Up on the Roof Squirrels

I got as far as the Deer House Garage...and the Up on the Roof Squirrels were about...four of them!....set up the digiscope...the Squirrels are great subjects!...they stay still!...got some good clips..and pics!...no purple fringing and in focus!....clearly the problems with these things is partly my skill level!...later I experimented at the Merced...missed Mama Merganser and
Two...but focused on where they were...snorkeling and diving around some roots....and in the bright sunlight it is tough to get a good pic....fringing lens flare...blocking out..some of the trouble seems to be light coming in the gap between the camera lens and the digiscope eyepiece...I have to make a little black out tube...or cloth cover....it would probably help too if the scope had a hood! (it has a hood...albeit kinda short...I've discovered!)....now...the woodpecker pics....the blurry one is the one I took with the scope sitting on the picnic benches..that was two days ago...but the Woodpecker seems to always be where it is when I come around!....anyway...the other long distance is today with the 12x from the Path...then the clip has a 25x and 50x....one can see in the clip the light flaring....I used my hat for a shade!...this...this is too much fun!...and very encouraging that I can get a good focus and exposure for pics!!...sunny warm blue....and curiously cooled off in the evening...but weather report says more warm weather after the little cooling off trend...tomorrow Tuolumne and Picket Pins with the scope...and hopefully Hawk too!

Appletree Bucks

Before sunrise I thought Owl was outside...the Blue Jays were gathered high in one of the Cedars....and were scolding...paddled out with the 12x and binocs....but couldn't see Owl....but it all got me up and out...so I geared up and went out the dirt road...past the Cattail Pond to Owl Woods...to the Diversion Channel...and over to Creek's End....crossed to Lodgpole Point...and part way to Chapel Bridge happened on 12 or so Mallards browsing the opposite shore of the Merced....and a Hummingbird....almost...almost got a clip of Hummingbird....continued to Chapel Bridge and along the river to the Woodpecker Tree where there was a yearling Buck and the two adult Bucks...they crossed the Path and nibbled on the Appletree...pics and clips...it was too early for Woodpeckers...had the digiscope with...it's so slow to set up!...and it stayed in the pack...went to Sentinel Shuttle Stop and while waiting the Two Ravens were hopping about the trucks...and for moment they were looking at one another...and I missed that and just got the pic with each on a truck....then one flew to the nearby bench...and then the other...I watch the Ravens very close....Odin's Messengers after all!!...had breakfast in Siberia...caught the shuttle back to Lower Falls...hopped off and cut through the Creek and the Backyard...once back at the Cabin...I curled up...it was eight o clock!....and slept till worktime!....but tonight I'm tired...one more day of the summer season...and Monday to Tuolumne for my weekend...I think the digiscope will work very well taking clips of the Picket Pins....they're just shy enough I cant get close enough with the 12x...but they sit still a lot...so that favors the digiscope!...nice morning...it was hot sunny and blue.

Duck Harbor Squirrel

(Addenda: The problems with the digiscope I describe here are probably due to my poor camera skills!...as I learn to use it some of these things...the purple fringe and focus, are falling by wayside... and I'm getting better pics!)


I took the digiscope back to Duck Harbor...and had this Squirrel for a subject....this is not easy to do!....but I learned somethings....to take a pic I have to set the flash...a lightning bolt icon...to off...and set the mountain icon to on...this locks the lens focus at infinity...and then I set the timer to ten seconds...and press the shutter all the way down...and wait...and hope the critter doesn't move!...and I get a pic....now...the pics...and clips...have some problems!...caused by the big lens...there's a purple fringe in the shadow areas....and the focus is very soft...this is not a set up that will take sharp pics and clips...but the venue I'm using for them is the web...so they're fine!...mpegs and as little as 72 dpi will do!...

wind becomes a problem...and the atmosphere...the intervening air...waves...especially I suppose because it's hot...oh...I set up on the Picnic Tables and took pics and clips from there of the Woodpecker Tree...can make out a Woodpecker and the holes...and the top of Half Dome...can just make out people...and with some doing I was able to zoom out from 25x to 50x...and 75x...the purple fringing increase with each step...as does the blurriness...

the pic here is a still from the clip...

