Small Yellow Bird

Well...it looks to be a Yellow Warbler....I had tried desperately to take their pics...but they are always hiding in the Aspen and Alder leaves...I just get glimpses and hear them peeping...this all on Lodgpole Point...and yesterday!...finally I sat on the Log (see pic of me with 12x) at Creek's End...it's surfaced now...a little damp...Blue Jay came hopping up..see clip..and then the Warbler landed on the sapling at the Point...and held still long enough for one pic!...these tiny birds are really tough...

Now...what to do with all the other pics and clips of the last few days!!???...there will have to be a Fawn night...from the Backyard to Tuolumne!...and a Tuolumne Hawk night...and Picket Pins...babies...some Marmot...and even Oar Water Bugs...Boatmans the book calls them...have to be a Bug Nite...and the smoke made for some interesting scenics...

Power came back and I uploaded all the cards...haven't even had time to review them...

Initially... I intended to limit things to the Backyard...and the Creek...and while I include pics and clips from further afield...bit by bit I have gathered a glimpse of what's about hereabouts...and that will be put together sometime in something titled Creek's End or something!

Sunny and warm and blue...with some remarkable Horsetail Clouds...got pic of them above Sentinel...for tomorrow..or sometime!...things are a bit scrambled!

Much thanks to the Firefighters and their ongoing efforts to keep the Fire at bay...distant as it may seem...I've ridden through the Merced Canyon many times...a wild place!...and without them...everything hereabouts would be at the Fire's mercy.

Just a Note

The power is out at Tree in the Door. Pics and clips will return when..the power returns.

3x Falls

Didn't take a pic today!...for goodness sake...this one from 7/28/05 with the 3x....I wanted to compare the Falls as this was a wet year....it's not much different than now...and now isn't much different from last year...the meadow grasses are drying and so another transition is in progress...couldn't find an allen wrench either...though I did figure how to take the pan head off the post...but the bottom of the post isn't attachable...still need the allen wrench..spent a bunch on a little all purpose tool...with mm allens...didn't work....think I need sae...wish India and Thailand would get together!

Foragers

I took one pic today!...the Acorn Woodpecker...Squirrel and Raccoons from yesterday...the baby Raccoons are pretty big...and no one has seen them about Last Chance earlier...so I kinda wonder where they were....maybe over in Siberia...went to the Post Office...and too picked up a delivery of Strathmore Bristol Vellum drawing paper...too heavy to carry on a walk...so no walk...took the Shuttle back...I think I've finally found a paper with the same feel of newsprint...which is all I've ever been happy with drawing with charcoal...which has been unfortunate as newsprint just sorta crumbles away with time...tannin in the wood pulp paper....but I'm eager to try out this new paper...and it's big...a third again as big as my drawing board...I've gotta get a bigger board!...sunnywarmblue...sorta like Acorn Woodpeckers...red white and blue!

Five Merganserlings

They all came into the sunlight together...and the bright feathers blocked out...earlier got a clip of five Mallards...and much later...after work....five
Raccoons....sat at the Creek for a long while...watching for birds....one of the little ones was on a branch right in front of me...but couldn't get the auto focus to work...too close!....got clip of Grey Squirrel negotiating the Twin Cedars...been trying to get that one a long time!....the walk has gotten to be the daily wade...nice to have cool feet!...sunny and warm.

RipRap

Merganser had to walk a bit...sorta like the rafts bottoming out!...saw all Three Fawns in Stoneman Meadow...third one popped up at last...three hops...then settled into the grasses again before I could get clip....missed Bear again over at Sugar Pine...but heard two loud reports from Ranger's noise maker...they try to condition them to stay away...I have a watercolor of Sugar Pine that corrects the parallax!...one of my favorite spots and tree....

Last couple days I've found small bits of pottery (crockery!...bits of dinner plates..and a soap dish!) in the Creek...thought today to go look for them with a purpose...and found a couple more...and this odd piece of machinery...I left it where it was....but likely when the Creek drys up pretty much someone will come along and snag it...found some other things!....a Fireman lost their camera by the Tiki Temple...they're clearing away things...mostly the Bear Clover...maybe for a proscribed burn in the future...will check by tomorrow to return it...found a Raven feather by the Stables...big enough for a quill pen!....

And in reading today I found these: Wawona is a Miwok word derived from the sound the Great Horned Owl makes...and the Owl was thought to be the protective totem of the Big Trees...the Deer House was built by the Army in 1912...and then remodeled extensively in 1928....it went through several floods...notably 1937 on December 11....and in 1955...like the '97 flood..after which it was boarded up and abandoned....these floods happened in late December or early January....what happens is a long warm Pineapple Express rain comes along after substantial snow...and melts everything...the old house routinely floods on the first floor...so much so that the residencies expected to move the furniture upstairs ...and escape in a boat!...Chief Tenaya's lodge was over by Camp 4...until the Army absconded with it...and the Creek was rip rapped in the 1920s....I've been reading the Three Volumes!...and picked up some of Shirley Sergeant's books!

