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Coast Dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa) Endemic to California coastline. It is a native, perennial, erect Dudleya in the Stonecrop (Crassulaceae) family that grows 10–60 cm (up to 24 inches) tall on coastal rock and sandy soil. A.k.a. Sea Lettuce and Sand Lettuce (not to be be confused with "Bluff Lettuce,"
(Dudleya farinosa). Coast Dudleya (D. caespitosa) has several basal rosettes of leaves. Leaves are succulent, oblong to lanceolate or roundish, generally with ACUTE tips. This plant has lots of leaf variablilty. Stems are long, usually red with greater distance between internodes (compared to Bluff Lettuce, Dudleya farinosa). Flowers are a clusters of bright yellow flowers, the petals united for < 1/3 of their length, on curving red peduncles. Peak bloom time: June-August.

Link to confirmed flowering Coast Dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa) :https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124201833
Compared to confirmed Bluff Lettuce (Dudleya farinosa): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/126573880

Jepson eFlora: "Leaf: evergreen, 15--30, 5--20 cm, 1--2 cm wide, 3--8 mm thick, lance-oblong (extremely variable), adaxially generally convex (transversely), glaucous or not, base wounding purple-red or not, tip generally ACUTE, margins generally not angled between ad-, abaxial surfaces."

Jepson eFlora: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23643

Calfora: (includes species distribution map in CA): https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=2839

D.Styer lists 2 Dudleya species in Fort Ord: D. caespitosa and D. lanceolata.
Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 99.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 140, 143.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 341.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/crassulaceae-dudleya/

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Liveforever (Genus Dudleya) California has 49 recorded species of Dudleya, many of which are endemic to the state, and some of which are endemic to a only a single county. (I-Nat. California Dudleya Mapping Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-dudleya-mapping-project)

Genus: Dudleya is characterized by fleshy and glabrous leaves which occur in basal rosettes, in colors ranging from green to gray. The inflorescence are on vertical or inclined stems up to a meter high, but usually much shorter. Dudleya flowers range from bright yellow to deep orange-red.

Jepson eFlora Key to Dudleya: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=10874
Taxon Page: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10874

Leaf Terminology: Simple Diagrams/Definitions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James Harris and M. Harris, 2022

Strophiona tigrina is a species of Flower Longhorn beetle, in the Beetle (Cerambycidae) family.

BugGuide https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Strophiona%20tigrina

"https://www.oregon.gov/oda/shared/Documents/Publications/IPPM/KeyToGeneraOfCerambycidaeOfWesternNAmerica.pdf has a key between the two known western species of Strophiona. Although iNaturalist has a few local observations of S. nitens, it's not supposed to be present in CA."
See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27238213

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Beetle Anatomy: simple diagram of external parts: https://animalcorner.org/beetle-anatomy/

Field Guide to California Insects, by Kip Will, J. Gross, D. Rubinoff , J. Powell, 2nd ed., 2020,
Beetles (Order Coleoptera), pp. 189-266.
"Beetles make up the largest Order in the Animal kingdom, in terms of the number of known species. (Next largest are Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera). Many beetles eat living plants and their larvae are found on or in flowers, fruits, leaves, stems, or roots. There are at least 8,000 species of beetles in California and 23,000+ in North America, with many awaiting discovery."

BugGuide: Arthropods: Photos of Insects, Spiders & Their Kin (US & Canada), clickable categories or use search bar (scientific name): https://bugguide.net/node/view/3/bgpage

Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia) represent most plant-eating beetles. The infraorder contains 7 SUPERfamilies: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/372852-Cucujiformia

Taxonomic Chart of Cucujiform Beetles: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/372852-Cucujiformia

Chrysomeloidea (~7 families including longhorn beetles and leaf beetles)
Cleroidea (checkered beetles, bark-gnawing beetles and soft-winged flower beetles)
Coccinelloidea (15 families, includes lady beetles (a.k.a. ladybugs) and fungus beetles)
Cucujoidea (~27 families)
Curculionoidea (~8 families primarily consisting of weevils and also including snout beetles and bark beetles)
Lymexyloidea (ship-timber beetles)
Tenebrionoidea (formerly "Heteromera") (30 families including darkling beetles, blister beetles and ant-like beetles)

Irene's Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia) observations on INaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=372852&user_id=aparrot1&verifiable=any

