Today's walk report: 081422

 Besides always checking to make sure you have a card in your camera (I carry a just in case spare in a pocket on my camera strap) and that your battery is in and sufficiently charged, always take a look and make sure the mode dial on the camera is set where you want it. Gremlins will change the mode on your camera during the night just to mess with you and if you're up early and modestly caffeine deprived you may not notice. I didn't. I shot most of this morning's pictures in Tv mode. In Tv mode the user specifies a shutter speed, while the camera adjusts the aperture size to correctly expose the image. Tv (and don't ask me why it's a lower case "v" on the dial) stands for Time Value. Anyway, because I usually don't have time to think (that's my excuse) I almost always shoot in "P" (program) mode. In program mode the camera selects and sets both the shutter speed and the aperture. I typically keep my right index finger on the quick control dial to adjust both shutter speed and aperture on the fly.

What all of this means is I screwed up some pictures this morning but mostly what I did was I walked. I meandered around at a pretty decent clip and made myself get a descent walk out of this morning's adventure. My head needed a walk. I need to laugh, and when the sun is out, I've got something I can laugh about. Here's what I got on the photo front...

This red-tailed hawk came flying in low and directly at me. I noticed immediately the reason for its low altitude, it was carrying what appeared to be a rather large rat. I watched where it seemed to land and went to see if I could find it.

The hawk took off again by the time I got a few shots off. I don't believe it was bothered by me but rather had two American crows in pursuit. I've seen crows try to steal prey from red-tailed hawks before.

It was still early...

...but the sun was going to be in my face once again and real soon.

At least it was cool, by 6:40 it was only 63º F. I find that quite pleasant. The predicted high for today is 100º. That means it will actually be at least 103º for yours truly. Right now it's 90º at 10:40 AM. 

I was a little surprised to see Cereus stenogonus cactus blooming again, The last time I saw flowers was back in early June.

I kept trying to get a decent macro shot of this bee but the bee was burying itself into the flower (and my shutter speed was wonky). Then I had a carpenter bee coming in for a photo bomb. 

 Dusty, our intrepid male Calypte anna hummingbird was hanging out on his new favorite perch. This twig is about as central as he can get in his usual territory.

I went off in a direction I don't typically go and discovered one of the frequent vintage car shows was about to happen in the largest parking lot on campus. This is an event which I generally avoid. As it was I only got as close as my lens would permit.

I think this might be a Chevrolet Nomad but I wouldn't bet money on it. Please feel free to correct me if you stumble upon this post.

This is a Cadillac Kaiser Manhattan, my best guess is 1953.

 On my way back to the car I caught this turkey vulture flexing its wings. This was also when I finally noticed my camera was in Tv mode.

That's all folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Today's walk report: 080722

Early to rise.

The best thing I can say is I did it. As proposed yesterday, I got out close to sunrise (sunrise was 6:09), I was out of my car walking at 6:19 and took my first photo of the day at 6:25. The campus which is home to the local botanical garden was closed to vehicular entry (gates on Sunday open sometime between 8:00 and 8:30--maybe) so I parked nearby, precisely, .42 miles from the entrance to the garden. It was really quiet. There were three motivational factors behind this early excursion. One, to beat the heat and humidity. Two, less people out cramping my style and three, to experience lighting more suitable for picture taking than the typical 8 o'clock hour experience of late. One and two were a success, three, not so much. By 6:40 the sun was pretty much beaming right at me. Just smacking me in the head. I did do one thing though which I haven't done in some time. I took the stairs, perhaps only rivaled by Ha'iku Ladder in O’ahu, Hawaii. Therefore, I got a little more exercise out of the journey.

Here are some pictures. There simply wasn't a lot that caught my eye.

There was Mr. Reliable, Calypte anna hummingbird, Dusty. Thank you, Dusty.

 Then from the top of the hill, again, most areas are fenced off for construction, I could only go to the east along the theater building. Most of the hilltop, Fine Arts and Music buildings are to the west. I took a couple of shots of Docken's famous "Elephant Mountain" from the front entrance to the theater. See, it looks like an elephant lying down, facing north (to the left). Okay, I cut its trunk off, use your imagination. Docken was on the phone with me. Thank you, Dockie.