what to think of it all??...well...I'm glad I got it...and I can use it for the blog...and the pics and clips for reference to draw and paint from...but it's all no good for big enlargements....even a four by six is questionable!!!....so any commercial grade stuff is out...well...maybe the clips might look okay on tv...hereabouts we live with tv reception of about this level!!...but keep in mind the digiscope set up I'm using is low tech...well..the camera isn't...it would go okay I think with a better spotting scope...and that's the mystery...how a better...and expensive..scope would perform!

as to commercial grade...I dont give much thought to selling things...but someone might...so it would be of interest to them what kinda didgiscope setup would make commerically viable pics and clips...well...see Mike's Birding Blog...a google search brings it up....everything about quality digiscopes is there...and a lot of fine quality pics!!

tomorrow I'll go sit under the Woodpecker Tree...and early when there's shade from the nearby pines!...and see if I can get some good clips of the Woodpeckers...it's the Holiday Weekend..so I'll likely have to deal with the curious onlookers!!....I'm becoming a curio...

Some high hazy clouds came in...but otherwise still hot and sunny...

Canon's coming out with a new camera...a dslr with 15 megapixles...a successor to the 40 D...called...50 D....I cant keep them all straight...as Nikon has equivelant ones...with equivelant names!...

Mallard Preening

Oh...I lost the clip that goes with this pic...and it was kinda neat...and kinda neat the way I took it...I'd gone down to the Creek with the digiscope...and set up in the shade on damp gravel at Duck Harbor...I was sitting and I aimed the scope at places I thought a critter might come along...and fiddled with it a lot trying to get it to focus....it's wobbly on the tripod...tomorrow I'll try the tripod it came with!...anyway...after a long wait...this Mallard ...which was downstream... finally paddled towards me...and slow enough I could get it in view with the scope...I have some wobbly video!...I'm sitting with my legs out and the digiscope beside me on the legs splayed out tripod...and the Mallard kept coming right towards me....so I left off with the digiscope and used the 12x...right past me the Mallard went...and I lifted up the whole digiscope and set it up my other side...and then Mallard came back.... and right in front of me...maybe three feet...starts preening...I went back to the 12x!....but was blocked by grasses of getting good shots...and I couldn't raise up!....one of my legs stretched out was trapped under the tripod!...what to do??...and then I remembered the foldout pivot view screen on the 12x....and I raised it up above my head and got a really neat...and very close up...clip...which I've lost tonight in the computer transfer!....heck...I did get this pic....

I'll try this all tomorrow....maybe Ms. Mallard will oblige again!

Sunny warm blue with a very light breeze.

Three Fawns

It's not a very good pic!...a still from the clip...but it's the best I've gotten of all Three Fawns with Mama Doe....hope to get one before they lose their spots!

Went down to the Riprap...in the heat...it's hot...and sat awhile until picnickers came by.... so crossed over to above Duck Harbor...got a clip of Mama Mallard with Three...doing bottoms ups!....and a little bird showed up and I think it made the call I keep hearing...a kinda nasal hannk hannk hannk....and when I hear it it's really loud...so kinda hard to believe the call comes from this little bird!....was taking clip to record the call...but the bird fell quiet...and then I heard Hawk...so was off...but no luck...sat awhile at Owl Log...and the Picnic Benches...and a log on the Falls side of the Bridge...in the Delta...took note of some larger little Oaks...maybe they'll make it...have to check now and then...over the next ten years or so!!...it's fine weather...blue and sunny...but the heat just takes it out of me!...and I find shady places to sit.

Unicorn Hawk

Well...I was taken out of my usual revere....or dozing...by calls on the Hikers Bus of "Coyote!...Eagles!...Redtail!"...and back in the Valley..."Three Fawns!"...but the Fawn clips and pics are for sometime...

I dont know if they are Eagles...Bald Eagles...but J. at Crane Flat said there's a nesting pair in Foresta...and these were in the air above there...I studied hard those older pics of Mariposa Buzzards and the Buzzard pics above the Valley...these look different!...the white spots look like the big bird I saw at the East Entry gate in Tuolumne last summer...I dont know...hard to get pics through the moving windows of the Hikers Bus!...but I have to wonder about the white on the one's head...and the touch of white on the others tail....the Coyote was beside the road when we first started out...by El Cap....and the Redtail Hawk was beside the road at the Meadows....these are all roadside pics and clips!....the Chicaree was by Olmsted Point...and the Butterfly across from the Meadow Visitor Center....seeing Hawk when we arrived of course put me into conniptions!....I walked about out to Sept 15 Bridge...scanning with the Binocs...and saw Hawk in the tree line by the road...went back...and thought to go all the way to Pothole Dome...but stayed near the Center...walking back to Parsons I saw Hawk once more...and got the little clip...and that was it!....Hawk never went soaring into the magnificent blue sky!....got a couple Picket Pin pics...and some scenics...very nice afternoon!

