kyle_eaton_photography's Favorites

One of our cats caught this gopher, and we were stunned to see that his teeth had grown so long. We've caught well over 500 gophers in the 24 yeas we've lived here, but have never seen one that didn't have normal teeth.

This Coast Live Oak is growing in the middle of the Santiago Oaks parking lot. It has some small developing acorns currently. There are dried flowers stuck in its branches.

Temperature: 98°F (36°C). Humidity: 35%

Host to:

• (I'll add these observation links later)

These appeared to be mule deer tracks, but what struck me was the place I found them. I’ve seen mule deer in the park, but not in this area. The tracks briefly crossed the trail and disappeared into the brush on the other side.

A somewhat shriveled stem-based Oak Gall found in the leaf litter underneath a Coast Live Oak Tree. It was wet from a recent rain.

There are no other nearby trees this could've come from. The 3rd picture shows an exit hole. The 2nd and 4th pictures show opposite ends. In the 6th and 7th photos you can see the indentation where it grew around and attached to a stem.

It had an odd missing section, visible in the 8th picture. The 9th photo shows it as I found it while the 10th shows the host tree.

Host plant observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163214928

Note: the host plant was cut down as of August 2022.

I found this large and seemingly dead Beetle floating right side up in the Santiago Creek, next to the shore and near the Villa Park Dam.

The last picture shows how I found it. This was at night on Halloween.

I found this broken Live Oak Bud Gall in the gravel beneath a grove of Coast Live Oaks. The wasp was still inside, the break facing the ground.

I've included a link to all of the oak observations I've made on the hill above this spot, getting all I could access. I collected this gall and the wasp.

Photo 15 shows it as I found it.

Potential hosts: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=33.82088218338283&nelng=-117.77511802196223&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=33.82031671427621&swlng=-117.77642123385748&taxon_id=47851&verifiable=any

Photos 1-8, 10, and 12-14 were edited to have a Custom White Balance in Photoshop (Photoshop's preset).
Photos 1-6, 8-14 were brightened.

These are not all the same individual, but I am combining to get an id. I think these are tadpoles and by location, guessing American Bullfrog. They were leaping up in the water. I am open to any suggestion.

This Mallow was growing unplanted next to the sidewalk. Unfortunately it had no reproductive structures. I pulled it out. After pulling it out I noticed it is host to multiple galls and a leaf miner.

Host to:

• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522127
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522130
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522132
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522133
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522134
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522138
• https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199522139

This Orbweaver has been living on a chair in our backyard for over 4 months. In the day time it curls up between beams of the chair, and at night it remakes its web.

Photo 3 shows the spiderweb. Most of these photos were darkened (they came out a bit overexposed) and sharpened.

I previously posted this Spider from 2 months earlier at this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145303514

I found this dead Yellow-rumped Warbler near a large window. It had maggots inside and under it, which I've posted here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/138474297

Its carcass remained here for a few weeks before someone took it. :(