May 21, 2020. That’s the day we started our challenge to make at least one observation per day of living and breathing in nature and upload it to the citizen science platform, iNaturalist. So as of December 27th, our streak is 950 days. So as 2022 comes to a close I went through our observations...

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Another month has passed on our one and only planet, so following this new type of post from its initial launch last month, I present the creatures I featured on my nature-focused Instagram within the month of November in 2022. This month we explored tidepools in two different settings over a total of six nights....

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Ever heard of one? One what? You might be asking . . . it’s a fungus of course! Two actually . . . kinda! The common name is not just four random words smashed together, it actually represents the two fungal organisms that come in one funky package. Overall, the fungi in question is a...

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I wanted to get back to the type of posts I started to write in the early days of this blog, which was a focus on learning and exploring the life of recently observed organisms. I do this often on Instagram, but those explorations don’t often get highlighted on the blog. So in this blog,...

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Witch’s Butter? Coral Tooth? Bleeding Tooth? How about some Skullcaps? Or Wrinkled Crust? Many fall fungi of Northern California are popping out fruiting bodies right now in wet areas, just in time for the spookiest time of the year. In this blog, I’ll introduce you to some of the common fungi that have either a...

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The summer of 2022 was our most stonefly-y summer yet. After making a connection with a stonefly expert – Dave Burton the previous summer – we were on the hunt, with our eyeballs dialed into these prehistoric-esc insects. Autumn Needlefly Despaxia augusta Purcell Needlefly Pomoleuctra purcellana LEFT: This Autumn Needlefly was swept from stink currant along a...

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Mid-August of 2022 hubby Trevor and I took a leap of faith and completed the Tchaikazan River, over Spectrum Pass, Around Dorothy Lake, and through Yohetta Valley loop. It would turn out to be one of our favorite trips, and so-called “honeymoon.” This blog is a trip log, which may prove useful for those interested...

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Float plane. Woodland Caribou. Artic-like tundra. Old cabins. Interesting Insects. Those are just some of the things we experienced on a recent backpacking trip in the interior of British Columbia. Take a read, or just look at the photos of this trip log in the Itcha Range of the Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park, which we...

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“We’re going to Costa Rica to look for orchids.” Orchid hunting is probably not the first reason you’d think to travel to Costa Rica for. Most people go for the jungle, wildlife watching, the beaches, the “adventure” activities, or bird watching. While we definitely went to look for birds, wildlife, and other plants, orchids were...

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From the end of January till the end of April 2022 we lived in an adorable Airbnb in Fernbrook, CA. This tiny unincorporated community is next door to Ramona, in San Diego County. When talking to San Diego locals no one had heard of Fernbrook, which just illustrates its tinyness and its seclusive nature.  We...

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