As the Gottlieb Native Garden’s naturalist, Scott Logan documents the ever-changing array of wildlife species as they vary with the garden’s blooms, seasons and migratory patterns. While bringing these observations to life for all to experience, he also coordinates scientific research projects, and monitors the overall health and biodiversity of the garden. The Naturalist’s Journal also highlights the work the Gottliebs and Scott are doing to educate and inspire people to start gardening for wildlife with native plants.
8 Species of Bats have now been Positively identified!
We have 8 species of bats visiting the garden on a regular basis, and are now working on vetting the 9th. Clearly, the diversity of flying insects supported by the diversity our native plants is making a diverse group of mammals very happy! The […]
A Recent Red-tailed Hawk Addition
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk has claimed new territory, and the GNG has become its base camp. There is a pair of adult red-tails that occasionally hunt in the garden, but they seem to be leaving this juvenile alone, allowing it to hunt un-harassed (un-harassed by […]
First Native Bee for the 2019 Season!
It’s official – our first 2019 native bee species to be seen in the garden is the Black-tailed Bumble Bee! Surely a queen, this bee was busy collecting pollen to start her new colony. With all of the rain we’ve having, I hope she found […]
animals that cannot survive without moisture
As our rain continues, moisture travels to deeper levels in the soil and awakes one of our favorite amphibians – the slender salamander. Slender salamanders do not breathe through lungs, they breathe through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. This requires them to […]
Sharp-shinned Hawk
The smallest hawk species found in North America is the Sharp-shinned Hawk (males can weigh as little as 3 oz). During the winter months, we will see these raptors in the GNG from time to time. This juvenile (most likely a female due to her […]
Finally, a full week of rain!
We received our first solid set of storms for the 2018-2019 season and wildlife is rejoicing – except for maybe this coyote caught sneaking into the yard during a nighttime shower. Coyote – Canis latrans California chaparral and woodland plant communities react quickly to rain […]
The New Year Romeos are Singing…
The bird that brings in our New Year with melody is the Song Sparrow. Males can be heard belting out their song everywhere now as they stake-out territory and court females. These birds are early breeders; mated pairs will have nests with eggs before the […]
Band-tails in the Lower Pond
Spa day for a group of attractive birds. Band-tailed Pigeons love to bathe and they bathe often – maybe to keep up their beautiful appearance! Band-tailed Pigeon Patagioenas fasciata
Dampwood Termites
It’s not too often that we get up-close looks at winged dampwood termites, but they were out in numbers last night, attracted to our UV lights last night during a nocturnal species review. With the first fall rains come dampwood termite flights. Winged Kings and […]
We had some good rain showers
Copper’s Hawks love to bathe and this one took advantage of our rain showers today. And just like us, after a wash it needs to dry off. This is how one dries off Cooper’s Hawk-style! Copper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii