Wildflower Mount Diablo Big Flower Agoseris Scientific Name: Agoseris grandiflora Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Blooms: Mar-May Color: Yellow-Orange Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Steven Beatty

Hammond's Flycatcher Flycatchers Hammond's Flycatcher Empidonax hammondii Migrating Flycatchers Daniel Fitzgerald All Empidonax Flycatchers in our area have light eye-rings and two pale wing bars. Distinguishing features are subtle and include size, shape and coloring of the bill. This species is less yellowish than the Pacific-slope Flycatcher with a shorter, thinner, darker bill and a more tear drop shaped eye ring.

Two-tailed Swallowtail Papilio multicaudatus Papilionidae Swallowtails Flies March to September Host Plant Choke Cherry, Ash, Hop Tree Nectar Plant California buckeye, Bull thistle, Cobweb thistle Bill Kareiva Michael Woodring Underwing

Wildflower Mount Diablo Dense False Gilia Scientific Name: Allophyllum gilioides ssp. gilioides (4-8 flowers) ssp. violaceum (2-3 flowers) Family: Polemoniaceae (Phlox Familiy) Blooms: Apr - May Color: Blue-Purple Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Steven Beatty

Northern Flicker Kingfishers and Woodpeckers Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus All Year Kingfishers and Woodpeckers Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald You can find this species in woodlands. Brown back with black barring, white rump (easily visible in flight), spotted underparts, and red-colored underwings identify this species. Moustache on the side of male's face is red. Unlike other woodpeckers, often seen feeding on the ground. Nests in cavities in trees, wooden posts, or utility poles. Eats insects, especially ants and beetles; fruits and seeds.

Leanira Checkerspot Chlosyne leanira Nymphalidae Brushfoots Flies May to June Host Plant Indian Paintbrush Nectar Plant Narrow-leaved goldenbush Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Underwing

Wildflower Mount Diablo Michael's Rein Orchid Scientific Name: Piperia michaelii Family: Orchidaceae Blooms: May - Jun Color: Green Perennial herb Native, endemic to California California Rare Plant Rank: 4.2 (limited distribution ). This plant is rare in Mount Diablo State Park. See full list Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Great Horned Owl Owls and Nightjars Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus All Year Owls and Nightjars Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Frequents a wide variety of forest and habitats, usually with scattered openings. Large size, conspicuous ear tufts. This is the owl that most novice and non-birders are familiar with; its 5 to 8 note call is easily learned. Note chestnut facial disk, yellowish eyes, and barred underparts. Typically nests in a tree. Usually uses old tree nest of hawk, heron, or crow. Feeds mostly on rabbits, hares, mice, and even coots or other waterfowl; in fact, diet is considered to be the most diverse of all North American raptors.

Pepsis Tarantula Hawk Has Found Its Prey by Dan Sandri You do not want to get stung by this one! July 5, 2025 A Desert Tarantula (Aphonopelma iodius) sits paralyzed, as a Pepsis Tarantula Hawk looks for a nest burrow. By Dan Sandri After keeping an eye out for years, I finally encountered a Pepsis wasp with its prey item in Mount Diablo State Park: a Desert Tarantula (Aphonopelma iodius )! While most of us “Mount Diablo-philes” have a great love for our local tarantulas, I am also enamored with Tarantula Hawks – those large, magnetic blue-black wasps with the orange wings! By the way, I have not been stung by a Tarantula Hawk, as I very much treat them with the respect they deserve (Pepsis grossa is one of just 3 insect species to have been given a Schmidt Pain Scale rating of 4, the highest pain rating, by University of Arizona Entomologist Dr. Justin O. Schmidt. Yes, he tested the pain levels!). He described the pain by writing that “screaming is satisfying and helps reduce attention to the pain of the sting” – a pain that is “instantaneous, electrifying, excruciating, and totally debilitating.” No thank you! So, I watched with a mixture of sadness and exhilaration as the Tarantula Hawk dragged the already paralyzed spider off a grassy hillside and along the trail ahead of me. I didn’t see the capture. Given that it is early July, it is very likely that the Pepsis wasp (identified by its wing venation) found the tarantula in its burrow and coaxed it out or forced it out by entering the burrow. Alas, there was likely no epic battle, as I don’t think the Tarantula Hawks ever lose. Interesting to me, however, is the fact that, if it is true that the tarantula was in its burrow, the Pepsis wasp didn’t use the tarantula burrow as the nest for its larva that will slowly feed on the still-alive spider. They have been known to use the tarantula burrow or to find their own burrow. It chose to drag the spider along the trail and stopped to check out two pre-existing burrows on the trail, deciding on the second one as the home for its egg-larva-pupa. The larva will feed on the non-vital parts of the tarantula first, grow steadily, before finishing off the spider, pupating, and will likely emerge as an adult wasp next year. Once it dragged the tarantula into the burrow, I stood over the burrow for over an hour, with camera at the ready, but the wasp didn’t come out. I suspect that it had a lot of cell construction, tunnel-filling, and back-filling work to do to make this gopher/snake hole a home. And for me, like Tom Petty sang, it was: ... time to move on, time to get going What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing... by Dan Sandri Pepsis Tarantula Hawk drags her paralyzed prey along the trail. by Dan Sandri Pepsis Tarantula Hawk drags her paralyzed prey to the burrow she found, then inspects the burrow again. by Dan Sandri Pepsis Tarantula Hawk pulls the tarantula into her burrow. by Dan Sandri Pepsis Tarantula Hawk pulls the tarantula into her burrow. BACK TO LIST

Wildflower Mount Diablo Harvest Brodiaea Scientific Name: Brodiaea elegans ssp. elegans Family: Themidaceae (Brodiaea Family) Blooms: May - Jun Color: Blue-Purple Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Wildflower Mount Diablo Knotted Hedge Parsley Invasive Scientific Name: Torilis nodosa Family: Apiaceae (Parsley-Carrot Family) Blooms: April Color: White Annual herb Introduced Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Ken-ichi Ueda

Lovely-tailed Mourning Bee Melecta separata callura Apidae Melecta Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Description Melecta separata callura is a medium-to-large, (~15 mm) beautiful cuckoo bee: it parasitizes the nest of Anthophora (Digger) bees by laying an egg in the completed, provisioned nest. Forewings have 3 submarginal cells. The abdomen is black, with white patching, and legs are white-patched. Females lack scopae (they don't provision nests). The name Lovely-tailed Mourning Bee is believed to be derived from the description of the pointed abdomen of the female bee combined with the black and white coloration which resembles the mourning attire that may be worn at a funeral. Nectar/ Pollen Plants Nectar generalists, without care for pollen. Habits Cleptoparasitic, these bees sneak into completed Anthophora nests (by digging down through the sealed burrows) and lay an egg on the nest cell cap. Its larva hatches, drains the Anthophora egg using its sickle like mandibles, and then eats the nest provisions. The larva pupates in the cell and emerges in Spring. Season March - May