Perhaps you've heard, it's been raining in California, a lot. Yesterday and into today 90% of the state was under a flood warning. Yesterday morning after some initial texts with Docken where we were both bitching about the rain she declared, "It's going to rain a lot today and I'm not going to measure it all day long. That's pointless." Guess what? Yep, the rain was historic. There wasn't much else to talk about because the rain turned into a maniacal beast.
Total precipitation (that's the polite word) here for yesterday was 3.09" and for today we mellowed out with 1.07". For me, it ended at 11:40 AM. Currently, more rain is in the forecast for Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday night, Monday and Monday night. As much as I love the rain and as much as we need rain and snow, I've pretty much had enough.
Sequestering indoors for the duration had me wanting to get out and take some pictures around and during sunset, so that's what I did. Docken and I chatted on the phone, which was nice. Here are some pictures...
After a couple of hours of anxious anticipation, Stan the cat showed up this morning around 7 AM. I'm guessing this was about the 6th time he has taken off for four days and then reappeared on day five. So far today he has apparently visited his food three times although I only saw him twice. The third visit was during this walk. See yesterday’s post if none of this makes any sense.
Here's Stan having breakfast at 7:28 AM. This was shot through a dirty window. Yay Stan!
It was mid-day, about 63º and the walk came in at around one mile. The point was to get outside. I had some inner turmoil about another cat, a stray in the garden. I ended up calling Docken because a part of me wanted to help out this cat but maybe the cat didn't need my help. He let me sit and talk to him from a distance for quite awhile. It was only once I got up to see if I could get a better look since, for some reason, I wanted to confirm it was a male, that he took off. I'm pretty sure it was a tomcat. Looking at the pictures now he appears healthy. He stopped and listened to me saying kitty, kitty... is he someone's cat, simply on the prowl? These are questions I asked myself and I asked Docken. We had no definitive answers.
Before I get to the cat, here's the male Calypte anna hummingbird known as Dusty once again. As handsome as ever.
Then around the bend, I saw something move. He spotted me the same second I spotted him and wasted no time moving to a secure spot inside the garden.
Feral cats can travel for miles depending on a number of factors. I've read they can have territories ranging from 2 to 1,000+ acres, so it's anybody's guess. I hope he has a home. I hope he's okay. We have a lot of rain starting in as little as five hours predicted to last as long as 40 hours. Thunderstorms are included in the mix.
Parting shots from the garden...
Mushrooms growing at the base of an Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa) shrub. I believe these might be Marasmius oreades, also known as the fairy ring mushroom but I wouldn’t put any money on it.
This is not Dusty, I don't believe I've seen this male Calypte anna hummingbird before, at least not in the garden proper. The plant is Peritoma arborea.
I didn't have a song in mind for this post and decided about midway to add whatever was playing on my headphones once I finished. So, here you go.
Today I had music for company but Docken was in my heart and mind.
A pre-walk drive was in order, the cat known as Stan has been AWOL with today being day number four. I did a couple of laps around the neighborhood, pulling over curbside randomly, looking for him. This has happened before, several times and every time it's worrying. Stan is not a young cat and he's basically a wild cat. We've also been having some relatively severe weather and there's more coming. So, for those reading this picture Stan in a safe and warm place.
Onto the walk...
It was pretty much a day for the male Calypte anna hummingbird known as Dusty once again. A week ago yesterday I posted that I was only about 92% sure this was Dusty. Today there was no doubt. Today I spent a good deal of time with him. He was preening a lot and that's always entertaining for picture taking. He has moved slightly north in the garden. It's only 30 yards, give or take about 20 yards in every direction, from where he hung out normally. Understand too that he covers a large area, he's a bird, ya know, but he has a central territory that's not that big. That's why I know him so well.
By the way, here's the main reason he has shifted his territory. His regular spot is blanketed by several sages. Mostly, Salvia darcyi, Salvia uliginosa, Salvia leucantha, Salvia clevelandii and Salvia microphylla 'Berzerkeley'. Most of this has been mowed down for fresh growth come spring and the rest simply isn't flowering in the winter. Although there is quite a bit of Salvia leucantha blooming. However, nearby there are lots of the Australian native shrub, Eremophila glabra blooming.
I was walking from about 11:15 until almost 12:30 but I only covered, roughly, 1.5 miles. I was taking pictures and to be honest I wasn't too enthralled about walking. Temperatures were a cool 62º to 65ºF.
I swear I've never seen this birdhouse before. There’s another one (or was) about 150 yards east of this. Maybe Dockie saw this one Christmas week. It doesn't look new but that doesn't mean it's not a new arrival. Anyway, I'm curious about what's up with the campus birdhouses.
There's always a mockingbird.
Common ravens and American crows were elusive (as were red-tailed hawks and northern flickers) and clouds were moving. Panoramas of clouds are a bit tricky when they’re on the move.
I noticed sheep off in the campus fields to the west from the top of the hill. I don't believe I've seen sheep for awhile, goats, cows and donkeys yes, sheep, no.
I missed most of the shots I was after on top of the hill and for the most part it's still fenced off and there's not much area accessible for walking around. Driving back down and still on campus I spotted this big WTF.
That's all. I listened to a lot of great music through the journey and I'm still listening. This song came on a few minutes ago and it seemed perfect to post.
