Bullock's Oriole

After late Breakfast, Shuttled over to the Village...paddled back along the Road by Bobcat Meadow...sat awhile near the Elm...Bullock's Oriole Pair chasing about...farfar away pics....Acorn Woodpeckers, Robins, Violet Green Swallows, Redwings, Ravens, Starlings, Flicker call, Mallard, Blue Jays, Mountain Chickadee, Juncos...sunny blueblue warm...at Lunch: sat awhile at the Ozone Cottonwoods....sometime One, or Two, or Three, Mallards flying about, Black Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Blue Jays, Starlings, Redwing, Robins, Juncos, and, First Black Grosbeak of Season...top pic up..(bottom pic, a pic from last year, a missed upload!)....Black Phoebe was about at Lunch yesterday too, flycatching from the Fallen Cottonwood...report of Bobcat by Sentinel Bridge....oh...Yellow Flowers were in the Grasses by the Elm-- American Wintercress, I think... it's been awhile since I've sighted Bullock's Oriole...posted sightings: 6/22/09, 4/30/08...but wait...first I searched old posts with 'bullock's' which brings up three posts, including this one...second search, 'oriole' brings up twelve posts.....I dont know how many sightings I didn't post about...but I dont see Orioles that often, and being scarce hereabout, and colorful, most sightings I probably posted....brb...well, I went through 2007 posts, and no Orioles....that's not to say Orioles weren't about then!, but I didn't note with pic until 4/08.....on my walks, now, I am sensitive to Bird Calls, Bird Shadows, rustlings, glimpses of movement, and I sorta know the times of day, and micro eco niches, hereabout, Birds frequent...sitting by the Elms is a good place to wait, and see Birds!...and lots of Ground Squirrels!.....wiki's bit on Bullock.....Bird names are curios, mostly the product of the nineteenth century mania for specimen collecting and competing to label everything with a latin name memoralizing one's discovery...and since most birds didn't have names until scientific curiosity attached labels, there's a real dearth of names for these lovely Birds that will fit in poem, or a song, or a story tale....on that note, here's another Fauna Song: youTube--

Red Robin by Al Jolson

Mudflat Ducks

After late Breakfast, paddled back to the Cabin...paused a bit by the Path...Little Birds about...heard first Chickadee of the Season...deeee dee deee....and at the Cabin, napped until worktime...hmmph...sunny blue with hazy clouds, warm...pics up from Merced Wildlife Refuge...Mallards and Cinnamon Teals...yet to id Little Long Legs....

Windy Day Hawk

Skipped Breakfast (out and about too late), and paddled out to Bobcat Meadow....Algae growing in the Hummock Ponds...time enough just to make the Outside Loop...quiet...Buck at CAD Beach...Three Mallards at Ozone Beach, near actually...Two Mallards flew low over the Merced, and to a Pond in the Woods...then One Mallard flew up from Pond by the Path and to the Woods....sunny, blue, hazy clouds, warm....report of Bear at the A Meadow....pics up from Merced Wildlife Refuge...as I walked Meadowlark Lane (a short Trail thereabout at the entrance) Hawk was always overhead, riding the Wind...hesitated to take pics...have lots of pics of Redtail Hawk overhead!....but Hawk was calling calling... and so I clickclickclicked...and then Hawk flew near the Sun, which I knew would backlight Hawk's feathers...and took some more pics, among them the two up, which I discovered in reviewing last night...very cool....oh....I described the new Flowers I was seeing on the roll down the hill Tuesday to friend at work...Lupine, purple and white, and a Yellow Flower...'tar weed'...'huh?'...I asked for repeat three times!, not sure of hearing sometime...anyway, the Yellow Flowers I saw are indeed called 'Tar Weed"...name earned from their sticky Stems...anyway, Tar Weed is blooming a lot, and if my memory remembers right of previous Canyon Blooms, Poppies will follow, and indeed, friend has seen a few Poppies...I've seen a few Poppies on the rollouts, just a very few at Carrizo Plain....and sometimes lots of Poppies, and Daffodils, too, in Towns like Mariposa...Mariposa always has Flowers....but these are planted I imagine....recent Flower pics for sometime soon!

Windy Day Osprey

After early Breakfast, rolled down the hill to Merced for an errand...that done, a whole afternoon to rollabout....at Merced Wildlife Refuge. much of the Water gone, and recently--all the Birds puttering about the Mud Flats....still some Water at Bitten Marsh...oh...more report for sometime..too much for tonight, as I went to Bear Creek Unit too, and came back up the hill on Osprey Road....Osprey was again on the Power Pole, and some Nest Materials hanging about here and there, but Osprey was content to just perch...pic and clip up....more to report too...Hornitos is second pic....Rolling Oak Hills still Green, but drying out, and more Flowers showing..pics for sometime...lots of blueblue sky, warm, breezy....sighted Two Deer while rolling by Beaver Bend in the morning...and an RK Bear Sign beside the Road by El Cap Meadow...