Blue pleasantly warm day...

Oh...that's LodgePole Point at Creek's End the Mergansers turn at...

Mini Deer

Saw Bobcat from the Shuttle near Camp 4...hopped off....five minute old report of three Bears in the Ozone Woods...gave chase...Fawn nursing across the street from Last Chance....thought I had clip...but 12x at wrong setting...and couldn't catch up with Bobcat and Bears....little bit of stomach ache this morning...so scratched Tuolumne....and a lot of blurry pics in the morning and evening walks...it was cool though...clouds came in a little...and a breeze...put a few of the clips together...the Woodpecker on Stump from two days ago...maybe three!...last clip....got an error shortened clip of Raccoon...this too from Last Chance...and it was last pic of day....when I saw the Tourists standing on the Shuttle stop bench to gain a view....I thought it might be Bears...'saw one right over there (Flicker Grove) yesterday!'...so it goes sometime!!

Bakersfield Pic

Another short walkabout...clouds moved in and cooled things off...no rain though....pic is the Humming Bird in Bakersfield....had a clip too but the upload went south...tomorrow to Tuolumne...

Seven at Creek's End

Slept in...just a half hour for the walkabout....went over to the Deer House Oaks and just stood in one place for twenty minutes....Grossbeaks and Oriole and Blue Jays...but they were behind branches and such!...clip is from yesterday..and pic is from the clip!...cool clip....sunny warm and a little breezy...clouds out above and behind Half Dome....report one of the Bakersfield Humming Birds is doing fine...one didn't make it...will post up some of these pics too!

Merganserling Fishing

I haven't seen this Flower (Scarlet Monkeyflower) before..and will have to get a flower book tomorrow...when I got to Creek's End...Seven were there!....all grown up...will post clip tomorrow....then the Merganserling showed up at Creek's End too...and I followed...set up with the tripod...then handheld...neat clip...got another neat clip of Acorn Woodpecker 'flycatching'...post that one up too another time...sunny blue warm and a little windy.

Picket Pins

Got a late start...paddled out to the Creek...and out to Cook's...and back to the Creek!....clip of Ground Squirrel beeping on the Deer House back doorway roof...this is such a neat old house!....pic of Yellow Butterfly...lot like the White Checker in size and flight...called them Sulphurs as a kid...but have to look it up..and all the rest too!...will have to devote one post nite to Bugs and Butterflies!...pics and clips from Tuolumne day...little pen ink watercolor...four inches by six!...is from a couple summers ago...art class...where I've done a painting or drawing are like favorite spots....this is where I sat for a couple hours...Picket Pin was being very shy...and my attention turned to the Butterflies...missed pics of several little tiny Hummingbirds...thought they were Grasshoppers!..sunny blue warm and breezy blowing the Cotton Woods Cotton all about!...another clip for the Wind Animation bits!

Doe in Meadow Grasses

Went out to the Creek....as I got near I heard Ground Squirrel giving the warning beeps...they're faster and higher pitched!...hurried to see what was up...and got two pics...one very blurry...of Coyote feeding....Coyote grabbed the prey and went off into the Deer House Oaks...tried to follow...and not to spook Coyote away from it's meal...afraid I did...as my last glimpse was Coyote without it's catch....imagine Coyote will come back...crossed the Creek and went out to Cook's and this Doe was right by the Board Walk near the Lily Pads...there's lots of reports of Fawns...it seems the Doe are lying down in the tall Meadow grasses and giving birth there....good place to hide for the Does and the Fawns...but not always successful....continued to the Post Office......seriously considering getting that optical diffraction lens I got to use in the Canon walk...and putting it on the Canon new Rebel camera...which is half the weight of the D40....thought to fix the Bus up...but mechanics are getting like 90 dollars an hour!....on the way back got clip of Brown Creepers...and earlier of Blue Jay on the Cabin's roof....sunny blue with some clouds...a little bit of breeze.

