Tree in the Door's Fauna and Flora

Surf And Dogs

2012-01-31T20:11:00.000-08:00

Surfer and Dogs pics from Shelter Cove by the Breakwater...Surf 'soup' from Black Sand Beach, which is a Shore Break...the best riding Surf looked to be out front of the Airstrip, but, I'm guessing, is tough to surf there because of the Rocks...I have some more 'soup' pics from thereabout, and along the Coast, and, well, it was like a hundred mile or so horizontal water fall for several days!...Dog clip from Black Sand...Dogs just showed up, I had had the Beach to myself, and think Dogs lived up the hill...Dogs brought me a stick, and I obliged....hereabout, sunny blueblue, some clouds at sunset, cool...paddled out to Two Top Pine Meadow for Sunset pics, but no color...quiet...returned along the River and through the Woods...quiet...Acorn, Ouzel, calls...report of Hawk, Redtail, at Bobcat Meadow..

Camp Tule Lake

2012-01-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

Letter from friend, W., came today, giving me a headsup about Bird Festival at Klamath Falls during Presidents' Day Weekend...put in for a week's vacation, but co-workers have that week off, so maybe...and maybe another friend, who was at Camp Tule Lake, might tag along...lot of maybes, but it would be a cool rollabout...hereabout, sat awhile at the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach in the afternoon...Ravens about...clip for sometime...paddled around the Inside Loop counterclockwise...quietquiet...Kinglet call..and sighted Pileated Woodpecker on Tall Snag by the Cement Block in the Backyard...just as I sighted with the newer camera, Pileated disappeared, into the Snag, I think...Snag has lots of Holes...sunny mostly hazy almost cloudy cool...Kodak, I read, heard, somewhere, is in bankruptcy...with this in mind, I browsed cameras on amazon last night, and snagged the 30x Kodak point and shoot for $211....I just cant do handheld clips with the newer camera, canon's t2, and on tripod, panning is tough too...and if I ever happen on Bobcat, like I have, or Hawk, I want the long lens point and shoot with, and it's versatility...the old s3 is fine, but doesn't have hd clip feature...so now I'll have that...curious to see how a different make does--have only used canon to date for the blog...I depend on Kodak Gallery for prints...curious to see what's up...brb...yes...Kodak's boat needs bailing....Kodak had one of the very first digital cameras, actually it attached to a film camera, and can be seen here at wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_DCS-100

Seagull Bluff

2012-01-29T23:46:00.000-08:00

I need to check what section of Road Seagull Bluff was at...before Bodega Bay, I think...same place about where I got pics of Soaring Hawk...it was a High Bluff...not the highest...that would be Cow Bluff!...anyway, pics up last pics of that long Monday....Bolinas Lagoon last two pics before Golden Gate pic...was happy to get pic of Gate...Prime Pullouts were crowded with photogs!...I often have a mini culture shock coming out of the Valley after a long while to visit Town, especially a Big Town...and the long rollabout had for the most part been on Country Roads...a minor accident jammed traffic just past Golden Gate Park on Hwy. 1.... stuck awhile, then to Marina in the Dark...this section of Coast I haven't seen in Daylight for decades,...hereabout, Chickaree pic on way to Breakfast...on return, heard Hawk in the Woods...Redshoulder, call seemed....sunny blueblue haze, cool...Seagull was nearby when I pulled over, I passed on pic, and Seagull flew off when another car pulled over...then Seagull flew back, as if to say, 'well?'.

Hawks

2012-01-29T00:50:00.000-08:00

Hawk pics from Westport to Mt. Tam...third pic is Kite...rest all Redtails, I think...saw a few Kestrels...saw more than a few more Hawks...but too few pullouts!...first part of clip at such...and Hawk soaring from Bluff...I had thought to go all the way out to Point Reyes Light House, the Bluffs there, and try for Soaring Hawk clip...but had chance nearing Bodega Bay, I think...Hawk was right over beside Road, and drop to the Ocean...Sun so bright, I couldn't quite see the lcd screen, and I forget I can adjust for exposure while doing video with the newer camera, so I got Hawk soaring against White Sky...this happened too with Hawk in first part of clip...and, a white sky background is kinda cool, and Hawk's Feathers better exposed...I've had this happen before, and have in mind to be more deliberate, and try for some clips, and pics, with white sky...some of these pics were 'hard fought' sorta speak, like Hawk over Rocks...just to glimpse Hawk there was good fortune, and finding pull out, walking back, being careful of traffic, and so on, made pics very problematic!...pics, inspite of being blurry farfar aways, have a charm for me--I recall how difficult it was to take them!....hereabout, today, sunny blueblue hazy, warm, spring like...at Lunch, at Ozone Cottonwoods: Acorn call, and Bats...clip should be at bottom, but editing, for some reason, is being problematic...google has made it possible to line up and post a lot of pics at once, and if one uploads, and then adds pic. or clip, it no longer goes to the last spot...maybe it goes where the text cursor is, or something...hmmph...

Point Arena

2012-01-27T23:27:00.000-08:00

There was another Blue Heron with Cows at Point Arena, which is on the visit list...lots of open Field with trails, and the Light House...and google didn't save my typing, and bumped me off page, so I'm trying to rewrite...and the Light House....a visit sometime...at Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Ouzel,
Acorn call, Pygmy Owl Call...sunny blueblue, cool....report of Bobcat by the Chapel...first time I have report of Bobcat thereabout..a few more pics and clips, Hawks, from Monday, and I want to post up the pics from Black Sand Beach..for sometime...I'm sleepy...

2012-01-26T23:13:00.000-08:00

After Breakfast, and with time, and the Weather clear, I rolled back up to Westport, and Deer Beach, from Ft. Bragg...pics up taken along the way...Hawk was still on a Pole on return, last pic up...Surf pics at Deer Beach...Graveyard Hawk thereabout...I made visit hereabout to see if Ospreys were about...no luck...last Summer, Kestrel was at Graveyard...Buzz Birds on wire before Deer Beach...Canada Geese, Blue Heron with Cow, and Raven, on the flat section before Westport...Hawk on Poles (went pole to pole a lot!) on the up section from 10 Mile River, I think...I wanted to visit the Dunes at 10 Mile River, but time...and no luck for Osprey there either...(oh...the pic of Four Eagles on the Ice from Tule Lake--I think the front Eagle is Osprey eating Fish!)....pics from Monday morning... Monday was a very long Day, as I pulled into Marina about eight pm that Evening...and have a few more pics, and clips, from that Day...for tomorrowmorrow....at Lunch today: sat awhile under the Ozone Cottonwoods...Acorn Woodpeckers, Mallard, Bat, and knockdown Sunset..couldn't reach Two Top Pine Meadow in time for Sunset pic, so stayed at Ozone...yesterday, at Lunch, same, and without camera, so missed pic when Antlered Buck walked right passed me...sunny hazy, clouds at evening, cold...Raccoon on the Backdock at work...I need like a little mini point and shoot camera with long lens I can keep in my pocket!...been meaning to get case for cell phone I can carry on belt...it's camera works pretty good...Birds like Graveyards...undisturbed open area with Trees, and lots of Perches!

White Pelicans

2012-01-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

Now and then, I've seen, and taken pics, of White Pelicans, and thought White Pelicans were just Brown Pelicans that were white...not so, taking the flight pics at Kesterton Unit of San Luis Rey Wildlife Refuge, I saw the black on the Wings, and realized White Pelicans are a new bird, for me!...very cool...Pelicans flew overhead while I was taking pics of Owl, Owls!--Two Owls in the Cottonwoods...made a diversion when I saw where 33 goes, Gustin...Gustin is at the end of 140, which goes all the way to the Valley, and the Refuges are beside 140 not far from Gustin...usually I go through Los Banos, and a long gauntlet narrow Road, to Merced...backing up a day: I tried a different route at San Francisco...instead of going inland, East, through Oakland, and maybe getting to the Valley that Day very late, I continued South to Marina, and made my return this Morning from there...to the Valley from SF, one takes 120, from Monterey area, 140, and from Bakersfield and south, 41...120 and 41 go above the Valley in altitude, I was concerned of ice on 120 at Night, and maybe Rocks...and as it happens, 120 has had a Rockslide, and is closed...Providence's good fortune I went to Marina!...thereabout, after Breakfast, I went to Moss Landing...Hawk on the Snag Tree, overexposed faraway pic, and Otters about...pics up...Seals too...I would have visited more on the Coast, but I had errands to do in Merced...and in the Big Bookstore, I bought some more cds, I have like only four to listen to... and too, I bought some cd books, one a 15 cd of Moby Dick, which should last the next all Night rollabout so I dont have to listen to the astronomers to stay awake!...just a little bit of Snow on the Valley floor, and cold tonight...Antlered Buck walked by the Cabin as I took in the last armload of gear...sunny hazy warm in the Big Valley, cold hereabout...from the Pass at San Luis Reservoir, which is full, I could see Snow on the Sierra, so higher up there's Snow (24 inches at BadgerBadger!)...Morning Dove at the turn on Olive in Merced... well, I made a Very Big Loop, counterclockwise, but as I've noted before, miles covered doesn't make for more pics...the occasions to take pics happened very much like they do on walkabouts, and looking back at the rollabout, I'd say, it was a walkabout!!!....and I touched base with spots I saw critters before, something I often do on my walks...more on this with reports of those days!

