Today's walk report: 073122

 Camera battery fully charged and in the camera this morning before heading out the door (see yesterday's post). However, whatever chemical potential I humanly have for storing energy for a new day it was definitely below optimal. Yeah, I'd say my battery was hovering around 60% but I got out! 

A big motivation this morning was in seeing Stan after his being absent for two mornings and I hadn't seen him for three, although it appeared he showed up Thursday for a late breakfast. This is Stan, search this blog for "Stan" and you'll know more. This image is from late May. I tried to get a picture of him this morning but the patio was still too dark.

If anyone who visits or otherwise stumbles upon this blog and has seen mention of another backyard cat, the one named Cam, and is wondering about her, stay tuned there's a big Cam story forthcoming. This is Cam, taken 8 days ago.

 I was out the door shortly after 8 AM, Docken joined me on the phone. Thank you, Docken. It already felt hot and sticky to me. At 8:20 it was only 75.5 F, with relative humidity at 43%. That feels like 79º. Within an hour that went to 80º and 44% relative humidity and that feels like 86º F. These days I find all of that uncomfortable. 

You know I'm having an issue with subject matter for photographs when I take pictures of California cottontails but that's where I started once again.

At least the lighting was more interesting than what I dealt with on my last reported walk a couple of weeks ago. The sky and the humidity went hand in hand.

Trusty Dusty, the male Calypte anna hummingbird was hanging out.

I wasn't finding the garden too exciting so I moved on. This female Allen's hummingbird was spotted flying between palo verde trees about 90 yards to the west of the garden. 

I wandered around a bit but much of the campus remains fenced off for construction so I decided to head for the car to drive up the hill but the hilltop was even more fenced off than it was two weeks ago. I drove around some more and mentioned to Docken, it looks like I'm going home. Then I mentioned the part of the campus where they put in a "Braille trail" back in the 70s. Docken encouraged me to give it a go so I parked the car once again and started hoofing it. While it appeared some progress has been made since the last time I ventured onto this part of the campus, the area was also besieged with fences and I had to improvise some detours.

Brachychiton discolor (Pink Flame Tree or lacebark tree). I'm certain I must've seen this tree in the past but I don't believe I ever saw it flowering before. Brachychiton discolor is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in drier rainforest areas.

A short distance beyond I was startled by a turkey vulture taking off from ground level. I thought it had some sort of carrion in its beak but that didn't bore out in any of the pictures I took. Albeit my pictures were from quite a distance and weren't very clear.

I was distracted from the turkey vulture when I realized I was standing right next to a reasonably large patch of milkweed plants and there were three monarch butterflies floating about. I know the person who was assigned the task of revitalizing this part of the campus. He also maintains the botanical garden and I spotted him not long ago on the campus, so I know he's still around. I'm a little surprised that this plot of about 30 milkweed plants are all Asclepias curassavica, which is a tropical milkweed. Tropical milkweed is a problem when planted in temperate areas because it tends not to die back in winter. This causes the promotion of a spore driven disease and can ultimately effect monarch migration. There is some disagreement over this among experts but the botanical garden contains only Asclepias fascicularis which is a California native perennial. So, why not keep this consistent? I think the garden dude knows this.

On my way back to the parking lot I was a little confused about where to find the crosswalk.

One more picture, from home, just because. This giant swallowtail showed up early evening last night.

Find happiness in your life, be guided by your own happiness.

Today's no walk report: 073022

 I had every intention of going for a walk this morning. It was shortly before 8 AM. All I needed to do was grab my camera strap, stick my phone in my pocket and I was out the door. While getting the strap in hand I looked out my office windows. There's an old chaise lounge next to the west fence in the backyard and under that there's a large sort of faux crystal bowl that provides water for outdoor kitties and... whatever else happens along. This is what I saw lapping away at the bowl.

By the time I got out to take these photos she was done with the water and was heading toward me on the patio, presumably smelling Stan's liver and chicken pate cat food. I didn't want to encourage that so I moved closer while talking to mamma opossum. Opossums are nocturnal but it's not unusual to see them in the morning (although 7:56 is stretching it). Being nocturnal their vision is better geared for low light, their pupils are dilated so their vision is terrible in daylight. However, she heard me just fine and turned away to go under the north fence. She used a spot I refer to as Stan's catcave. I wasn't trying to scare her away, I merely wanted to redirect her. I went back to the patio, picked up cat food and brought that inside.