Cinnamon Teal

Paddled back to Creek's End at Daybreak, but likely a little late for the Dawn Chorus, or hoo hooo....quiet walk through the Woods, and to Last Chance for Breakfast.....Shuttled over to the Village, and returned along the Road past Bobcat Meadow....quiet walk too!!....Redwing singing in the Meadow....more Birds are about...at the Cabin, napped.....cloudy over cast cool...at Last Light, took along to go Dinner, and sat awhile at Cottonwood Bend...Three Mallards on the opposite shore of the Merced....tried for pics of Brown Creeper in one of the Lodgpoles...there were Two Creepers, and missed close up pics...sat awhile too at Heron Point...fiddled with Chinese Brush I purchased at the Art Center, which is open for the Season...oh...Two Bucks across the River from Creek's End...faraway pics... report of hoo hooo in the mornings at the Train Wreck...Cinnamon Teal pics from Carrizo Plain along Seven Mile Road....a new bird, for me!...web report of White Ibis in El Cap Meadow with pics...bit jealous of that!

Flicker Flight

Out and about sorta early, and after Breakfast paddled out to Two Top Pine Meadow, and along the Merced as far as the Broken Cottonwood.....nearing the Cabin on return, sighted Flicker by the Path....pic...Acorn Woodpecker was out in the Meadow....faraway pic of Two Birds, not sure of id...pic for sometime...Robins, Blue Jays, Raven, Mallards flying about...Brown Creeper call...Juncos...Song Sparrow...Redwing call....Starlings...Swallows at Ozone Beach...Grey Squirrel, Ground Squirrel, and maybe Douglas Squirrel, farway pics!!....sunny blue with broken clouds, overcast in the afternoon, warm....Jurassic Park is on tv....some good lines!....and this morning, Mary Poppins, with a song to add to the Fauna Song List...brb....

youTube Song link: Feed the Birds

Doves

Slept in again, almost all the way to worktime...watched BB Playoffs a bit on tv....cloudy sprinkles warm, tourist described as 'dreary'...but it isn't the cloudy weather, that deters, it's the crowdy valley!...anyway, at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Boulder...Robin, Blue Jay, Song Sparrow, Redwing, unknown call, and Mallards flying along the Merced...one time Three Mallards going Down River, then Two Mallards returned and flew all about, and finally Up River...yesterday at Lunch, Three Deer at Cottonwood Bend, and Four Deer across the River in Chapel Meadow, all Does and Fawns...deep as the River is at present, Deer dont seem deterred from crossing!...Morning Doves pic up from Carrizo Plain....

Magpies

White Flowers are White Meadowfoam, I think!....link: http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=159



A mini donuts and orange juice morning--afternoon actually...paddled back to the Creek at the Swath with the little time before work...sat awhile on the RipRap....Juncos on the opposite Bank...Yellow Rump Warbler too...cloudy over cast, sprinkles all late afternoon, warm...at Lunch: sat on Ozone Boulder awhile...wondered a bit how the Two Boulders got there...they resemble RipRap Boulders--and I wonder where those are from too!!!....there are a lot of different Granites in the Valley...kinda like a lot of different cookie doughs that hardened before being made into cookies!....one Rock Fall below Elephant Rock is called the Chocolate Chips, or something like that!....see if I can pare down the sleep debt tonight, and get out and about more tomorrowmorrow!!!...pics up from trip that went by Lick Observatory....on almost evey roll over the Coastal Foothills, from up by Arcata, to down by Santa Barbara, I've seen Magpies....usually just One or Two Magpies....lots of Juncos at the Lunch Sit....Song Sparrow, Raven, Acorn Woodpecker, Blue Jay, too....

quote

Although granite dominates nearly the entire length of the Sierra, the granite is not monolithic. Instead, it is a composite of hundreds of smaller bodies of granitic rock that, as magma (molten material), intruded one another over a timespan of more than 100 million years. This multiplicity of intrusions is one of the reasons why there are so many varieties of granitic rock in Yosemite and the rest of the Sierra. The differences are not always apparent to the casual observer, but they are reflected in sometimes subtle differences in appearance and in differences in response to weathering and erosion acting on the rocks.