Mt. Tam. Hawk

2012-01-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Well, too late, and too tired for post up...Hawk last critter pic, mostly Hawks!, of the Day, taken coming back down from the Ranger Station at Mt. Tam....rolled up to looksee for sometime visit....and much of the long day I was reconnoitering!....sunny blue with soft clouds cool...presently hold up in Marina....Hawk was right to my left, nothing I could do but stop right in the Road, which is not the thing to do!...didn't get honked at....at Bolinas Lagoon there were nice new Pullouts, so new, I was afraid to use them, least I sink in the fresh asphalt...lots of waterbirds thereabout, and on the sometime list too!!...report of the day tomorrowmorrow....

Rainy Day

2012-01-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

Continued back to Red Way from Shelter Cove, and South on 101, which I thought to stay on all the way back to the Valley...not many pic opportunities in the Rain, but sighted Red Tail Hawk on Wire over the South Fork of the Eel River...pics...Redtail flew off across the River...and I took Seasick Road over to the Coast...even in the drivers seat, this twenty mile stretch of Road makes me woozy...one intrepid bicycler along the way...and at the Coast, I paused to take more Ocean Surf pics, and several more pauses for Surf pic from view sites, and finally in Westport, I parked, and went down to Deer Beach, and took hd movies...on such a Day, one wants to take clips of the entire North Coast!...and it rained all day....tommorrowmorrow, back to the Valley....

Black Sand Beach

2012-01-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Rolling through the Avenue of the Giants, Silver was low on gas, and day time short, and I saw a gas ahead sign, and pulled into town, Red Way, and took note of turn off to Shelter Cove....Shelter Cove had been one of the first choices for visit, but not knowing how the Road was to it, I set Cove aside for sometime...but there I was just twenty three miles away, and the Road looked good, and preferable to Big Rigs in the Rain on 101!...so, I diverted back whereabout I'd been diverted from!...Rain all twenty three miles, until I reached Shelter Cove, and it cleared just long enough for me to see the Airstrip, and Houses...one must see this for oneself!...'oh, this is not what I pictured for years and years contemplating maps of the Lost Coast', my thought...but I found a humble motel, but manager wasn't in office, and looking for where directions to manager sent me, I found a less humble motel..'120'...'ah, okay, two nights'...what could I say!...less humble motel was overhanging the Rocky Shore...'feel a bit like the beginning of Moby Dick', I mumbled...I was soaked, wet, cat...grabbed the gear, and trundled back and forth up to the third floor....there was a little window...see clip...I'm used to a twelve by ten cabin, half a cabin actually, actually, one quarter, as half is showers and such, and being surrounded with my pics and books and dishevelment, and I looked about these new temporary digs, and just sorta sighed...and the wifi didn't work, no hot water, and the power kicked off now and then...some things were familiar!...the long distance rolling caught up with me, and I went to sleep early, and up late, but next day weather was clearing, and I took manager's headsup, and visited Black Sand Beach...more post for sometime...some pics up from Beach, some from by motel, and some at the Surfer's Beach, and some pics from following morning's walkabout before rolling South...at the Little Market, I learned I got a rate, usually rooms go for double what I payed!...

Rainy Day

2012-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Buffleheads, Western Grebes, and Black Turnstones....I brought the Books with...been remiss of late not id-ing!...presently snug and hold up in Ft. Bragg...football on...Ravens lost, but played so well...now there's hope for the 49ers...Buffleheads were at Lagoon just South of Crescent Beach...and Grebes and Turnstones were at Crescent City Harbor, where I stayed that one evening...following two days I was 'out of touch'...wifi didn't work at the motel I was at for two days...pics and post to fill in from then, and from today too...those posts I'll put up this evening, and everything will scroll/read backwards, but best not to try and put everything on one page!...and too, keep a chronology of sorts...checked for Elk at Prairie Creek, but no luck...but a little further on, Humboldt Lagoon?, same place I saw Elk in the Tules last Summer but couldn't stop, sighted Elk, this time, just before the Bridge....checked for Osprey on the Nest before the Klamath River, but no luck...rolled out to the Klamath River Overlook...pic up...Eel River pic...seems to be several Eel Rivers, have another from Today manymany miles South!...and Avenue of the Giants pic...and clip...brb with clip...rain all day... Gullywumper Rain, except for a few moments to let me see where I was when I reached next rest stop--Shelter Cove....oh...Turnstones new bird, for me!...

Snow And Rain

2012-01-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

Made a wrong turn in downtown Klamath Falls, and went North a bit along Klamath Lake, which is a big Lake!...diverted, but a roundabout got me to Crescent City this evening...in Gold Hill, sighted Redshoulder flying across the Road...parked Silver, and went for a walk along the Rogue River, backtracking to Hawk...faraway pics...Robins, Sparrow, Canada Geese, Pigeons, and a Bird I need to id from too dark pic, thereabout....rain, snow, slush, mud, cool...a fine Storm!!!...the section going by Crater Lake was all Snow, and Muir Wonderful!...

Link to story about cats on the radio:
http://thestory.org/archive

Look for story interview called, "10 acres and cats", which is about here:
http://www.goathouserefuge.org/

Tule Lake

2012-01-19T00:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after Breakfast, paddled over to the Village, errands and mail..Acorn Woodpeckers on return in the Oaks...pic...sunnyblueblue cool...andand, after much waffling, and discussion with friends over Breafast, Lunch, and Dinner, I managed to get all the gear into Silver and rolled down the hill around eight or nine pm...I've often thought to drive all night one time, and see where I end up...well, second pic down is the Black Bear eatery in Mt. Shasta!!...got there just at Daybreak, after a long night journey of coast to coast on the radio...bit about voting, new book, Black Box, was very good, and story picked up on cnn of the 2 votes instead of twenty in Iowa...all this out of my blogs purview, I leave that all to the night, and the astronomers with their stars!....anyway, I had checked the weather, and knew Storm was on way for the North West, but was a bit flummoxed hearing on the radio that it was to be a record Storm in Seattle!...and I ran into the edge of it at about Dunsimor...all the traffic, Big Rigs, and me, and just a couple other cars (on night drives, one pretty much has the road to themselves!) came to a desultory halt in the Snow Fall, and pulled to the side of I5, row upon row of Big Rigs, for Chains Required...but few of the truck drivers were out and about putting on Chains...I tried, and gratefully left off when the Snow Plows came hurrying by...'Four wheel drive ok!?'...'Yes, thank you...'...not many of the Trucks continued, most taking a rest at the next exit until daylight, I think, knowing, I think, with their collective chitchat, that the Snow Plows would clear the Road...I continued a long way at like 25 miles an hour, being very timid to drive on a freeway in snow, a new thing....consoling thought was that if I spun out, I could spin and spin with so little traffic and not hit anything...ones imagination wanders!...found the Shasta exit, and rolled once up and down Mainstreet, bit lost, still dark, and shops all closed, but up a side street, Lake?, sighted Black Bear eatery, the object of some musing Monday, and got there just before opening...sat a bit waiting...Juncos and Ravens about in the Wind Blown Snow...and after Breakfast, thought to go the Motel of last December's visit, and just hold up...I imagined the Road ahead to be impassable, but I made a wrong turn, and found myself by the entrance to I5 North, and thought, 'what the heck, it's daylight'...for aways, it was twenty and thirty miles an hour, but after losing altitude going down the grade from Shasta to Weed, the Weather, and Road, cleared!!...very cool...Back To Eagle Road!...pic explanations, and more report for tomorrowmorrow from this evenings rest stop Motel in Klamath Falls...quiet, weather wise, outside now, but I might be hold up here awhile!

