Mondo Maple - ©ingridtaylar For perspective, Hugh's shoe in this photo is about 12 inches. I photographed the fallen leaf in our local green space, Discovery Park. It wasn't until I started looking at world-record maple leaves that I realize this particular one -- although not a record setter -- is in the ballpark (or tree park) of some of the largest. The current record is around 21 inches. I'm indoctrinated to not [...]
"Under the brine you won't notice the dark Can stone and steel and horses heels Ever explain the way you feel? From Scapa Flow to Rotherhithe, I felt the lapping of an ebbing tide Oh the heavy water how it enfolds The salt, the spray, the gorgeous undertow Always, always, always the sea Brilliantine mortality." ~ British Sea Power - from the song Carrion :: A solitary stem in a mini kelp forest that invited [...]
This was a serendipitous capture ... getting the two honey bees in a straight line, and in the same plane of focus. I was photographing a single, pollen-soaked bee when the other entered the frame and queued up behind. Whenever I see bees on a slow approach to sunflowers, I can't help but think of mother ships and gravitational pull. I shot the bee photo in one of Seattle's vibrant P-Patches, tucked below [...]
Click for Larger Image Nereocystis luetkeana I saw these bull kelp stipes or stems on Elliott Bay in Seattle, rolling with the pulses of the tide and buoyed by their bulbs. The slickness of their whips and ribbons reflect the sun and paint them metallic. It's a dying sea forest alchemically transformed through the elements of light. The gas-filled bulbs (carbon monoxide) at the tips of 10, 20 and 30-foot strands keep the canopy afloat [...]
On the surface, Brant Geese -- in this case, Pacific Brant or Black Brant or Branta bernicla -- are a marvel to behold. That's but a superficial observation. There's a lot more to a Brant than her aesthetic, but let's face it, aesthetics form our first impressions. Clustered together like Tribbles, they call out in staccato, a sound sometimes described as "throaty" or "crackling," but which to me is the tuning of an orchestra horn [...]
The fragrance of fennel always takes me to Southern California . . . to the untamed hillside of my parents' home . . . years ago now . . . where she and my dad landed after a lifetime of soaking up maritime fog . . . [read the full post ...]
Today, I watched a Marsh Wren collect soft fibers from the head of a cattail -- and dive into the abyss of cattail leaves to build up a hidden nest. [read full post ...]
Every spring, the wood chipper shows up. One morning, Fargo-like, it just appears . . . always while I'm in my bathrobe, never after I've quaffed my caffeine . . . [read the full post ...]
I appreciate spring this year. I didn't in 2009. Our California sod is parched from recent drought -- and the whimsy of a winter that flitted through last year felt like hope lost. [read the full post . . .]
I realize it's still autumn. But does this look like December 5? Our trees are still crimson, gold and amber -- attributed to minimal rain and a mild autumn. We're bracing for a storm next week which might send these leaves tumbling. But for now, fall lingers just outside my door. These photos were taken on a walk between our place and the UC Berkeley campus. The fruit is pomegranate, but didn't seem to have [...]
Invasive plants and motivational seminars collide in my world. If you've ever attended a goal-generating seminar, you've probably heard the term Reticular Activating System (RAS) tossed around. It's used in motivational circles to describe our physiological capacity to pay attention. The RAS is part of a large network in our nervous systems, controlling consciousness, sensory input and attentiveness. Because of that, RAS is often used to describe the phenomenon of selective attention: that is, you [...]
The Bay Area has a thistle problem, or so we hear, but goldfinches weren't complaining on our hike yesterday. Artichoke Thistle Eradication - ©ingridtaylar Here's a photo of that Artichoke Thistle (Cynara cardunculus), taken last week in Tilden Park: Artichoke Thistle - ©ingridtaylar And a few photos taken in Briones, where ongoing eradication has taken out bunches of the Artichoke Thistle in the grasslands: Dead Artichoke Thistle Plant - ©ingridtaylar [...]
I was filling up the compost pail and decided the items on my fridge deserved a photographic tribute for the good works they do.
I never appreciated kelp until, 1) I first saw this particular monster of a kelp, and 2) I saw close-ups of kelp shot by better nature photographers than I -- capturing the golden palette of this gargantuan plant. [read the full post ...]
Well, more than a day actually . . . It's supposed to smell like rotting flesh, hence the name. But during our visit with the corpse flower (Titan arum) at UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, the plant was nice enough not to pulsate and stink up the joint. The smells come in pulses, often more pungent at night. A gardener at the Brooklyn Botanic garden had to wear a respirator while getting intimate with Brooklyn's own [...]