First report for 2016!
New Year's Day... No parades, no football just a wonderful late morning walk with my girl.
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| A house finch devouring Toyon berries (Heteromeles arbutifolia). |
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| A male Calypte anna enjoying a spot in the sun. |
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| The spines almost look soft and cushy--not so! |
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| Eucalyptus. |
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| Flowering Eucalyptus and a bee finding its nectar. |
010216...
The most hummingbird activity I've seen in awhile with at least male two Calypte annas vying for the attention of a single female. Also a familiar male Selasphorus sasin (Allen's hummingbird) gets a personal name from me.
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| Male Calypte anna. |
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| 2 |
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| 3, puffed up for the cold A.M. |
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| 4, showing color. |
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| 5, quizzical over the camera beeps. |
This male Allen's hummingbird has been around for at least two years now. I'd need to engage in a rather daunting back tracking process to find my 1st shot appearance. He also appears
here in my last post. He's much more approachable now than he was in the past. I decided to name him Rusty.
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| Here Rusty looks like a sleepy old man. |
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| Much more handsome in this shot. |
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| Sambucus mexicana. |
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| Sambucus mexicana up close. |
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| The one female Calypte anna watching the boys, rather ho-hum. |
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| Rusty up high. |
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| The same male Anna's hummingbird as above. |
010716...
Another fine walk into Corbin Canyon.
This was an unusual site, at least for this location. My former elementary school playground. I guess with the kids still out for winter vacation they felt it was a safe stop.
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| Canada geese. |
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| 2 | |
Into the canyon. I didn't look for much in the way of photo ops. This walk was mostly about the walk and the company.
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| Two red-tailed hawks soaring high plus a glimpse of the wonderful weather we had. |
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| Yellow-rumped warbler. |
Later that day we trekked a short way west to watch the sunset.
010916...
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| Allocasuarina torulosa (rose she-oak or forest oak). |
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| Another fine looking yellow-rumped warbler. |
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| Some sort of aloe. |
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| Male Calypte anna, again puffed up for the colder climes. |
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| 2 |
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| Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). |
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| No ID. |
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| Not sure, could be Acacia covenyi. Once the flowers open we should know. |
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| Male Calypte anna. |
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| That's Rusty way up there! |
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| Rusty again in the coral gum tree. |
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| And our lone female Anna's. |
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| Unknown eucalyptus flower... |
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| and once the flower's gone, here are the seed pods. |
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| Scrub jays... having a spat? |
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| Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans). |
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| 2 |
012416...
We had to take a break for the "cold and flu" season. There were some modest walks, sans cameras.
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| Rusty the Selasphorus sasin looking dapper! |
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| Rusty's favorite tree, a coral gum about to refresh on some flowers. |
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| Acacia stenophylla, the shoestring acacia. |
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| Eremophila glabra, a favorite of the Calypte anna hummingbirds. |
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| Our familiar female Anna's in her typical hang, a braided honey mrytle. |
Here's a couple interesting shots. Look carefully at this male Calypte anna, that's an ant crawling around the end of its beak. Don't forget, you can click images for a better view!
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| A bushtit enjoying itself on the shoestring acacia. |
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| More bushtits. They typically hop from bush to bush in groups like this. How many can you find? |
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| A white-crowned sparrow, very camouflaged. |
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| Bye-bye, for now! |