Snow Geese Sunset

2012-01-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

Rolled down the hill to Town--Silver's maintenance...with time to wait, I paddled over to the Mall for haircut....Breakfast at the new Black Bear restaurant, and stop at Applegate Park to see Mac, along the way...curious to read Restaurant's history... Restaurant began in Strawberry Valley near Mt. Shasta, maybe tomorrow's destination--I'm on vacation for a week...not sure yet where to go, if anywhere....anyway...maintenance work done, left off from the Big Bookstore, retrieved Silver, and rolled out to Merced Wildlife Refuge in fading light...actually, just the right Light...I've often thought to just go to the West End of the Refuge, by the Blind, and just wait in the Afternoon with Sun at my back for Harrier...and Harrier was about as I rolled near the Blind Stop, but I lost sight...parked thereabout, and while mulling over just these thoughts, sighted Harrier in the Rear View Mirror...twisted around, and almost got the sought after pic through the passenger window!...pic up, Harrier far away, and not fast enough shutter speed, but very cool...continued rollaround, Sandhill Cranes aloft and distant, and I wondered where Snow Geese were...a bit past Bitten Marsh, Rabbit posing just outside Burrow right below the window...first pics all blurry, I couldn't see, setting Sun in my eyes!...tried again, and I just pointed, couldn't see at all, and a lucky pic of Rabbit!!...continued, it had been a quiet rollaround, but I had two pics, Hawk and Rabbit (and earlier in Town, Cedar Waxwings and Mountain Lion (Mac))..for sometime...andand, nearing the Southeast Corner, I sighted Snow Geese just up a bit from the Northeast Corner...Geese were foraging...and I was a bit anxious to get thereabout before the Sun set...about half a mile to go on the Gravel Road in Second Gear!...and three or four cars already thereabout in the best locations...puttered along, and finally halted short of where I'd like to have been, beside Geese, or so I thought!...took some far away pics through the window (up ahead one driver had gotten out!...hmmph), and got preoccupied with Sun in eyes and exposure, and didn't catch on that Geese were advancing on me!...I have a clip of this which is too long for blog...will try again to put it on youTube...very cool clip...Geese came right up beside Silver...watched a long while...some pics, ones up...a fine afternoon!...sunny blueblue cool breezy in Town made it cold!....at Lunch yesterday evening: sat a short while under the Ozone Cottonwoods...Raven, Acorns, Ouzel, Mallard, and Pygmy Owl call...report of Antlered Buck with Does by Swinging Bridge.,,:)...clip up is shortened edit....full version for youTube, for sometime....

Osprey Road

2012-01-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Pics from Merced Falls, whereabout I visited after MWR....Common Mergansers about...my only previous Common Merganser pic was at Tule Lake!...would have liked to get closer...pics from the Bridge...one side of the River is posted, the other, Mud made problematic, though Cows were unconcerned with Mud...I parked Silver near the Bridge, and thought Bee Hive was close, but just lots of Bees browsing, sounding a bit like an electric dynamo!...Duck, far away blurry too, might be Harlequin...have to check...and Long Legs need checking...Hawk was in iconic foothill pose on Oak...didn't see any Hawks at the Falls, but Ospreys were about...almost missed Ospreys, but heard calls....today, at Lunch: sat for just awhile under the Ozone Cotton Woods...Ouzel, Acorn Woodpeckers, Mallard calls...quiet...sunny blueblue, cool...oh...on Count Day, sighted Robins at Dusk in Bobcat Meadow under the Oaks, and Seven Deer, here and there....Count Day, for me, was also a wrap up of a stretched out over several days, Critter Count Day, which I was remiss in not doing properly early November...hmmph....oh...behind the Cows, are the Canada Geese Flock....

Snow Geese

2012-01-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

Pics and clips from MWR...at the Refuge, I rolled about in my usual routine, trying not to startle Waterfowl, and Hawks....lots of Hawks...Redtails, One Kestrel, One Redshoulder....didn't see Harrier or Kite...walked about Bitten Marsh...Sandhill Cranes flying overhead...dont know Bird (cropped pic) on the Point with Pelicans and Seagull...there were a lot of Birds...most I've seen I think at the Refuge, excepting Raptors, and Buzz Birds...would have stayed all day, and be more diligent in ids, but wanted to roll over to Merced Falls and Osprey Road...report tomorrowmorrow...today, at Lunch...sat just a short while at Ozone Beach...quiet...Ravens, Acorn Woodpeckers...was distracted by emergency vehicle lights through the Trees...ambulance was on the Path in Two
Top Pine Meadow...sunny blueblue, cold...report of Bobcat in Bobcat Meadow, with pics--first ones for photog....it's something of a right of passage for photogs to get first Bobcat pics!...

Snow Geese

2012-01-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

Shoveler Duck pics from yesterday at MWR, just part of a longer series for sometime...hereabout, sighted Hawk overhead at Last Chance...too far away for id...on evening walk, inside loop counterclockwise, and out to Bobcat Meadow...Ouzels and Kingfisher, Mama Doe and One Fawn in the Meadow...clip...pizza at the Loft...Pygmy Owl call by the Cabin on return...Pygmy call too last Sunday at Lunch behind the Rooms...sunny blueblue, a few hazy clouds, cold....report of Bobcat by Housekeeping...oh...brb...there was something in the Deer clip on review...well, I studied clip...Critter traverses left to right, far away blurry, and I cant tell, another small Deer, or a Giant Rabbit, as there is hopping, but likely Bobcat, as Mama Doe perks Ears up!...bloggers acting up...had to go into html edit to upload pics....try to add others, Snow Geese of the title!, and more pics, tomorowmorrow....

Snowgeese

2012-01-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

Out and about early with all the gear for a roll down the hill and visit to Town...after errand, Silver's sixty thousand miles maintenance appointment, rolled out Sandy Mush Road, and nearing Merced Wildlife Refuge, sighted to my right what I thought was a Poultry Farm...did a double take, 'wait, those are Snow Geese!'....made a u turn, and parked Silver across the Road from the Field...would have liked to have gotten out, but for certain that would have startled Geese into flight...Geese tolerated Cars and Trucks passing...pics and clips through the Window--I set the folded up legged tripod between myself and the door, which sorta works...bit unstable...left off, careful to pull out slow...even still, Geese gave me a look, and started moving, but stayed....continued on to lookabout the Refuge...report tomorrowmorrows...lots of pics...and pics from Merced Falls too, which presently is back to being a River while work is being done....sunny blueblue warm...watched Geese a long while...very cool to see so many Birds!....and later in the afternoon, sighted Geese again...pics and clips...oh..and here's a link to a talkabout the Park's weather, or lack thereof!
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,49974,49974

Varied Thrush

2012-01-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

Varied Thrush pic from the Xmas Count Walk (12/18), and Flicker, White Headed Woodpecker, and Eagle which I posted up back then....Redshoulder Hawk by the Graveyard in Mariposa on the car battery pick up Day...on the walk, sighted Redshoulder perched on the Schoolyard Oak, and Bandtail Pigeons soaring along the Rims by the Falls and Mirror Lake, and lots of Ravens, like hundreds...and Varied Thrushes at Lower Falls and Mirror Lake...I was surprised to see Thrushes and Bandtails, as hereabout near the Cabin where I do my walks, I hadn't seen Thrushes or Bandtails, or Eagle!...helps to have extra ears and eyes!...At Lunch this evening: light enough for a sit awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Mallard, Raven, Acorn, and Two Bats...too dark still for pics (5pm)...sunny blueblueclear warm....report of Bobcat catching Grey Squirrel at Rocky Slope, last Thursday, I think...Little Birds sighted on the walk: Creeper, Nuthatch, Chickadee, Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Titmouse (which I didn't see, and wished I could, as I dont think I've got a pic or sighting in the Valley), and other Little Birds.... oh, I went and found Kingfisher on my own at Last Light by Chapel Bridge...and Ouzels, which another group counted....Count Walks are fun, but everything goes too quick....oh.. Ground Squirrel out and about that Day at the Backpackers Camp...

