Today's walk report: The Colors Changed

 I had a lot to do today, and most of it is left undone, but I have direction, and I feel great today (let's exclude the waking hour). I mean, I really have no complaints (other than my right hand/wrist are still under repair). Seriously, today has been an exceptional day on the feeling groovy side. I was going to do a weekend walk report, but after saving 32 images taken today and reflecting on all that's left to do from today's plans, I thought it might be best to leave tomorrow's walk in question, at least on the photo front.

Meanwhile, I was absolutely determined to get some hummingbird photos today. The light was a little on the harsh side, but it also brought out some gorgeous colors in some of my backgrounds. Light is not just a one-way path from a source, it's a dynamic cycle.

Here are some images taken today.

Saturday, May 30th.

Hesperoyucca whipplei. 

Melaleuca elliptica, commonly known as the granite bottlebrush. This was me surveying where hummingbirds might hang out. 

 

 

 
Female Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin). This grevillea is right in front of that Melaleuca.
 

A very cooperative flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). And some of the colors I mentioned beaming in the background.

This ground squirrel was tripping on how many pictures I was taking of the dragonfly.  

This male Anna's hummingbird came and went quickly. He looks young. I tried to get him from the other side, but he took off. This garden is barely a couple of acres, but I don't see Calypte anna on this side much. The garden is basically divided into a California Natives side and an Australian side. I went to the CA Natives side first until my nose detected a dead animal. It happens.

 Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii). It was yakking and yakking...

 A California scrub jay ((Aphelocoma californica) was watching from above. I had a reasonably long relationship with a female scrub jay, story here and here and here. I miss ya Bowie.

The reason I first saw the female Allen's hummingbird was because this guy was engaged in a courtship dive to impress her. I'm almost positive this is Laukki. I just haven't seen him be still for awhile and I didn't get much time with him today. 

 Sceloporus occidentalis, a western fence lizard. 

 The little female Allen's moved midway, right between the two garden sections, and hung out on this desert willow for awhile.

And in closing, all three of my felines. 

This picture of feral friend Vit was taken through my dirty office windows on Thursday. Vit is still healing somewhat from an injury I first encountered on February 13th. It was pretty serious and it got serious again near the end of March when he kicked off a huge scab behind his right ear and opened things back up. He was treated first round with 17 doses of amoxicillin in his food and he got 8 additional doses after reopening the wound. Google's Gemini AI used the term, “ in risk of sepsis,” both times. Vit is very probably the feline dad of Juni. Juni was a feral kitten and now she's honestly the sweetest cat I've ever met.

 Here's Lucy at 20 years, 7 weeks and 3 days young, getting brushed in my lap, also taken on Thursday. Those 501 Jeans, I think they're about 20 years old too. Lucy has a freckle on her lower kitty lip. 

And finally here's Junimoon, taken about an hour and a half ago. That was Lucy's cat tree, it's also close to 20 years old. Juni has a little bird and squirrel theater going on outside of those windows. Wildly entertaining.

Colors please grow for me, paint my world rosily
Show me… 

 

 

Yesterday's butterfly, calm down

 Recent taxonomic revisions split the North American "giant swallowtail" into two distinct species based on DNA barcoding, genital morphology, and wing patterns. Western populations are now classified as the Western Giant Swallowtail (Papilio rumiko), while eastern populations remain the Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). I'm very reluctant to notate that change in previous posts.

These butterflies are so hyper you would think that Erythroxylum coca is their native plant. This is a female. I wanted to make a settings change to prioritize my shutter speed but everything moved too fast and then she was gone. 

 

This song popped into my head while replying to comments yesterday, now it's on a loop every time I see a butterfly.

Fly on, little wing. 

 

Today's butterfly

While I was engaged in having brunch at my desk, she was hanging outside my windows on this butterfly bush. She did one full rotation around this plume and then she was off. I'm only about 80% confident it's a female.

The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly (Dione vanillae or Agraulis vanillae in other taxonomies). An all-time favorite for the phenomenal difference between the dorsal and ventral view. Truly two butterflies in one.

 Currently playing...

 

Weekend walk report: Balance the thoughts that release within you

 Balance something anyway... balance my head.

