Yesterday's Walk Report: 102823

 This was going to to be a weekend walk report. That was the plan yesterday, October 28th, however, things don't always go as planned. It's true. The main reasons nothing happened this morning were, demons visiting me for much of Saturday night. I tried to tell them that both Halloween and the Day of the Dead were still a few to several days off but demons? Well, they simply do not listen. There was another reinforcing reason not to go bopping around outside today. It's windy, really windy. In fact, here's what weather dot com has to say about it...

IMPACTS... Damaging winds will blow down large objects such as trees and power lines. Power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for drivers of high profile vehicles.

and...

People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around large trees. If possible, remain indoors and avoid windows. Use extra caution if you must drive.

WHEN... Until 10 PM PDT Monday.

So, that's the abbreviated edition on the Sunday no walk report. Saturday wasn't too active on a walk/picture taking level either. There were demons there too. Plus, the campus was preparing for this...

 I took a screenshot from the school's website just so I could point out that passed a spellcheck and you would think a proofread on a college website's Event page.

School busses and other traffic were already pouring in for something I wanted no part of. My walk was a little shy of one mile. I did, however, go for a second somewhat longer walk awhile later, into the neighborhood just south of home. Docken joined me on the phone for both walks. Thank you, Docky.

Here are some pictures I took while I was on campus.

 I had to park on top of the hill instead of where I usually park when visiting the botanical garden down below. I wasn't at all inclined to take the stairs or hillside sidewalk down because that would've meant walking back up and that's where the demons might come to play. Meaning, no garden visit. 

I was greeted by this raven. We had a short discussion. As mentioned, I was on the phone. He didn't really seem to care. His partner was there very briefly, that's how I figured this is a male. He croaked even more when she took off.

 The top of the hill is mostly accessible now after at least a couple of years of being fenced off for construction. I'm still a little baffled over what may have been accomplished in all that time.

They did this though, right behind the fine arts buildings. They added the curbs and railing. Docken and I both guessed some kid went tumbling down the hillside one day whilst leaning back and contemplating their still life. Or something similar. 76 years without a mishap and now they have these attractive rails.

I circumvented all that by crossing over and going out the next set of doors.

This Cooper's hawk was my only other star for the day.

 On the way to finish up my top o' hill lap I was really just looking down below with curiously, trying to figure out what the heck was being watered with these two rain-bird sprinklers sitting in one spot. Had I looked more carefully I might have noticed this and one other hawk. Enjoying a shower perhaps? 

Still Life

Weekend Walk Report: Look out, Dusty!

 This was the second time I've seen this happen. This time to our dear brave friend, male Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty. The event took place yesterday, October 21st at 8:16 AM. I had finished most of the walking I had planned on but heading back to my car I decided to detour to visit the botanical garden for a second time since I didn't see Dusty the first round. Sure enough, there was Dusty slightly above his usual perch in the now dead California bay tree, minding his own business while I talked to both him in the tree and to Docken over the phone...

I moved in a little closer even though I knew the backdrop of the bright blue morning sky would represent a challenge.

Dusty suddenly turned his head slightly...

and just as suddenly, he was gone.

In what seemed to me to be the same moment. this appeared...

Yeah, that's a crappy picture but I defy anyone to have done better when a red-tailed hawk basically was flying right toward your face, crashing into a palo verde tree that clearly couldn't support its velocity or its size and weight. The hawk was after Dusty. I figured the line of attack out when I revisited the garden today. The hawk was up in the tall pine tree while Dusty's general location is marked with his name within the California bay tree. My best guess is that Dusty was aware of the incoming hawk between 1-2 seconds before I was.

This happened once before however it was a Cooper's hawk coming in on an Allen's hummingbird. That story resides here. Cooper's hawks are fairly common in the botanical garden, red-tailed hawks are not. The garden simply is not structured for their size. Here are some shots post the unsuccessful (whew!) attack.

Here are a few shots from earlier during the main effort to get a decent walk in.

There's always a mockingbird. Although I would have sworn this bird had a yellow breast when I took the picture and I thought maybe it was a Cassin's kingbird. In my defense the sun was coming in rather brutally at the right side of my head.

Brewer's blackbirds. I've got this ID straight now.

Western bluebird, a small North American thrush. There were three of them on this line.

Canada geese. Might as well cal them something else now since they don't seem too inclined to migrate back to Canada.

 Sunday. today, October 22.

I really didn't take any decent pictures and the walk was basically cut short by a ripple in time.

There was this red-tailed hawk off in the distance and I did see Dusty but he was too high up in a Caesalpinia cacalaco tree and a little too active for a photo session.

Special thanks to Docken for helping me out over the phone, especially today. ❤️

Weekend Walk Report: Holy Ford Lincoln Futura, Batman!

 My walks, Saturday, October 14th and today. Sunday, October 15th.

You know, if she could put this thing together for me, I'd find this behavior totally acceptable.

(Yes, she's my baby and she's the ruler of this house). 

Saturday, October 14.

Docken joined me via a telecommunications network both days. Thank you, Docky!

There was almost no picture taking on Saturday. I was slightly tardy and the campus was filling up with students and others, collecting to view the annular solar eclipse in groups. So I pretty much chose to keep moving. Male Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty, was tough to track in the salvias or was contrary to the light.

On the way out of the garden I spotted this female Allen's hummingbird. A lot of flowering plants seemed to get a second growth spurt post tropical storm Hilary back in late August. I noticed there are more hummingbirds around lately too.

Sunday, October 15th, today.

I got out a little earlier this morning. It was a cool 51º. It's not cool anymore though, right now at 2:30 PM we've got a temperature of 99º.

I'm pretty sure both of these shots were male Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty. However, as mentioned above there was a lot of hummingbird activity and I wasn't especially centered on taking pictures. I was feeling kind of antsy about getting a decent walk in and over with to be honest.  

This male Calypte anna was definitely not Dusty but he was right smack-dab in Dusty's territory.  There was some chasing going on.

The ancient car worshipers were out in mass and were still pouring in as I passed their parking lot. Many of the cars I took a fleeting glance at kind just looked like dilapidated old jalopies to me. "Yeah, I know it looks like a piece of crap, but check under the hood!"

Then there was this guy and his kid (Robin?). One of the first model cars I ever built as a kid was the Batmobile from the 1966 TV series. The 1966 Batmobile was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car by custom car designer and builder George Barris. I'm certain this is a replica and have no idea what the base car might be. Pretty cool nonetheless.

 Starlings. I have a newfound appreciation for European starlings even though their large urban roosts are often considered a nuisance. After seeing them vocalize in captivity on YouTube (rescued birds) I've found them to be rather delightful and I'm also more captivated by the iridescence and variations in their feathers. Out picture taking I don't hear a peep from them. Poops yes, I see poops, peeps no.

Correction (10/16/23): These are not starlings, while I have taken pictures of common starlings on that same rusty wire fence below, these are Brewer's Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus). Apparently not much of a vocalizer at all; more of a rather boring, chirp, chirper. My bad. 

Finally, another odd sock. This reads... GO AWAY PLEASE LEAVE. Well, alrighty then.

I debated this song choice for awhile. I ended up reading about the composer, Neal Hefti. He was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series among many other TV and film productions. He was also a composer and arranger for Count Basie and Harry James. Whoever they were.

Today's walk report: Friday the 13th

 Oooo, spooky!

This was actually yesterday's and today's walk. Same route, both with Docken's company over the phone, Thank you, Docky!