Kingfisher

2012-01-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

In the Late Afternoon, after errands in the Village, I paddled out to Bobcat Meadow...had sighted Does and Fawns from the return Shuttle, but no luck...thought to go across Chapel Bridge and sit awhile on the Shingle downriver thereabout...waitedwaited...quiet...left off, and when I reached the Bridge, heard Pileated by the Deer House, and Kingfisher upriver...chose Kingfisher!...and sighted Kingfisher above the L Snag...took pics and clips a long while...the Terrific Light perfect, and Kingfisher's posing too, but Kingfisher still too far away for that knockdown pic!...Kingfisher flew to another perch, Half Dome in background...pic....followed Tree to Tree a few more times, and finally left off to go sit at Owl Log awhile....looked for Pileated along the way out Lodgepole Point...one more call thereabout...Ouzels, Acorns, and Flicker about...and Raven....Woods quiet...sunny bluebluehazy, warm...big Ring about the Moon last Night...friends making plans for Moonlight Ice Skating on Tenaya Lake...Kinglets about in the Village...days old reports of Bear with white markings on Chest...one by the Rocky Slope Climbing Wall, the other at Church Bowl...spent much time of late getting another video game up and running...SWOR, which is very much a copy cat of WOW...SWOR dvd installation discs wouldn't install...if one is having this problem, and computer set up like mine, windows seven, what I did might work: choose custom, put game in game folder, startup icons on desktop, and go to firewall settings, and browse the dvd disc for the swor installation program, open, and it should add to the checked list of programs the firewall is letting through....this, the firewall, seems to be the problem..support for swor sends out email with a shotgun approach, which is a chuckle, but it cued me to the firewall as the possible trouble, which specifically was the third installation disc not working....even still, one must be careful to let discs after being loaded, to completely load and quiet down, before clicking the 'retry' window, which starts everything going again....it can be annoying to watch the green load bar pulsing, and nothing going on!!....game looks to be much fun, but has a kind of industrial feel, which makes me prefer wow, artistically speaking!!...the games are a new 'art', though now for the most part the interest is the fun of playing them...but somewhere out there, there are Delacroix and Picasso and van Gough pursing their lips...to say nothing of William Blake!

Here's a bit at wiki on Tour Skating....part of the gear is ice claws to pull oneself out of holes...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_skating

and a youTube...very cool...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RbOBrte0vU

and Nordic Skating clip (site has blades...)
http://www.nordicskater.com/ice/index.html

Creek Doe

2011-12-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Paddled back to the Creek at Last Light...thought to go to Creek's End, but tourists about--only one or two fit thereabout!...turning back, sighted Doe, maybe Fawn grown up,.. clip,...and a second Doe, maybe Mama Doe... clip...Kingfisher flew by, chattering...Does continued to Creek's End, I left off to go to Last Chance for dinner...on the way, four more Does, maybe two were Fawns grown up....sunny blueblue in morning, hazy evening, cold...hold up in the Cabin all day--Valley crowded with tourists!

Creek's End Buck

2011-12-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

Paddled back to the Woods and Creek's End at Last Light...quiet...on the Shingle, turned from looking upriver, and sighted Buck approaching from the Diversion Channel...found a spot to wait, and, well, wish I did clip in hd, and that I had one of those expensive ball head tripods!...still a cool clip....sunny blueblue cold...friend at dinner asked if I'd seen more Eagles...'no'...'well?'....tomorrowmorrow, I'll go look for Eagles!

Cabin Cedar Chickaree

2011-12-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

After Breakfast, yesterday, Chickaree about the Cabin Cedar...bit of a challenge taking pics!...and a Second Chickaree scooted across the Road...both Chickarees looked to be young....sunny blue blue cold...heard Owl returning from work last Night...maybe both Owls...Skunk has taken up residents in the Shed...

Creek's End Kingfisher

2011-12-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

After Breakfast, paddled out to Ozone Beach...sighted Mallards at Cottonwood Bend...thought to follow, but thought too to have tripod, so returned to the Cabin...paddled out to Creek's End...Mallards about, and Kingfisher!...faraway clips and pic...in the bit with the Mallards flying, Kingfisher is perched in the Sapling Cottonwood...at the time, I couldn't sight Kingfisher, and only glimpsed Kingfisher's movement on reviewing the clip...followed Mallards and Kingfisher to Chapel Bridge....another clip there...and followed Kingfisher back to Creek's End...and almost followed Kingfisher back to Chapel Bridge!...but left off...did get to see Kingfisher dive two times....very cool...Ouzel, Pileated, and Flicker about too...sunny blublue cold...Merry Xmas!!!....

Another name for Kingfisher is Halycon, and Greek Legend has a tale, which can be read here at wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyone

Tenaya Lake Skaters

2011-12-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, got a ride from friend to Mariposa, and picked up new battery...Redshoulder Hawk pics while thereabout...for sometime....with help, like three of my neighbors going through their toolboxes for a 10mm socket...for some reason, known only to car manufacturers, and car mechanics, one battery connection is sae, and the other metric...'I just need sae wrench?'...and a 'yes' okayed a thirty eight dollar set of sae wrenches...hmmph...for just one wrench, not being sure what size...well, need tool kit my own self...anyway, a group effort was successful, found a 10mm socket, and this morning, Silver started right up with new battery, and I rolled up to Tuolumne...in the early morning, one skater on Tenaya Lake, which I thought very bold, until on the afternoon return, saw skaters all over the Lake!...and a very happy bunch, I'd say!...sunny blueblue, ultramarine blue, cold....I have some pics of the Meadows, for sometime...clips too of the skaters...a fine day!...bottom pic is the Asparagus Tree on Pieweack Dome...

Mirror Lake Bald Eagle

2011-12-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well, after finishing Yesterday's post up before Dawn, and playing wow a bit, I geared up, and thought to roll up to Tunnel View to join the Xmas Bird Walk group there....but it's been cold, and I haven't rolled around much in Silver, and when I turned the key, all I got was clic clic clic....battery very gone...still a little bit of headlights, so kept trying, and may have made things worse..left off not being able to turn the headlights off, and turning the lever made the alarm go off, which, with no battery power, was a kinda tiny alarm!....anyway, repairs for sometime...gathered the gear, and paddled over to the Village to join group starting there..early a bit, and after hot chocolate, and a sit and wait awhile, everyone arrived, and a fine day commenced...report for sometime...towards the end of the walkabout, I was lagging behind, and saw group ahead , pointing, and saying, 'Eagle'...'oh, dont be pulling my leg!' I said trotting to catch up...and there was Eagle, perched on a Tall Snag above Tenaya Creek...pic and clips with the video crop of the newer camera...oh...little pic was with the waterproof...surprised I got that....just pointed skyward when Eagle flew out and over my head, pestering Raven in pursuit...Eagle was headed back to Mirror Lake...by myself, I would have followed!...but Count Day has a kinda routine, and time...sunny blueblue, cold in the morning, cool in afternoon...needless to say, everyone thought it very cool to see Eagle!!....friend reports seeing Bald Eagle at Nevada Falls last Summer, which I may have mentioned in earlier post....

Kingfisher Bridge Post

2011-12-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Morning, out and about before Sunrise....Kingfisher chattering at Creek's End....Kingfisher's 'Inn' must be thereabout...too dark for pics...and thought to go to Chapel Bridge, and maybe Kingfisher would be there...and was!...but illusive as usual...followed Tree to Tree from Chapel Bridge to Sentinel Bridge, and back again...oh...I have pic of Ice on Merced... took Kingfisher pic and clip up from the Shingle downstream from Chapel Bridge...thought is now to to arrive at the Shingle before Sunrise, find some Trees for a blind, and just wait, and maybemaybe, Kingfisher will pose...it would be this Morning's Quest (it's way before Sunrise at moment), but I have sorta plans to join the Xmas Bird Count Walk...one group is to start at Tunnel View, another at Village...I say sorta plans, as Tioga has opened again...and I took the day off just for the Count, and, well, too many choices....sunny blue coldcold, but no wind, and air dry, so cold tolerable...report of Does and Fawns gamboling, somewhere--A Meadow, I think...Bird Count day is kinda like voting...one's vote matters little, but to give one's attention to such matters with friends on Count Day, matters a lot, I'd say....

Hawk

2011-12-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

After Breakfast, geared up, and paddled back to the Creek, across to Deer House, and over to Chapel Bridge...quiet, until I got to the Bridge, and Kingfisher was chattering...followed to Sentinel Bridge....one farfar away pic near the Bridge--Kingfisher perched in Cedar I took photo of Hawk, Redshoulder, Cedar, last year...Redshoulders are noticeably absent this year!...continued to the Village for mail, and returned through the Oaks, where I sighted Hawk Redtail, atop the Tallest Oak...pics and clips...sat a long while on the Split Rail Fence by Bobcat's Apple Tree, and watched to see Hawk's interest in the noisy Grey Squirrels in the Trees to my left...Blue Jays about..pic...Hawk just changed position, and I left off to return to the Cabin....hazy sunlight, cold...Two Does in Bobcat Meadow, over by the Snags to the North of the Boardwalk...that area of the Meadow I dont have a name for!...Hawk looks to be Two Top Pine Hawk, which I have pics of from two years ago atop Two Top Pine (checked--Tall Oak Hawk has darker chest, though hard to tell wth backlighting!)...and I have like three years back pics and clips of Hawk perched atop the Tall Oak at just this same time of year!!

