Today's walk report: 100222

Trying to read the flight of birds
Low on fuel, getting low on words

For reasons best left undercover, I was proud of myself for getting out for what became a rather ambitious walk. Special thanks to Docken for joining me on the phone.

Weather was gray and a cool 63º for the duration. As I type it's 73º and sunny. I almost feel encouraged to go for another walk. Almost. Here are some pictures...

I decided to post this image because there was some discussion about these pits over the phone. These are pits and debris from a Catalina cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonii) tree. A native tree that grows in Southern and Central California, primarily in the Channel Islands region. I stand partly corrected on part of our conversation. Here's what I should have said... All parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides except the ripe berries. Even though the fruit can be safely consumed by humans, the leaves, shoots, bark and pits of the tree can cause poisonings. My picture seems to indicate that squirrels and/or some bird(s) are immune since those pits have obviously been munched upon.

So ends the botany/biology portion of the walk, let's move along...

The famous male Calypte anna hummingbird known as Dusty was out and about. He was mostly chasing another male Anna's hummingbird but he managed to pause for a few photos.

Typically, I spend a few minutes on this bench but someone left their pears there. Best by August 04, 2024.

Last week's post was all about a water main being left wide open and flooding about 1/2 of the 1.8 acre garden. There was still some evidence of that today.

My take on this warning sign. This is a Jr. College campus, mostly populated by a bunch of suburban kids fresh out of High School. Some kid, perhaps arriving a little on the early side of the day sees a coyote for the first time in his or her life and freaks out, reporting how they were in fear of their life. The campus feels obligated to respond because they know their student body. Coyotes have been on or near this campus for at least 40 years that I know of. They were, in fact, here before humans. They don't want to bother you. They basically just want to get away from you. Rightly so, humans are the most dangerous animal.

Looping around toward the northwest end of the campus I saw the ancient car worshipers were back in force and still pouring in. It seems to me a lot of people are really pushing the margins on the vintage car thing. Case in point...

The Ford Pinto, Production: September 1970–1980 (RIP)

Docken had a Pinto. She loved her little Pinto. She named it Buttercup. 

This is probably a fun car to drive. I suspect I wouldn't fit too well in a Vette and have no interest in finding out. This car just screams, pull me over for speeding.

I did drive a VW for a portion of my life. I didn't fit in that too well either. However I could steer the thing with my knees, you know, in case I was eating a burger and chugging a soda or something. I'm not too sure what's up with the rear wheels here.

I have no idea on this one. Perhaps it's a replica? Maybe atop a VW?

12. Need we say more?

Again, no clue what this is. Orange again too. Quite the paint job. Door dings gotta be a heartache.

Ford Fairlane 500, I'm guessing 1958. Real futuristic, ah.. I dig the fins.

I circled back around to the garden again and visited with Dusty a bit longer.

Next, it was back to the car for a drive up the hill. For a moment I had contemplated taking the stairs. Then I got a grip on myself.

It was still gray and gloomy. In fact it seemed a tad more gray and gloomy on top of the hill. I thought this was a prairie falcon when I was up there based on size. It wasn't until I got home and made some tweaks in Affinity Photo that I realized it was a Cooper's hawk.

Or was it a Pooper's hawk?

Down below I could see the campus was getting ready for Halloween festivities. All of those lights were on, it was 8:09 AM. They have some sort of annual "fright night" thing. I never could understand the attraction to stuff designed to scare the crap out of people. It's bad enough simply turning on the news.

I proceeded to do a lap around the hilltop. This shot gives a good perspective on the weather. That's Elephant Mountain (©, Docken) in the background. You can just barely make it out and this image was slightly enhanced.

 Bauhinia variegata (Orchid Tree).

Here's a male Calypte anna hummingbird in the orchid tree. Maybe this is the one Dusty was chasing away?

The song reference at the beginning of the post, those are lyrics from the Peter Gabriel tune, White Shadow. The guitar solo in that song is by King Crimson's founder, Robert Fripp. It has been one of my all time favorite guitar solos since it was released in 1978. The purpose of my referencing this is because the album had no actual title but became known informally as Scratch, referring to the album's artwork by Hipgnosis. See...

It's a little private joke, reflective of my past week. Here's White Shadow.