Falls Raven

At Breakfast, a report of a Kestrel out in Two Top Meadow....yesterday...but I geared up and went out the Path to thereabouts...quiet except for Raven...pic and clip...pic of the Meadow, which is brown with the snow patches!...report too of Bear at Creek Bridge this afternoon....sunny warm blue....

Lodgepole Point

Shuttled back and forth to the Village and Post Office...errand and mail...had a little time left and paddled out to Creek's End...pic....driftwood on the shingle...and a new twig!...sunny warm blue...Brown Creeper was singing...dee dee deedleedee...likely a bit early for Spring...Monday is Groundhog day...and time for the second transit...shadows almost a guarantee....

Blog Links

I'll be adding to this list of favorite blogs and web sites...so check back now and then!! And be sure to check out the Followers sites and blogs!

Birds


This link is to a Yahoo group of local birders...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yosemite_area_birders/


Life on the East Side

Here a page about Bald Eagles on the East Side at Sierra Visions...
http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/eastern-sierra-bald-eagles/

Life in Yosemite

Life in Yosemite
http://lifeinyosemite.com/


View from the Little Red Tent
http://littleredtent.net/LRTblog/

Bakersfield
http://cameravisionstoshare.blogspot.com/

Sunrise Falls

Paddled over to the Post Office...lots of Blue Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers, and one Downy Woodpecker in Sleepy Owl Woods....thought to come back through Cook's...but just crossed the Road and walked through the Oaks alongside...and was thinking how often Hawk perches in the Old Elm...and just as I came up on the Elm, Hawk flew off over to Flicker Grove...a fine sight!...tried to follow, but YIs hooting and hollering startled Hawk off again...lost Hawk in the Deer House Oaks....clip is from the other morning....friends went up to Ohmygosh Point in the morning...and in hearing their story, I mentioned the clip I made...'Oh..make a time lapse!'....which had been my thought too...as it's too long to post the full version...so the clip is condensed!!....report of Bobcat over by the A. Rooms...and reports of the startling Rock Slide thereabout...heard as far away as El Cap....'lots of dust'...report of Mountain Lion in Village...but suspect it was Bobcat...sunny warm and blue....neighbor appears to have purchased the four by four...so now I can have wan looks when I pass it parked everyday!!...hmmph...

Coop

Paddled out to the Deer House...perched on a picnic bench for awhile....pic...it's quiet....and I didn't have much time....so picked up and back to the Cabin, and to Work...clip is from 2007 Xmas Eve...one of several clips I have of Coop that day...this one special!....report of Bobcat 'for the third time!' by Sleepy Owl Woods....sunny warm blue...

Downy And Coyote

Got up early and saw the SnowTree around the Falls...took some pics and clips....one very long of the morning sun reaching the top and then gradually lighting up the whole Falls....after Breakfast curled up...and didn't wake up until well after Noon!....paddled over to the Post Office....Downy pic and clip....picked up Tuna sandwich at the Store...and sat awhile in the Village...then out to Cook's and the Big Loop...on the way, a talkabout about cars, and toothaches....glad I haven't either!...though the teeth act up now and then, and four wheel drives going by get a wan look...sat awhile by the Chapel Road...the 25 mph sign where I last saw Coyote....sky gazed...Falls gazed!...hoping for Hawk...picked up and started to Swinging Bridge...and Coyote showed up across the Road!....clips...lost Coyote back by Sentinel Bridge...thought to continue the Loop, but instead went and perched again on the Long Fallen Ponderosa...like twenty Ravens were about..and the little Starling flock....watched the sunset.... headed back to the Cabin while still light on Half Dome...sunny blue cold cold in the morning before sunrise!