Kingfisher

2011-12-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Took just the cameras with on an errand walk to the Village yesterday morning (time now is Sunrise today!)....heard, and then sighted, Kingfisher at the Creek Bridge...one faraway pic, and followed Kingfisher two Bridges back into the Creek Delta...Forest pic up along the way (Kingfisher not in that one)...Kingfisher posed at the Bridge that goes to the Muir view, and I was able to set the camera, propped with my Bandanna, on a Bridge Post, and got the clip up....Chickaree was about...pic...and Little Birds, Kinglets I think...bz bz bz ts ts ts...left off, and continued to Village...Four Point Buck thereabout...Acorn Woodpeckers in the Oaks...Ravens...Village quiet, and sat awhile there with hot chocolate...bought Book in the Gallery about Oaks...Live Oaks along the Rocky Slope don't look to have Acorns either....on return, White Headed Woodpecker by the Creek...pic...and more Little Birds at Lower Falls Crosswalk...so little traffic, I could stand there and hear Little Birds!....sunnyhazy, cold...report of Kestrel almost catching Ouzel, but not sure when...reporter takes Critter pics too, but tends to lump together sightings from years ago, and I'm always asking, 'When?'..Critter reports are kinda timeless and set off from the current day to day...off to Breakfast, and maybe another walk...

no pics today

2011-12-14T01:47:00.000-08:00

I do have a pic of a Four Point Buck that ran towards me out of the Woods while I was returning on the Use Path after a short walk to Ozone Beach this morning....looked myself back into the Woods to see maybe if Bear was about--report of Bear in Housekeeping yesterday Evening--Woods quiet....Valley very quiet, Critters wise, and tourist wise!, nowabout....the Audubon Xmas Count walkabout is coming up this Sunday in the Valley, and Yesterday morning I was out at Sunrise for a practice walk...Raven call outside the Cabin....quiet until I reached Creek's End, and Kingfisher thereabout chattering....followed Kingfisher to Cottonwood Bend..Six Mallards along the way in the Merced...these may be the same Mallards I took so many pics of last Winter, or at least these Mallards are hanging around the Valley too...rounding Cottonwood Bend, Three Ouzels, chasing and chattering and singing...oh...at Cottonwood Bend, sighted Kingfisher, and glimpsed Kingfisher diving into the River...first time to see Kingfisher dive....tried for pics....but no luck...Kingfisher is very skittish!...one photog about at Half Stump, doing scenic pics in diligent manner, and I thought to enquire about their effort while sitting on Log at Cottonwood Bend waiting for Kingfisher....photog moved my way, and I wondered if they thought same, and arrived at same conclusion--not a good time for chit chat, time to work....and it is work...and that morning cold!..anyway, continued to Two Top Pine Meadow...quiet...along the Merced, sighted Ravens, usually paired, and maybe Six Acorn Woodpeckers....tried for pics, but too high in the Leafless Cottonwoods....and heard maybe two DownyOrHairy Woodpeckers....continued to Beaver Bend... quiet....no tracks in the Sand thereabout...One Coyote Track back at Creek's End.....crossed the Road, and sighted Blue Jay, then Blue Jays, then lots of Blue Jays, and scolding up in the Rocks at Rocky Point....tried to scramble up to looksee...maybe Hawk, or Bobcat, or Coyote, my thought....but too difficult to get through everything quick, and I made a lot of noise, and when I could sight, Blue Jays quiet....continued to the New Indian Village construction....several Acorn Woopeckers, and Flicker call, and while in the Rocks, sighted Winter Wren, I think...Wren was making like chit chit chit telegraph call....maybe White Headed Woodpecker...need to check pic....continued behind Camp 4....quiet...and around back to the Cabin, dropped off gear, and to Breakfast.....hmmph...I've been collecting old Species counts in the Valley, and the oldtime estimates (1930) for Species that are year round residents is like somewhere between 16 and 24....off the top of my head, I can get to 17...oh...more on this on its own page sometime!....sunny blueblue yesterday, and maybe today, with some haze, and coldcold.....yesterday, no afternoon walk...some errands in Village...rolled over, and looked about for Deer....quiet....one report of Two Does in Housekeeping...One Doe, and maybe it was Fawn, with injured Back Leg....all the new stuff of the computer arrived....wireless router, upgrade for wow (collectors edition!), headphones, and book, mystery stories from an Australian writer, the tales of Napoleon Bonaparte, who Tony Hillerman sited as inspiration for his detectives Leaphorn and Chee....so yesterday and today a lot of computer diversion...really diverting today as router worked a little while, then dsl moden went south, and much consternation at the thought of another round of talking to phone support....in india or somewhere!....but tonight, around one am, all the little lights were green, and 'am using just the dsl cable until I sort out if the router is causing problem...anywayanyway....oh...almost went to Tuolumne...up early, weather clear, Tioga has been open, but it closed again just after I had Breakfast, and was hearing all the fine reports of sights to see...Frozen Lakes and River....it's been a pattern...Tioga open during my work week, and closed on my days off!....oh!....Frog croaking at the Camp 4 Climber's Wall...Rocks thereabout still covered on edges and such with white resin chalk....it would be nice if it would Rain, and Snow!!

Book

2011-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Out and about for a short rollover to the Village for Mail...Book came....Muir Among the Animals, The Wildlife Writings of John Muir, Lisa Mighetto, editor, Sierra Club Books....it has the the Atlantic Monthly article on Birds in the Valley I mentioned in earlier post, which I want to do a post on, for sometime....I can lay back on the Bunk and just daydream about Muir and conservation of Nature for hours on end, trying to sort it out....like, just when did Muir become a conservationist?.....there's a passage in the Bird bit about Robin hunting in Old San Francisco, where Muir would spend time away from the Valley in his 'scribble den', writing such articles....friend and I had a talk about just how long Muir was actually a resident in the Valley....compared to some of my friends hereabout, and even to myself after eight years, Muir was a 'tourist'....and that reminds me of Richard Henry Dana...Dana's notoriety for his visit to California, and maritime laws, is all out of proportion with his actual time in California and being on Sailing Ships...but like Muir, he has expressive skills, with writing and discussion, that are beyond the usual....Dana Point Harbor, in Dana Point, has a replica of the Pilgrim, Dana's ship, and a Marine Museum of Ocean Critters and such, and, well, the Harbor is built over what once was some of the best Tide Pooling Rocks on the Coast thereabout....and when thereabout, I think about Dana, and Muir..ah, a curio....sunny blueblue coldcold...if I seem diverted a bit lately, well, I am, by the WOW, world of warcraft video game....wow has to be seen and played to understand this, and I'm reluctant to be the one to introduce it to, well, anyone...one day a friend told me about their playing the game, and their command of all the characters and realms and such reminded me of wild life enthusiasts who know fauna and flora hereabout, and Valley history, backwards and forwards, a claim I can't make, but I happen upon such hereabout who have this kind of lore stored up!...and I do have some chops....so, curious, and needing a game to play really, I've played sports all my life.....I was in the sports store awhile back, and just picked up all the different balls and things, reminiscing!....I've taken up wow....hmmph...there are wow blogs. youTubes, wikis, the whole panoply....in their time, Muir and Dana were ahead of the everyone, and dont know, but somewhere in the melee, their counterparts are about....oh...two Tuesdays back, at Creek's End, at Last Light, Hawk, Redtail, flyover from Glacier towards the Falls....I had the newer camera at the ready, but just looked on for a bit too long, so no pic...and too in the Mail today, an important new piece of gear...a little adaptor that fits in the flash shoe--I can now do clips with one camera atop a second camera....tomorrowmorrow, I'll try this out!!