The buildings on the right just above the tree line are in Sherman Oaks (you know, like, the Galleria--fer sure), mid-elephant we're looking toward Universal City. Thanks to Doc for helping with the navigation, she used to live in a tree house in the hills of Studio City and Elephant Mountain lay prominent in her purview.
 

After a few minutes of struggling with Google Earth, let me put all of this into perspective. The tower on the back of the elephant is part of the Mount Lee Television Transmitters. This was known as the W6XAO transmitter. W6XAO was the first television station for the Los Angeles area, circa 1940. The station eventually moved to Mount Wilson as today's KCBS-TV. KCBS is the only "local" station I can't pick up for squat with my cheesy OTA indoor antenna. 

Here's a view from Google Earth looking from a more southerly direction so you can see the Hollywood Sign on the other side.

From the backside looking toward Burbank we can see Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills which is part of Griffith Park. My mother, father and maternal grandmother are buried there. I won't get started on cemeteries.

And finally, here's a much wider view with Los Angeles off to the east. The transmitters are front, center. Click images for larger views.

Right now, noon, it's 99º, 18% relative humidity, AKA, "evident discomfort." The predicted high is 101º. My bet for right outside these walls is a high of 104º. Lovely. 

Today's walk report: 080622

 I tried.

That's what I said to Docken on the phone 7/8 of the way in today. Unless I go out at 6:00 in the morning weather is rather unpleasant, humid and hot. Although today wasn't quite as bad as yesterday. Nevertheless, I find it generally... a drag. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow, shoot for a 6 AM exit from the homestead. Dawn light begins at 5:42 while sunrise isn't until 6:09. We'll see... stay turned. Right now it's 12:55 in the afternoon, 97º F with relative humidity sitting at 25%.

The local botanical garden at a nearby college is one of few places left to wander around on the campus, not closed off for construction and I see more fencing going up every week. Progress appears slow. Anyway, I took some pictures, mostly of familiar subject Dusty, my male Calypte anna hummingbird friend. Dusty knows me, dusty is curious about me. While there can be a lot of sameness in taking pictures of Dusty, I never tire of his company.

A new addition to the Australian natives section of the garden, Eremophila calorhabdos.

Once again I was being stalked by a young ground squirrel, seemingly prepared to climb me like a tree.

This image is a special addition for Docken. She'll know why. The joke is in a discussion we had during the drive home. No, you don't get to know.

 

One more, from home, Thursday, August 4th.

I'm sorry to have been so much of a bore
But in my own funny ways I find I learn much more.
I realize what you think from your eyes,
But in your own funny ways I find I learn much more.

 

 

Today's walk report: 073122

 Camera battery fully charged and in the camera this morning before heading out the door (see yesterday's post). However, whatever chemical potential I humanly have for storing energy for a new day it was definitely below optimal. Yeah, I'd say my battery was hovering around 60% but I got out! 

A big motivation this morning was in seeing Stan after his being absent for two mornings and I hadn't seen him for three, although it appeared he showed up Thursday for a late breakfast. This is Stan, search this blog for "Stan" and you'll know more. This image is from late May. I tried to get a picture of him this morning but the patio was still too dark.

If anyone who visits or otherwise stumbles upon this blog and has seen mention of another backyard cat, the one named Cam, and is wondering about her, stay tuned there's a big Cam story forthcoming. This is Cam, taken 8 days ago.

 I was out the door shortly after 8 AM, Docken joined me on the phone. Thank you, Docken. It already felt hot and sticky to me. At 8:20 it was only 75.5 F, with relative humidity at 43%. That feels like 79º. Within an hour that went to 80º and 44% relative humidity and that feels like 86º F. These days I find all of that uncomfortable. 

You know I'm having an issue with subject matter for photographs when I take pictures of California cottontails but that's where I started once again.