Two Ducklings

I didn't know the second duckling would show up!...I'd been taking clips of Ducks at CAD Beach...and thinking to myself "I've got way too many clips of Ducks!"....then saw the one Duckling out a bit and started the clip....very cool clip...adorable!...I'd say!....walked about in the afternoon...got a clip of Mama Merganser and one Merganserling following out in Creek's End...I was in Creek's End too...waded out and set up and waited for them to come along...had started by the Great Turf...cant post everything!...it's 'adorable' too!...after some afternoon TV and a nap I paddled out to Two Top and made the Big Loop counterclockwise....walked on the Boardwalk over to CAD Beach...and from there to opposite Creek's End on the Merced...where I got a good clip of three Ravens...finished up in Cook's with a clip of young Buck eating apples at the Apple Tree by the Woodpecker Tree...rode over to Siberia for Pizza and rode right back...too crowded!...from the Shuttle glimpsed the Moon above the Panorama Wall...very pretty right now....sunny warm blue..a few clouds and some breeze...looked like more afternoon Thunder Clouds in the High Country....Creek and Merced rose a foot or so from the Rain.

Three Fawns

Oh...line disconnected while writing up post!..no saved draft!...lemethink...how it went!...

Went up to Tuolumne...after almost not going as at last minute Bobcat reported by the Cabin....but got on the Bus...sat by the Sept 1915 Bridge for most of the time in the Meadow...pics and clips of Picket Pin and Butterflies...rain clouds gathered and followed us back to the Valley...which was dark and windy...chased about for Rainbow pics..no luck...but got these pics and clips of the Fawns in Sentinel (Stoneman!) Meadow...wish I could have got pic of all three together!...at the Three Arches I saw two Pileated Woodpeckers...a first...blurry pics but now I know where they are!...nice day...very long day...have left out a lot!...there were critters and weather!...so lots to see!

Duck Harbor

Slept in!..no Tuolumne today...was a bit anxious about breathing...smoke and all...needn't have worried!...rain!...but just as well...would have been slogging up Parker...or even Kiope...pass...in lightning and thunder!...with some effort I could have used the last three days of vacation to make it to Gem Lakes...and from there to June Lake and YARTS...somehow!....studying it out kept me up late..that and an Arnold movie...just read that train wreck pics are forever popular....kinda like Arnold movies!...but that will be a neat hike...it's a section of the PCT...will have to ask for a day or two off!....anyway...started the walkabout in the smoke and heat and right off caught a glimpse of Bobcat in the backyard...strolling by...couldn't keep up... or get a pic...following I kept going and made the Big Loop counterclockwise...collected some "Flowers and such in the wind" pics...I've developed a fascination, since that day by the Mariposa Creek, for the wind animating plants and trees....bugs too!...mailed a bill to the dentist..then caught the Crowded Shuttle to Happy Isles...grabbed a hot dog at the snack stand...and found a sawed off stump by the Bridge and Merced to sit...dark clouds coming in from the High Country...and Thunder...went over to the Fen...and there it began to rain...so caught the Crowded Shuttle..and on back in "day trippers leaving early traffic jams"...hopped off at Lower Falls...really really wanted to walk in the rain to the Creek and get wet...and at the Deer House I heard one bird bedeviling another...and followed them from the Deer House Oaks over to Flicker's Grove...and found Hawk!...and a big one...being chased, by all things, a Robin..I think...Hawk flew off over Cook's in the Rain under the Dark Sky...picked up and went on back to the Creek...had the sandals on so waded...not much to wade now!...and over to my left in Duck Harbor...well...Duck Harbor was living up to its name!......got as close as I could...then picked up...wet camera and all...and back to the Cabin...so...it was kind of a neat walkabout...seeing Bobcat and Hawk..though no pics...and the Ducks were a treat...and the Rain...tomorrow Tuolumne!....oh...yesterday I found a partially submerged very long log...just down stream from Sentinel Bridge...with two Mergansers hauled out on it, snoozing while the rafters were floating by...hence this log is Merganser Log!

And Oh!...while uploading the clip I thought to go to Last Chance for dinner...and outside caught a glimpse of Half Dome through the Backyard Forest...Rainbows!...I forgot about Rainbows!....after these kind of Summer Rains it's the best time!...Half Dome was glowing!...this about eight...so I paddled on back to the Creek...crossed over the Twin Cedars..and out past the pile of picnic benches at the Deer House...not a tourist about...and not any clouds over Half Dome to make a mist...hmmph...took a pic...still very pretty...the greys and alpine glow of Half Dome always look great against a cloud dark sky....there may have been Rainbows a little earlier..will have to ask about...how could I forget!?....the other thing on an "after rain evening sky" is sunset over the Cathedrals....I miss many of these working evenings...sunsets are best around the Equinoxes...sun is just behind the Three Brothers then...in the "range of light"...one chases...light!

