Saturday, July 31, 2021

Today's walk report: 073121

 Bright light, almost blinding...

7:00 A.M., sunlight was coming in smacking me right in the face. I can't begin to convey the disappointment I felt being unable to approach this Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) at a better angle. C'est la vie. I tried.



 Once in the garden, I went straight to look for male Calypte anna hummingbird, "Dusty." As soon as I entered his territory I saw him busy, busy, busy, chasing several Selasphorus rufus hummingbirds off his "lawn." Then he settled down for some photos.






Leaving the garden I noticed this mourning dove perched very close to where the red-tailed hawk was last week.




Hello... have we met before?


"I'm not sure but I don't suppose you have any almonds?"


"How about some whitening toothpaste?"

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Today's walk report: 072521

On yesterday's walk I kept looking for something I couldn't find and have dearly missed seeing throughout my Covid activated confinement. Ever since I felt some confidence in being fully incubated post my second vaccination shot, when I reinstated walks on May 8th, I kept looking to the skies... where the flying frick were all the birds of prey? As much as I love to take pictures of hummingbirds and butterflies I really missed sightings of raptors. Well, today I finally got a good show.

But first...

Sunrise reflecting on roses as I headed toward the garden. Not fragrant in the least mind you. Who thought it was a good idea to breed the scent out from roses? There's a rose bush along the walkway to the front door here. The bush is probably 67 years old and its flowers smell heavenly. I plan to attempt propagating some cuttings soon.


Yesterday, in comments, Trey suggested this male Calype anna hummingbird be given a name and coincidentally I was thinking earlier about when and where I have named hummingbirds. Trey came up with the name "Dusty," perhaps a nod to the famous Selasphorus sasin I once named, Rusty. Anyway, here's Dusty...





I headed past the southern grape arbor and noticed the grapes are significantly more grape in color since I last took a photo.


I wanted to check on this little fellow. I took some pictures of this monarch larva on narrowleaf milkweed (A. fascicularis) yesterday and was a little disturbed by the milkweed aphids which are omnipresent but I don't typically see them on the caterpillars. Today there were fewer and the caterpillar looked healthy. 


Then I looked up. Oh joy!

A juvenile red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) just waiting for me. You're gonna get a bunch of pictures because I was excited.





I followed its movement until it flew away.



 The hawk took me well outside of the garden so I decided to head home.


Saturday, July 24, 2021

Today's walk report: 072421

 You again!

A short walk, lots of stairs, little to say and a few pictures.


Sun obscured by clouds.

The "you again" comment explained. This is the same male Calypte anna hummingbird I posted photos of in my last report, July 11th.






 Yep. I'm leaving too.

 Good for me on the walk and I didn't EVEN lose my car key. I did however smell a tad like Murphy Oil Soap (pure vegetable).

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Today's walk report: 071121

 Happy birthday, Docken!

This is a special happy, happy birthday walk report in celebration of Docken’s very special birthday. From the garden this morning, it’s just the photos because to be perfectly honest… I can’t sit at my desk any longer. To be even more honest, right at this moment, I’m typing from my iPad, lying on my bed with a heating pad on my back. Don’t worry… that’s pretty much normal, I’ll be fine. Okay, heading back to the Mac to drop the pictures in. These are going in however Blogger chooses to sort them.

It was a nice walk, very peaceful. The music in my ears was serene. 














Thanks for looking. Now please think this for a moment and you may be on your way... happy birthday, Docken!