Buck

2011-12-03T23:11:00.000-08:00

Out and about at first Light...Raven always greets the morning outside the Cabin thenabout....paddled out to Bobcat Meadow...Trees all look okay...lots of Twigs and such on the Ground...continued out Lodgepole Point...High Water has eroded the the Slope by the Ponderosa...everthing looks a bit different!...Leaning Cedars okay...everthing is very dry...Little Bird peeping at Creek's End...and Ouzel plopped into the Merced thereabout...continued on the inside Loop...One Song Sparrow at Cottonwood Bend...Sparrow flew off just as I set up...'I might not take a pic, it's so quiet!', my thought...but when I reached the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach, Doe being chased by Buck jumped into view...set up, and got distant hd clip..tried to follow back into the Woods along the Diversion Channel...lost sight, and Wind was beginning to blow, and cold!...and I was hungry...but, just as I was about to leave off, Buck and Doe jumped out from behind a Willow, stopped, surprised to see me...and while Deer considered, I set up...there's a ritual to Deers' romance...Doe pretends not to notice, and browses, while Buck does nothing but stand in place and look on with longing, and then, Buck starts up and goes toward Doe, and Doe, cheerfully, it seems, runs off, and the chase begins...I got a good hd clip, with the wind in background, of Buck making a few flirtations, but not the long wild chases I've seen, and have clips of, before...left off as fingers were freezing, which hurts!, and to Breakfast...clip for sometime...windy for awhile in the morning, dry, sunny blueblue, cold....saw Raccoon two nights ago by Cabin...and Buck crossing road yesterday morning...Pileated Woodpecker was somewhere about on the other side of the Merced this morning...lots of Ravens reported in Siberia by Apple Orchard...Ravens by the Cabin too...Blue Jay calls....I was trying to listen for Owl and all the Birds, but there's a terribly loud new nightime Shuttle that keeps coming around!....hmmph...it whines like a street cleaner...

Windy Day

2011-12-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

quote

The sand of the beach began to be cold to our bare feet; the frogs set up their croaking in the

marshes, and one solitary owl, from the end of the distant point, gave out his melancholy note,

mellowed by the distance.....

Two Years Before The Mast
Richard Henry Dana
unquote

I was looking for the passages in Two Years about the Santa Ana Winds...Dana describes them, and how Ships back then were blown out to Sea for hundreds of miles...anyway...

Here in the Valley it has been windy off and on, causing some consternation--oh..a gust just shook the Cedar--Roads closed off and on, Campo 4 evacuated, Cabin and Tents in Siberia too...tomorrowmorrow I'll walk about and looksee...sunnybluebluewindywindy, warm...hereabout, the Santa Ana Winds are called Mono Winds....

Reading Dana, I was reminded just how well Nineteenth Century writers wrote!! And that might be first report of Owl in California...I'll have to start a new thoughtHobby, culling critter reports in early California literature, beginning with this one by John Muir....oh, bit above is from when Dana first arrives at Santa Barbara...those old ships were living things...

Muir Link:
http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0082-6;didno=atla0082-6;view=image;seq=00757;node=atla0082-6%3A1

Muir's Atlantic Monthy articles are in a book hereabout, I think, and will find it so I can put up some quotes from them...Muir is very quotable...

Does And Fawns

2011-11-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

It looked like Two Fawns were together with Doe in foreground...I haven't seen Two Fawns together in awhile..pic taken beside Cabin on rollover to Village to retrieve art show pics....only out and back today!...sunny blueblue, much worry over the wind, emergency evacuation plans posted on door, but so far this evening not too windy, perfectly still at moment, warm...report one Wind Fallen Tree squished car in Siberia...report Tenaya Lake quiet, and the surface calm, early this morning...and Tioga might be closed becasue of wind fallen Trees danger....oh...report of Hawk, Redtail, soaring by the Falls....

Art Show

2011-11-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I was all geared up at 5 am and ready to roll down the hill, but thought to check the tv news for weather in the Big Valley--fog...hmmph, well, I thought, I can go to the East Side with Tioga open...and lay back on the bunk to wait a bit for Breakfast time at Last Chance...and dozed off, and pretty much remained somnolent all day!, even through the roofers tap tapping like Woodpeckers!!...a lost day, I'd say, but in the evening the resident art show had a last day party, and I paddled over thataway around 5 pm....and it was a fine time...and I wish I'd taken my camera for memory pics, and looking about at the group, noted other photogs and such hadn't brought theirs either...kinda sunny hazy warm, I think...pic up has memories I can't photograph, but can 'memory pic'!!

Kinglet

2011-11-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Kinglet pic from last Tuesday...today, while waiting for the Shuttle in the Village, Kinglets were overhead in the Pines...Brown Creeper about too...time of Season for Kinglets...overcast, sorta, finally cleared at dusk, warm...at Sunset, sat awhile at Owl Log...quiet...Ouzel, Flicker, Raven...Deer tracks...

White-throated Sparrow

2011-11-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

Sparrow from Tuesday's walkabout, beside the Path near Ozone Beach...and clip of Kingfisher from Tuesday too...I figured out how to post up a cropped pic large ...menu bar has new selections for blog pic size...one is x-large!!..will go back and edit Pygmy Owl post...sunny blueblue warm, yesterday too...roofers almost done...just the rain guttering, and shingles, to do, and the gutter goes around the Cabin Cedar...reports of Sentinel and Ponderosa hooo hoooing in the Morning in Flicker Grove...heard Pygmy Owl in the middle of the Night...and Tioga Road is open...oh...xtra large is too big for the blog framing!...try large....oh...and Pileated Woodpecker reported at Mirror Lake...

Ouzel

2011-11-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kingfisher and Pygmy Owl

2011-11-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

hmmph....usually when I post up a crop of a pic, it expands to full frame, so one sees a close up...and I tried that because the new blog photo viewing hasn't the double zoom-in like it did!...hmmph..and all I have of Pygmy Owl is the clip...pic is still frame...and clip is the rarest of all my photos and clips!!!...how it came about:...thought to sleep ''till noon', at least, but the roofers were hammering and such, so went to Breakfast, with all the gear along, and then thought to go to Bobcat Meadow and find a Sunny Spot, to just sit and be warm...oh!...on the way to Breakfast, White-throated Sparrows...pics, for sometime, and a new bird, for me....crossing the Creek Bridge, sighted Five Mallards...pic for sometime...and thought to go downcreek to get ahead of Mallards...at Duck Harbor, crossed the Creek, and sat awhile...too shady!...thought to go to Creek's End, and as I approached, Kingfisher was perched on the Leaning Cedars....oh!!, a much hoped for pose!....set up the digi with the new Bungees, and got the porthole clip, clip up, and one more zoomed clip, bit blurry but okay, and farfar away, but Kingfisher!...Kingfisher flew off to the far shore of the Merced, and perched in the Cottonwoods near Half Stump....set up by Owl Log, and another farfar away clip, but Kingfisher!...Kingfisher clips for sometime...some photogs were moving along the shore, and Kingfisher flew up, and my way...some quick pics of Kingfisher in the Cottonwoods...and then Kingfisher flew up the Creek, chattering all the while...I set up on the Shingle, and waitedwaited...moved upcreek to Zeke's Perch (by the Tiki Outlet), and sighted Kingfisher on the farshore in the Black Oak...Kingfisher snoozed a bit, and then flew past back to the Cottonwoods,and beyond Half Stump...this I saw following best I could!...and it was thereabout on the Near Shore, near the Willow, I startled Winter Wren, I thought, and Wren, kinda large for Wren, I thought, flew to a Small Pine, perched, and I had time to set up the digi...and on review of clip, I saw Wren was Pygmy Owl!...if I had to to predict how and where I would see Owl, it would be: by chance perched on a Tree Branch at eye level, and somewhere along the Merced on the edge of the Woods, and so it happened, one of the grandest pursuits I have had hereabout!!!...along with Kingfisher!...so, a fine walk...for sometime, I hope to get pics and clips of Kingfisher and Owl from not so farfar away!!!...more report tomorrow...sunny blueandhazy cold...yesterday, report, with camerphone clip, of Two Young Bucks jousting by the Rocky Slope Climbing Wall, with Does looking on...digiscope works better with the Bungees!!...Bridge Mallards arrived at Creek's End, overlooked a bit....

Blueblue Day Hawk

2011-11-21T22:09:00.000-08:00

Back from the Village and errands, and about to put the gear up, heard Blue Jay scolding across the Road from the Cabin...paddled over...photog sighting on the Sky, or the Rim, or..oh...Hawk!, Redtail...took some pics too, and it looked to be Hawk would stay awhile, so gathered the tripod from the Cabin...more pics...Hawk flew to a Ponderosa, then while fiddling with the digi scope, I lost sight, but heard one call form Hawk high against the Wall...a few more pics!....Doe was at Lower Falls...I'd hopped off the Shuttle at Bobcat Meadow...thought I'd seen Hawk perched, but just Leaves, which sparkle silver sometime in the Magnificent Light...scanned the Meadow, and thought how Hawk should be about in the Magnificent Blue Sky...so, back at the Cabin, some luck!...sunny blueblue cold, ice on the Road to slip on in the morning...heard Pygmy Owl behind the Rooms around ten am two days back...while taking Hawk clip, scope tilted way back and the bracket slipping off, as it does when everything tilted back, I lost another Hawk clip and pics, and with this in mind, fiddled once again with the whole digi arrangement, and I think I got it figured out!, with help from some small Bungee Chords...tomorrowmorrow I'll try it out...

no pics today

2011-11-17T23:28:00.000-08:00

No pics yesterday too...hmmph...I did Shuttle back and forth to Village yesterday....books came...and Antlered Buck by the Cabin last night....sunny blueblue, todayyesterday, storm on the way, maybe...roofers seem to think so...put plastic over the work being done on the Cabin....staying up late, and trying to sleep through the hammering--shingle removal--has been problematic...the books!....Pausanias, Description of Greece, Loeb Classical Library, edited by R. I. Wycherley...Pausanias was an early tourist...book report for sometime....a dry weekend, news reports..hmmph...oh.....on the news, Six Point Buck in the Suburbs...captured safely, and to be set free in the wilds....