Back at Siberia we went past Doe and Three Fawns....nice to see them all together!...hopped off and got some clips and pics...too early for dinner...so went to the Post Office...then not sure what to do...hungry and sleepy!...but I didnt want to be inside during the evening...so paddled out to LodgePole Point and found a soft spot on the river bank to try and rest....looked at birds with the Binocs...Phoebes...and a yellow bird..whose name I know..but cant recall!...nice to be out of the sun under the Aspen tree shade...over ninety in the Valley...after a long while I heard Hawk back over the Creek...picked up and went to Creek's End...quiet except for a Sandpiper...then went down to the View Spot by the Merced...this where one can look back and see Cloud's Rest with Half Dome and North Dome on either side...where I have that one Merganser Clip!...and Mama and Two showed up again!..going the other way...so I have a companion clip!...stayed out till the light left Half Dome....got a Pizza and visited friends at Last Chance....then back to the Cabin....

sunny gorgeously blue and a bit windy in Tuolumne...I broiled taking the Fawn clips back in the Valley...but it cooled off in the evening...long day...I'm whooped.

Owl and Bear

Went over to the Post Office in the morning...feeling a bit gloomy that I didn't go up to Tuolumne...Creek was quiet....got a neat pic of Ground Squirrel standing up nibbling on dry grass....and the Owl book came...How to Spot An Owl...this is the companion to How to Spot Hawks and Eagles...both are excellent with great pics!....got back to the Cabin and curled up....woke up for an inspection...then curled up again!...finally got up....and geared up for Bear...or Owl as it were...took both 12xs....and the binocs....becoming an optical octopus, I'd say!....walked back to the Creek on the dirt roads and took note that the Bear Clover is growing back already!...also noted I could get to Owl Woods without fighting the tangle behind the Tiki Temples...thanks to the Weed Wackers!...so took this route to Owl Woods....and heard just one Blue Jay scolding....I'd been scanning the tree tops...and couldn't see what was troubling Jay with the binocs...reached one of the great old Cedars...and was just admiring the tree...and looking up saw Owl looking back...they're so quiet...a quiet presence...and to see Owl like this is an ethereal vision....I looked down and tried to be quiet taking one 12x out....setting the tripod down probably spooked Owl...as Owl was gone...it makes one blink trying to see if Owl is really gone..or really there!...but I crossed over an open area and relocated Owl up in the Ponderosa...but badly back lit so didn't get very good pics...Owl was patient..but glided off to another tree...they're just like Hawk...tree to tree...this time I saw where and could see the light would be good...I gave Owl plenty of distance...and was setting up...but Owl glided off again when I looked down...I was blinking and blinking!....I had no idea where to go next...and walked out the Diversion Channel to Owl Log...sat a long while...a wind had picked up...and leaves are on the ground now...and it was cooler...it was a very hot morning...a Mallard landed...but the Creek quiet too again...so picked up and went to Chapel Bridge...started to walk along the path beside the Merced....and Bear was moving through the grasses!...glad I was loaded for Bear!...I got some good...but long distance clips... of Bear in the Meadow and walking right up to the Picnic Benches at the Deer House...Bear will be by the Creek!, I thought....and went back the way I came to Creek's End and Owl Log...and waited...and waited...it was a thought...and Bear coming out of the Creek to the Merced would have been great clip...picked up again and went back the way I started before!...made it to Sentinel shuttle stop but missed the Shuttle to Siberia!....and was hungry...but decided to loop back...thinking maybe Bear went to the Lower Falls Apple Trees...that's where Bear had been earlier...up another Apple Tree in Cook's...the one by Zeke's Cedar....(a Buck was entertaining nibbling on Bear's fallen Apples!)

"200 meters.....Black Bear...200 meters..." the two German tourists told me on the Owl Oak path...with thick accents!!