At least the lighting was more interesting than what I dealt with on my last reported walk a couple of weeks ago. The sky and the humidity went hand in hand.

Trusty Dusty, the male Calypte anna hummingbird was hanging out.

I wasn't finding the garden too exciting so I moved on. This female Allen's hummingbird was spotted flying between palo verde trees about 90 yards to the west of the garden. 

I wandered around a bit but much of the campus remains fenced off for construction so I decided to head for the car to drive up the hill but the hilltop was even more fenced off than it was two weeks ago. I drove around some more and mentioned to Docken, it looks like I'm going home. Then I mentioned the part of the campus where they put in a "Braille trail" back in the 70s. Docken encouraged me to give it a go so I parked the car once again and started hoofing it. While it appeared some progress has been made since the last time I ventured onto this part of the campus, the area was also besieged with fences and I had to improvise some detours.

Brachychiton discolor (Pink Flame Tree or lacebark tree). I'm certain I must've seen this tree in the past but I don't believe I ever saw it flowering before. Brachychiton discolor is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in drier rainforest areas.

A short distance beyond I was startled by a turkey vulture taking off from ground level. I thought it had some sort of carrion in its beak but that didn't bore out in any of the pictures I took. Albeit my pictures were from quite a distance and weren't very clear.

I was distracted from the turkey vulture when I realized I was standing right next to a reasonably large patch of milkweed plants and there were three monarch butterflies floating about. I know the person who was assigned the task of revitalizing this part of the campus. He also maintains the botanical garden and I spotted him not long ago on the campus, so I know he's still around. I'm a little surprised that this plot of about 30 milkweed plants are all Asclepias curassavica, which is a tropical milkweed. Tropical milkweed is a problem when planted in temperate areas because it tends not to die back in winter. This causes the promotion of a spore driven disease and can ultimately effect monarch migration. There is some disagreement over this among experts but the botanical garden contains only Asclepias fascicularis which is a California native perennial. So, why not keep this consistent? I think the garden dude knows this.

On my way back to the parking lot I was a little confused about where to find the crosswalk.

One more picture, from home, just because. This giant swallowtail showed up early evening last night.

Find happiness in your life, be guided by your own happiness.

Today's no walk report: 073022

 I had every intention of going for a walk this morning. It was shortly before 8 AM. All I needed to do was grab my camera strap, stick my phone in my pocket and I was out the door. While getting the strap in hand I looked out my office windows. There's an old chaise lounge next to the west fence in the backyard and under that there's a large sort of faux crystal bowl that provides water for outdoor kitties and... whatever else happens along. This is what I saw lapping away at the bowl.

By the time I got out to take these photos she was done with the water and was heading toward me on the patio, presumably smelling Stan's liver and chicken pate cat food. I didn't want to encourage that so I moved closer while talking to mamma opossum. Opossums are nocturnal but it's not unusual to see them in the morning (although 7:56 is stretching it). Being nocturnal their vision is better geared for low light, their pupils are dilated so their vision is terrible in daylight. However, she heard me just fine and turned away to go under the north fence. She used a spot I refer to as Stan's catcave. I wasn't trying to scare her away, I merely wanted to redirect her. I went back to the patio, picked up cat food and brought that inside.

Meanwhile, I checked my camera battery after these pictures were taken and realized it was real low. I decided I'd give it 15 minutes on the charger and then leave for my walk. Actually, that means driving to the nearby college campus where my walks generally take place. It's only about a mile and a quarter to the campus parking lot but guess what I forgot to do before I left? That's right, no battery. Having been up since 3:45 AM and spending much of my morning worrying about Stan who's been AWOL for a couple of days I decided I had enough and called it quits. I think I better wait till tomorrow. Sunday is a better day anyway. From the looks of the parking lot on the campus it appeared some summer session classes were taking place and I'm not too keen on mingling near college students. 

Here's some general information regarding opossums (Didelphis virginianus) from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Basically, while they are mostly seen as a beneficial animal, it's not a good idea to entertain them with food or permit them to roam where you have pets.