Dean's Outside

02/11/2024

FREE EVENT 11/3/24 JOIN ME on a MUSHROOM PHOTO HIKE near EUREKA, CA
Sunday Nov 3, 2024 at 9am Headwaters Trailhead, Eureka, CA
Come join me Sunday for a Mushroom photography walk in the Mixed forest of Elk River.
Free Event, approx 2-3 hours

Come kick off the beginning of the winter mushroom season! The winter mushrooms are starting to pop, let's go see what we can find.
This walk will be focused on learning more about Mushroom photography for Identification and art. You will become a better photographer, learn more about identifying Mushrooms and Forest ecology while on a pleasant walk with pleasant people.

MEETUP-
9 am HEADWATERS FOREST RESERVE parking lot at the end of ELK RIVER ROAD, just south of Eureka

WHAT TO BRING-
*Bring your camera (Phone or standard Camera)
*Warm clothes and outdoor shoes suitable for wet pavement and dirt
*Notepad or paper and pen
*Small piece of plastic or garden pad to kneel on helps
*A cup of tea is always good
*A couple bucks to tip your host (tips gladly accepted)

07/10/2024

An Old Growth Coast Redwood surrounded by younger Redwoods (Click for full photo)
Redwoods are very successful at staying alive long after they fall, get burned, or even cut down. They do this by producing a bud that will create a new tree. These buds can form from old stumps, a living tree's root system far away from the original tree, or even from fallen trees.

Redwoods do not have a taproot, they use very shallow root system that stretches out towards other trees to help hold themselves, and other trees from falling. Occasionally a bud will form on one of these roots.

Their name- Sempervirens, translates to "always living" they keep renewing themselves with these buds.

Redwood also produce seeds from cones. Redwood seeds are not very successful at sprouting and taking hold but when you disperse seeds for several thousand years, a couple of them will certainly find the right conditions to sprout and grow. Seeds falling from 380 feet up can drift quite far on a windy day, helping to spread the edges of these forests well beyond the parent tree's root system.

Notice the young trees reaching skyward to the sun, an adult tree spreading seeds and supporting the surrounding trees with its root system, and old fallen trees enriching the soil and creating buds from the forest floor.

Being surrounded by an ancient forest is an amazing experience.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California

30/09/2024

Mattole Watershed in late afternoon near Ettersberg, California. The Mattole Watershed is located in Southern Humboldt and a tiny section of Northern Mendocino Counties. This watershed drains 304 square miles of the highest annual rainfall areas in California. Sections of the watershed get over 100 inches of rain every year, like Honeydew, California.

The Mattole River and it's 74 tributaries are slowly improving as habitat for Salmon and Steelhead as well as the countless other animals and plant species that call the Watershed home.

Water is life. The next time it rains in your area, step outside and think about the watershed that you live in, and all the creeks and rivers that will take those raindrops to the ocean!

28/09/2024

Meteor streaks and curved star trails made for an interesting long exposure photo during the Perseid Meteor Shower in August.

The Perseid Meteors originate from debris left from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle as it passes through our solar system. Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to orbit the sun and last visited us in 1992. The comet is around 16 miles wide, which puts it in the "Large Comet" class. We pass through the debris field every August, bringing amazing meteors.

The meteors appear to come out of the constellation Perseus- hence the name "Perseid Meteor shower"

The next meteor Shower "The Orionids" will peak around mid October. Halley's comet debris creates these.

When the night sky is clear, never miss the opportunity to go outside, look up, and stare into the Starry abyss.

Photo taken Aug 12, 2024 in Coastal Humboldt County, California

19/08/2024

My buddy, and fellow adventurer, Eric Stackpole has a 6 episode National Geographic series that premieres tonight- OceanXplorers, lead by film producer James Cameron, BBC and OceanX.

Eric is an engineer and ocean tech innovator who grew up here in Trinidad, California. We've worked on some great projects together. He definitely loves the Outdoors. He's accomplished so much to further the understanding and exploration of our Oceans.

Congratulations Eric, and may there be many more adventures to come!

The series premiers tonight on National Geographic and will be on Disney +, and Hulu

18/06/2024

A young, unmated Queen Honey Bee announces her presence in a hive by making a "piping" sound. This very specific, high pitched buzz and pattern call is used to indicate a few situations.

She is inside the hive, outside of view. The camera is pointed at the entrance with worker bees running about while she calls out to them.