Hawk

I heard some Woodpeckers raising a ruckus...this while I was just coming out of the Artist's Grove at Cook's...and saw Hawk way over to the right sitting on this old tree...the cause of their concern!...by the time I got the 12x aimed...Hawk was airborne...it's still a neat pic...albeit blurry!...walked about in the afternoon...and later at dusk went down to Creek's End and watched the Violet Green Swallows....back from four days in Bakersfield...have some pics of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge...which is an interesting place!...will make a post about it with the pics...

glad to be back in the Valley...it's cooler!...though still in the sunny blue smokey days mode!....tomorrow try for a night over in Tuolumne...stopped by the permit cabin...looks like all the trails are full!..so will have to see where I end up tomorrow....

Black Winged Bug

I think it's a California Ctenucha....and here's one of the bug sites!...http://www.whatsthatbug.com/moths.html....

Walked out to Two Top....took a panorama clip...just to remember how pretty it is with all the grasses tall and green...green blue mostly!....on the way back detoured through Owl Woods...thought to study that tree at the end of the Owl clip...but no nest or little Owls....got another clip of Grosbeak chick...I hear them all over...sunny blue warm and a little breezy...

Most of the descriptions describe the moth...it is a moth....as red about the head..this one is so orange I thought to find it easy...will keep looking...bug sites kinda neat...I'll have to start using the closeup lens...

Rip Rap Juncos

Went over to the Post Office....then over to the Elm at Cook's and sat awhile...there's two other big Elms there...and some 'pioneers'...which I hadn't noticed before....walked about the Creek....a little windy...sunny and blue....pic and clip from yesterday....Creek's rip rap behind the Deer House..kinda like how the Juncos draw me into seeing the little things....

Squirrels on the Roof

Started to the Post Office...but for some reason decided to just go out to the Deer House and the Creek....didn't give a thought to it being the Fourth and the PO closed!....took a good clip of an Acorn Woodpecker...they're often about in the Deer House Oaks...then came upon the Squirrels...could be the same two I took clip of in Fall!...then went wading in the Creek and got clip of Junkos hopping about the Rip Rap...really like this one and will see if the mpeg shows here okay with another post...meanwhile for the Fourth is: Squirrels on the Roof...clouded up a bit...but mostly bluesunny and warm....maybe could put soundtrack with it...brb...well..here's a youtube with Up on the Roof...what might work is to open two browsers....the squirrel clip...and the youtube clip...then start them...well...I'll post this and give it a try...

Up on the Roof youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06iKj7o8p9g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHTkgwRlj4
Hooey!!..the link isn't working...and it was a great music video!...old time...anyway...the song can be found on Napster or similar such...gonna miss the pidgeons cooing though!

Well!...for goodness sake..that really works!...it's not often a notion I have actually works!....what I did was open Tree in the Door Fauna and Flora..this post...and then open another Browser...pasted in the youtube ulr...it started up...went back to Tree in the Door...started the video...waala!...soundtrack!...pidegeons cooing even fit!....it's out of synch of course in comparison to a real sound track...but it dont a have to be that exact!...what fun!

Clark's Nutcracker

A short visit to the Creek...Little Merganser was at Duck Harbor...and made it's frenetic way out to Creek's End!...gotta get one of those pillow rafts before the water level is to low for a Float!....report of a baby humming bird hatching...but this in Bakersfield!....mama attacked the reporter..."like a cotton ball hitting my head!!"....next week I'll have the opportunity to see the hatchling...and be cotton balled!...Nutcracker is from May Lake trip....sunnyblueandwarm...

Phoebe

Deer are from last year....over by the Baseball field...one evening waiting for a game....

got out for a late short walk to Creek's End and back up the other side to Twin Cedars....wore the sandals and waded...it's hot...and I'm all congested again!......I'll survive!...but another smokey days time might send me packing!...

sat a long while by the Creek...Grosbeaks flew by...in hurried pursuit....and this Phoebe showed up....and when I looked around the tree trunk on my left...Ground Squirrel was just a foot a way with a mouth bulging full...would have liked to have had pic!...but Ground Squirrel scooted off....

Phoebe pic is very noisy....I was having tough time in the shade...but these new cameras make even noisy pics kinda impressionist pretty!

Sandpiper Chick

Went to the Village for mail and shampoo...walked back through Cook's...the lily pads are called Indian Lily Pads...and the ponds are almost all dried up...the Upper Falls when there's a little wind are becoming just mist at the end of their drop....which means I can go sit again at Creek's End...which I did in the evening....four Young Mallards were there...and one Young Doe...pics and clips...sat awhile...then picked up walked over to Ozone beach...where I saw Four Young Mergansers...and the Sandpiper and Chick...walked out to Two Top...but didn't stay long..light fading and hungry!....Blue Jay clip in the last light...sunny hot and not so smokey blue.

The Finch looks to be Cassin Finch...pic and clip from the May Lake Trip...taken when I walked about the Meadow waiting for the Bus back to the Valley...this is one of several new birds...to me!...I saw on that trip....