My Photography
& Videography
While I may not have the most professional photography gear, my iPhone 11 allows me to capture amazing moments, unique organisms, and to share them with others.
Invertebrates (Bugs)
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(5) This small carpenter bee (Ceratina nanula) landed next to me while I was doing some reading out of my zoology textbook. He felt comfortable enough to rest, and proceeded to tidying himself up. Of course I had to get a video!
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(1) I caught this moment while pulling up weeds in my garden. This little guy (Arion rufus) did his share by trimming this weed down to its base! Thanks to timelapse, we can see this happen in 1:30 minutes, but the original video is 3 minutes long, which is kind of fast for a slug, don't you think?
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(2) A baby banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) balancing on a moss frond.
(3) A little gruesome and graphic, this video looks like it comes straight out of National Geographic! This micro encounter in my garden shows a Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle (Chlaenius spp.) pulling an unwilling segment of a worm through the soil to bring it somewhere safe, so this predatory beetle can eat its fill. You can also see small predatory soil mites (hyposaspis miles) that might be looking to get a free meal.
(4) A Margined Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus marginatus) that I found while doing some landscaping in my yard.
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(6) A Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) perched upon the leaf of a passion flower that I noticed while gardening.
(8) This striking millipede is pink (Ischnocybe plicata)! Looking very prehistoric, millipedes are one of the oldest terrestrial animals ever, with fossils of these animals dating back to 425 million years ago!
(7) A Silver Spotted Tiger Moth (Lophocampa argentata) caterpillar walks along the edge of our garden fence, looking for some Douglas Fir to munch upon.
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(9) This is another amazing find for me! I found this mother centipede (Scolopocryptops gracilis) while doing research for my Rapid Ecological Study on the Distribution of Ensatina eschscholtzii in the Arcata Community Forest. You can see here, that she is wrapped around her clutch of eggs which she will protect from predators until they hatch. I know we don't often think of centipedes as being maternal, but many species are!
One of my talents is being able to spot something small hidden within the big world.
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(10) This hatchling praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) is seen drinking water off of a droplet on a pepper plant inside of our greenhouse.
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(11) While hiking in the Arcata Community Forest, I saw this Redwood Spider (Callobius spp.) chomping on a crane fly.
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(12) While tending to my potted rainbow eucalyptus I found these unidentifiable insect eggs! I think they were white, black and orange tufted caterpillars (Orgyia vetusta)
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(13) An unidentified garden spider found taking cover under the leaf of my cherry plum tree.
Fungi
Humboldt County is home to hundreds of species of mushrooms and other fungi. While mushroom identification is not one of my strong suits, I still find that their beauty is difficult to ignore.
Salamanders
Whether I'm doing research for a rapid ecological study, or just hiking around in the forest, there is always time to search for salamanders! Here are some of my finds. Most are Ensatina eschscholtzii.
(14 & 15) This amazing Coastal Giant Pacific Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) was a rare and exciting find! On a warm, rainy spring night we spotted him walking into the leaf litter.
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The Tidepools
The tide pools in Humboldt County are incredibly dynamic and diverse.
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(16) Here are some submerged barnacles filter feeding.
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(17) Anenomes sticking to my fingers, and trying to eat me!!
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(18) This purple shore crab was looking as beautiful as ever, I had to give it a proper photo shoot.
Humboldt Gems
Humboldt County has been home for me for the last 5 years, and it has been an enthralling time with many ups and downs. I have tried my best to emotionally and physically absorb the untouched coastal redwood rainforest, and the pristine beaches so that I can visit this place spiritually in the future. Humboldt is definitely off the beaten path, but that's why it's remarkable. Here are some miscellaneous pictures I've taken while living here.
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(19) Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
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(21) A breathtaking waterfall at Redwood State Park (Orick, Ca)
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(23) A Western Trillium (Trilium ovatum) in full flower. These plants only flower every 7 years! For the majority of the plant's life it rests in its vegetative state.
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(26) Some Beautiful stones I found at the beach during a geology field trip
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(24) A Western Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia) orchid I found in the Arcata Community Forest.
(27) My favorite beach in the whole world, my heaven on earth, Clam Beach.
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(20) Unidentified orange flower on a trail near my house.
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(22) Sweet peas flowering
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(25) A moistened Thallose Liverwort (Lunularia cruciata) with gemmae cups and gemmae.
My partner took this one :)