Owl

2011-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

Out and about for a short walkabout in the Late Afternoon...Mama Doe and One Fawn by the Perfect Dogwood..pics..snacked at Last Chance, and too, snacked at Ozone Beach...Two Mama Does with One Fawns across on the Far Shore...hard to see, and not sure...maybe more Deer...One Doe and Fawn crossed at the River at Cottonwood Bend....thought to make Inside Loop...but two tourists about...Valley so quiet now that just one or two tourists about in a Meadow, or on the Trail, well, twos a crowd!...fun to have things to oneself, but better to share...anyway...Two Top Pine Meadow quiet...returned, and paddled back to the Cattails to check for Owl...quiet...continued to Creek's End...quiet too...made one more pass through the Woods..quiet, until one hooo hooooo....Sentinel...tried to locate, and nearly left off, and one more hoooo hooooooo....by the Cattails!, I thought...but no, quiet...and then the hooo hoooos started in earnest...Ponderosa and Sentinel serenading...followed here and there, but couldn't sight...thought to hand hold the waterproof and record the singing, but missed turning on clip...hmmph...and when I did sight Ponderosa, pic and clip..the clip with newer camera again is silent...I think what happens is when I set the newer camera to 'crop'.-avi clip cropped-the sound recording doesn't click in, or something...oh, this has decided me to get the new point and shoot...it has the terrific stereo recording, and much easier to handhold, and the long lens reach thrown in...for what I'm about, it works a bit better than the big do 300 lens and dslr...hmmph...anyway..pics up are Ponderosa...artsy photoshopped Half Dome from Creek's End is bottom pic...Outdoor Photography came with a photoshopped cover...seems to be the thing to do...sunny patchy clouds warm...was up late getting wow downloads, uploads, whatever, to work..and playing a bit...well, it was another all nighter...sheesh...slept 'till two in the afternoon..,.somehow, I want to do some like dawn to noon walkabouts, somehow!!...Mallard quacking at Last Light at Creek's End, during the hooo hooooos...

And I looked about, reluctantly, for the Klamath River Grey Whale, knowing it could only be a sad tale, which it is, but honorable, I'd say...
link:
quote
The whale revived memories of a story told by late tribal member Fannie Flounder and recounted by anthropologist Theodora Kroeber in the book, "The Inland Whale."
"She said when the whale is in the river, it means the world is out of balance ... things aren't the way they should be," said Janet Wortman, a relative of Flounder and partner in the Requa Inn. "Fannie said you all need to get together and pray and dance and beat your feet on the ground and that will tilt the earth back the way it is supposed to be."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/klamath-river-whale-dies_n_928392.html
unquote

Grey Squirrel

2011-11-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

Actually, pics are of Two Grey Squirrels, taken in the Oaks, which haven't any Acorns...Squirrels are digging up Old Acorns....paddled over to the Village, and returned through Bobcat Meadow, and made the Outside Loop....quiet...Raven, Acorn Woodpeckers, Robins, Flicker, Creeper call, Two Does and One Fawn by the Merced when I made the turn at Two Top Pine Meadow....stopped awhile in the Village awhile to see the residents art show....cloudy, patches of blue, cool...report yesterday of Two Coyotes at Trail Head near Chinquapen...oh...too bushed after work last night to even post a no pics post!....wrath of the lick king expansion came in the mail...off to update...

no pics today

2011-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

No reports either!...hmmph...sunny blueblue, I think, or maybe overcast, dont know what happened to the storm forecast....work is very hectic...it's been a get in the park free weekend, and Siberia has closed up, so only reasonably priced place to eat is Last Chance!....double hmmph...

no pics today

2011-11-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

Little bit of Rain on the way to work...sprinkles through the evening...cool...week old report of Mountain Lion at Nevada Falls...report this evening of Hawk with 'light grey head' in Two Top Pine Meadow....

no pics today

2011-11-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

Heard Pileated Woodpecker call in the Backyard, behind the Fence, on the way to work...sunny cloudy cool....this morning, took time to do some pic prints for friends....

no pics today

2011-11-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

Report of Mountain Lion in the A Meadow last night....I slept right up until worktime, past a bit getting ready time....sunny hazy blue cold, I think....last Night's chicken strips didn't agree with me, along with the wet feet, and glad now to be lazing in the bunk, warm and comfy!

Doe and Fawn

2011-11-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Mama Doe and One Fawn were beside the Path near the Perfect Dogwood...bottom pic..paddled past on the way to Two Top Pine Meadow and the Magnificent Afternoon Light..tried for Woodpecker pics at the Broken Cottonwood in the Cottonwoods by the Merced...not much luck, and Light fading...heard Blue Jays scolding on the Far Side of the River, and thought, what the heck, maybe it will change my luck, so waded the River, and tried to locate Blue Jays...but Blue Jays fell silent...retrieved the Paper Bag of Snacks I had along with some effort and time, and concern for my wet, cold, feet!....continued over to Swinging Bridge, and returned to the Woods...paddling along the Diversion Channel, sighted the Full Moon peeking around Half Dome's shoulder...hurried over to Cottonwood Bend, trying to find angle, giving heads up to tourists...moving along the River, I sighted Mama Doe and One Fawn again, near the Apple Tree, and that seemed the place to be...tourist too found the spot, and we shared watching the Moon Over Half Dome...can't see this and not think of AA's pic!...continued on to Creek's End...formation of Six or so Mallards flying over, Moon higher, and things too dark, but a memory pic!...Mallards in the River and Creek too, quacking...back in Two Top, Robins, DownyOrHairy Woodpecker, Blue Birds, Acorn Woodpeckers, Ravens, Blue Jays...Grey Squirrels about...sunny blueblue cool, almost cold....thought to do Critter Count Day today, and should have last weekend, but a Dawn to Sunset day in the cold was too daunting...hmmph...make up next weekend...which will likely be colder!...doing hikes and such in the Valley and Park requires a kinda pre-determination to overcome one's inertia to stay warm and comfy!

Jeep Squirrel

2011-11-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Jeep Squirrel pic from morning walk to Breakfast...in the late afternoon, paddled out to Two Top Pine Meadow following Pileated Woodpecker...Pileated was flying high like Raven, and calling all the while...Meadow quiet when I got there..scenic pics...returned to the Woods and sat awhile at Creek's End until Light gone...quiet...Deer tracks in the Diversion Channel...Ouzel, Robin, Blue Jay, Flicker....rolled over to the Village for Mail, about the only rolling I've done in Silver for weeks...maybe Squirrel is telling me something...over heard stories, Squirrels making Nests in parked cars' engine compartments...checked under the hood, and inside Silver--ok..no Mice either!...sunny with clouds, late afternoon, just clouds, cold...is it Winter?...Storm on the way for this weekend....oh...tonight, returning to the Cabin with to go chicken strips, sighted Coyote nosing around the Sheds...

Snowy Morning

2011-11-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

Snowed a bit in the middle of night...pics up from on the way to Breakfast...storm clearing clouds in the morning, sunny and clouds in the afternoon, cool, cold tonight...Snow melted away mostly during the afternoon...report of Screech Owl in Mid Pines...

Fawn and Does

2011-11-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robin, Ouzel, Acorn Woodpecker, Raven, and Owl call..on hearing Owl, Sentinel, I looked up the Diversion Channnel, and thereabout Two Does and One Fawn...pics...Fawn pic only pic not too dark...wasn't time to look for Sentinel...sunny cloudy cool, few sprinkles beginning tonight...well, tonight is daylight savings time...'at lunch' has been the blog's staple of late, and tomorrow at lunch at work it will be dark...will just have to alter the effort to 'at breakfast'...