An unhatched queen will make these sounds when she is about to emerge, letting worker bees help chew her out of her cell faster.

Emerging quickly is a survival trait, as the first Queen to hatch has an advantage- she can kill other possible queens before they hatch. There are often 3 to 10 queen cells at a time, and they are usually minutes or hours apart in emerging.

Another reason she will pip, is to let other newly hatched queens know that she is there so they can fight.

The piping in this video was made by a young queen soon after she was released into a queenless hive. The call was both announcing her presence to the worker bees to help calm them, and to see if there were any other queens inside the hive.

The call is made by vibrating her still folded wings in short, high speed bursts against her body.

Some call this "piping" or "pipping" or even "tooting". The call is compared to a chicken clucking in it's sound and rhythm.

A queen will usually stop making this call after she is a week old.

Many people are amazed that a Queen makes any sound. Queens don't normally make even the traditional "buzz buzz" sounds.

Hearing a young Queen pip is a rare treat.

Go outside and listen to the insects. What are they trying to say?

15/06/2024

A bright Solar Halo made an appearance over Northern California this afternoon. Solar Halos are caused by light refracting and reflecting through very high altitude ice crystals in Cirrostratus or Cirrus Clouds. These clouds are actually very thin layers of ice crystals and are usually found from 30 to 60,000 feet from the earth. At these altitudes, the temperature is usually around -50 to -70 degrees F. It is believed that very specific shaped ice crystals to bend the light are needed to form these Halos.

Halos can appear around the Sun or the Moon. When they happen around the moon, we often call them "Moon Rings". Halos appear as a cloudy line, or sometimes as a Rainbow. These should be called "Icebows", and not water droplet "Rainbows", which are the common colorful prism events associated with rain.

Side note- Jet airliners fly around 30 to 35,000 feet, which is why the water v***r from their engines creates "con-trails" or "Condensation Clouds". When the fuel exhaust particles and water v***r are released from the engines at high altitudes, only a second or two of cooling is needed for the water v***r to form ice on the tiny particles, leaving long, white, cloud-like trails behind the aircraft. These trails can stay around for a very long time due to the stability of the air between 30-40,000 feet. There is less mixing and random wind activity to mess them up (turbulence) which also makes for a more pleasant flight.

Look up and observe the sunshine interacting with the clouds. Wonderful things may be there.

07/04/2024

Eyelash Cup Fungus in the Spring Coastal Redwood Forest (Tap for full photo)
The Eyelash Cup Fungus gets their name from the tiny hairs that resemble delicate eyelashes along the margins of the cups.

This scene was found close to the ground in a Redwood forest a couple miles inland from the coast. They can be hard to find when growing near the ground, but pop out as tiny dots of color on a decaying log.

They are mostly found in moist areas of a forest and are usually seen with mosses.

Eyelash cups are found in a red, orange or yellow colors and can be quite small. The largest of the three in this photo was just under 1/2 inch in diameter.

If you look close, you can see their namesake hairs in the photo.

Take a moment to look for the small things in the woods. Sometimes there are tiny, beautiful scenes just waiting to be enjoyed!

Photo taken near Eureka, California

06/04/2024

It looks like this Bee is having a great Spring! Honeybees bring back nectar and pollen to their hive to use as food. The nectar is dehydrated with some enzymes to make honey, a "shelf" stable calorie source. They bring the nectar back internally and offload it using another worker honeybee that takes it from them and puts it into a wax cell for storage.

The pollen is the colony's protein source. A forager bee brings pollen back on their hind legs using special hairs called pollen baskets. The pollen grains need to be softened and broken down before they can be eaten. The bees do this by mixing the pollen with nectar, creating what is called "bee bread" after the mixture ferments in a wax cell inside the hive.

Bees carry the pollen from one flower to another, inadvertantly pollinating as they fly from one flower to another.

After a particularly successful pollen hunt, a bee will return with full pollen baskets and a pretty good dusting, like the bee in these photos

Honeybees make up only a couple varieties of around 4000 bee species found in the USA. They all perform a very important job along with the other pollinator species keeping the plant world pollinated and creating food for the planet.

Photos taken in Humboldt County, California

01/04/2024

This is Boo. She's a 4 year old Spotted Skunk.

Western Spotted Skunks have amazing markings. Spotted Skunks are much smaller than their Striped Skunk relatives, and usually measure less than 18 inches total. They usually only weigh 1.5 pounds or less. They are rather important pest eating creatures and are amazing at eating rodents and insects.