"Up in an Apple Tree!?", I said.

"Yes!...Yes!!...200 meters!"

Dont know but they had the distance dead on!...Bear was up the Apple Tree next to Bobcat's Apple Tree!...got clips...very cool..but very hard to get pics in fading light...even with the two 12xs!...and no one came along the Paths until the very end...I set up a little off the dirt fenced Path...I didn't want to attract attention...had some concern when I heard a family approaching on a near Path....which has a connection to the Apple Trees...but they didn't come that way...was ready though to hop up and yell "Go Bear!"....didn't want them to come up sudden on Bear in the tree!

The Bear Managers have a lot of ideas and advice on what to do when a Bear is about...and other critters too....like Mountain Lions...it's all in the the weekly newspaper....when it's just Bear and me off the beaten path...there's no point in yelling... sometimes yelling pushes Bear towards more people...so that's no good then...if Bear has somewhere to go...and has intruded a camp...then that's the time to yell "Go Bear"....as for conditioning Bears to stay away with the noise...and noisemakers...I dont think that works!....the animals are tame by Nature....until they learn to fear a predator...or in Bear's case...a more dominant Bear...the Bear Whisperer has some thoughts on this...that by showing a dominant gesture one can spook a Bear to stay out of a whole territory...but an idea in the experimental stage!..and beyond my purview...I keep my distance and stay quiet...and wait...it's surprising how I often I've gotten good pics of the Critters just meandering my way and passing by with hardly any notice of me....

sunny hot blue in the afternoon...cooling in the evening with a breeze rustling the drying leaves....tomorrow Tuolumne..at least for the afternoon!...back by five I can keep tabs on the evening show hereabouts!!

Oak Fawn

Mama Doe and One Fawn were on the Creek Path again...this time they meandered across the Creek...getting the pics and clips is a bit like hide and seek...and I'm always it!...somethings are pure gold...this was pure Creek!...when One Fawn is by the yellow flowers...oh...those are the flowers of the post a few days back!...and where I often sit above Duck Harbor!....and Deer do find the oak acorn sprouts tasty....

sunny warm and blue.

Fern Fawn

When I saw the Doe on the Creek Path yesteday...I took note if it was with Milk...and seeing it was...I was expecting to see One Fawn...and was ready when the Fawn showed!...I...I really like this part of the clip!...

Got up for pancakes..then curled up all the way to work time!...I was sleeeepy....no pics today....

Sunny warm blue...lots of people singing little songs while working at Last Chance...Russians Jamaicans Domincans Chinese Philippinos Mexicans Ukranians Poles...to name a few...Amercans too...I've never traveled widely about...so it's a treat to see folk from all over the world!...I think the Greek's had poetry drama and song contests during the Olympics...

Oh...the Deer dont like to eat Ferns...One Fawn just checked them out...

The Black Pipe

Well...I might call it the lead pipe...the spotting scope is heavy!...and I'm so used to the 12x...which is a feather in comparison...I hauled out to the Creek with the Pipe on the tripod...and promptly took it off and lay it on the path when Doe and One Fawn showed up....got a great set of clips...for sometime!....after they went into the trees I thought to just remain sitting where I was and figure out how to make the Pipe work....buttons on the 3x are a little different...and it's tricky to adjust it on the little bracket platform....but I got it to sorta work so picked up to see if I could catch up with Doe and One Fawn...they hadn't gone far and Doe was down and resting....and patient!...as it took me awhile just to aim the contraption...it's too heavy for the tripod...this kinda weight needs one of those sling tripods...but I got it aimed and started the video...and I immediately grew fond of it...blurry and lens flared as it is!....I took some pics just to show how it all looks set up...and I kinda like the pic with the pipes!.....so...you never know...I'll fiddle with it some more tomorrow!....sunny warm blue a little breeze...but...it's cooling off...the South Wall shadow is creeping over...

Fen Dragons

Well...after breakfast I had enough time for a good walkabout...but at the Post Office the scope arrived...it was in a big box...so had to hop the Shuttle...and of course play with it when I got to the cabin...no pics today...didn't have enough time to hook up the 3x....I can see easy folk up on the Upper Falls ledge....dont know if any of this is gonna work for critter pics and clips...I wont be able to pan...it's too jiggly....I might just only use it for stargazing!....which is okay...this is a great place to learn the stars and planets...which I've never settled into doing!....pics are from two days ago at the Happy Isles Fen.... sunny warm blue and a little breeze.

