Today's walk report: Dusty, not Dusty

 Male Calypte anna hummingbirds, Dusty and not Dusty were the stars of today's walk. Special thanks to Docken for joining me over the phone.

The campus was the "new" Saturday crowded with too many students milling about. I commented to Docken about when I was in college I would never have considered a class on a Saturday. In fact, I recall one quarter where I crammed a full load into a very long Tuesday and Thursday schedule. Having Monday, Wednesday and Friday off (oh, so many special Fridays) was sheer delight. However, I did go to my biofeedback lab on more than one weekend but those were odd experiments in controlling theta brainwave activity and I was alone. I had a key. Fun times. 

Anyway, I took some pictures today. 

Mourning doves greeted me in the garden.

I was looking for male Calypte anna, Dusty but he wasn't around so I decided to sit awhile on a bench where not Dusty hangs out. He showed up rather quickly in a Caesalpinia gilliesii shrub, just starting to get spring foliage.

He flew off a few times so I went back to look for Dusty and there he was.

On my way to put in a walk and moving back into not Dusty's hang he showed up again for a couple more pictures.

Onto the walk.

I have no clear way of knowing some of the ravens I've met before, at least not visually. If I'm in a well defined territory, of certain birds and I can clearly observe enough behavioral clues, I sometimes have relative confidence I know who is who. On this occasion I was outside of those elements but this male raven sure seemed to be responding to both my presence and my voice. Was he wondering, hey, aren't you that guy with the cat food? His female partner was nearby.

Here's the male.

And here's the female. They were catty corner from one another on opposite sides of the street.

I found it amusing to see this ground squirrel way up on top of a the roof of this building. Of course you can't really tell it's the roof of a building. You'll just have to trust me. You probably won't find it amusing either but I'll tell you, I only see ground squirrels on the ground or in low lying shrubs.

Back to my car, I drove up the hill. 

This is the second biggest pineapple I've ever seen.

Moo.

Signs of spring, however, two days ago I experienced perhaps the most intense hailstorm ever at home. It absolutely pulverized a lot of leaf from the ficus trees around my patio.

A pair of Cassin's kingbirds (Tyrannus vociferans). The bird’s scientific name translates to “vociferous tyrant.” Personally, I've never heard so much as a peep out of them.

Here's a taste of the hailstorm from my patio door.

Oh once in a while
I learn how to smile
Horses shadows and rain on stone