your neighborhood", she asked.

Well, here's 117 native (or migratory) species which are residents or visitors to our own yard, and I've barely scratched the surface of the bird and insect visitors.

As I find the time I'll be adding the scientific names to the list below and will include links to various botanical websites for plant profiles.

Earth Home Garden Species

1. Common Yarrow

(Achillea millefolium)

2. Wild Onion

(Allium sp.)

3. Indian Hemp

(Apocynum cannabinum)

4. Rock-Cress

(Arabis pulchra)

5. Prickly Poppy

(Argemone munita)

6. Crimson Columbine

(Aquilegia formosa)

7. Narrow Leaf Milkweed

(Asclepias fascicularis)

8. Green Striped Mariposa Lily

(Calochortus invenustus)

9. Wild Morning-Glory
10. Indian Paintbrush
11. Ash Gray Paintbrush
12. Thistle
13. Miner’s Lettuce
14. Virgin’s Bower (Pipestem)
15. Wild Hyacinth (Blue Dicks)
16. Fireweed
17. California Fuschia
18. Stream Orchid
19. Fleabane
20. Yerba Santa
21. California Buckwheat
22. Pine Buckwheat
23. Sulfur Flower (Sulfur-Color Buckwheat)
24. Wright’s Buckwheat
25. Western Wallflower
26. California Poppy
27. Wild Geranium
28. Gilia
29. Rydberg’s Horkelia
30. Western Blue Iris (Blue Flag)
31. Granite Gilia (Prickly Phlox)
32. Mountain Aster
33. Humboldt Lily
34. Lemon Lily
35. Blue Flax
36. Brewer’s Lupine
37. Grape Soda Lupine
38. Dwarf Lupine
39. Giant Lupine
40. Tarweed
41. Pineapple Weed
42. Coyote Mint
43. Coyote Tobacco
44. California Evening Primrose
45. Anderson’s Penstemon
46. San Bernardino Beardtongue
47. Firecracker Penstemon
48. Bumble-Bee Penstemon
49. Scarlet Penstemon
50. Mountain Bugler
51. Showy Penstemon
52. Desert Blue Bells
53. Mountain Phacelia
54. Sticky Cinquefoil
55. Buttercup
56. Southern Goldenrod
57. Apricot Mallow
58. White Hedge Nettle
59. Stinging Nettle
60. Hedgehog Cactus
61. Beaver-Tail Cactus
62. Cane Cholla (Snake Cholla)
63. Prickly-Pear Cactus
64. Utah Service-Berry
65. Greenleaf Manzanita
66. Silver Wormwood
67. Great Basin Sage
68. Rubber Rabbitbrush
69. California Flannelbush
70. Fremont’s Bushmallow
71. Western Choke-Cherry
72. Antelope Bush
73. Sierra Currant
74. Rose Sage
75. Apricot Mallow
76. Snowberry
77. White Fir
78. Incense Cedar
79. Mountain Mahogany
80. Western Juniper
81. Jeffrey Pine
82. Singleleaf Pinyon Pine
83. Quaking Aspen
84. California Black Oak
85. Pygmy Nuthatch
86. White-Breasted Nuthatch
87. Mountain Chickadee
88. Western Bluebird
89. Steller’s Jay
90. Northern Flicker
91. White-Headed Woodpecker
92. Anna’s Hummingbird
93. Rufous Hummingbird
94. Western Tanager
95. Wilson’s Warbler
96. Yellow-Rumped Warbler
97. Mourning Dove
98. Acorn Woodpecker
99. Hairy Woodpecker
100. Violet-Green Swallow
101. American Robin
102. Black-Headed Grosbeak
103. Rufous-Sided Towhee
104. Band-Tailed Pigeon
105. Lesser Goldfinch
106. Dark-Eyed Junco
107. Cassin’s Finch
108. Mourning Cloak Butterfly
109. Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
110. Painted Lady Butterfly
111. California Sister Butterfly
112. Monarch Butterfly
113. Western Gray Squirrel
114. California Ground Squirrel
115. Merriam Chipmunk
116. Western Toad

117. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake

Yesterday's Garden Pictures...

Calypte anna with Salvia pachyphylla

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Currently a daily visitor to the garden, this female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) was feeding at Rose Sage (Salvia pachyphylla) near our porch yesterday afternoon as I took these few pictures of her just after 4 P.M.

In order to capture some detail in the fast moving hummer (on a cloudy day) I used a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/500th of a second which created images that were between 1 and 2 stops underexposed. I then lightened the images in Photoshop to closely approximate their natural appearance.

Canon S5IS with Canon TC-DC58B tele-converter lens, manual mode, f /3.5, ISO 80, 1/500th second.

Wintry May Morning...

Ducklings All In A Row Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

A female Mallard and her nine youngsters swim against a light snow early this morning as Peggy, Dallas, and I walked along the southern shore of Stanfield Marsh.

If you look closely at the enlarged picture you'll see blurry streaks of snow, blowing from left to right, and a few snowflakes decorating the feathers of the ducklings.

It was 30° in our yard at 7 A.M. today with light to medium snow flurries which are projected to increase through tomorrow and taper off Saturday.

We usually get a spring snow somewhere near Mother's Day so this is nothing unusual for a sunny Southern California in the spring, at 6,750 feet above sea level anyway.

Spring Has Sprung...

Western Tanager with Cassin's Finch

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

A Cassin's Finch greets a male Western Tanager at our little home-made Badwater Springs solar powered waterfall. Tanagers are rare visitors to Earth Home Garden and this one was moving fast, making it difficult to get a decent shot.

Linum lewisii Click on photo to enlarge - © 2008 jim otterstrom

Blooming in the native plant garden this morning are Blue Flax (above), Grape Soda Lupine, Indian Paintbrush and Western Wallflower.

