Today's walk report: Don't Get Your Feathers In A Bunch

 Good advice for all in these trying times.

Today I took a usual path in and around the local botanical garden. Despite a late morning start it was a cool, crisp 55º. I didn't hang out in any one spot for long, I simply wanted to walk and raise my body core temperature by a few 100 watts. I don't usually find 55º to be especially cold but maybe it was also the dampness in the air. We had close to 2" of rain on February 1st and everything was wet. Right now we're looking at some hazardous weather conditions that, at this moment, are forecast to begin in just a couple of hours and continue into much of the week. The last local forecast I heard indicated up to 7" of rain here at home. Another reason to get out and walk today. It appears my mostly regular daily walks might see an interruption or two. Maybe three. 

Here are some photos taken today.

A pair of lesser goldfinches in a Tecomaria capensis, the Cape honeysuckle, shrub. 

The male.

 and the female.

Alternating, shots, male, female and male again.

 Dusty, the male Calypte anna hummingbird was spotted nearby. I don't think he was too pleased with the finches hanging out in one of his shrubberies. Hence the title of this blog post.

The weather.

Up the hill. This is the same pair of common ravens I've photographed in other recent posts. They just sat on this lamppost and watched me. I circled around the parking lot once which is about 1/4 mile and they were still there. I also put down close to a cup of Purina Naturals dry cat food, shook the bag made a spectacle of it but they didn't budge. The slightly larger bird with the bigger beak is the male.

On the way out I spotted this. I thought, why that's the second largest soccer ball I've ever seen. Of course it was actually a Mylar balloon. Also, of course, I pulled out my handy pen knife, put an 8" gash in the thing and deposited it in a nearby trash bin.

That's all. Thanks for checking it out.

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