Today's walk report: 021522

 I'm writing this down so I don't forget when it happened. It was on this particular morning, at approximately 6:35 A.M., that a coyote (Canis latrans) was out walking across the street from me. I think it was a female and she was sort of trotting on the sidewalk directly across from me. I measured it, she was 43 feet away. That's 13.1 meters. She came up from behind. That's the closest I've ever been to a coyote. Docken and I were talking on the phone and it was quite the interruption. I've seen coyotes here many times, it's not hard to figure out where they've migrated from, there are canyons as little as two miles away and I'm sure this area was home to coyotes well before human suburb development and intrusion but it's still really freaky to see a wild canine in your neighborhood. Especially running along side when out on my morning constitutional. She slowed down once she was a couple of houses in front of me, crossed to my side of the street and had me thinking about following her direction--I mean, it was my route too. Anyway, she rounded the corner about 45 yards (41 meters) in front of me and once I got there (I had slowed down considerably) she was no where to be seen. Keep your pets inside folks, she wasn't out for exercise.

The coyote is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Eurasia. Wikipedia

Mass: 15 – 46 lbs (Adult)
Speed: 35 – 43 mph (Adult, In Pursuit)
Fastest man: 23.35 mph
Me: I don't run anymore. I can muster a modest jog for maybe 100 yards/meters if so inclined. Okay, maybe a short dash but I'm not testing that.

This is one of my closest previous encounters with a coyote and I was easily 50-60 yards away.

 I walked 2.8 miles, smelled skunk for about 1/2 a block and got barked at by some annoying little mutts that bark at anything that moves and whose neighbors hate them.

Today's walk report: 091313

Friday the 13th.

This morning I needed to call the IRS. The phone lines open at 7 AM. I was dialing at 7 AM. In the queue I'm told by the recorded message I have a 30 minute hold time. I thought OK, not so bad... It wasn't until I was heading into one hour on hold I realized it was Friday the 13th. Not something I really put credence into but after 2 hours, a brief conversation with one agent and a transfer to another "department" with an additional 2 hour hold you start to see how these myths get created. There wasn't any resolution to the issue either.

Onto the walk. Day one of what's being predicted as another week long heat wave and I tried to stretch out the exit time due to that once again. The biggest issue being photos. Waiting for cooler temps means losing light. When I lived in Los Angeles and experienced 15º lower average temps I went out around 4 PM this time of year. Here it's 6 PM+. Sunset here was 7:04 PM today.

This was an odd pair to see so close to one another. A red-tailed hawk and a crow. I've seen crows go after hawks before in what appears to be a territorial dispute. However this hawk was quite a bit larger than that crow. The one which ultimately got spooked by my presence was the hawk. For the most part crows don't give a shit about people around here.

The horses are back in the equestrian unit so that's nice. I like talking to the horses and have been known to bring in an apple of two. I don't believe the campus owns horses anymore but rather "rents" them for the school's riding classes.

Lamb Chops here would not stop Baaaaa-ing at me. So I Baaaaa'd back and then I said byyyeee.

She might have been upset about the pair of coyotes which weren't too far away when I arrived.

Time to relax a bit, it's been a long week. As always, thanks for joining me on my walk.

Today's walk report: 080213

Every time I see a coyote in the street...

They literally stop time for me for just a moment while this thought races through my head... what the fuck!

But first there was this stuff...

Pyrgus communis, the common checkered-skipper.

There were 3 butterflies I followed around quite a bit, including two Monarchs. Following butterflies can drive you nuts.

I spent a long time in the garden because I got chit-chatty with the garden curator, Keith and I hadn't seen him for awhile. He asked me how my mother was for one, so there was a conversation (mom passed away almost 5 months ago.)

I kept checking the time on my camera once I moved out of the garden. The sky told me I would be in for a very nice sunset if I could hang around for it but with an hour to go once I cleared the garden I decided to skip it. I didn't really have the right lens anyway.

There was this however. I don't recall if I've posted this phenomena here before but I've talked about it in other places. This is typically rocket fuel tests mixing in with lower clouds and sunlight. This is my camera pointing at Vandenberg Air Force Base.The tonal quality of the sky here is a lot closer to the image above but the rainbow-like glow is about right here. It's a photographic compromise.

Dove on a dead tree branch.

Finally, the coyote. This is basically right across the street from the central walkway though the college campus, heading up toward the stadium. He doesn't care. Note the dove on the fence post.

The backside of where he's heading is residential. He's only about 250 meters from a bunch of people's backyards. Better get the cats inside folks! I'm probably about 50-60 m away in this 2nd shot.

Then there was this. Two crows pecking away at a road kill ground squirrel. I watched them both drag this from the street.

Caught a bit of pre-sunset along the busway, almost home.

I had a really nice walk and a long day with just over 10 miles on the exercise bike in the AM and a bunch of garden grunt work after that. Thanks for coming along on the walk!

Today's walk report: 060713

"If 6 Was 9."

and back to the garden...

Cattail flower

Chilopsis linearis, desert willow

Palo verde flowers

Penstemon centranthifolius, scarlet bugler

For my sister...

Agapanthus flowers

and finally... I reported sighting a coyote on the campus in an earlier post. I don't believe this is the same coyote, it looks more scraggly than the one from my first encounter. I would think this would be a concern for the campus considering students, an animal husbandry division with livestock scattered about and the proximity to the regular community. Coyotes have been known to be quite fond of cats and small dogs. Yes, it was concerned about my presence. According to a quick measure on Google Earth I was about 65m away when I took this picture. It's a tight crop from a much bigger image.