Ozone Deer

Before the '97 'flood', Last Chance had a lot of little cabins in the Backyard...and too were tent and some cabin housing for employees...who, affectionately I'm sure, referred to the area as the "Ozone"...I've taken the name and applied it to the nearby shore of the Merced...which has some nice gravel beaches... and is very popular...but like everywhere in the Valley... if one gets up early...one can have it pretty much to themselves...late evenings are like this too...

I went for the morning walk not real early...nine or so...but no one was about as I approached Ozone Beach...except the Deer!...Mama Doe and One Fawn, Three Bucks, and another Doe...the Fawn's growing fast!....while filming some tourist did show up...but were quiet....the Does and One Fawn were by themselves until the Bucks showed up...and then there was a lot of commotion...running and pronging about...and one Doe tried to kick a Buck...the contrast of sun and shade didn't let me capture it all well...but fun to watch!....

The Mergansers from yesterday evening are the first part of the clip.

Sunny...very bright...warm...some wind.

On the Sometime List is a map with the place names I've made up!...it's needed...I started to regale one co worker with the Appletree Bear story...and it went like this:

"It was the apple tree out in Cook's Meadow...you know where that is?"
"No...uh huh."
"How long you been here?"
"Twenty years."

I need a map.

Appletree Bear

Well...it was a long day out and about!...and it'll be longer if I try to write it all out!...but that was my thought at the start...to make a 'census' card like I saw at that site (see yesterday's post)...they're kinda charming...like a baseball box score in the newspaper...so I got as far as the Creek rip rap where I thought to sit awhile...and the Creek was in one of it's 'disneyesque' moods...I dont know what happens but sometime all the birds and critters just decide to congregate!...Hummingbird, Downys, Acorns, Flickers, Orioles, Grosbeaks, Robins, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Mallard, heard Hawk, and saw a little bird with black and white head...which I may have seen before...I sat on the rip rap for an hour...entertained!...then walked out to Creek's end and sat on Owl Log..the puddle under it has dried enough I can put my feet down!...and I hear two hoots from Owl!...or a Bandtail trying to fool me...Phoebe was out in the Merced...and Ouzel is back!...more Mallards...Ravens...Sandpiper...in the evening I went back to Owl Log...and sat along time...from Half Dome all sunlit to it's last pink glow...my feet went to sleep!...and looked all about with the binocs...from Owl Log I can see a duck at CAD beach..this beyond Half Stump!...and just this far too to Chapel Bridge...it's kinda weird to look through them...like a 3 d movie.....Phoebes were up and about...more Mallards...and this I wish Bear hadn't pushed off tonight's clip show!...Mama Merganser and Two were going upstream...and another Mama Merganser with Three...who were constantly peeping all the way from Chapel Bridge...were coming down...and they all collided right at Creek's End...there was a dust up!...bills in the air!...the clip's for another night sometime...along with Humming Bird Moth...and Fen Dragonflies...and some others from today...I saw a lot of things!