A Thankful Day Of Cooking Together...

Acorn Cornbread Ingredients-Used For Stuffing

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

We had California Black Oak Acorn Flour left over from the delicious class Orchid Black taught on our deck last Sunday (detailed post coming soon) so I decided we should use Acorn Corn Bread in our turkey stufffing this year.

The ingredients in the foreground are what was used in the recipe except that I was going to add the sunflower seeds (in the jar at the right) to the batter but we deciced to use pine nuts in the stuffing mix, so the sunflower seeds were left out.

The wine is to drink later, and the home-blended trail mix is just a staple we keep on the table to munch on, add to hot cereals, salads, or whatever.

Oh, and no pepper in the corn bread either, it's just on the table.

Peggy is on a wheat-free gluten-free diet, and she doesn't eat sugar, so there's no wheat flour in the corn bread and Stevia is substituted for sugar.

The Acorn Corn Bread Mixture is ready for the oven.

Stuffing Ingredients And A Waiting Turkey

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

My Acorn Corn Bread is cooling as we assemble the ingredients for the stuffing.

Peggy Mixes Up The Acorn Corn Bread Stuffing

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

Acorn corn bread, onions, celery, fresh parsley, pine nuts, garlic, one egg, vegetable broth, sage, thyme, salt & pepper.

MMMMMmmmmmmmm!

Peggy Basting The Stuffed Bird With White Wine & Butter

Click on photo to enlarge - © jim otterstrom

So the turkey's been in the oven for an hour or so, the house smells really good, and I'm about to uncork that bottle of wine.

May you all...

~HAVE A VERY NICE THANKSGIVING~

To the turkey above, the chicken embryos, and the plants too, whose lives were sacrificed to nurture our bodies, we bow in humble thanks. One day, in the not too distant future, our bodies, back into earth & the food chain, will nurture the lives of your own relatives, and all the rest of our biological cousins, in the never-ending exchange that enables life to exist.

And, to all the Native Americans whose ancestors showed the white man how to survive here on Thanks-Giving Days so long ago, I also humbly apologize that we proved ourselves to be such ungrateful assholes.

Pygmy Encounter

Sitta pygmaea

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

While responding to an e-mail a few minutes ago I heard an all too familiar 'thunk' against the upstairs window behind me. Aware of what had just happened I ran downstairs to find this juvenile Pygmy Nuthatch, upside down and barely conscious, lying on the front porch.

I quickly picked it up, worried about sending it into deeper shock, as I looked for a safe place to put it, where hopefully, it might regain its senses. The stunned bird kept looking back up at the window, beak wide open as if in disbelief, or maybe trying to comprehend what had just occurred, and yet it seemed indifferent to my handling of it.

By the time I took this picture of the nuthatch, perched on my left fore and index fingers, it seemed to be regaining a bit of cognizance and equilibrium. It could stand up again, and grip fingers

I walked it out to the big rock birdbath, and, as I was trying to gently set it down near the water, it gave me one last look, and then flew confidently off to the upper branches of a nearby Jeffrey Pine.

A happy ending, this time, but we've lost more than a few birds to window collisions.

This near-tragic incident was also a rare opportunity to get very close to a juvenile Pygmy Nuthatch, so do yourself a favor. Enlarge the picture and enjoy the depth in that dark little eye, and the intricate beauty in those still developing feathers.

How fortunate we are to live in a world populated with so many beautiful creatures, and how fragile the whole thing is.

Canon S5IS - Manual Mode - Super Macro - f/2.7 - 1/60 sec - ISO 80

Avalon, Catalina - May 10th 2007

AVALON - FROM THE PIER ON THURSDAY

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 by Jeff Stanford/L.A. Times

Most of you know that our son Jimmy lives in Avalon, on Catalina Island, with his girlfriend Sandra. Jimmy was out fishing Thursday when he first saw the smoke and I believe Sandra was at a ranch or stable outside of Avalon working with some horses. We talked with Jimmy about dusk Thursday evening as he was waiting at the pier with Sandra's brother Gregor. They had her cat and bird there with them, in cages, but didn't know exactly where Sandra was at the time. Apparently she showed up at the pier somewhat later and they were all evacuated on a Catalina Express boat at 11 P.M. They're staying with Sandra's sister in Southgate, so, everybody's safe & well, thankfully, and the beautiful historic town of Avalon has now been spared too.

I was also happy to learn that the first Bald Eagle chicks to hatch naturally on Catalina (earlier this year) since DDT wiped out the native populations decades ago were not harmed in the fire. However, it is not yet known what effects the fire will have on the endangered Island Kit Fox population, which is hanging on by a thread.

Fire season is upon us very early this year and Southern California, including our San Benardino Mountains, is a tinder box. Big Bear is in a virtual tie for its driest winter on record with 5.63 inches of precipitation when our average is 20.68 inches.

I'm just hoping for a good Monsoon Summer that gets us so wet the lightning can't ignite anything.

I don't know how life is going for all you other folks but there never seems to be a dull moment in our lives anymore. I'm reminded again of the old Roman curse, "May you live in interesting times". And it looks to me like times are getting more interesting by the day!

Now, where have we been all these weeks???

More computer problems! Somehow a piece of malignant high-risk spyware (one which I could find no way to remove) got past Norton and infected my computer. When I bought this computer in January it came with a free upgrade to Windows Vista which I was leary of installing because of possible compatibilty problems with some of my older software. Well, the spyware spurred me on to wipe my drive and start clean with Vista, and, just as I suspected, several of my programs were not compatible. I'm still rebuilding files and re-installing updated versions of my software. I finally have Photoshop installed again so maybe I can catch up a bit now on what's been going on around here.