I think this sphinx moth had just pupated since it wasn’t in any mood to fly off. I disturbed it while weeding a clump of native California fuchsias (I’ve been busy gardening before upcoming travel) #SphinxMoth #NativeGarden

A Sphinx moth sits on a ledge among some brown to light green vegetation. It has many shades of brown with stripes running parallel and orthogonal to its body parts.

These are really smart ladybugs feasting on pesky oleander aphids that are in our milkweed #Ladybugs #Milkweed #NativeGardenA cluster of ladybugs are in the center of a milkweed, where new tender growth has attracted oleander aphids. The milkweed leaves, some of which are chewed up from the previous day's hail, are broad and full of veins.

Our Feijoa trees (pineapple guava) are going gangbusters #BloomScrolling

Sun dappled Feijoa flowers with bright long red centers and large discrete pedals.

The hail today, somewhere between pea to marble sized, has been intense. Our poor trees and young garden vegetable plants #CaWx #Hail

Mound of hail that accumulated below a gutter down spout

A small garden plant that got its leaves pelted and damaged by hail. Hail sits on the ground unmelted

A half shredded avocado leaf with a human hand cradling it. There’s a hail stone stuck to the leaf. Hail covers the ground below.

ICYMI hours ago, there was an M7.4 earthquake off the coast of Japan earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak… #Earthquake #RaspberryShake #CitizenScience

A seismograph showing the Japan quake being detected in California

I almost missed that today, April 18, is the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is a good reminder to put together or inspect your emergency kit #Geology #Earthquake

And now for something completely different: a Robin hunting along the edge of a man-made marsh #AmericanRobin #TurdusMigratorius #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoCA Robin, with a nice red belly and chest, looks out over the edge of a watery marsh. There are spears of green popping up here and there and a lot of brown vegetative material and soil. The bird looks very patient but also poised to launch after a meal.

Trump admin attempts to contain blowback from Forest Service ‘reorganization’

Because when you tell a scientist with twenty years of place-based research, a mortgage, a spouse with a career, and children in school to pack up and relocate to a consolidated office that has nothing to do with the ecosystem they’ve spent their career studying, they don’t move. They leave.

Yesterday: my wife’s view of San Diego International tower from an E-175 (I’m not traveling with her) #AvGeek #Aviation #E175

An over wing view on an Alaskan Airlines (SkyWest) Embraer 175 upon landing at San Diego International Airport. The speed brakes are up and the winglet with blue to green swooshes is prominent. The tower is visible along with an assortment of jets, including FedEx. It’s a cloudy day with very thin stratus.

My wife is near Yosemite for work. It’s a gorgeous day there. #Yosemite #Halfdome

A view down the Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the center. It’s a partly cloudy day and there’s a dusting of snow atop the mountain peaks. Patches of bare granodiorite contrast with the surrounding conifer forests.

Decent M5.7 earthquake east of Carson City, Nevada. I personally didn’t feel it but my RaspberryShake did #Earthquake #RaspberryShake #CitizenScience

A clear seismograph of a earthquake east of Carson City, as detected by a RaspberryShake 274Km away, west of Chico

In 2025, a rogue mullein plant began growing in the front. It has flowered and it is a Wand Mullein or Twiggy Mullein. I’ve no idea where the seed originated. I’ve never seen it in the neighborhood. I like its flowers. I’ll harvest the seeds and sow them somewhere more reasonable #BloomScrolling

A big central spike of alternating flowers and buds. The flowers have yellow petals with a purple center. The leaves near the bottom of the spike are serrated. The background is blurred.

Please enjoy these 737 speed brakes, courtesy of my wife. Landing at ONT and then SMF  #Aviation #AvGeek #B737 Overwing view of a Southwest 737 Max 8 with speed brakes fully deployed when landing at Ontario, California. The brakes are not quite vertical and the flaps are probably around 30 degrees. It's a smoggy day in Ontario, CA.An over wing view of a Southwest B737-700 landing at Sacramento International on an overcast day. The speed brakes are about half deployed while the flaps are around 30 degrees. Arrows near the window point the way off the jet during an emergency.

So these stickers are real. Photo taken by my wife in Ontario, California #USPol

A gas pump panel with a sticker of Trump pointing at $5.99/gallon regular gasoline and saying “I did that”

My wife flew over Yosemite today on the way to SoCal. She snagged a nice photo of the Yosemite Valley & Half Dome (center) #Aviation #AvGeek #Yosemite

A view out a left passenger windup with a view of a 737 Max wing with Southwest style winglets. It’s a mostly clear sky with Yosemite below where the Sierra Creat still has some snow and Half Dome rises prominently over the green & snowless U-shaped Yosemite Valley

#SilentSunday #Rabbit #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge

A rabbit sits across a road with crosswalk stripes, facing left. Its shadow is long on a sunny day. It is surrounded by compacted tan dirt of a levee and just beyond the levee is dense vegetation. There’s a sign post to the rabbit’s right with an arrow facing right.

At the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, a beautiful and lonnnnng gopher snake was sunning on the trail #GopherSnake #Snake #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #FujifilmA three or four foot long gopher snake, mostly stretched out, along a barren sun-scorched path. It is mostly dark brown with even darker brown patches, though its pattern is hard to see here. The sun is glinting off its back along its farthest curves.

Yellow-rumped warblers are still actively hunting in our backyard, especially in the afternoons when the sun is low and highlighting flying insects #YellowRumpedWarbler #BirdPhotography #Birds #Fujifilm #SOoC

A male Yellow-rumpef warbler, perched on the top of a blue tomato cage, is poised to take flight after flying insects. The oblique profile view clearly shows wings are slightly out and its yellow rump and throat are blazing. It is a very serious hunter.

Our milkweed are literally popping up now. This is their third year #Milkweed #Yarden #NativePlants

Several milkweed stems with young vertical leaves are popped out of the ground. They have very thick stems despite being only a few inches high. There’s a trunk drip line visible and a 1/4-incu line with an emitter in view.

The two avocado trees (type A & B) are in full bloom & the bees are going to town. Meanwhile, the two oranges, ceanothus, poppies, and sages are flowering. It’s a lovely but intense smell out there 🤗 #Yarden #HomeOrchard