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Exploring and Expanding the Urban Wilderness

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Murphy Ranch: Nature, Graffiti, Intrigue

June 11, 2017by concretechaparral 1 Comment

Between the multi-million dollar houses of the Pacific Palisades and Will Rogers State Park sits Murphy Ranch where truth and myth blended together.

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Abandon Sites/Ruins, Articles/Links, Habitat & Wildlife, Hikes/Walks, Native Plants, Urban Parks

‘Western Cities Try to Cut Light Pollution’

March 10, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

Article from High Country News

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Articles/Links

‘Where the Wild Things Swim’

February 27, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

A great article from ‘High Country News’

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Articles/Links, Habitat & Wildlife

‘Western Monarch Butterflies are Still in Trouble’

February 12, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

From 89.3 KPCC

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Articles/Links, Insects

‘Lions of Los Angeles’

February 7, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

An article from the New Yorker

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Articles/Links, Habitat & Wildlife

Avoiding Unintentional Poisoning

January 11, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

Rat Poison & Local Wildlife

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Articles/Links, Habitat & Wildlife

‘Greater than the Sums of its Parts’

January 8, 2017by concretechaparral Leave a comment

You can’t talk about urban wilderness without talking about coyotes.

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Articles/Links, Habitat & Wildlife

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Caterpillar attack! Red-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens) makes a tasty snack for this caterpillar, which in turn may become a tasty snack for a songbird or lizard. And a garden starts to become an ecosystem…

Coming in for a landing. Bladderpod (Peritoma arborea) flowers and honey bee.

The closer you look, the more elaborate flowers become - narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)

I made a new friend! This young Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) flew into my Dad’s window and fell to the ground. I tried to put him on a branch for safety, but he liked my finger better. I named him Jimmy - don’t know why, just seems right. After 30 minutes he flew off.

Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) gathering nectar from ashy-leaf buckwheat (Eriogonum cinereum). It’s interesting what new native plants can bring to the garden. Never seen this wasp before until a few weeks ago when my new ashy-leaf buckwheat and California buckwheat began to blossom. They love them! Interesting, the red-flowered buckwheat which I’ve had for several years never attracted them. If you have a veggie garden, the great golden digger wasp is a great ally with the female preying on members of the grasshopper family.

Cliff Aster (Malacothrix saxatilis). For a plant that can look so weedy, I can’t get enough of their flowers that float above the dry brush of summer and fall. And in the middle of the flower appears a tiny, magical city - perhaps occupied by Who’s?