Today's walk report: The Story in My Eyes

 Out and about with the temperature a pleasant 66º F. Docken called in when I was taking my first photo for a walk and talk. Thank you, Docken.

Here's that first image. There are obviously three flowers on this Echinopsis oxygona but the entire unit had a chicken wire cage around it and with a 70-300 mm lens I was having trouble with the framing... if I could only "go-go gadget" with my legs, or implement the helicopter hat for that matter.

Instead I had to use a close up lens and hope for the best.

Lots of western fence lizards were zipping about. This one hanging out on a lava rock was most patient with me.

Last week I posted a dragonfly perched upon this very large Vitex agnus castus shrub but I neglected to show the beautiful flowering spires.

Pseudognaphalium californicum. AKA, California cudweed. I know this is not a plant that was intended to participate in this botanical garden. I don't believe the garden has a curator anymore. That's really sad. I've been visiting this garden for about 15 years now and it was weed-free (not to be confused with free weed) and now there are several weeds that are prodigious propagators.

Hummingbirds were flying at a dizzying pace, mostly where sunlight was directly in my face. I barely even tried. This is a female Calypte anna. The two males I'm accustomed to were both AWOL but my garden visit was also brief.

On my way out of the garden, another fence lizard sitting still for a moment.

Onto the walk. It was the same route I engaged in last weekend for the most part. It's 2.1 miles, give or take.

A young ground squirrel and a manhole cover from India. It's kind of amazing to me that a 200+ lb manhole cover can be made so much cheaper in India that they can also be shipped from India and then shipped again to destinations unknown. Some are apparently made at a foundry in Michigan but I've never seen one displaying that.

House finches (Haemorhous mexicanus).

Tecoma stans, orange jubilee. I took some seeds from one of these last year (?) and tried to germinate a few but failed. I'm not sure what went wrong because I've germinated some Tecoma stans, yellow bells from a shrub on the side of my garage before and it went quite smoothly. In fact, I have one plant that currently stands about 7' tall. I suspect the orange jubilee is cultivated and would be recessive in a seed. I'll try again soon.

 The campus has the orange jubilee and Yellow bells alternating along this one stretch of road.

Also in that mix are quite a few Nerium oleander. I find the smell alone of oleander toxic. I tried to find out just how toxic the Nerium oleander plant is in a brief cursory Google search and found one reputable medical site say one leaf could kill an adult person, while the National Library of Medicine stated 5-15 leaves. All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the leaves, stem, seeds, and root. As a kid we had several oleander bushes bordering both sides of the house. I was afraid of the oleander plant. There's a lot of very pretty stuff on planet earth that can kill you, so, watch it!

Goats. There are lots of goats on this campus. As a youngster I once milked a goat, well partially milked a goat less than 300 yards from where these guys are standing. I, at least, got the handle of it. I also got squirted with goat's milk by my “supervisor.”

This goat was just to the right of those goats and I'd swear it was looking at me like, aren't you gonna take my picture? So I did.

Albizia julibrissin, the Persian silk tree, pink silk tree, or mimosa tree. I really like these trees. The only problem I see is this, wherever I have seen mimosa trees, I inevitably see lots of baby mimosa trees sprouting near and sometimes not so near.

This was odd. Too me this was so odd that I almost talked myself out of it. This is a common raven on the left and a young turkey vulture on the right. I can't find any real definitive information regarding their desire or lack thereof to coexist peacefully. However, I would surmise that ravens, being as smart as they are, might appreciate the turkey vulture's ability to locate carrion.

Jacaranda in bloom everywhere.

Back to these guys... some of the pictures I lost last week. Problem is the reflections, the glare and the filthy windows make getting a photo very difficult.

I drove to the top of the hill and had I seen any birds of interest or anything else to take pictures of I would have gotten out of the car and added at least another 1/2 mile to my walk but I didn't. Also, while it was still pleasantly comfortable at 72º, it was summer smoggy. When you can barely see the hillsides at the perimeter of this valley exerting yourself becomes questionable.

Thanks for coming along.