Colorfully decorating the bird feeder at the same time, in orange & black & & black & red & white: a black-headed grosbeak & a woodpecker (I think a Nuttall's, though I'm not certain). Wandering up a moment later, one of the neighborhood's wild turkeys. Later in the day, a male & female quail chittered in alarm when I startled them as I walked down ( Read more... )

Today I had a lovely long walk. A duck slept afloat in the shade-dappled creek, head tucked under wing, an egret flew across the path ahead, red-winged blackbirds chirred their song, the vast & arching branches of an oak tree burst green with new leaves.

It's nesting season, & the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group is running a number of nesting cams. Cool!

SyrinxLike the foghorn that's all lung ( Read more... )

Not nearly enough sleep, but I get up before 8:00 because the plumber is supposed to arrive sometime in the next 2 hours. I wash dishes, so he1 won't have to work around them, then I settle onto the end of the sofa, in a spot of sun. There are advantages to being up on the early side. One of them is the light that enters the house shortly after ( Read more... )

I just added a new bird to my life list, and wow! is he a beauty. We get quail in our yard all the time. But today? Today I saw a ring-necked pheasant. Such rich colors! (Interesting. I just learned that they are originally from East Asia. If you follow that link, look at how even a band they inhabit, given that they've been introduced ( Read more... )

Sometime this afternoon I offered aid and succor to a cedar waxwing that tried to fly through one of our living room windows. I scooped it up and wrapped it loosely in a dish towel and held it in my robe for a bit. When I took it outside to check on it after 10-15 minutes, it was still stunned, so I brought it back inside and transferred it to a ( Read more... )

It's a pretty day out, in a blustery-bright California-winter sorta way. The scattered clouds make interesting shadows as they pass over the landscape. Junior is cruising the skies, getting tipped and bounced occasionally by the wind ( Read more... )

I am hanging out, listening to my Saturday radio programs, looking for my glasses (which are nowhere to be found), engaging in various idle grooming habits (you know you do it too ( Read more... )

I love listening to our resident owl who hoo hoo whoo. Haven't pulled out my birdsong cds yet, to figure out what type it is. Doesn't really matter. Just love hearing it.