Ravens

Paddled over to the Post Office...tax time......picked up lunch in the Village...egg salad sandwich, chips, hershy's, elixer....walked out to Cook's...and perched on the Long Fallen Ponderosa in the Artist's Grove....and Two Ravens, and the little flock of Starlings that's been about the last few days, gathered around.....what to do!....a Raven was on each side of me within arms length...patient...as Ravens can be!...while I munch munched potato chips...least I offend Odin, I offered one up...just one...there's a rule about feeding the Critters after all!....see clip....took clip of Japanese tourists gathered around the Woodpecker Tree...picked up and back at the Cabin happened on Mama Doe and Two Fawns in the Backyard...tried for pics and clips in the good light...and got one pic, one posted, I like....happened on a four wheel drive mid size truck out front for sale...enquired...and now on tenterhooks!...'I'll sleep on it', I said....after snack at Last Chance...and some photog talkabout....still trying to figure out how to frame the giant prints!....made the Big Loop counterclockwise...saw two tourists on Swinging Bridge...and one jogger came by...and that was it!...tourists... and critter wise!!...report of Bobcat in the Village......clearing clouds after the little storm....cold...Lower Falls had an IceTree too this morning....lots of Frazzle in the Creek...some of the Snowcone broke up in the RainyDays....oh...report of 'forty' Deer in the Backyard last nite gamboling....an exageration, for sure!...reporter reported..."Buck charged me!"....well...they do that this time of year....little green grasses have come up for the Deer...see clip...oh!!...at last light Hawk flew high over Cook's and the Merced towards the Glacier Wall...and I forgot the Ranger out for a walk by the Deer House and our exchanged 'hellos' and comments on the evening light...which wasn't the wonderful brightness because of the broken clouds...but some pink pretty ones were above the Cathedrals...days ahead though look to be Blue....I'm in anticipation of getting more Hawk pics in the Aspens with the new camera...Coop's orange feathers, orange lichen on the grey aspens...and the blue sky with the reflecting snow...think double A noted it was worthwhile to visualize things before hand!!...have a pic like this...light so bright Coop's pupil is retracted (contracted)!...but with the S3 12x's six megapixels..want the new camera's 12!!

Frozen Lily Pond

Paddled out to Cook's...began to snow a little when I was out on Chapel Bridge...made a clip....began to snow some more when I was on Creek Bridge...another clip!....the Lily Pad Pond filled up..then froze a bit overnite..pic...Falls were shrouded with FogClouds...thought to get pic of Storm Clearing Over Halfdome...but the dark snow clouds came in...didn't snow very much!...but on the walk home tonight, I could see the tree branches are snowdusted...out and about tomorrow with all the gear!....cool cloudy snowy....

Rainy Day Blue Jay

After Breakfast, I paddled back to the Creek...slush slush through the rain soaked snow!....the water's high..but not so high as I saw it last Spring...above the Twin Fallen Cedars...which would be another five feet or so...took some more Falls clips there, and in front again...and clip of Raven and Blue Jay in the rain...and found some Mushrooms right behind the Cabin...pic...cloudy rainy cool...lots of Blue Jays flying about the Pine Tree Tops above the Cabin...calling...I think they must gather there for the night...

Rainy Day

Paddled over to the Post Office...through the Oak Grove...and back the same way...couple pics...waiting at the Lower Falls Crosswalk, friend across the street shouted out...'critters over there!'...and a group of Deer were at the base of the Rocky Slope....there was a really good pic to be taken if they had all just posed with heads up and bodies parallel...at the same time!...still a fun pic...and glad to see them...I've begun to notice what great backgrounds the Rocky Slopes are...Falls clip from walkabout's beginning...thought to make a series...the one yesterday..and the Rainbow Falls clips..and tomorrow the Falls should be even bigger...these two days of rain have been deceptive...it doesn't seem to rain that much..but the Falls are really full...and a lot of the ephemeral Little Falls are coming over the Rims....rainy cloudy cool day...oh!...during my break at work a talkabout with the Explorer Bloggers!...I want to make up another blog that will link to the other blogs...I could do it off to the side here, but I'd rather not have Fauna and Flora become too cluttered(well, not 'cluttered'...big)!!...for sometime...National Wildlife Federation magazine came in the mail...Beluga blowing bubble ring on cover...

Loud Falls

All rainy out this morning..slept in 'till worktime!...took the clip just outside the Cabin...this about One...tonight the Falls are really loud!...try to get out at daylight and take another clip...forecast says a 'line up' of moderate storms coming...rain cloudy and cool...

No Rain Clouds

Paddled over to the Post Office ...replacement print came...enlargement of pic on Cabin wall of Coop got clunked by the tripod...tipped it over negotiating the Dishevelment!...took one pic looking across Cook's to the Deer House and Cathedrals..clouds came over...but nothing but a few sprinkles...this view from Boardwalk a favorite...have better pics..and a painting or two too!...another Critter quiet walkabout...there's Summer Cold Cool Warm and Hot...and there's a Winter set...today was Winter Cool and Cloudy...could see my breath just a little...