Boo unfortunately was unsuccessful at being released back into the wild when found very young with her two brothers. She's been a good ambassador for wildlife, and is having a great life.
The Sequoia Park Zoo is located in Eureka, California.

24/03/2024

A Fern Fiddlehead unFurling. The greening season is upon us! Everything on the forest floor is beginning to reach skyward. Time to stretch out and enjoy the spring weather and the increasing daylight.

Near Trinidad, CA

12/03/2024

The view from inside, looking out, of a traditional Yurok family house as the daylight spills onto the rock and dirt floor. Located in Sue-meg State Park in Northern California, this replica village was built in an area that has been inhabited for generations of native people.

The village was built starting in the 1990's by Yurok builders, from traditional materials sourced from around the area.

This photo was taken looking out through the main entrance, towards the back of another house. This entrance is around 2 feet in diameter. The main building materials are redwood planks, rocks and vines.

It is said that Sue-meg translated from Yurok, means "Always there"

12/03/2024

It's raining "outside" today. Decided to stay "inside" and work on projects and answer messages.
Hopefully you will enjoy this real time, unedited video filmed start to finish, of frying an egg in a cast iron skillet. Under 5 minutes.

(I'll post some outdoor photos later today)

This pan isn't particularly well seasoned. There is no hardened layer of oil. You can see remnants of some old hardened "seasoning" around the edges of the pan, but none on the cooking surface.

USA made 10 inch Lodge skillet.
Fresh egg from the backyard flock.
Eggs fry great in unsalted butter.
(The secret is unsalted butter)

04/03/2024

The craziest winter weather can produce the best sunsets.
Humboldt County, California

01/03/2024

A Northern Red Legged Frog for Leap Day! (READ MORE)
Frogs don't care about Leap years- they don't use calendars. All this little frog cares about right now is that the days are getting longer, and that it is breeding season. They are out and about looking for pools and streams. And the occasional snack.

There are actually two Red Legged Frog species- the California and the Northern. The California occupies a large portion of Coastal California, and a narrow strip in the Central Valley.

The Northern (pictured) occupies a much smaller area in California, mostly in Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Their range extends northward to British Columbia.They are mostly found within 50 miles of the Coast, and are usually found near swamps, ponds and streams. Both Species are listed as Threatened. Habitat loss and Invasive Bullfrogs have taken their toll. They are holding on currently- they are getting good at hiding and finding new places to live.

Yes, the underside of their hind legs are red. The frogs themselves can be found in greens, browns and red colorings. They are mostly active at night in the wetter months of the year.

Usually less than 4 inches long, they are 2 to 3 times larger than the common Pacific Chorus Frog that many people hear on spring nights.

Red Legs eat just about anything that moves and will fit in their mouth. Insects and worms are high on their menu. They help keep insect populations in check. In turn, many animals feed on Red Legged Frogs. Herons, Egrets, Raptors and Snakes all eat frogs while hunting rodents. Ravens, Raccoons, Skunks, Opossums and even Bears eat them, too.

Leap days are man-made answers to the problem that an actual Earth year is 365.2425 days long. That means every 4 years, we add an extra day to the shortest month so our calendar stays relevant to seasons. If we stopped adding in the extra "leap day"- 700 years from now, summer would start in December.

The frogs wouldn't care- Summer is Summer and Winter is Winter.
They "Leap" whenever they feel like it.

Enjoy your 366 days in 2024.
Go outside and watch the frogs leap about!

Photo taken Feb 2024 in Humboldt County, California

23/02/2024

The distant clear sky exposed visible sheets of rain as they danced down to Earth during 's Wednesday's evening storm. Just after sunset over Humboldt Bay, CA

08/02/2024

Flyways on PBS. Full video link. This episode follows Curlews, Godwits and Red Knots on their yearly global migrations.
This is a wonderful documentary and it's very worth the watch.

Official site: https://bit.ly/3Sb3NvN | scientists racing against the clock to save the world’s migratory shorebirds. Flyways premieres on F...

26/12/2023

An Albino Redwood gives the feel of a Wintery Wonderland to the temperate rainforest of the Northern Coast of California.

Only around 400 Albino Redwoods are known to exist.

These very special trees cannot produce chlorophyll. They require other non albino Redwood trees to provide them with the nutrients to survive through interconnections of their roots.

Happy Holidays!

Near Weott, Humboldt County, California