Home » Tag Archives: SCV Outdoor Report (page 3)

SCV Outdoor Report

SCV Outdoor Report: If You Can’t Stand The Heat….

We learn to avoid touching hot stuff at an early age.  I was reminded of this one Sunday afternoon, a few week’s ago, when I spent some time baking cookies with two of my cousin’s 9-year-old daughters.  My job was straightforward and simple.  I was the “oven assistant” – I put the cookies into and took them out of the ...

Read More »

SCV Outdoor Report: Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

Anyone who’s ever taken care of a baby knows that babies sleep – a lot.  According to this NIH report, “Infants generally require about 16 hours a day”.  And these, “Infants…spend about half of their sleep time in REM sleep”, which, as we know, is the stage of sleep where most dreams occur.  Adults, on the other hand, sleep fewer ...

Read More »

Best Of Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: You Can Be Too Rich

Remember the old saying, “You can never be too rich or too thin”?  Well you can be.  Too nutrient rich, that is.  Especially if you’re a salt-water marsh.  Scientists working at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory recently reported “that nutrients—such as nitrogen and phosphorus from septic and sewer systems and lawn fertilizers—can cause salt-marsh loss.” They conducted a study of salt marsh landscapes at ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Wildlife Corridors

This is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report. This week the news has been full of stories about Las Lomas and the development that has been proposed there.  Today I want to give you some background about what’s at stake ecologically by briefly explaining the concept of wildlife corridors.  I’d like to do that by weaving together several interconnected stories. ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Outdoor Report: Another Bite Of Pie

It’s not often that I disagree with the City Council.  But I did last night, when they described their vote to aquire Gateway Ranch as a “victory for the entire valley.”  I think they underestimated the acquisition of 302 acres of open space – it’s a victory for the entire region, for the entire state, and for Mexico as well! ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: X-Ray Vision

Q.  What would the “Man of Steel” be without his superpowers, especially his X-Ray vision?   A.  Just another “mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper”.  As a child growing up in the 50’s, I learned that Superman was a “strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.”  But what ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: River Walk

This is a “Best of Wendy Langhans”  Last week I went for a walk along the river.  It was a lovely day for walking – plenty of sunshine – and neither too hot nor too cold.  The embankment was lined by a graceful arch of trees.  I noticed the patchy grey, flaking tree bark and decided these were sycamore trees. ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Hairpencils

This is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report. What exactly is a hairpencil?  Is it some sort of stick-shaped hair ornament?  Nope.  Hairpencils are cross between (1) lighting a scented candle and (2) spreading pixie dust with a magic wand.  Let me explain. Entomologists use the word “hairpencil” to describe a brush-like structure on the abdomen of some male butterflies ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Wild and Crazy Bees

This Report is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report. Some people are born thrill-seekers.  Every parent knows someone like that:  the toddler who takes off running as soon as you reach the park, the novice bike rider who can’t wait to take off the training wheels.  We watch and smile knowingly at each other, “Just wait until they become a ...

Read More »

Santa Clarita Outdoor Report: Breaking and Entering

We learn by observing others.  Not only is that true for humans, it’s also true for other creatures, including certain species of bees.  And in the case of short-tongued bumblebees, what they learned is something we call burglary – “breaking and entering”. For millions of years, flowering plants and insects such a bumblebees have participated in a “backscratching” pact: flowers ...

Read More »