Wild By Nature Walks & Talks with Dave Barry

05/14/2026

05/07/2026

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

Ticks can carry more than one pathogen and transmit them simultaneously. A person with a Lyme disease co-infection generally experiences more severe illness, more symptoms, and a longer recovery.
LEARN MORE: https://tinyurl.com/rbrxoja

05/06/2026

Reminder we’re 1 week away today.
If you signed up, mark your calendar. If you haven’t get on the wait list.
Should be an epic day.

Join Naturalist Dave Barry for an inspirational and educational exploration of the flora and fauna of the Estero Americano Coast Preserve

04/30/2026

We now have a first version of an abieticola identification plate! This plate gives a brief overview of some features for identifying the subspecies, and for separating similar subspecies such as calurus, especially for dark morphs, and harlani for dark juveniles. There is much more detail that can be covered, so we soon plan to create specific plates that detail each identification challenge with the subspecies placed side by side. Stay tuned for these, and for a full treatment of abieticola in the subspecies account!

Click the link below to access a high resolution and downloadable PDF!

https://redtailedhawkproject.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/abieticola-1.pdf

04/23/2026

Backyard Butterfly. Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta.

04/23/2026

04/22/2026

Migration update 📣

May was the first to arrive at her summer site in New Hampshire on April 12, followed by Billings who arrived back on territory in Vermont two days later.

The others are still making their way north with their locations as of 20 April:

Amelia → Illinois
Granite → New York
Hugger → Ontario
Kathleen → northern Mexico
Kenauk → Pennsylvania
Largo → Florida
Moose → Virginia
Muskoka → Texas
Ottauquechee → Tennessee
Potts → Washington D.C.
Seguin → Arkansas
Skatutakee → southern Mexico
Stuart → North Carolina

04/17/2026

Meet the Pink Star Tulip.

Calochortus uniflorus is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Monterey mariposa lily and large-flowered star-tulip. It is native to western Oregon and to California as far south as San Luis Obispo County. It grows in moist areas, such as meadows, in coastal hills and lower-elevation mountains. Most of the populations are found in the Coast Ranges, but some occur in the Cascades and in the foothills of the... (Source: Wikipedia, Calochortus uniflorus, CC BY-SA 3.0)
These specimens found in Sonoma County. I particularly love the blue anthers.

04/14/2026

My wife called me out to the backyard. We have a bunch of Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars in multiple Instars.
These Butterflies only use California Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica. These plants are toxic, and so are the caterpillars, hence their bold, bright colors which serve as a warning to those who might think they’d make a meal!
This is exciting news! Plant it and they will come. Plant Native plants.