Now..for Bear...I'm coming back on the shuttle from Happy Isles nearing Day Use...really sleepy looking forward to a late afternoon nap!...and a photog with a long lens is backing up towards the front of the bus...taking pics of something behind through the windows...oh...I thought...that can only be Bear...so off I hopped at Day Use...and across from the A Meadow...Bear was under an apple tree...I guess it's a cub...everyone was calling it a cub...and there were tons of everyone!...I got some distant clips and some comical ones of the Bear Jam traffic...and then picked up and headed home....but Bear was paralleling my path...so got another clip...and then I could see it's path would narrow from the river and the road to Sentinel Bridge...so I paddled through the parking lot...along the wall...where did the wall come from!...and at it's end made a left to the river...and not really expecting to... happened on Bear in a dry side channel contentedly eating grasses...I had Bear to myself for like twenty minutes...and then it started to move to the Merced...and I thought to go to the river's edge and wait...I had some willows? blocking view of me...and of Bear...but I could tell where Bear was from two kids on the other bank watching...if one loses sight of a critter during a 'jam'...look to see where others are looking!...I would have gotten a great pic and clip of Bear coming from the channel to the river's edge...but one kid started tossing river stones at a passing Duck....which is all I ended up getting...a very nice clip of a Mallard going by!...as the noise diverted Bear back where it came from...and I half hearted followed...but the whole earlier jam reoccurred!...and I just joined the paparazzi all the way back to Sentinel Bridge...Bear was in a bad way...it had no where to go...and headed again back into the trees thereabouts...I just set up on the Bridge for awhile...from there one can see where I was when it was just Bear and me!...picked up again and crossed the road to Cook's...and there's another jam at the Apple Tree by the Woodpecker Tree!..."another Bear?" I asked...No...it crossed the road while I was on the Bridge!...and was atop the Apple Tree with the tour guide for the Gallery photo walk group focused on it with her long lens...and calling out the F stop and shutter speed!!...I got so stumbly and clumsy with the buttons and tripod that I lost some of the whole show...but the clip has some of it....Bear finally took off towards Flicker Grove...and the French along the Path there were about to pursue until I finally said something throughout all this!...Stay on the Path!...and pantomimed they would be eaten...I thought I might have been rude..but their guide thanked me!...I went over to the Picnic Benches and sat awhile...and calmed down reviewing and editing...then over to Creek's End....

the thin clouds...making some coolness and shade...I think brought the Birds out at the RipRap beginning of the day...later there was more sunshine...

One of the most charming things of the day was I met a birdwatcher couple while looking up to see an Oriole (I think) at the Post Office...it was hidden in the cedar branches...and even with my binocs they couldn't i d it...but recommended a birdbook...Sibley....and later in the Happy Isle Nature Center I saw it and bought it...and later at Sentinel Bridge...the couple was in the Bear jam too!...so I had the opportunity to thank them...it's a nice book!

Sleepy Deer

Went over to the Post Office for the morning walk...more Roof Squirrel clips...in the afternoon peddled over to pick up the new 3x...it and all the accessories have arrived...just waiting now for the scope...amazon is pretty amazing...once put together it'll be a Barska Gladiator spotting scope and digiscope bracket with a Canon L18 elf eight megapixel 3x...a 4 gig sd card...an extra lithium battery...oh...and a little case for the camera...I think the scope comes with a little tripod and case...but it'll sit atop the Slik....opened the camera delivery box out and about and left the software disk lying on a log!...put the camera up to one of the binoc lenses...but that doesn't work!...hope it works with the scope!....looked up with the binocs at the Royal Arches wall...but just followed a Raven...and was able to follow it very well...report of an off limits Peregrine nest ...Peregrines are endangered and no one...climbers mostly...are allowed close to them...report from the SF Zoo with pics...Zoo's in sad shape...but the report pics are great...and I'm going to schedule a visit there!....went over to Stoneman Meadow...see if the Three Fawns were about...tourist reported seeing them evening before...Six Bucks and a Doe about...bicycler reported seeing Bear by Stoneman Bridge...and I hurried over...sometimes I think they are pulling my leg!...anyway...I wandered about the river bed and I think I got a pic of a new Lizard...pedaled past the A Meadow...but no Bear there either that's been reported often lately...then when I got to Cook's saw Bear bound across the road with three Rangers in pursuit!...no pic or clip...all happened too fast!....meandered out to Chapel Bridge...and a Black Phoebe was doing forays on one side...on the other the Three Mergansers with mom were approaching...I saw them first with the binocs...it was like an approaching flotilla!...took a long clip of the Phoebe which is cool...for sometime...went out to Chapel Road...admiring the Goldenrod bloom...and woke up the Doe right beside the path...in fact..right beside the old White Headed Woodpeckers home...I have clip of Doe here from awhile back..wonder if it's like its place...anyway...did the sleepy clip...then thought to to pan out to include the Falls...and when I zoomed back in she was up and alert...a "spike" had shown up...spikes are yearling Bucks...apparently what Hunter's call them as they have just a pair of straight small antlers...continued on to Swinging Bridge...and got the binocs out to see if the Mergansers were in sight...the Flotilla was approaching!....the little ones scoot around and dive...I peddled quick across the wooden bridge...hung a right and rolled down across the gravel beach to the water edge and hit the brake...skidding to a stop!...unpacked the tripod...splayed it's legs out...and focused out on the Flotilla...and from the right the Doe appears and starts wading across the Merced!...I must have looked like either a genius or a nut...appearing to have anticipated the Doe showing up...it was just luck!...and I wanted to pan from the Doe to the Flotilla...which can be seen in the left corner...but the card filled up!...hooey!...had to delete some things in a hurry to get a clip of the Mergansers sailing under the Bridge...from now on I'm going to record a minute of blank video...and then when the card fills up I can quick delete that...and not something precious...lost the young Buck and some of the sleepy Doe...it was sunny warm blue with a little breeze...and the Valley is very quiet in the Backyard...but over towards the Village and Siberia...it's a zoo..