Irene's (aparrot1) Profile Page on INaturalist listing Nature Resources (includes online references with links) for Plants, Birds, Fungi, Lepidoptera, Arachnids, Reptiles, Amphibians, Marine Life, Plant Galls, and more: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/3188668

Garter Snake eating a Chorus Frog who’s body was much wider than the snake's head. There were many frogs around White Rock Lake (elev. 2000ft). Link to Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla) observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/166002880

Range Map for Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) https://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.zaxanthus.html

Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) Endemic in California.
"Size: Adults are 18 - 40 inches long (46 - 102 cm). Most snakes encountered are generally 18 - 28 inches long (46 - 71 cm).
Neonates are 7 - 10 inches ( 18 - 25 cm).
Appearance: A medium-sized slender snake with a head barely wider than the neck and keeled dorsal scales.
Some average scale counts: Average of 8 upper labial scales, 6 and 7 not enlarged. 11 lower labial scales. Rear pair of chin shields is longer than the front. The internasals are longer than they are wide and pointed in front. Average of 19 or 21 scales at mid-body.
Color and Pattern: Ground color is gray, brown or black.
There is distinct yellow or orange stripe on the back and a light stripe along the lower part of each side on the 2nd and 3rd scale rows.
There may be small alternating dark spots on the sides, most noticable on juveniles.
The throat is white or yellow, sometimes bright yellow.
The underside is bluish or greenish sometimes with pink or yellow marks."
Activity: Highly-aquatic snake, able to remain underwater, but also found away from water.
Active during the day, and after dark during very hot weather.
Can be active most of the year when conditions allow, but primarily found spring through fall.
Defense: When threatened, this snake will often escape into water, hiding on the bottom. If it is frightened when picked up, it will often strike repeatedly and release feces from the cloaca and expel musk from anal glands.
Diet and Feeding: Probably eats mainly amphibians and their larvae, including frogs, tadpoles, and aquatic salamander larvae (newts) but small fish are also eaten, and possibly small rodents. Leeches are also consumed.
Adults tend to forage actively. Neonates are sit-and-wait foragers. Juveniles practice both types of foraging."
Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.zaxanthus.html and https://californiaherps.com

Per INat corbytender:
T. atratus: "Eyes are very googly (this is exaggerated by eating) with almost no supraocular overhang; the supralabials are lightly marked, the posterior ones are not very enlarged, and the 7th is wider than the 6th; internasals appear pointed at the front (not 100% sure) and definitely a little longer than the prefrontals. This is less diagnostic but I also find this iris color more characteristic of T. atratus and other couchii-complex garters and this constricted pupil is more typical for them than the other local species (though this can vary a lot depending on activity cycles)."

The following description is from "Systematics of the Garter Snake Thamnophis atratus at the Southern End of Its Range" by Jeff Boundy. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Volume 51, No. 6, p. 328. 1999. "...midbody scale rows 19 (85%) or 17 (15%)... vertebral stripe relatively broad, averaging 3.2 (range 1.5 - 5.0) scale rows on the nape... vertebral stripe yellow to orange-yellow; lateral stripe conspicuous, pale green; dorsum dark gray to black; iris gray or brown; top of head dark, olive black, with a prominent parietal spot; supralabial suture marks narrow when present; demarcation between dorsal head color and pale supralabials distinct; chin cream, becoming bright yellow on the throat, grading to pale green in the thoracic region; ventral color darkening slightly posteriorly; midventral suffusion yellow to orange; dark markings absent from transverse ventral sutures; eye moderate in size..."

Identifying Gartersnakes
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/gartersnakes.id.html
"all species of garter snake are often found in and around the water, and sometimes aquatics are found a long distance from any water, so the location is not a reliable way to ID them. To properly ID a garter in this area you would need a clear shot of the head scales" per INat acastelein.

Link to my confirmed Garter Snake observations, for comparison:
Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/166000829
Coast Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans ssp. terrestris) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/110554649
California Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. infernalis) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99493314

Key to California Gartersnakes— A side-by-side comparison chart:
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/gartersnakeskey.html

Garter Snakes are in Colubrid Snakes (Colubridae) family. Most colubrids are not venomous, or have venom that is not known to be harmful to humans, and are mostly harmless. Some colubrids are described as opisthoglyphous "rear-fanged," meaning they have elongated, grooved teeth located in the back of their upper jaws.
Snakes: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/snakesmaps.html

Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: https://californiaherps.com

Reptile Database (41 species of Garter Snakes worldwide as of 2/12/24)
https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search?search=garter+snakes&submit=Search