Weekend walk report: And Your Bird Can Sing

 This is what my weekend walking brought. These pictures were taken on Saturday, May 20th and Sunday, May 21st. Currently it's late Sunday morning.

Saturday, May 20th

It's Canada goose, Kuppi again. She was being a little more attentive to her nest this day but I didn't notice any obvious signs of goslings yet.

It's nice to enter the garden and see the palo verde trees full of flowers once again.

Some type of Cereus cactus flower.

This is Pelargonium xerophyton and it's not a great shot. I put a close-up adapter on a 70-300 zoom lens for this and bent over to take a shot or two. The story lies in what happened next.

When I stood up I hit the back of my noggin squarely and forcefully on this cactus. Fortunately, I somehow managed to miss any spines digging into my skull.

 Heading over to the California native sages I noticed this mourning dove peeking down at me though the top of the grape arbor.

Male Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty was very busy chasing "intruders" but he managed to settle in here and there for some photos.

With the blooming of the Salvia darcyi (red mountain sage) comes the migration of Selasphorus rufus  hummingbirds, the rufous hummingbird. I only saw one or two so far but in the past I have seen perhaps a dozen or more all competing for these flowers. Dusty's gonna be real busy for awhile.

Verbena flowers, close-up.

I was about to head out of the garden and walk my lower campus 1/2 mile loop but for whatever reason I detoured to take a peek at the pond. Ducks... I saw mallard ducks on the other side. As I was deciding which way I wanted to go to get there... I saw they were coming to me. This was very reminiscent of a time when Docken and I befriended a pair of mallards at this pond. We called them Eric and Docken Duck and because of the behavior on Saturday, I decided to call these two Eric II and Docken II. They came right up to me as I sat on a bench. They acted like they knew me.

Docken II was the boldest of the two. Although I think Eric II was also being protective of her and was supervising a bit.

Also, while sitting on that bench this Brown-crested flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus) came flying in just above and to my left. Another not uncommon bird that I don't believe I've ever taken photos of.

Dusty came over to say hello too but he was so close to my face I couldn't take a picture. The minimum focus on the lens I was using is 1.5 meters and he was less than 1 meter, about an arm's length away. I think he may have also been in pursuit of this Selasphorus rufus. Again, not a great picture but this is where I realized what was going on with Dusty's rather frenzied behavior. Notice the twig placement, it's same spot where the flycatcher was hanging out.

I had already spent quite a bit of time with the ducks and thought about the dry cat food I had in the car. I wanted to offer them something. However, since wild birds get fed so much crap from humans and on a college campus like this one human Docken and I had already learned that Cheetos and other vending machine items weren't uncommon. I decided I'd go to my car so I could sit comfortably and look it up on my phone. I ended up on farmingbase.com where I read, Ducks can eat dry cat food but not as a meal. Cat food is not super beneficial but it’s not that bad either... it’s okay to feed dry cat food as a treat occasionally. Okay, well, this was an occasion. The idea of giving a wild duck a "treat" amused me for some reason. Docken and Eric Duck II both got a few bites of kibble.

Heading back to the car with plenty of Purina Naturals still in a plastic bag in my pocket and with plans to drive up the hill, I ran into this common raven in the parking lot. I walked up slowly to the lamppost, shaking the cat food in my right hand with my arm held overhead, I threw some cat food up high in front of me making sure he (pretty sure) saw me. However, after only a moment's attention, he flew off in the other direction. 

 
So back to the car and up the hill I drove. It was dead quiet up there and I decided to call it a day and drive back home. But wait... what do I see on the way back down? Not only did the raven come back to the dispersed cat food, he brought his mate. I zipped around into the parking lot once again and got a few quick shots off from inside the car.

Sunday, May 21st

 Kuppi, hanging in there.

This is the same cactus I bonked my head on yesterday. Perhaps it was only trying to get me to notice that it was flowering too.

The Caesalpinia gilliesii bush that Dusty would be hanging out in all the time when it was bare in the winter, is now blossoming and Dusty will have nothing to do with it. In general, he seems to perch where he has a clear line of sight in all directions.

 Yesterday and today this mockingbird was perched in this same spot, singing loudly. I turned off my music both days to listen for awhile. Last Thursday Docken sent me this article about, Why birds and their songs are good for our mental health, from the Washington Post. Thank you, Dockie. I will once again assume this is a male mockingbird since they sing much more than females do. Not great photos but he was certainly a highlight of this weekend's walks in the garden.

Dusty was nearby.

While I was chatting with Dusty a large flock of feral parrots flew overhead. Why, you may ask, are there so many feral parrots? Because humans are idiots, that's why.

The pictures of the mourning dove from yesterday, up though the top pf the grape arbor. This is the grape arbor. I was standing directly under the middle of that.

I decided to do some of the walking I had planned yesterday but I skipped because of the time I spent with the ducks. On the way out of the garden I spotted this eucalyptus leaf. This is for Docken, she knows why.