Falls Rainbows

Shuttled over to Siberia for early Breakfast.....afterwards looked out across Stoneman Meadow to see if the morning...eight thirty by then!...Sun was making a Falls Rainbow...no luck...friend came along for the walkabout and we Shuttled back to the Village, where the Rainbow was spotted through the Shuttle Window....hopped off and took some pics and clips...picked up and walked to the A. Rooms....same route as yesterday!...thought to point out the Podium I discovered yesterday....area where the Deer were...and is known as 'Church Bowl'..."oh!"...my friend said, "I have lots of pics from here and the Podium!"...hmmph...anyway...friend cant walk too good and we made a careful loop over the Three Arches Bridge and Sugar Pine Bridge and back to the A. Rooms....had hoped for some critters!...just a couple Grey Squirrels....Shuttled to Last Chance for early lunch...just a snack...still full from Breakfast!...discovered a Chicaree right by the entrance...dont know how I missed this Douglas Squirrel...and I walk by the Cedar it was climbing everyday...see clip...reported that going back several Winters there have been two Chicarees living here...but just one this Winter...and a bit of a mystery where they would disappear too during the Summer....back by the Creek, I might speculate!...where I see them...Chicaree is probably the 'small squirrel with long tail' reported a couple weeks ago...back at the Cabin, I curled up for a nap and went out again late in the afternoon...it is soo quiet!...critter wise...lots of bangity bang construction and traffic noises...report of Bobcat by Lower Falls....and Coyote was seen from the Shuttle in Stoneman Meadow in the morning....sunny cool and blue....forecast says chance of rain soon...and there were a few clouds in the evening...

Acorn Eaters

Paddled over to the Post Office...then picked up lunch....tuna sandwich, chips, hershy's, elixir...put it all in the Camelback...and thought..thought...to try again to find the use trail up Indian Canyon...got as far as the A. Meadow Picnic Tables...and the Deer were there...where and doing what I thought they would be with the snow covering their usual food...eating acorns in the North Walls' sunny snow free Rocky Slopes....the Live Oaks thrive on these slopes...both sides....after the Deer pics and clips...picked up and went to the Trail that crosses Indian Creek on the way to Lower Falls...I still can't find the old use trail there...scrambling up the Creek boulders looks problematic!!!...just the little up made me huff and puff...and was geared up way too warm...so paddled back to the Road and across the A. Meadow...and back the way I came and out to Cook's...sat a long while at the Long Fallen Ponderosa in the Artist's Grove...Ravens were about..thought of how they seem to have a lot of free time...they were playing in the sky....finished lunch and made the Big Loop....enjoying the wonderful afternoon light...Half Dome pic and Cottonwood pic there along the Merced at Ozone Beach...sunny warm a few clouds....oh...heard a frog while doing the Deer clips!...Falls clip with digi out in the A. Meadow...was too close!..there's an early morning Rainbow pic to take from this vantage angle...will try tomorrow further back...in Stoneman Meadow!!...oh!....report of Bobcat jam at the A. Meadow...hour or so after I was there!!

Acorn Bears

Clip is from Fall, 2007....paddled out to Cook's and sat awhile at the Woodpecker Tree...tried for a clip of one of the Grey Squirrels that lives in the Ponderosas thereabouts....but no luck!...and no pics today...so dug out the old Bear clips...I dont have many Bear pics or clips...relative, I mean, to how often they're about!...sunny warm and blue...the January 2008 refrain!....I watch Bear with fascination doing the most mundane boring things!!...in a clip or for real!!!...oh...first Bear is number 100...and the second one ol' 46....I should check around and see if an archive has record of each Bear's sightings....date tagged and such...

Grey Squirrel Talk

Paddled over to the Rocky Slope behind Sunnyside...where the trail to Upper Falls begins...thought to go up it aways, but not enough time....ice and snow here and there but the ground is mostly clear...lots of Live Oak acorns...and some fresh Deer tracks....heard Grey Squirrel Calling near the Tent Camp....sighted with the MiniDigi...clips and pics...I seldom go to this area...and just pass through when I do on hikes up to the Falls...but it has a good variety of Trees and lots of Blue Jays about...and Grey Squirrels too!.... and I'm thinking it would be worthwhile to include it in the walkabouts....sunny cool and blue...Tourists seem in a festive mood...and lots of them at Last Chance!!

Raven Flight

Paddled over to the Post Office...and back through Cook's...the standard route!!...still quiet...but found an Acorn Woodpecker hole in the Oak Grove...well..there's lots of holes!!...but they're using this one...sighted in with the didgi but Woodpecker wouldn't oblige...now that I know where this one is, I'll keep trying...report of Bobcat being buzz bombed by Ravens behind the 'Burbs...and report of 'ten' Deer in the A. Meadow...I think maybe the Deer go up on the North Side Wall Rock Slopes...it's snow free....and they're should be Live Oak acorns...I'll have to check that notion tomorrow!!!...pretty soon it'll be snow free in the Backyard too!...sunny warm for January and blue...