Yesterday's and today's walks were pretty much the same, both in the territory I covered and the intentions I had. Physically, my intentions were to test the vertigo situation my right inner ear has been tripping on since a week ago Thursday. The only other walk this week was last Thursday, 5/21. I went 1.64 miles and I did okay, moving about cautiously. I think more than any actual BPPV action, there was the anticipation of such. However, up until today, Sunday, May 24th, I've been navigating with a mildly altered gravitational pull. Today was a breakthrough. Despite having experience with this malady, on rare occasions since a severe event in 2008, I had no idea it could last this long. Anyway, much better today. Yesterday was another story. 

 Saturday, May 23rd. 

My photographic intentions were to look for hummingbirds or birds in general, but I specifically felt like getting some hummingbird shots. I saw a total of three hummingbirds, and none of them were cooperating. Switching gears and taking pictures with a 70-300mm lens and a close-up lens on top had my balance operating a bit off-kilter. Here are some pictures taken yesterday.

Female house finch on a leaky Rain Bird. There were two, another was on that lower pipe. I was too slow. 

 There will be several images of stuff I've presented before. Every picture has it's own uniqueness. In the end, photographing the familiar is not about repetition, it's an intimate meditation on time. Besides, I was just trying to stand up straight.

 Iris germanica 'Immortality'. There are a lot more of these plants than there were last year. 

 Once I saw the common name for this flower I will never unsee it. Bat-faced cuphea (Cuphea-llavea).

 Indian blanket.

 Echinacea purpurea, commonly known as the Purple Coneflower.

 A newly renovated ground squirrel lair. Please don't ever come to my house, okay?

 Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia) and palms. Certain palm trees, particularly the Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), have escaped urban landscapes and are classified as invasive in Southern California. Growing up I never saw palms sprouting up like grass. This is climate change.

 Canna lilies.
 

Sunday, May 24th (today).

Getting up this morning and the mad dance for coffee, morning meds and to deal with kitties, there was not a hint of my semicircular canals trying to recalibrate my internal gyroscope. 

Here are some pictures taken today. I intentionally went to some of the same spots where my balance was at issue yesterday.

This was a two image focus stack. That was part of my self-imposed challenge, multiple focus areas on the same subject. Bat-faced cuphea.  

 Verbena bonariensis. A little too much chromatic aberration and I think that might be partly due to the recent cheesy $9 UV filter but I've used cheesy $9 (or less) filters for decades. Nevertheless, I need to check that out in the backyard some time soon. I'm reluctant to remove the filter for reasons shown here. Chromatic aberration is also inherent to using the zoom lens with a close-up lens. Especially this close.

 Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus, AKA, Lemon day lilies. 

 Coreopsis, Double Sun.

 Salvia microphylla, Hot Lips.

Scabiosa columbaria, Pincushion Flower.

 Lavender Trumpet Vine (Clytostoma-callistegioides). I wasn't especially enamored with this photo until I saw the tiny spider. Hint: First click the image to make it larger and then look at the bottom edge of the lowest petal.

 Stokesia laevis. 

 Hydrangea.

 From this point I walked over to the campus botanical garden, once again in search of hummingbirds. One issue this morning was the weather. When I left the house it was lightly sprinkling. It was also only 57º to 59º F for the duration of my walk. A little cold for hummingbird action. I found that a bit nippy myself, dressed in a t-shirt. I saw one male Calypte anna and he went off chasing after a sparrow or a house finch.

The flowering on the Chaste Tree (botanically known as Vitex agnus-castus) has intensified. The plant got its unique moniker from the ancient belief that its berries and leaves suppressed sexual desire. Athenian women supposedly placed the leaves under their beds to help them remain pure during religious festivals, and medieval monks historically chewed them (hence the nickname "Monk's Pepper") to help maintain their vows of celibacy. People believe all sorts of nonsense, even to this day. It's absolutely amazing.

 As I was walking to the garden I witnessed a common raven and a red-tailed hawk going at it. Actually, as always, the raven was the territorial aggressor. I took photos but with the May gray and due to the distance away, they weren't worth including here. As I was heading back to my car I ran into this fellow and I do believe it was the raven in question. We chatted a bit and then I was on my way.

Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays
Always doors to lock away your dreams
Think it over, time will heal your fear, think it over
Balance the thoughts that release within you...