Meanwhile, I checked my camera battery after these pictures were taken and realized it was real low. I decided I'd give it 15 minutes on the charger and then leave for my walk. Actually, that means driving to the nearby college campus where my walks generally take place. It's only about a mile and a quarter to the campus parking lot but guess what I forgot to do before I left? That's right, no battery. Having been up since 3:45 AM and spending much of my morning worrying about Stan who's been AWOL for a couple of days I decided I had enough and called it quits. I think I better wait till tomorrow. Sunday is a better day anyway. From the looks of the parking lot on the campus it appeared some summer session classes were taking place and I'm not too keen on mingling near college students. 

Here's some general information regarding opossums (Didelphis virginianus) from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Basically, while they are mostly seen as a beneficial animal, it's not a good idea to entertain them with food or permit them to roam where you have pets.

Today's walk report: 071722

 Once again, it was pretty much all about the male Calypte anna hummingbird known as "Dusty". He helped me out immensely today considering picture taking took place from 8:19 to 8:51 AM and the lighting was absolutely miserable. When I first arrived at my local botanical garden I couldn't find him and when I did he was so busy chasing other hummingbirds I wasn't afforded a moment to focus. So, I looked for something else...

Yes, the sun was bright but the moon was out too.

Sure, the cottontail found a spot of shade but the sun was blazing in my face.

Even with the sun to my back so I could see in front of me, subjects were brightly lit. This female Selasphorus sasin only sat still for a moment.

I sat on a bench under the shade of the giant Eucalyptus lunata tree and pondered with Docken on the phone, wondering if I'd find anything photo worthy before the impending heat of the day would make me want to leave. I decided to check on Dusty one more time thinking, maybe he'll camp out inside the shade in the pistache tree long enough for me to get a shot or two off. As it turned out he did me a much better favor by landing high inside a grape arbor as if to say, "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Peterson." Not only did he sit patiently, he let me walk a semi-circle around him so I could get some variation in the lighting.

I took the car to the top of the hill and then out to the western edge of the campus but much of the property was fenced off for construction (considerably more than last week) so walking around simply wasn't gonna happen. I searched the skies from the hillside looking for something flying my way but no such luck and decided to return home. Taking a break from composing this post and while lunch was cooking I went into the backyard to water. Last week I had to drop the hose, turn off the water and head inside for my camera because a Gulf fritillary came swooping onto Tithonia rotundifolia flowers, today it was a giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). These flowers are so much fun.

That's all, folks. Thanks for stopping by.

Today's walk report: 071022

 The usual suspects... or at least the usual variety of suspects.

I got a late start, I've been spending, oh I dunno, about a month replacing an old broken window in my office. I happen to have a pretty good idea how old this particular window was too because when I was about 12 years old I had accidentally kicked in its original predecessor window (est. 1953) whilst climbing in the window above it. Hey, bonehead stuff you do when you're a kid. That's over 50 years ago. That day, I measured (28" x 29"), rode my bike over to a little privately owned hardware store about a mile away, had them cut me a new piece of glass that they taped up in cardboard, came home (carefully) and replaced the broken one. The hardware dude explained the process and I had seen it done before. I got away with it. Amazing! The break I tore out this time was that very window which I broke by inadvertently kicking a rock into it while I was rotor-tilling this property in October of 2011. Bonehead stuff that happens when you get old. That was a packaging tape fix, however, recent squabbles between Lucy the Cat inside and feral Cam the Cat outside, near said window, convinced me it was time to put in a plexiglass replacement. This took me awhile to finalize. Why am I bringing this up? Well, because the goal today was to add the glazing to the acrylic installation and finish the project. Don't let them fool you! Cutting that stuff to size by scoring it and then snapping off the portion to discard is a lot more challenging then what the OPTIX (brand I used) acrylic people lead you to believe. I had a practice sheet. Cutting 1/2 way through a .093" thick sheet took over 20 swipes with the same plastic cutter shown in the video and even then a clean break is dubious. Instead, I used a 4" circular saw and a 120 tooth blade. That was also tricky. Since all the sizing mess I've found a place that cuts to size at what appears to be a reasonable cost--although I don't know about shipping. Anyway, I told myself I only get to go for a walk if I get the glazing done expeditiously this morning and I did. 

Here are some pictures and as a bonus some from when I got home.

Honestly, the best part of going out was talking to Docken on the phone before, during and after the excursion. Thank you, Docken. By the way tomorrow is her birthday! Happy birtthday, Docken!