Busy Printing

Pic is the one pic I took yesterday...back by the Creek...clip is all I took today...on a very brief walk!...just enough time for a quick late late breakfast of Orange Juice and a Bear Claw while perched on a snow covered boulder by the Creek...had the Leki Hiking Pole with, with the threaded top...put the 12x on it and tried it out...too low to look through the view finder...so used the fold out lcd...and it works...as did the monopod with the Pileated Woodpeckers earlier this week...things wobble..but not uncomfortably so...and they will be good to have along....and may be the only 'pod' I take on up hikes...lugging the SLIK tripod up to the Little Valley was a bit much!...report of a Pileated Woodpecker at Granite Landing...and report of Bobcat over at the A......not much to report hereabout!...oh...Does over at A. too...pic tonight stems from the special interest I've acquired in Tree Branches...doing the crops of the Bird Pics, I really begin to notice them, and how they lead and draw the viewers eyes...reminds me of my Two Dimensional Design art class...which was just a miserable class...but a resource of notions I'm glad I acquired!!...I should have cropped out the fallen log with snow top...Printer is very cool....Cabin creaks tonight when the wind bends the Cedar...

Two Blue Jays

Clip is from last January 16 or so...weather was a bit desert like around then too!...paddled to the Post Office....and then back through Cook's....sat awhile on a Deer House picnic bench...hadn't seen much...a few Blue Jays...Ravens...two Grey Squirrels...some Acorn Woodpeckers...heard Downy Woodpecker...and one Flicker...finally Hawk came flying high against the Blue Sky acorss Cook's and on towards Lower Falls....picked up and followed...sky gazed...tree top gazed...but no luck...sunny blue with wispy clouds and warm...heard the Wren with the nasal call too...Teusday I think I saw a flock of Bandtails...too distant to tell...report of Bobcat on the Road between Happy Isles and Mirror Lake...and the Pileated Woodpecker pair reported over in Siberia...oh...the Two Blue Jays clip was already posted back 1/19....so I've reached that time when I figured out how to post up clips...I've been wanting to do of the ones I missed before then...still have some....but will likley stay only with current clips and pics now...the pen moves on...

Snowcone Rainbow

Paddled over to the Post Office....then made the Big Loop clockwise...sat awhile at the Oak Branch That Arks Over Halfdome...then awhile out on Lodgpole Point at the New Twig...saw one Ouzel and one Song Sparrow...pic of Raven at Chapel Bridge....lots of ice on the Path along the Road to Swinging Bridge...paused awhile on the Bridge to watch the Falls Rainbow...view time for this looks to be between noon and three...pics and clips...had late lunch...and back to the Cabin for a short nap...or so I planned!...but slept 'till sunset...had to be content with a quiet walkabout under the blue blue sky...and it was warm!...some temp records set over by the Coast....last night, a visit by Bear...some bangity banging...and evidence of Paw Marks on the Alcove Door!...lucky Bear didn't get in the Alcove......lots of bangity banging noise about Last Chance too!....a concerted effort to chip away the ice on the Roads in the early morning...skip loader's shovel sounded like a gong echoing in the Valley each time it struck down...snow from Xmas time has hung around 'till now...but will be gone soon if it stays this warm!!....made one big print with the big printer...and only messed up on paper...didn't have all the settings set and got an 8x10 0n the 13x18....two menus to set paper size in Elements...one in the Printer Properties menu...and one in Element's page setup...at least I think that's what happened!!....prints are satisfying...like they're real in contrast to TV screen pics!