Oh..in trying to get a number...for the number of Deer in the Valley...I found a site with a bird count...will do more on this..but here is link...this will be a good start on what was about awhile back and what's here now!!
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grinnell/census.htm

the census taker walked from the Village to Happy Isles..I'll have to make up some cards like this and take them along!

Creek Duck Browsing

No pics or clips today...this one from a couple days ago at Duck Harbor...on the walk I took the trash bags along...and passed them along to the trashers who happened to be back at the same place...they showed no enthusiasm to pick things up....intoxicated and smoking...and I handed off the circumstance to the Rangers....so the walk had this distraction..........sunny warm blue with a little breeze....oh...I had a grumpy day after a fit full sleep last night!... (and have edited out a grumpy rant!)

Flycatcher

I'm pretty sure it's a Flycatcher...not sure exactly which one!...they were doing their thing...fluttering out and back to catch insects..."dive and turnabout like airborne baseball gloves"....this by Duck Harbor...

piles and piles of trash by Carp Hollow...(by the Merced near Chapel Bridge)....tomorrow I'll take some plastic bags...and gloves...and if it's still there I'll gather it up...

sunny hot...some fluffy clouds...and some over cast...but it didn't cool off...Moon very pretty tonight...

Binocs are powerful enough that I can scan the talus and walls for Critters...and even I suppose watch the Climbers!...vertical Trout I call them!

Oh!...the Jamaicans have reason to celebrate!

Lilypad Doe

Well...I did get up early and went over to the Apple Trees...and waited for Bear...no luck....so had breakfast and curled up...did get a clip of Doe eating an Evening Primrose...and other things!...I'm acquiring a collection of Critters eating things!....woke up with time to go to the Post Office and pick up my new binoculars...really neat...should have had these all along!...on the way happened upon the Doe in the clip...which walked under the boardwalk and straight to the Lily Pads...on the way back sat at Duck Harbor...looking through the binocs....not much time...so tomorrow will do some serious searching for Hawk!...have a book now...How to Spot Hawks and Eagles....nice book...and authors have another which I've Amazon ordered...How to Spot Owls!....the text is good and the pics excellent!....have ordered the makings of a small digiscope too...one within my budget!....book had the recommendations for binocs and scopes which I studied out....happy with the binocs...have to wait to see how the scope does!...sunny warm and blue until some clouds came in...tropical looking things...but no rain...and didn't cool things off much!...oh...I learned collecting feathers is illegal...doing such for profit would do much harm to birds...which is the why of it...a good why...and explains the look from a horse riding Ranger in Tuolumne last summer when I stood to the side with a Blue Jay feather in my cap!...

quote

Yellow Pond Lily (Nuphar Advena)—The only place in Yosemite where this lily is found is in a little pond a short distance from the Sentinel Hotel, on the opposite side of the river. In the higher range of mountains it is found in many small shallow ponds.

The Yosemite Valley (1910) by Galen Clark
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/the_yosemite_valley/plants.html

