Nature!

When we first got to California, I considered it a pretty sterile environment, as far as animals go. There were, and still are, very few flying bugs. We hardly see houseflies, and get the occasional silverfish (never saw these until I moved here, small, and non-biting).

 We have had a few dandy-long legged house spiders which move at the speed of molasses, so they are easy to catch. (We do get GIGANTIC garden spiders though, and black widows, both outside thankfully). I saw my first cockroach a week or two back, and would have crushed it, but I just cannot stand the "crunching" sound large bugs make. It gives me the willies like nothing else does.

 There is quite a large bunny population, and they have been fun to watch nibble on the grass in the late afternoons and evenings here. I thought they had very few to no predators around. Enter the bobcat.

There is one that prowls the apartment complex, hunting the multitude of bunnies. (He or she is very shy, hasn't bothered anyone, so I don't think they're making a huge effort to catch it).  The bobcat leaves the mostly-eaten carcasses around sometimes, and it allows me to teach my kids about the natural order of things, so I don't mind too much.


Hummingbirds are year-round residents here. The last few weeks, as I came to the bottom of my stairwell, this hummingbird would fly past me. I didn't think anything of it until yesterday, when upon inspection, I found a tiny nest.

It's not more than 3 inches wide. The nest is right at my eye level, so I can peek in and check on it. So cool. Growing up, I only saw hummingbirds a few times a year, and just a few of them. So this is quite a treat. The kids are really excited and I will keep putting  up pictures of its progress. I think the above-pictured hummingbird is like the one taking up residence in the garden below, but I can't be sure because I haven't been able to get close enough. Those little things fly so fast.