nikolas94's Favorites

We saw three of them on the path. They were peeping loudly (sound attached) and came running towards us. They passed within a few feet of where we were standing and disappeared into the undergrowth while the peeping intensified. After a short while they came back out with four more babies. They all went running down the path again towards the creek. We eventually spotted the nest cavity, where the mom was poking her head out (last photo). Eventually she flew out but didn't join the babies. Later we saw three of the babies in the creek, but no sign of the other four or the mom.

Three ducklings were running west on the path next to the road, away from the water. I led them to the beach and they sprinted into the water. After a few minutes they spotted their mother and were reunited.

Saw this beauty in a hollow about 15-20m up a dead tree. It made me do a double take! The bear licked its lips and was sniffing the crisp air. I though it should be hibernating, but maybe it woke up? Came back a couple hours later and didn’t see it in the hole anymore. What luck!

The first time I had ever seen this, i videoed the entire event as well from entry to exit. It was as if this species swims all the time. I sent it to a frogmouth expert and she had never seen that before. The bird chose to swim and flew away very easily after its swim. There appeared to be no explanation for the bird swimming as it was not particularly hot or anything unusual.

After a forest fire sweeps through a pine forest, many wood-boring insects take the opportunity to lay their eggs on the charred, decaying wood. Their larvae, in turn, are host to several species of parasitic wasp, the largest of which are in the genus Megarhyssa. Including her 70mm long ovipositor, this large female wasp is more than 100mm (4 inches) in length.

Hiking down Bear Canyon we met up with this huge black bear several times. He was on and off the same trail as us for about an hour. Every time we encountered him we would step back with our dogs and let him pass then count to 1,000. He surprised us again by moving off the trail and taking higher ground. He watched us closely as we maneuvered the dogs and ourselves past him. This was the largest bear I’ve ever seen, including those in Alaska, and one of those WOW moments.
Located just a few miles into the mountains above Pasadena, CA.