Pileated Woodpeckers

I'd paddled all the way out to just below Washington Column...and hadn't seen much...tried for some Black Cap pics...but thereabouts I heard a loud Woodpecker at work...too loud for an Acorn Woodpecker, I thought!...and I went off the path into the woods, trying to be quiet on the crunchy snow, locating the sound...as I suspected it might be, Pileated Woodpecker was hard at work...the minidigi was all set up...that's the routine now..to have it mounted and ready to go on the tripod...and I took some clips...best I could, as Pileated was behind a lot of branches atop a broken small Fir (or Oak...or Cedar...not sure!!)...I tried for some pics with the new camera...but too far away and low light...everything kinda blurry!...and then a second Pileated showed up...or it may have been there all along, but I'd heard only one...oh...I'd really like to get clip and pic of both together!, I thought...and left off with the minidigi...mounted the 12x on the monopod...and crunched crunched through the snow...got sorta close...then realized I'd have to crawl to get closer!...crunchcrunchcrunch!...once under the Fir I was able to get the clip of the two together...have new camera pics too...but the branches are in the way...and the low light again!...one Pileated flew off...and I circled, crunching, to try an opposite side angle...Pileated is oblivious when at work, it would seem!...but branches were just too much...and the second Pileated flew off too...tree to tree...I think they live in the area...anyway...I'm happy with the clips!...continued on the Path to Mirror Lake...found a spot with a view of the Lake Meadow...and had lunch...egg salad sandwich, chips, hershy's, and elixer...was content until the YIs showed up and 'circled'...but I'd finished eating, so picked up and walked back to the Shuttle...hopped off at Lower Falls...went over to the Deer House road to see what became of the Broken Oak...just a stump now!...they took the whole Tree down....bit of an overdo, I'd say!...light by now was fading...had planed to be in Chapel Meadow for the afternoon light...but going to Mirror Lake was one touch-base too far...no Bears...no Bobcats...a few Grey Squirrels..and Black Cap Chickadees....a quiet day Critter wise...dont know where they all are on an almost Spring like cool sunny blue day!!...an early trip to the Post Office gathered in another package of giant printer paper...I...I have too many things to do!...and the Blue Sky tomorrow is sure to be walkabout opportunity...nice to be in the bunk a bit early tonight...very sleepy...PBS show on India on...Antique Roadshow had an old Fauna Flora book by a Forbes of India...gotta go look that up...and tomorrow make some prints!!

Bobcat Walk Two

Had time for a short walk...made a loop through Cook's....hoped to see the Acorn Woodpeckers...eating an acorn!....read through some web posts last night on whether they might cultivate larvae by putting the acorns in the trees...wiki's take is that's a misconception...another take said it was a myth...one poster had reservations...some things I'm considering...the noise and the vibration of the Woodpeckers' pecking stirs up the grubs...and one source has it that a large percentage of acorns are infested with larvae while still on the trees...and an old source describes the Woodpeckers behaviour during a cold winter...the search last night brought up a good bit on the acorns of not just the Black Oaks, but others all across California...seems they have crops of acorns in concert...a dry Spring one possible trigger...oh...I'll try to gather and coordinate all this..for sometime!!...clip is from Jan. 12, last year...and is just part of Bobcat's walk that day....something I wanted to do then, was put all the Bobcat clips together....as many of them happened at the same time of day, with the same snowy landscape...so far I have enough to show Bobcat going from the Deer House to Sleepy Owl Woods....thought was to get enough for all the way to Siberia!...still a hope, I'd say!...as report today of Bobcat on the Rocky Slope beside the A. Road....sunny blue and cool...tomorrow I gear up for Bobcat pics and clips!!...hopefully...but will be happy with whomever Critters come along!!

Merganser and Ouzel from Last January

I think it's a male Merganser in the clip...but not sure because of the Mallard like bill...wasn't sure last year either!...and it's the only pic and clip set I have of a male Merganser...and I've only seen one other...and that Merganser was flying furiously, as they do!....Ouzel clip is a favorite...pic of that scene is on my wall....Shuttled over to the Post Office...giant printer paper came in a giant box...so had to Shuttle back...and with a half hour left before getting ready for work, I watched football...haven't done that in a awhile!...rooting for the Chargers...and the Ravens.....sunny cool and blue....a bright full moon tonight...oh!...on thinking about the Acorn Woodpeckers, I've come to the notion that they use the acorns to cultivate the grubs...they put them in a hole, and the grubs feed on the acorn somehow...I cant imagine them actually eating an acorn...like a Bandtail!...and I've never seen that happen....have to search this out!...the results for sometime!!

Pine Needle Frost

Bear made a visit in the middle of the night...Tiki Trash Can was too full...heard bangity bang and suspected Bear was about...poked the 3x out the door and got a flash pic...and lightened it up in Elements...Shuttled over to the Post Office...monopod and clamp pod came!...I just like gear stuff...had a Muffin and Coffee...then walked back through Cook's...lots of frost on the plants and trees...pic though is from last week...and Merganser clip...if not the first, the second time I ever saw Merganser, from last year Jan. 8 or so...miss the Mergansers.....sunny cool and blue...and have to remember to not overload the Tiki Can...in the middle of the night, Coyote was howling too....the little forays into the night on trips to the WithOutBath is one of Tree in the Door's unexpected treasures!!

