Today's walk report: 121821

There was a modest amount of walking involved.

Onto the campus parking, right out of the car, I was on the phone with Docken and I simply did not have the courage to tell her but yes, indeed, it appears the monkeys are back.

Next I walked to the garden but activity was pretty much nil so I moseyed over to the oak trees and mustered up about 1/2 lb of acorns for Bowie and Mr. B. The campus got a pretty good soaking between 12/16 and 12/17 with 2.29" of rain. That's 5.8 cm. The acorns were not too plentiful and many were sunk into the gravel around the base of the trees. I find bending over and picking up acorns quite taxing on the old rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and even the vastus medialis muscles. In fact, I didn't care to walk stairs or hills after that and then Docken provided a most excellent idea... drive up the hill. So I did.

Right out of the car this time, I played peek-a-boo with a red-tailed hawk.

The star of the day was this Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus), Prairie Falcons are similar in size and markings to Peregrine Falcons. 

Note: the second to last image, where its beak is slightly open. See the little bit of fur. Yep, I wondered what it was pecking at inside its talons.

Moving over a few trees south.

Down below there was a sizable gaggle of Canada geese (Branta canadensis).

Nearby the goats were waiting on the other team to arrive for their soccer game.

Another red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

The Prairie Falcon was ultimately chased away by two of these birds, European starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

 Finally, on the way home, I happened to detour into an anti-vaxxer Christmas party.

And so it goes...