Prettiest slime mold yet, Discovery Park

Fred Rhoades tells me that these are the newly emerged fruiting bodies of Ceriatomyxa fruticulosa, or coral slime. Eventually these tendrils will become opaque and then become stippled with tiny spores on stalks.

Damselflies, preparing for lift-off, Discovery Park

It may not feel like summer just yet, but over in the North Beach pond, every log and piece of wood was lined with skinny insect bodies sporting electric blue highlights. Swift forktail damselflies.

Lots of them.

Last year, I photographed an earlier generation on June 1.

Gull eating sea star, Discovery Park

Among the many talents of the ubiquitous glaucous-winged gull: sea-star swallowing.


It takes some effort.


There.

My mouth would feel odd too.

Looking a little lumpy.

Tadpoles galore, Discovery Park

Walk close to the water's edge and the surface churns, as little creatures dive for cover. But sit and watch for a while, and they start to emerge from among the leaf litter.

Nice legs.

Looks like this one is on the way to becoming a Pacific Tree Frog.

I must keep coming back here, and see how things develop.

Flower fly on thimbleberry, Discovery Park

Genus Sericomyia, I think.

Yellow-spotted millipede, Discovery Park

The bright colors on this glossy critter signal that it is poisonous. Poke one, and you're likely to get a whiff of almonds: the scent of cyanide. It's what allows the millipede to go about its business on the forest floor, without the tedious business of ducking under pieces of leaf litter. But poison gas hasn't stopped this one from picking up a passenger.

Salmonberries ripe, Discovery Park

... and I'm not the only mammal snacking on them.