The Fauna

Whenever I move to a different climate, the first thing I begin to notice are the bugs. There are a lot of weird looking bugs in L.A. Most of them fly. And have too many legs. And I've never seen so many aphids. My coat brushed a rubber plant -- a colony of aphids immediately moved house.

A nice surprise was to find that L.A. has hummingbirds. Nigel is our resident hummingbird (photo above). He's not much to look at, but boy, is he fast. He has his favorite tree and his favorite leaf, and while we eat our lunch out on the porch, he eats his. At the moment, there's some territory war going on, so poor Nigel is keeping a vigilant watch. The second he spots a possible trespasser, he whoops a war cry and chases after the perp. It's better than watching Starsky and Hutch.