Today's walk report: Lather, rinse, repeat.

The route today was basically the same as yesterday only because I knew it was over three miles and I've been trying to get my walks back up over three miles. So then I can target four miles and so on, to infinity and beyond. It wasn't long ago I walked 6-7 miles everyday. Stuff started getting in the way. 

I don't count steps although I recently discovered (because I had never looked at it before a few days ago) that the iPhone "Health" app automatically counts one's steps. Imagine that, I didn't even give it permission and here it was counting steps everyday my phone was in my pants pocket. Just another creepy thing your smartphone knows about you. What I do is I map out my path on Google Earth with the ruler tool. It's pretty darn accurate too, I've even checked it with the lines on a football field. Google also knows a lot of creepy stuff about you. Fun times.

Here are some pictures from today. Lots of thanks to Docken for helping me along over the phone. Docken knows a lot about me too. 

I didn't see male Calypte anna hummingbird Dusty today but I also didn't hang out in his territory for very long. This is his nearby neighbor, not Dusty.

Another shot of the 'Moon Lagoon' eucalyptus. This was specifically taken for Docken.

A female Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin). I have not seen a male in this garden for awhile. I have two males and at least two females frequenting hummingbird feeders at home consistently everyday and all day.

 Oh, speaking of Docken (she'll get it) something compelled me to check out the dirty old pond and look what I found.

Mostly Brewer’s blackbirds in a sycamore tree. There was a plethora of birds everywhere today. Spring is a hop, skip and a jump away!

Onward and upward to the top of the hill...

Yep, a house finch. They're a pretty little bird too. Don't discount the ordinary.  "We are all made of star stuff” ~ Carl Sagan.*

This is a poor picture of a very far away red-tailed hawk but I included it anyway because I haven't seen any hawks for a little over a month and I love falcons and hawks.

I have tried getting a decent picture of this bird, well, not this specific bird (but maybe) a few times in the past but never pulled it off. It's apparently a very common bird in SoCal, I simply don't see them very often or I don't realize their presence mixed in with Brewer’s blackbirds and  common starlings and they do mingle. This is a red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).

As you can tell, the red-shoulder isn't always obvious.

Another encounter with a Say's phoebe ( Sayornis saya).

*It's not what you'll possess
It's how you will express
The essence of you