Fall migration

Fall migration has begun!  

Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) return to Bodega Harbor after nesting on the tundra:

 

 

 

 

Photographed on 7 July 2017.

 

Questions about colors

Here are a few more spider web photos taken in our backyard on 6 July 2017...along with a few questions!

First, my favorite color combination from today — in the center strand, check out those bronzy areas with the greens and blues!

 

Second, while reviewing images I noticed one strand that stood out.  Most of the strands in this web displayed many colored stripes.  But one in the photo below showed broader, more uniform areas and gradients of color, without narrow stripes.  Why did this strand have a different pattern?

 

And third, most of the colored stripes along the strands seem to be made up of one color (I think, but I could be wrong).  But I noticed a couple today that appeared to be multicolored.  In the image below, see the ring below the arrow that shows a variety of colors. What causes this?

 

I have lots of questions about the colors created by these spider web strands!

 

Early evening light

 

I haven't had much time for pictures lately, but I stepped out into the backyard tonight for another try at spider web silk in the early evening light.  Pretty nice!

Phoronids for the Fourth

Eric and his summer students spotted these wonderful phoronids, Phoronis vancouverensis, at the Spud Point Marina docks yesterday (3 July 2017):

 

Remember that phoronids are known for their beautiful lophophores, the U-shaped crown of tentacles shown below:

 

 

While looking at these phoronids, we noticed some of the lophophores looked a little different — some had paired white spots in the center of the lophophore:

 

Here's a closer look (below).  Note that each of the white spots looks like a little bunch of grapes (clusters of smaller rounded blobs).  Do you have a guess about what they are?

 

The next image is the closest I could get with my camera at the time:

 

Each of the white clusters is a group of small developing embryos. Phoronis vancouverensis is a brooder!  The embryos will develop within the lophophore for about 2 weeks.  Then the tiny larvae will swim away, spending time in the plankton before returning to the benthos and undergoing metamorphosis into tiny juvenile phoronids.

I felt fortunate to be photographing phoronids on the Fourth of July!  :)

P.S.  For more information about phoronids, review the post from 27 June 2013.

Spiderworks

I've been experimenting a bit more with capturing colors in spider webs.  In the spirit of colorful fireworks displays, here are a few more images highlighting the remarkable color patterns created when sunlight interacts with spider silk.  [Remember to click on the pictures for larger versions.]

 

 

Multicolored:

 

Greens and blues:

 

 Oranges and blues, plus:

 

Pinks and golds:

The first two pictures of this post were from the center of an orb web.  The next four images were taken along a single attachment strand, one of the long strands attaching the web to an outer support.  And this last picture (below) is from a "messier" web — lots of short strands among the angular branches of a vine:

 

We hope you also enjoy a colorful holiday.

Happy Fourth of July!

Halophytic and hemiparasitic

 

Point Reyes Salty Bird's-Beak (Chloropyron maritimum ssp. palustre), photographed in Bodega Harbor on 21 June 2017.

This one is salty!  Can you see the salt crystals on the deep maroon floral bracts?

This annual wildflower is a halophyte — it grows in saline environments, e.g., in this case, the upper edge of salt marshes.

It's also a hemiparasite — similar to mistletoe, it obtains some of its nutrients from nearby plants.

  

White bracts

 

California Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium californicum), photographed in the Bodega Dunes on 21 June 2017.