Yosemite National Park Geology

http://www.scienceviews.com/parks/ygeology.html

unquote

Sparrow

After late Breakfast, Shuttled over to the Village....on the Shuttle back, sighted Deer in the Oak Grove...hopped off at Lower Falls and walked back...pics and clips of Ten Deer, Does and Fawns....paddled over to the Deer House for Daffodil pic...Little Birds about...Junco, White Crowned Sparrow, and while sitting at Duck Harbor, sighted New Sparrow, for me, I think...can't recall Sparrow with Yellow Eyebrows, and can't find id in Books...Robin has Crest raised--maybe Males do that...Flicker about too, calling...sunny blue warm...at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Boulder...Merced within its Banks, but when temp is a bit warmer, River has risen over the Banks,, almost to the Edge of the Boulder (actually, there are Two Boulders, but only one sitable!)...quiet...Robin, Raven, Blue Jay, Juncos, and another White Crowned Sparrow... report of Rock Slide yesterday at Rocky Point...Thunder during Sprinkles late Last Night too...thought Thunder was Slides!....well, I googled 'sparrow yellow eyebrow' and find Sparrow is likely Savannah Sparrow, and new Bird, for me!...very cool!!...Robin may have Crest up as territorial sign...maybe as Robins arrive, Turfs are established!...oh...awhile back, a Shed showed up behind the Deer House...bit miffed at the the thought it might be a Tiki, but it's the Old Air Test Shed that was over by the River....wonder if Phoebe will make the move too...Mud Nest may still be attached...have to check!

Meadow Lark

After Breakfast, returned to the Cabin and read--Tony Hillerman mystery....got to the next to last chapter, and worktime....sprinkles, cloudy, warm...at Lunch: paddled over to the Cabin, and finished the mystery!....Hillerman's cool...includes the Landscape, and Critters, here and there...

quote

Leaphorn had been doing some listening too, but mostly he was enjoying his role as passenger--a position that policeman almost never hold. He had wasted a few moments trying to remember the last time he had rolled down the highway without being the driver. Then he concentrated on enjoying the experience, savouring the beauty of the landscape, the pattern of cloud shadows on the hills--all those details you miss when navigating through traffic--happy to surrender the job of staring at the center stripe, reading road signs, and so forth, to Sergeant Garcia.

unquote

quote

Leaphorn again pulled into the Burger King parking lot. He sat. Organized his thoughts.

Was he too tired to drive all the way back to Shiprock tonight? But the alternative was renting a cold and uncomfortable motel room, making futile and frustrating efforts to adjust the air conditioner, and generally feeling digusted. Then he'd have to awaken in the morning, stiff from a long night on a strange mattress, and do the long drive anyway.

... ... ...

Joe Leaphorn awakened unusually late the next morning. Just as he expected, his back was stiff, his nose was stuffy from a night of breathing air conditioned motel air, and his mood was glum. Exactly what he had anticipated.

unquote

quotes from:

Shape Shifter

by Tony Hillerman

I had read almost all of Hillerman's mysteries before going to New Mexcio on, well, it was a bit of a UFO tour, and I had a preconception of the Landscape and Towns from the books. I didn't realize how far apart everything is, and the Towns didn't look quite so antique and quaint. But I did get to talk to the King of the Navajos in the Town Square of Farmington. And much later, befriended a Navajo rug weaver hererabout, who could hike easily from the Valley Floor to Merced Lake and back in a day (another friend, a Russian, went to Hoffman and back). Navajo friend drank himself out of a job hereabout--a too common occurrence! This to say, Hillerman, for the most part, is on the mark, and I attribute this to his 'close observation'. Shiprock was cool, and the climbers were being kept at bay.

no pics, no walk today...

