The last bug hike of the year was unfortunately uneventful. As was partially expected, considering the decrease in plant life and the increase in cold. I was on a mission to find tarantulas and found nothing. I did find the occasional hovel with webs scattered across it, but was it a tarantula, a trapdoor spider, or some other arachnid? Who knows. Either way, no eight-legged friends were spotted. The six-legged friends were also few and far between, beyond small flies that were difficult to catch or too small to be seen on camera. I did catch one, though. A grasshopper!
And, since this was the only catch of the day, I wanted to make it special with a good photoshoot, by capturing its wings! Have you ever seen the wings of a grasshopper?
They can be vibrant, saturated, and almost any color of the rainbow! I’ve seen grasshoppers with Blue wings, pink, red, and orange. This grasshopper —what I believe is a Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis)— had yellow wings.
I also saw some birds including a Steller's Jay, Red tailed Hawk, California Scrub Jay and some California Quail.
Blurry Quail Photo!
There were also plenty of Ground Squirrels!
Tail end of a California Ground Squirrel running away
And Cows. I got this picture of a cow with a fun face pattern and baby.
Sometimes a hike is slow, and that is ok!
I want to say thank you so much, everyone, for sticking around. Starting the Hikes this year was such a big leap, and I couldn’t have done it without your guys’ support, whether that’s following along, engaging, financially supporting, or coming on the hikes yourselves! I would like to get more of you guys out here, and I know through in-person conversations there is interest.
So next year, to get you guys to come out, I want to try a few of things:
I’ll try to plan the hikes a bit more ahead of time - there were a few times I planned hikes last minute or had to change things, which made participation hard. I can’t guarantee the occasional emergency cancelation or shift won’t happen, but I plan to be more consistent.
I want to try and get some RSVP’s - Don’t get me wrong, I love doing these hikes all by myself, but knowing would be nice. Then I would also know who I’m waiting for! But I won’t be strict; you can always just show up!
I’ll be clearer about timing - I usually say when we start but mention nothing about arrival or how long we’ll wait for others! I want to hopefully squash any anxiety about that and spell out all the details in the future.
I want to spread out more! - I usually hike pretty close to home due to comfort, but as I share more, there are new locations and interested people in various parts of the Bay Area. So I’d like to do some hikes in locations I don’t typically tread.
A Special Thank you to Piper McNulty for your support and helping to keep the newsletter and Bug Hikes running!
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Look at my favorite Wildlife photos, including photos from past Hikes
Catch up on past California Native or Bug Hike recap articles you might have missed
Browse my past illustrations of California Natives and others
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