{"id":9808,"date":"2012-06-27T20:14:03","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T03:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=9808"},"modified":"2012-06-27T20:14:03","modified_gmt":"2012-06-28T03:14:03","slug":"a-checkerspot-butterfly-spotted-in-marin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/a-checkerspot-butterfly-spotted-in-marin\/","title":{"rendered":"A Checkerspot Butterfly in Marin &#8212; And Other Insects I Have Known and (Tried to) Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_9817\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9817\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/checkerspot-butterfly-on-blue-dick-blossom-CA-580x414.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9817 \" title=\"checkerspot-butterfly-on-blue-dick-blossom-ca\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/checkerspot-butterfly-on-blue-dick-blossom-CA-580x414.jpg\" alt=\"a checkerspot butterfly lights on a blue dick blossom, CA. Photo by BF newhall\" width=\"522\" height=\"373\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9817\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A checkerspot butterfly lights on a blue dick blossom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I spotted this checkerspot butterfly while hiking the Big Rock trail in Lucas Valley, Marin county, with my friend Jean in May. A few days later I spotted another<!--more--> &#8212; just like it? &#8212; outside my kitchen window, but it disappeared before I could grab the camera. There are several kinds of checkerspots in the San Francisco Bay Area. I&#8217;m thinking this one is the bay checkerspot, which is listed as endangered.<\/p>\n<p>And . . . that&#8217;s a blue dick serving up nectar to the butterfly.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9847\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9847\" style=\"width: 333px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Pacific-Spiketail-Dragonfly-Cordulegaster-dorsalis-dorsalis-2-387x580.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9847\" title=\"Pacific-Spiketail-Dragonfly-Oakland-CA-Hills-6-8-2012 http:\/\/southwestdragonflies.net\/caphotos\/2_Anisoptera.html#Cordulegasteridae\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Pacific-Spiketail-Dragonfly-Cordulegaster-dorsalis-dorsalis-2-387x580-333x500.jpg\" alt=\"Pacific spiketail dragonfly, oakland CA. Photo by BF Newhall\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9847\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pacific spiketail dragonfly&#8211; three and a half inches long. Wow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I notice that I&#8217;ve been photographing a lot of insects lately.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A humongous dragonfly, spotted in my front yard, about 3 1\/2 inches long, feasting on lavender and coexisting with a bee just inches away.<\/li>\n<li>Houseflies caught between the screen and window in my kitchen.<\/li>\n<li>Gnats (fruit flies?) on a blousy white poppy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>For another nature story, go to &#8220;<a href=\"\/baarbaar\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2010\/04\/11\/a-case-of-the-human-condition-the-trouble-with-daffodils\/\">The Trouble With Daffodils<\/a>.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10167\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10167\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10167\" title=\"housefly-caught-between-screen-&amp;-window\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/housefly-caught-screen-window-kitchen-2012-07-08-cropped-580x348-500x300.jpg\" alt=\"Doomed housefly caught between screen and window. Photo by BF Newhall\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10167\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nasty housefly trapped between window and screen in my kitchen. He&#8217;s going to die in there, cuz I&#8217;m not letting him out. Or am I?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10177\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10177\" title=\"matilija-poppy-with-insects\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/matilija-poppy-with-two-tiny-insects-580x538-500x463.jpg\" alt=\"White matilija poppy with two small insects, CA. Photo by BF Newhall\" width=\"500\" height=\"463\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How many times have I taken what I&#8217;d hoped would be a beautiful shot of a perfect flower, only to realize when I see it magnified on my monitor at home that there are a couple of interloper insects spoiling all that pristine beauty? This one is a matilija poppy; it&#8217;s big and blowsy and native to SoCal. Are those fruit flies? <em>Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2012\/06\/27\/a-checkerspot-butterfly-spotted-in-marin\/\" rel=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2012\/06\/27\/a-checkerspot-butterfly-spotted-in-marin\/\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I spotted an endangered butterfly &#8212; the checkerspot &#8212; in Marin county. A couple days later, one appeared outside my kitchen window.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[761,762,763,764,765,766],"class_list":["post-9808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","tag-bay-area-nature","tag-big-rock-trail-lucas-valley","tag-blue-dick-blossom","tag-checkerspot-butterfly","tag-endangered-species","tag-pacific-spiketail-dragonfly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}