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.
Survivors
Even in rural and urban environments, Coyotes play an important role in rodent control. A good part of their diet consists of rodents (rabbits, gophers, rats, etc.). Yes, Coyotes will eat discarded food stuffs and go after small pets, but both of those issues can […]
Nocturnal Thermal Imaging
Occasionally, we use a thermal imager to look for wildlife in the garden at night. The imager uses sensors that detect heat radiation (in the electromagnetic spectrum) that allows the operator see in the dark. It is a remarkable device. Mammals can be detected from […]
Over 1100 species!
I have stepped-up my species discovery and identification efforts (mostly concentrating on Arthropods) and have found more than 1100 species of animals in the garden to date. Shooting for 1500 species by mid 2022! Hard to select a favorite from the list, but […]
White-banded crab spider part 2
Our White-banded Crab Spider has been living in this Coast sunflower bush for over a month now. It took much effort to change color from white to yellow, so she will spend as much time as possible within yellow its flowers. Crab spiders are ambush […]
White-banded crab spider
The female White-banded crab spider has the ability to change color. She uses this super power of cryptic coloring as camouflage, changing between white and yellow depending on what color flowers are in her territory. She does this by secreting a liquid yellow pigment into the […]
Vivid Dancers
This has been a great season for damselflies, especially Vivid Dancers. There are dozens of them in the garden at the moment and they can be found just about everywhere, not just near the water features. This Black Phoebe is taking advantage of the abundant damselflies […]
cool drink in the lower pond
Nothing better than having a cool drink in a shady spot on a 100° day…
Lost its Prey?
At the beginning of this video, the owl seems to be looking at its feet to check if it captured prey. Seeing that there was no animal in its talons, the owl takes off running (maybe in the direction it thinks the prey went?). Well […]
She’s been visiting for over 2 years
This female bobcat has been visiting the garden for about 2 ½ years now and we had high hopes that this season she would show-up with kittens. Unfortunately, this year’s “kitten” window is closing fast and if we don’t see any little ones soon, there […]
Leaf-cutter Bees
With Summer just around the corner, the garden is beginning to fill with bees. NATIVE bees! Over a dozen species and hundreds of individuals were found during a causal stroll this weekend – the diversity of the garden’s plants is doing its job. One family […]