unquote

Doe and Two Fawns

Went over to Post Office for the First Day issue...got a cache and some pins....on the way back by the Arch Branch Oak I heard a Fawn bleating across the road...started out to see and the Fawn came running across the road....traffic putting on the brakes!...the Fawn met up with Mom Doe in the Elm Tree Oaks...and the second Fawn joined them...I didn't know what spooked them...but while filming them bounding out into Cook's I heard the Blue Jays making their warning call...oh what to do!?....well...I left off from the Deer and went across the street to investigate the Blue Jays...a gaggle of French tourist all had their cameras out and in pursuit into the Suburb's Woods....I was too late...Bobcat was gone....and that must be what upset the Deer....I thought to go ahead though...all the way to the Apple Tree Path at Lower Falls....and Bobcat was there...right on the path between the fences...but I pushed the wrong buttons on the 12x!....I dont do that often!...and lost the pic...and clip...and I tried again but the French showed up again...plowing through with their 3xs out in front...sigh...anyway...it was good to see Bobcat again....and get a pic...if just a still of its tail!....went to Duck Harbor and sat awhile...expectant I must say that Bobcat might come along...something did snag a squirrel or something..as I heard an outcry...but all that came along was a solitary female Mallard..got a really nice clip...on the way back found some Duck feathers...so that was sad...sunny...HOT....and blue...not much breeze....report from daybreak of Bear up in the Apple Tree where I saw Bobcat...and while looking at the Bear the reporter reported that Bobcat came by too!...I'll have to get up early.

Meadow Antleers

Slept in....made a short walk to Creek's End...and sat awhile...sunny warm blue...with just a little wind...and took no pics!...this one from yesterday evening in Cook's.

Mergansers on the Creek

Soon as I got to the Creek I happened on Merganser....didn't know they were all there!....set up the tripod low....after stirring up a sunbather!....and waited for them...first Two with Mom...than the Five with Mom...at Creek's End was the Mallard Mom and Three...Ranger Duck with Friend were part of Edie's photo assignment!...this all in the afternoon walk...

In the evening I started out on the Shuttle to Siberia for dinner...but it went out of service at the Village...lost my seat...so peeked in the Store...long lines...got a root beer and amos cookies from the machine...and went out to the Artist Grove and sat....got a neat clip of one Buck....then over the by Lily Pads saw another and sat and waited....wanted to get pic and clip of the Buck next to the Pads...I've just read Galen Clark's description of the Lily Pads in his 1910 book, Valley of the Yosemite, I think its called....the Pads have been there for over a hundred years!...Buck obliged and browsed its way to the Pads...and a friend happened by walking their dog...which provided narration and a heads up stare from Buck!...then noticed was a Doe with One Fawn...so...even in the low light I got some neat clips and pics with conversation too!....I paddled out into the meadow a little...and regretted stirring up One Fawn...but it just hopped a bit...than came back to the Doe...and they both settled into the grasses for the night...earlier I'd annoyed the Mergansers....see clip...along with the sun worshiper!...and the Rubber Duckies are probably over the top...but fun...brb...
the Rubber Duckie song can be found here...or a search...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Wkq8iouEY

it's a little short for the clip...but...I guess this is the tune for this one!...I forgot to mention that the tune for Picnic Bench Squirrels is New Soul...YouTube search will bring these up!

sunnywarmblue with a breeze....

Forest Hawk

The Ducklings were at Creek's End in the evening....and I had the tripod legs splayed out....something I haven't tried before!....better way of getting low with the camera than lying on the gravel!....anyway...while taking the clip of the Ducks I heard Blue Jays raising the alarm in Chapel Meadow... and if I hadn't taken time to change to sandals...I might have gotten a pic of Hawk...or Owl...which flew back across the Merced into the Deer House Woods after I just got to the other side!....I was off...got another glimpse following the calling Jays following Hawk..or Owl...wound my way all the way to Wee Bridge...where I looked a bit of a fool peering at the tree tops from the path!....

In the afternoon walk the noisy Jays were right above the Tiki Temple...and so was Hawk...got the pic that time....

...tonight's clip is from a few days ago...sunny warm blue...and cooling off a bit after sunset.

Pics from the Picnic Benches

Was at Creek's End...Mallards about!...and heard Hawk!....somewhere back over the Creek....so picked up and went to the Deer House and picked a bench to sit and listen...but that was it...one call from Hawk...scree scree scree scree...but the Ground Squirrels playing on their new jungle gym caught my attention....lots of clips...one very long of them chasing all about I thought to post....but this one has the charm!....tree in background mars the silhouette....but the background was unexpected...and takes over!....sunny warm blue....Flicker was too far away!

clip is to the tune New Soul by Yael Naim

Yellow Flowers

Ground Squirrel pic is from yesterday by the Creek....the other two from Duck Harbor behind the Deer House...where I went after the Post Office on a short walkabout....just sat awhile...was sleepy from staying up to watch the Olympics...and delayed Ferguson!....sometimes I catch the Critters observing me!

OH....sunnywarmblue!