oh...Meadow Lark from Kesterson Wildlife Refuge

Vast And Quiet

Actually, there were lots and lots of Meadow Larks, and Crickets!...but quiet in the sense of only Nature's Sounds...a place to sit awhile all day!...and by the time I reached the Plain, it was afternoon, and with just a half tank of gas, and not sure if I could roll all the way across, and reach a Gas Station too, I turned Silver about, and went back to 58, and thought to go West to Morrow Bay...thought was to continue the way I had intend when diverted to the Plain on the last visit....but in Atascadero, set aside plans to spend the Night and visit Big Sur, and returned to the Valley....it was a day of indecision...hmmph...all week I daydreamed of going to the Plain to see Wildflowers, in spite of the web reports of not many Flowers blooming...not many Flowers blooming hereabout either!....and even thought to begin the journey Sunday night, but too sleepy...work just...makes us all sleepy...anyway, I did roll out around nine Monday morning, and took 41...at the Mariposa Grove, thought to just shorten the journey and visit Bass Lake, which I hadn't seen...now, having seen it, I still really haven't seen it!....just glimpses through the Trees as I rolled out and back...Bass Lake is a curio...a Reservoir with a Four Lane Highway to it, surrounded by Condos and such...not what I expected!...41 to Wawona from the Valley is a twisty twiny Road, and I didn't want to come back that way, taking a nap was really becoming attractive!, and so went to Oakhurst, and almost took the Road from there to Mariposa, but thought, "I've come this far..."...I have a lot of 'I've come this far' moments!!...and so continued out 41 down the Hill to 5 and South on 5 to Buttonwillow, where after some map study, reached 58, and turned into the Plain on the Dirt Road to Soda Lake, which became Seven Mile Road, and that reached Soda Lake Road, which henceforth, is Meadow Lark Road!....on all my rollarounds in the Flat Countryside there have been Meadow Larks, but on the Plain one can hear Meadow Larks singing mile after mile...very hard to get pics though!....on this, the second rollalong Meadow Lark Road, not so many Hawks-- Redtails, and One Northern Harrier...Bird pic up is of Ibis Flock, sighted from the Soda Lake overlook....Flowers are Tidy Tips, and, I think, Goldfields....here and there Patch Fields of these Flowers blooming...and not many other Flowers!...pics of those for sometime...more of report too!....today: after Breakfast, Shuttled over to the Village...Kodak print came of Tule Lake Eagle...in Oakhurst, there is West Coast, which does photo prints, and I keep meaning to stop in and find out about the printing they do...it is very simple to upload to Kodak online, and have prints arrive in mail....but expensive...and I can make my own prints with good inks, but I dont know if the inks are more light fast than Kodak's, or if West Coast's are more light fast than both!...color prints fade....some inks, I've read, are using earth mineral colors, like professional oil paints, which last for centuries....and, it's a kinda dilemma....on the few occasions I've given away prints, or accepted a token payment for my prints, I've come away wondering how long the colors will stay bright....and really, I often come to the concluding thought that I must make my own prints, and mount them in mats....a Cabin industry of sorts...hmmph...the colors on computer screens are knockdown....always a bit disappointed when after seeing pic up, I look at print of same....but prints, like books!, have their place...anywayanyway, Shuttled back, and napped, snacked for lunch at Last Chance, and napped some more!...and no pics or walk today...hmmph...oh...Ibis a new bird, for me...missed pic of Ibis Flock above Silver...

Tidy Tip

It's late, after a long day, though no later than usual!...just that I've been rolling around in Silver from eight am until midnight!!...Moon and Clouds very pretty tonight when I got back from a fluttering foray to Carrrizo Plain...report for tomorrow...pic up from thereabout....sunny blue hazy clouds, warm....looks to have Sprinkled in the Valley...

Hawk and Horse

Paddled back to the Creek and sat awhile...took along mini donuts and orange juice...Little Birds about...sunny with hazy clouds, later, puff clouds, and laterlater, Clouds blocked the Moon, much to the consternation of Photogs strung out along the Road in front of the Cabin!...not likely a Moonbow Falls show tonight!...at Lunch: sat a little while at Ozone Boulder, then moved over to the Woods for a little while...Mallard flying, Robin, Blue Jays, Phoebe...quiet...pics up of Second Hawk on Nest along Osprey Road last Tuesday...and Bucolic Horse!

Blue Jay With Twig

Checked the Dogwoods in the Backyard after Breakfast...Bracts just starting to bud...pic...and back to the Cabin to nap!...sunny hazy blue, warmer...at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Boulder..quiet...Robin, Phoebe, Blue Jay...report of Owl with White Spots sighted in nighttime headlights...this somewhere on the Road to Merced, likely a bit downhill from Catheys Valley...Blue Jay pic from a couple days ago....

Sunset Hawks And Cows

Pics and clip up are from last Tuesday....after sighting Osprey's Nest building, I thought to check the Osprey Nest at the T Intersection...thereabout, rolled under Redshoulder Hawk Pair on Pole and Wire...same Redshoulder Pair I saw on first visit to Merced Falls!...and after I stepped out of Silver, Hawks, startled, flew off to another Pole, and began mating...a bookend of the first sighting!!...pic up is the only one modest enough to post!...Hawks flew to the Wires and Poles, a few more pics, and I rolled back up the Hill...sighted one more Redtail Hawk...just aways after the Cows by the Road in the Setting Sunlight clip up...oh...Osprey looked to be on the T nest...I tried to sight the Nest below the Reservoir, and not sure...for sure Osprey on Nest at the Bridge....today: peddled over to the Post Office and mailed off taxes...that being done always a relief!...at work, back to Summer time schedule--longer hours, which makes for what seems a lot longer time indoors...sunny hazy blue warm...at Lunch: sat at Ozone Boulder awhile...Four Deer on the far side of the Merced....Blue Jays scolding by the Path in some Cedars...found what looks to be Nest, but very hard to see...I think Big Wings lives thereabout, as I've heard Blue Jays scolding thereabout before....