Oak Flicker

At the Oak Grove, on the way to the Post Office, I saw the Acorn Woodpeckers being chased near the snow covered ground...not sure what was chasing them, I looked through the binocs, and saw it was Flicker...just as I got the binocs focused, Flicker flew right towards me....very cool!...and landed on the far side of an Oak just in front of me...I had time to get out the new camera, and took a few pics I really like....the snow is acting as a reflector...and the light is terrific in these Blue Sky days...a little further on, I saw an Acorn Woodpecker 'base jump' from a high Oak branch to the snow...it just fell off the branch, and at the very last, spread its wings!...another very cool!....earlier Raven had flown low right toward me too, and just over my head...sorta that kinda walk!....at the Post Office, picked up the Leki pole with the camera thread bolt top...and walked back through Cook's...nearly back at the Cabin...and taking baby steps on the ice.....the ice was just an increment tilted...and one foot went..and when I tried to brace with the other... it went...and down I went!...kinda frustrating...I seem to have a unwanted talent for slipping and sliding....part of the trouble is the new boots soles are brand new hard rubber and slick...I'd wear the traks, but on pavement they hurt my feet...and taking them off and on from patch of ice to ice is such a chore!...but I better resort to that!....report of Hawks on Posts along the Road to Merced...clip tonight of Zeke, the Redtail, on the Perch...from last year, Jan. 5....sunny cool...near 50 degrees!...but the snow frozen and crunchy...a nice walk today seeing Flicker!!

Gable Woodpecker

Shuttled over to the Post Office...walked back with just the 12x along...saw three different Woodpeckers...and Chestnut Chickadee...and that might be one flying in the clip...top pic is still from the clip...pretty amazing it caught the Chickadee in flight!!...sunny cool and very blue...oh...SLIK makes a 'clamp pod'...an attachment that clamps to the tripod's legs, and holds a second camera...'so one can film and take photos' one reviewer comments!...which was my notion in a post back aways!.....immediately sent off for it...was looking for a monopod...got that too!...and a Leki hiking pole with camera mounting thread on the top of handle...and a ball head for the monopod..those are SLIK products....I probably need to get a video tripod...one that the head has a drag adjustment... they all look clumsy and awkward...but I'm getting better with the minididgiscope...part of the problem is when tilted up it wants to flop back...it's out of balance...when I'm sighting straight on it's okay...report of small Bear track in Bear Log Woods...(have to get pic of log that looks like Bear..it's a friends favorite, and requires the right lighting to manifest, or so they say when they saw my incredulity when shown it one evening!...it's in the trees between Two Top Meadow and the Road)....and a report of a discussion with a 'big' Bear in the middle of the night on the loading dock of Last Chance...subject: a bag of trash!...dont know but that Bear won...but I haven't the full report and particulars!!...see here and there by the Creek only one Deer's tracks...dont know where they all are, and only recent sighting of Deer were the Buck with Does at Lower Falls a couple days back.....

Acorn Woodpecker Home

Rode the Shuttle over to the Post Office...large size paper for the new printer hasn't come yet...walked back...checked out the Creek for fallen trees...there's a few..one small Oak now across the Creek...and reported the Cracked Oak on the Deer House Road...maintenance crew was driving by....feel better having reported it...for sometime is the collection of fallen-from-storm trees pics I have...it goes back aways!...when I got back to the Cabin, I sat a long while on the edge of the bunk...two episodes of Charmed...contemplating the Printer...which is huge....I snagged a little end table...from neighbor who snagged it from somewhere!...and the Printer looked at home on it...but it sat in the middle of the Cabin!....so I thought and thought and and gazed at the dishevelment...the floor gets cluttered so quick!...books packs clothes boots shipping tubes....the vacuum cleaner!...and of course the nightly accumulation of packaging trash...which Deer Mousy dearly loves to rummage through!...that goes out each morning...but I'm something of a packrat when it comes to periodicals, books and clothing...'Simplify!' Thoreau said, giving Buddha the toss...yeah, right...anyway...a light bulb finally went off in my head, and I thought to set the Printer on a long plastic storage box that holds my old snapshots under the bunk...and I'll store the Printer there and slide it out when in use...of course, what's on top of the box now, all my art papers, will migrate to the floor, I thought, and sighed!...but anyway!, with that solution in mind, I geared up for a late afternoon walkabout...the late sun was shining, and at Ozone Beach, Mallard was bottoms uping, and I took some pics and clips with the 12x, the light beautiful on Mallard's feathers....and set up the minididge...just as I got it ready, Mallard decided to paddle right over to my side of the Merced...and began foraging the bank...about ten feet away!!...so I left off with the digi, and tried for some more pics with the new camera...never could get things right...Mallard always too close to the snow covered bank...but it was fun!...picked up and started on the Big Loop counterclockwise...light was mostly gone...took the sunset pic at Two Top...and went across Chapel Bridge to Cook's..where there was almost still some light...the Sun plays through the Cathedrals in the late evening the way it does through the South Wall and Sentinel...at the Woodpecker Tree, I sighted the minidigi on Acorn Woodpecker busy finding those little grubs...and then noticed one was at Home in the hole near the top...pics and clip...while recoding a good friend happened by...and I had them look through the binocs...clip is a bookend to the one I posted of the White Headed Woodpecker!....picked up and went to dinner in the Village...pizza and garlic bread...Shuttled back to the Cabin...and the Printer...oh..I spent all evening installing and getting it to work!...and after doing a few favorites on some four by six art cards I have, it now resides under the bunk...and everything else is on the floor!...a remarkable accumulation!...sunny blue hazy and cool...

