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Anne Thomas's avatar

Groundcone! I’ve never heard of that one

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Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's avatar

One of my forest favorites, for sure! So exotic looking. Admittedly, the first time I walked by this one, I just glanced at it from a few feet away and thought, "How strange that a pine cone landed like that, upright." On the way back, I laughed, realizing my mistake.

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Iraiah Solstice Waak's avatar

That mariposa lily is crazy compared to what we have in Colorado!

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Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's avatar

It's really striking for sure. I've seen quite a few Mariposa Lilies, including some in Colorado last year, but this one was new to me. I was pretty thrilled.

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Three Eyed Goddess's avatar

pollinating beetles!? lots of fantastic catches here in luscious detail

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Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's avatar

nature is luscious!

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Perry J. Greenbaum 🇨🇦 🦜's avatar

The European crane fly might look like a giant mosquito, but they pose no harm to humans. Great range of photos and so much detail. Thanks so much for your efforts. It must have taken a while to get so many photos of so many species.

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Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's avatar

I love Crane Flies. First time I saw one, I indeed assumed it was a giant mosquito, but soon learned more.

These pictures were taken over the course of just a couple-three weeks actually. Lots of new stuff popping all at once at this time of year.

A "giant cranefly" is mentioned in the Alice-in-Wonderlandesque spoken intro to the very charming song "Brainiac's Daughter" by the Dukes of Stratosphear (an alias for the band XtC):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUb4WzIvouQ

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Logan Darrow's avatar

Thank you for the plant and insect IDs!

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Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's avatar

My pleasure, Logan!

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Scott Dierks's avatar

Beautiful pics Kollibri!

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Bev Jo's avatar

Love the wildflowers and wildlife!!! I love all the Calochortus and try to find as many as possible each year, including C. tolmei who I know from Pt. Reyes. Have you met the very rare Calochortus tiburonensis, who has survived only in one small area of Marin? Oh and that orchid! I know her only from Mt. Tamalpais. I'm in Oakland. Where are you now? It would be so much fun to visit our favorites, including the immigrants, plus wildlife, like spiders, insects, etc.

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