Today's walk report: 061122

 Out a little earlier this Saturday since last week I seemed to be right on the fringe of students swarming the campus. Three is a swarm. Besides, yesterday it hit 102º F here and these days I don't care to entertain 82º. So, the prospect of people and high temps pushed me out the door at 7:20 AM and 67º. 

It was real quiet at the local botanical garden and the only campus activity I saw were the occasional jogger/walker who presumably were also trying to beat the heat. On the photo front it was a another day for male Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty. He was once again engaged in chasing intruders from his domain. Docken was on the phone with me again. Thanks Docken!

Here are some pictures.

The same flowers with me creating a shadow to circumvent the bright sunlight.

Onto Dusty's territory...

I looped around the garden a couple of times but wasn't seeing much to move me into raising the camera. This ground squirrel reminded me of the one on May 29th pretty much in this same exact spot. It's not the same squirrel though unless there was some sort of battle since then. Notice the damage to the left ear.

Back to Dusty. He often took breaks from all of the chasing going on.

See? He's tired.

The Agave americana is still working on those flowers but the basal rosette at the base of the plant is starting to look a little sorry. The combination of the position of the sun and my not having the best choice of lenses precluded a photo, maybe next time. The plant, in flowering, is dying and I wonder how long it will be before this stalk becomes a liability.

On my way back to the car to head up the hill... It's often the case that the most creative and talented students are not the ones who do best in school. Unfortunately, we pigeonhole students with certain learning styles. We tend to tear children from self-expression and kill their motivation. To top things off now kids in the U.S. need to fear for their lives to get an education and socialize with friends.

Up the hill. In general, there's a lot of construction going on or about to take place on this campus so a whole bunch of where I'd normally walk around has been fenced off. I had a feeling these crows were going to take off before I got to the spot I really wanted to take a picture from and they did, one more step past this spot, they were off.

Still, I reflect,
This nervous wreck who stands before me
Can see as well,
Can surely tell that he's not yet free;
He can turn aside, but can no more ignore me
Than know which one of us is he,
Than tell what we are going to be,
Than know which one of us is me.*

* Mirror Images, Song by Peter Hammill

Today's walk report: 060522

 Dusty's Day.

I swear, I looked for other photo ops but male Calypte anna hummingbird Dusty was so obliging and not much else was presenting itself to me as particularly photo worthy in the time I had allotted so... Dusty is the star of the day! Another thing, about male Calypte anna hummingbirds, they will get to know you and become more comfortable with your presence than other hummingbirds. At least this is true of hummingbirds native to me. I've had good relationships with Selasphorus sasin (Allen's) hummingbirds too but they took a lot longer and there was never quite the same amount of rapport as I've had with male Calypte anna birds. Here are today's pictures...

First, I need to point out, I think I mis-ID'd this cactus genus yesterday. I wrote, Echinopsis. I think it's actually Cereus, specifically, Cereus stenogonus. If I'm still wrong, well, that's okay. Please keep in mind while I value nomenclature accuracy to a certain degree, I mostly don't care. I do care about the photos though.

Back to Dusty, he was very busy defending his territory today. There were several intruders this morning including another younger male Calypte anna. For the most part the territorial defense activity was more fun to watch with the camera down. Dusty typically took his breaks in a usual spot right in front of me and that's when clicks took place.

This is the young Calypte anna male intruder, hogging the Salvia darcyi flowers.

However, at least for awhile, Dusty remained rather chill about the whole thing.

Docken and I were on the phone again (thank you, Dockie) and she mentioned going up the hill, so I drove up the hill. Yes, weekends have become a drive/walk thing but let me point out I also have been going for early evening walks. Anyway, up the hill I'm seeing a lot of cars en-route. Turns out there was what appeared to be some sort of graduation pomp and circumstance at the theater on the top of the hill. I spent a fair amount of time strategizing how I was going to avoid people and also explore the hilltop. I did okay, however, this was the only event worthy of camera clicks for me... another battle between red-tailed hawks (two) and an American crow (one). I saw a higher level of aggression than I've typically witnessed from the hawks. One hawk was talons down above the crow several times. The right wing on that hawk looked like it may have seen some battles before. I will note, this area is near a spot where I've known red-tailed hawks to have nests for years. The tallest trees on the campus are down below. I'm pretty sure the crow was the intruder but it can go either way.

Here's the veteran hawk.

I wandered around a bit after this but once the birds left and people were becoming more plentiful I decided it was time to journey home and have some breakfast

Today's walk report: 060422

 A Saturday walk, how about that!

I was testing the waters. I was testing my courage and sanity, walking on a college campus during what I thought might be the start of summer session with too many young adults scurrying about. I just looked that up, it doesn't start until June 13th. Nevertheless, as I was departing the school, around 9:00 AM, there were more than enough students flowing onto campus. My timing seemed perfect as I puttered about unhindered taking pictures. Docken joined me on the phone. It's fun talking to Dockie, she has a good sense of visualization. I can describe where I am and I can tell she's picturing the scene with clarity. We've spent a good deal of time together in this garden.

A little too much June gloom in the sky but the temperature was perfect for me, about 62º F for the duration. Here are some pictures from today's journey.

Lots of desert cottontail, also known as Audubon's cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii).

 I'm pretty sure this is a female Selasphorus rufus (rufous hummingbird) this time collecting cactus fuzz for a nest. It could be a female Selasphorus sasin. It's hard to tell at times, I'm just playing the odds since rufous are still here during migration and there's quite a few.

One of the Echinopsis flowering with palo verde tree flowers accenting.

This is probably a female Selasphorus sasin (Allen's hummingbird).

This is a new ID for me. I spoke to Docken about this delightful chripping which was becoming more and more pronounced as I walked the width of the garden. I kept looking and looking and then suddenly I realized he was right in front of me. This is a male Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii). It's a delightful little singer and it seemed to be following me. Although now that I've read up a little it's more likely it was asking me to kindly move along. Only the male sings and they defend their nesting territory by singing. Can you imagine, what if we humans did something so reverential? A small library of Bewick's wren vocalizations can be found here on The Cornell Lab of Orithology's, All About Birds. 

 
Mr. Reliable, Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty.

The purple flowers in the background of that last image? Why those are from the beautiful Vitex agnus-castus, or "chaste tree." A shrub native to the Mediterranean and Asia. The fruit has been historically used for reducing sexual desire. No kidding? Why?

The Century plant (Agave americana) from the last few posts is still working on flowering.

Over to the Australian section of the garden... It seems to me this area is consistently, historically headquarters for at least one male Selasphorus sasin (Allen's hummingbird). This was the main hangout for the famous sasin, Rusty some years back. 

It was fun wandering around taking pictures today although there was a certain amount of melancholy involved with the location, especially as I began to see students arrive. I kept flashing on how different it might be to be in school in times like these. I grew up never having to think being shot at school, my life ending because of gun worship and Republican greed. The Vast Majority of Americans Support Universal Background Checks. Why Doesn’t Congress?