Two Top Pine Meadow Hawk

Got up early to gather in the Printer...brought it back to the Cabin, and after Breakfast it started to snow..so put the skis on and went out to Creek's End...snow is so hard and frozen it was tough skiing....made it as far as Ozone Beach when it began to RainSnow...so took the skis off and walked back to the Cabin on the Path......and with the SnowRain I just decided to walk...over to the Village through Cook's...at the Village, I wanted to take the Shuttle to Siberia to shop for winter boots...but only one Shuttle...going back to Last Chance...second one had chain problems!...so back to Last Chance...oh...to make a long day short!...I shuttled all over...looking for boots...looking for critters...one trip to Siberia just to take pics of broken Oaks...and the Leaning Pine at Stoneman Bridge has broken and fallen over into the Merced!...which is really tragic...it was a Photogs' and Artists' favorite...by the time I took a pic of it flopped in the River, it was getting on towards sundown...but I walked...with new boots from the Village!...back to the Village and out through Cook's once more...when I got to Chapel Bridge the sun broke through and splashed light on Half Dome...pretty dramatic!...pic...up till then I hadn't even stretched out the tripod legs...and in fact, didn't until I came upon Brown Creeper by Swinging Bridge...did get some pics of the sun over the Cathedrals...for sometime...it's a pretty walk with the storm clearing, over Chapel Bridge to the Chapel, and along the Road to Swinging Bridge...looks like Bierstadt's Winter oil of the Cathedrals...I mean, it's the one painting of his that really looks like what's here!!...sun was almost gone as I crossed the Bridge...and on the Path ahead Hawk flew across..just a few feet ahead...and Hawk flew out into Two Top Pine Meadow to the Cottonwood that stands alone out in the middle...I should try to describe this scene just with words, rather than pics and clips!...just words sometimes do better...for sometime!...I set the 12x on the tripod and let it record...for more than five minutes!...while I tried to get close with the new camera...the call in the clip I thought was Hawk...but it was Flicker...didn't know this until Flicker flew out of the Cottonwood to another Cottonwood by the Rockpile...tried to show with a still...Flicker is the tiny spot in top left of the Tree...and Flicker was calling so loud the call was echoing...oh...it was a marvel!!...I had time to go back and get the 12x, and time for one pic and short clip with it before Hawk flew off towards the Path...and Hawk is Martin of course, the juvenile Redshouldered...from yesterday, and last year's Martin Luther King Day....it was a snowrainy rainsnowy day...but not too cold...and began to clear at sunset...if the day seems hither and thither...it was!...but those five minutes or so out in Two Top were special!!...oh...early on took some Raven clips...for sometime...oh!...some very blurry pics of a new Woodpecker...by the Visitor's Center...well...new to me!...has a black barred back and about the size of Downy...will i d....sometime!...oh!!...report of two 'big' Bears mating out in Owl Woods!!

