Monday in Nature Weekly Photo Aug 10, 2015

[dcstep]

<p>Classic nuthatch pose. </p>

[Glenn McCreery]

<p>Thanks Gordon and Laura. I should have figured out what the tree is, since chokecherries grow wild in the nearby mountains. I understand that chokecherries make decent wine. I will have to try to make some, but will leave most of the berries (cherries?) for the robins.</p>

[anthea50]

<p>I'm with you Jim!</p><div></div>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>Greg S: Great wbn photo! Every time I try to get a good photo of one close up, I look at it on screen and see that it is rather ratty looking and unappealing. They seem to be somewhat unkept: the slobs of the bird world. Yours looks like it has some self respect ;-}</p>

[Andrew Gosden]

<p>Butterfly that I haven't ID'd yet on lantana.<br>

<img src="https://akgosdenphotos.smugmug.com/Nature/Insects-and-other-bugs/i-P9L6FjH/0/700x700/20150809_142115-700x700.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<strong>Samsung Galaxy S4</strong></p>

[Nick D.]

<p>Sunrise.<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wCR6rZlK2E0/U-fXG148V7I/AAAAAAAAAs4/txvFz87B4PU/s1600/Argentia+Harbour1.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="745" /></p>

[Robin Smith]

<p><em><strong><em><strong>Butia capitata</strong></em><br /> Jelly Palm, Pindo Palm<br /></strong></em></p><div></div>

[Mary Doo]

<p>Andrew, it's a male <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabulon_Skipper#/media/File:Male_Zabulon_Skipper.jpg">Zabulon Skipper</a>.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Truth is, just because something is classified as edible doesn't always mean you want to, and really only means it won't kill you...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Laura, I remember you mentioned something similarly before. I should have heeded your wisdom. :)</p>

<p>After listening to a talk by Leda Meredith (author of "Northeast Foraging"), I thought eating wild plants was so cool. So, as I was planning to get rid of all the incredibly invasive daylily in my backyard anyway, I thought why not look up a daylily recipe. Then I harvested the daylily flowers and buds and cooked up a big dish that actually looked gourmet. I even took a picture of the dish. I was hungry and it tasted OK. But what followed was two excruciating days of diarrhea! Now I shudder whenever I think about the daylily dish. Incidentally, I uprooted just about all the daylilies in the last few days. There were clumps of tubers beneath the soil. No wonder they spread like wild fire.</p>

[Andrew Gosden]

<p>Thanks Mary. I figured it was some sort of skipper but I had not been able to track down a match on the couple of sites I usually check.</p>

[Mary Doo]

<p>Andrew, it's hard to ID skippers because there are so many varieties. I have one of Jeffrey Grassberg's "Butterflies through Binoculars" books and Zabulon happens to be there.</p>

[Sanford]

<p>Harbor Seal, Monterey Bay</p><div></div>

[thadley]

<p>Sanford - that Harbour Seal should be a model (*_*). Very nice shot.</p>

[Sanford]

<p>Thanks Tony. She (?) has been striking poses like that for weeks on the same rock off Fisherman's Wharf. Part of the birthing process I assume. There are quite a few in the area right now. </p>

[Mary Doo]

<p>Sanford, had you sent her to modeling school? ;)</p>

[Sanford]

<p>You should have seen the one I just missed due to bad focus.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>We have a new thread for the current week. Please follow up over there: http://www.photo.net/nature-photography-forum/00dRZy</p>