First, picture an adorable tiny little California cottontail bunny, about the size of a baseball, just the cutest little fuzzball of a bunny you can imagine. You've got that image in your head? Good, because for the life of me I couldn't get focus with the camera. Meanwhile... remember the continuing story of the century plant (Agave americana)? well. the flowers are dying back now and the base of the plant (another picture I didn't get) is looking pretty sorry. Here are some of the lower branches of flowers.

Here's a long shot of the plant from the other side. You can tell the upper flowers are still rather vibrant looking. The cactus are Echinopsis pachanoi and the tree to the right is Eucalyptus lunata 'Moon Lagoon'.

Remember last week I mentioned missing male Calypte anna hummingbird "Dusty" when he's gone? Won't you? Does this spot look at all familiar? Take a look at my post from June, 26th.

My friend Trey gave Dusty his name and here he is living up to it. Notice the yellow pollen on his head.

Rounding a corner this California ground squirrel gave me a bit of a startle coming down this Caesalpinia gilliesii bush.

The late start didn't help me much on the lighting front and also, even though it was only 9:20 AM, I could already feel the approaching heat. Once I'd get up to try for a better angle and sunlight that wasn't inundating my view, this female Selasphorus sasin hummingbird would move to an even sunnier position. I finished off on the photo front from a bench and continued talking to the birthday girl as I proceeded back to my car. I drove to other parts of the campus looking for photo ops but nothing jumped out at me and it was obvious that walking would soon be uncomfortable.

Back at home during my backyard watering (it was 95º) this gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) hung around long enough for me to put the hose down and run inside for my camera. The Tithonia rotundifolia flowers just started blooming last week. 

By the way, my kitties, Lucy and Cam no longer fight at the windows. In a way, they are friends now. I'm going to do a post about Cam and basically why she's here and why it matters soon. Here's Cam from two days ago.

Have a great day and don't be a fascist!

Today's walk report: 070222

 A week went by and now it's July...

Last Saturday I contemplated a walk in and around the local botanical garden but somewhere before get ready time I thought to check the schedule for the college campus that houses the garden and saw there was some sort of registration event. That killed that but I went today and it was quite peaceful. Here are some photos.

When I was walking out the door to leave I had a thought to make excuses for always having pictures of the male Calypte anna hummingbird affectionately known as Dusty and I closed the topic in my head with, you will miss him when he's gone. I explained this to Docken (thanks for joining me, Doc) over the phone once I got to Dusty territory this morning. Thing is it took awhile before I made a positive ID and thought maybe all that was a premonition.

There was a lot of hummingbird competition going on today over territory. Much more than weeks past. It appears that the migratory Selasphorus rufus hummingbirds are all gone now but so are most of the flowers. It seemed as though establishing and protecting territories was of paramount importance. This is the same female Calypte anna hummingbird that I posted June 19th.

She was defending her domain from this female Selasphorus sasin hummingbird. I first visited this garden in 2010 and by July 2011 my visits became frequent. The garden, established in September 2007, is 1.9 acres and is basically split into two regions, California Natives and Australian Natives (there's also a small division marked off as Channel Island Natives). Historically, Calypte anna hummingbirds have dominated the CA native area and Selasphorus sasin have been the main hummingbird occupiers in the Australian native section. I have no explanation for this, I just find it interesting.

Anybody recognize this guy? Yep, it's the same little ground squirrel that wanted to follow me and I'd swear would've climbed up my pants leg if given a chance last Sunday. It came at me again today.

Right after I ditched that little Sciuridae I saw this adult hanging inside the Agave americana.

 Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) soaring high.

I wandered around the garden a bit longer and then decided to head back to my car and take a drive up the hill. On the way I discovered, the monkeys are back! You know what? They probably never left. They are the sly ones. They showed up when Fatso announced he was running for president and they have a plan, just you wait and see. Docken knows too!

I went up the hill to look for birds of prey but all I got were these Dietes iridiodes 'Orange Drop', aka, African Iris.

On the way out, I was about 33 yards (30 meters) away when I took this picture of the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). I didn't even notice the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) just a few feet below.

That's all I've got. Thanks for stopping by.

Final word goes to Frank Zappa, from CNN Crossfire, 1986. My son discovered this last night. I remember when he said it... Prophetic stuff. Please don't let five people decide the fate of this country and throw away 50 plus years of progress. Vote.

"The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It's moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe … When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view, and if that code happens to be very, very right wing, almost toward Attila the Hun..."