Winter Blue Sky Hawk

The Fierce Sparrow was by the Merced shore under Chapel Bridge...by the Broken Cottonwood!...and I'd just finished taking pics and a clip...and I was cold!...nose and finger tip numb cold!....out in Sentinel shaded Cook's Meadow, I'd checked my key chain thermometer...it was eighteen degrees!...at ten thirty!...this is very unusual in the Valley...and to warm up I leaned back on the Bridge railing...soaking up the sun peeking past Sentinel...and gazed downstream to Creek's End...and along came Hawk flying in the Beautiful Blue Sky right towards me!...
I thought to hurry to get a camera for a pic...but decided to just watch...expecting Hawk to fly overhead...and Hawk perched instead in the Alder Tree over the Bar just a ways out...or maybe a Cottonwood...have to check!...anyway...I had time then to take some long distance pics with the new camera...I was about to use the 12x for a handheld video...the minidigi was on the tripod...but instead decided to try for a didgi clip...I took my eyes off Hawk just for a moment to make adjustments...and looked back..and back..and blinked...and I have no idea where Hawk flew off too!...I checked every Perch Tree from the Chapel to the Deer House and out in Cook's and even back over to the Oak Grove...where this walkabout had started...I went around Cook's almost completely twice!....but Hawk was off somewhere unknown...and it looks to be Martin...which I haven't seen since last President's Day..the Juvenile Redshouldered Hawk...doing up the post, I was reminded of some more of the 2007 Xmas Eve clips...and include them with the Fierce Sparrow and the Frenetic Squirrel from today...the shaky Squirrel clip reminds me a bit of Last Chance Tourists!...it was a fine walkabout...until looking for Hawk I saw the broken Oak behind the Deer House..the Oak 'limbs' are often like entire trees...and one has fallen right over the power or phone line that connects to the Back Porch...the grape like vine is knocked down!...oh...it's such a fine part of photos of the old House as it grows across from the Garage to the Back Porch...and will be missed...maybe when the the Workmen clean up they'll re-hang it all!...got pics of another limb on the Deer House Road that is dangerously cracked...for safety, hazardous trees along Roads and Paths are felled...it's very sad to see them break off...as the Oaks aren't regenerating at all...the few protected ones in the Oak Grove are more a showcase than a substantial effort to help the Oaks...for sometime, still, is a post up of the article I found about the Kellog Oaks hereabouts...it seemed to suggest that the Indians planted groves...or that the Oaks propagate as Groves...I'm very curious to see how all the little ones survive about the Deer House, and else ware...there were lots from last Spring's bumper acorn crop...and the Deer hardly troubled them...or the Tourists' trampling...I may have stepped on one or two ...a fine morning...and things have quieted down...mercifully!...sunny blue and eighteen degrees in the Sentinel shade!!...oh...Flicker was calling, and playing Hawk!...way up high on one of the Deer House Oaks!!...report of lots of slip and slide falls on the ice...wear shoe chains...

Winter Blue Sky Downy Woodpecker

Walked out to Two Top Pine Meadow...on the way kept hearing Downy Woodpecker...in fact, nearly everyday I hear Downy's chatter...but Downy's seldom seen!...on the way back near Ozone Beach I found Downy in the bare tree branches along the Merced...took lots of pics!...but very hard to get close and a good pose...and clip was best I could do too...with these bright sunlit days ahead, I hope to get better clips and pics!...very pretty little bird...one almost-with-wings-spread pic...sunny cold and very blue!...walked back and forth to the Post Office before breakfast...new printer has arrived...but cant get to it 'till Monday...which will give me time to make room for it!

Oak Grove Hawk

I was on the way to the Post Office...and Antlered Buck with Does came gamboling down from the Rocky Slope at Lower Falls...took a long clip from the other side of the mini Meadow....Deer then started up the Path to Lower Falls...along with the Tourists!...so I followed....caught up too late to see the Does cross the View Bridge...but Antlered Buck was there...clip and pic...by now not enough time left for walk to the Post Office...so just continued the Path Loop and came out to the Oak Grove by Bobcat's and Bear's Appletrees...looked up and saw, as I thought, 'that's not Raven, that's Hawk!'...on the highest branch of the highest Oak...and it's Woodpecker Tree Redshouldered Hawk!....the 12x was set up on the Tripod...took pics and clips...branches and distance a difficulty...set up the minididgi...some more pics and clips...I moved out to the Path and Road for a sun behind me angle...and found a place in the Oaks Grove where I could frame Hawk with the Falls in the background....more pics and clips...work time approaching and I went over right under the Tree Hawk was in and with the new camera got a few blurry pics of Hawk in flight...Hawk flew off towards Fern Ledge....even blurry, very cool to see Hawk's wings undersides....kinda cloudy and cool and tried to rain...maybe higher up a little snow...good to see the Deer about...and Hawk!