Deer

2011-11-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: when I reached the Path, sighted Deer in the Low Area thereabout, a jumble of Fallen Trees, and some Willows...tried to count Fawns, and maybe Two Fawns...and Fawns were curious about Young Buck...Deer moved over to the Diversion Chammel and into the Woods...I continued to the Cotonwoods at Ozone Beach...didn't sit, Log wet from the Snow and Rain, so just stood....pic of the Cottonwoods across the River reflected, and pic of the Cottonwoods...not much Light at Lunch now, and soon daylight saving times, and no lunch sits until Spring on workdays...Robin, Ouzel, Acorn Woodpecker...quiet...on return, past the Rooms and almost to the Road, thought I heard Owl, and trotted back to the Path...walked the Path, listening, and smiled hearing Sentinel and Ponderosa.... hooo hooooo hoo hooo hooo hooooo....very cool...snowed a bit around midnight last night, and snow didn't melt off much, the day that cool, one brief snowrain shower on the way to work, but mostly a clear day with broken up storm clouds.... Mists at lunch, there will be Mists in the Morning...

Doe and Fawn

2011-11-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...near time to return, Mama Doe and One Fawn came down to the River...top two pics and last pic...second from bottom pic, Doe, Fawn, and Cottonwoods, from yesterday...Half Dome and Ozone Cottonwoods seen from Cottonwood Bend from Tuesday evening...quiet this evening, a late lunch, Clouds just beginning to come in..third pic from top...Robin, Ouzel, Acorn Woodpecker, Raven....sunny blue hazy high clouds, cool in evening, and tonight, it's raining a bit, and cold enough for maybe snow any moment, news reports it will be brief storm...report of Bobcat by the Rooms...Deer in Two Top Pine Meadow...oh, it was Windy this afternoon, Broad Lead Maple Leaves blowing into Last Chance when ever the Doors opened...and I thought it a fine thing to just be outside, instead of inside!..pics tonight taken with 6400 iso...it was that dark..

Doe and Fawn

2011-11-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Robin, Blue Jay, and Pygmy Owl--two calls....sunny blueblue warm, cool this evening...what with the Wind last night, and the coolness tonight, does seem a Storm is on the way!...report of dust up between Doe and Coyote by the Burnt Forest--Doe protecting Fawn...'Fawn ran one way, and Doe went after Coyote'....hiking friend did the Falls trail from Ten Lakes trail head to the Valley, and report it very critter quiet...and a bumper crop of Acorns in Groveland....need to check to see how Oaks doing hereabout...

Deer

2011-11-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Happened on Four Deer by the Creek...followed from the Fallen Cedars, to Creek's End, along the Diversion Channel to Ozone Beach...lost Deer there, but found Four More Deer...followed to the Burnt Forest...diverted there by Two Pileated Woodpeckershigh on a Snag...clip...and lots of hd and avi clips of Deer!...all this in late afternoon...Dogwoods were first stop in the Backyard, but quiet...Ouzel in the Deer clips..Ouzel flew into view, and was able to pan with camrea...oh!, if I had time, but hd clips are very time consuming to edit and upload...for sometime with more time!...anyway, a fine walk...on return, sighted Two Point Buck at Cottonwood Bend, and on way through Woods, Doe and One Fawn..pics up...all the Does had One Fawn....last sighting may have been earlier Doe, but all toll, maybe Four Does, each with Fawn...sunny blueblue warm, and breezy...hd clip of Pine Needless in the Wind, taken from the Pines...the Pines have a Fall change too...Needles turning brown and dropping...

Bandtail Pigeons, Pileated Woodpecker, and Robin

2011-10-31T23:12:00.000-07:00

I saw Bandtail Pigeons, I think, flying in Flocks along Glacier Wall, while making the Outside Loop counterclockwise...pics up...when I started out from the Cabin, I heard Pileated Woodpecker in the Backyard...sighted Pileated in the Ponderosa Snag, and too, sighted Robins in the Dogwoods...after some effort, walking under Branches and through Briers, I found a place to set up under the Dogwoods by the Fence...everytime the workmen started into hammering and firing off the nail gun, Robins would fly off...thought was, Pileated might come to the Dogwoods, and in a few moments of quiet, this happened!...hd clips, but Pileated most always hidden by Leaves...time to time, tried for Robin clips and pics, but not much luck...Light faded around four thirty, and I started the Loop...quiet..Mallard at Swinging Bridge, Mallard at Chapel Bridge, and at Last Light, while sitting at Owl Log at Creek's End, Female Mallard plopped in the Merced while I was reviewing the Pileated pics and clips...noisy Mallard too, quacking while I walked back to the Cabin in the gloaming...a fine walk in the 'amazing light'--tourist's comment by CAD Beach...Leaves have fallen off the Cottonwoods...it's an odd Fall, Leaf Changing wise...had hoped to hear Owl, but no luck...Owl has been quite over a week now...sunny blueblue warm...report of Bobcat right in front of the Cabin this morning...report of Eagle, 'every morning' just downhill from Hornitos...Tioga is open, and I've resisted rollabouts thataway...trying to save money a bit so I can go somewhere on vacation...butbut, sure to be another Blueblue Day tomorrow, so the tug thataway is strong!...and Tioga for sure will be closed if Storm en route brings a lot of Snow...oh...now news weather says a light Storm...hmmph...Acron Woodpecker was pestering Pileated--almost got flight pic...and Ouzel at Cottonwood Bend, actually, Ouzels, here and there, all along the River from Chapel Bridge to Swinging Bridge...Phoebe at Cottonwood Bend too....and DownyOrHairy Woodpeckers in Backyard.....Blue Jays, Ravens....,maybe Wren call...

no pics today

2011-10-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Raven, Robin, Acorn Woodpecker, Flicker, and Ouzel singing, hopping about the Fallen Cottonwoods...faraway pics....sunny blueblue warm, storm forecast for Thursday...friend reported White Headed Woodpecker, near Three Arch Bridge, I think....this two days ago....

Bat Evening

2011-10-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: Sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Ouzels, Robin, Acorn Woodpecker, Bats, and Pygmy Owl call!, which was very cool...sunny blueblue warm...regarding why Ground Squirrels are so fat in the Fall...it's going to take awhile before I buttonhole someone hereabout who might know, but I did a web search, 'why are Ground Squirrels so fat...'...and it brought up some things of interest...Belding Ground Squirrels in Alaska put on muscle mass to prepare for the cold Winter, fat too, but the muscle metabilizes in a certain way to provide warmth to the Heart....Squirrels put on fat regardless of how much they eat, it's all time related, so even if they are not eating much, they still put on fat in the Fall....hmmph...I've never seen a Ground Squirrel not eating much!...and this: Male Ground Squirrels successful in battles with other Males, and with mating with Females, grow bigger....I think that may be common to a lot of species...and there were more things, a search of Ground Squirrel in general turns up a lot a things!

no pics today

2011-10-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile, kinda late, like six pm, under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robin, Ouzel, Raven Pair flyover, I think, Acorn Woodpecker...a thin crescent Moon, and One Bat skimming, and somtimes just barely touching the still River, making ripples..tried for pics...well, I can put one up, but one cant see Bat!...brb...one clip does show Bat, but Bat is so small, like a Knat....Bats have a charming way of flying, bit like a Butterfly....sunny blueblue warm....

no pics today

2011-10-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: set out for Ozone Beach, but tourists about, so diverted to the Cabin...needed to do errand there anyway--gift pic for friend leaving the Valley...Deer in the Snow...sunny blueblue warm, cool in the morning...friend reported Bobcat by the Rooms and was happy to get good pics....

no pics today

2011-10-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robin, Raven, Ouzel...sometimes I hear Little Birds, and think, Phoebe, Kinglet, Song Sparrow, or ?, just never sure, and usually just one or two Little Birds calling....sunny blue warm, though a lot of tourists bundled up, rain looking clouds in the evening....Audubon Xmas Bird count magazine came, spent time browsing and wondering....I shouldn't be surprised that a lot of Birds I haven't seen yet....National Wildlife Refuge book came too...very cursory, and deserving I guess of being panned...there is so much more on the web, that any such book nowadays seems a bit paltry!

Ground Squirrel, Robin, Hawk, and Cat

2011-10-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

After afternoon snack at Last Chance, shuttled over to the Village...Ground Squirrel pics while waiting for Shuttle...collected mail, visited Art Center--Valley residents art show in works...paddled from the Village to Siberia...checked the Dogwoods on the way for Seeds...Backyard Dogwoods haven't many Seeds, along with being enclosed by workmens' Fence!, so, desperate to find Dogwoods with Seeds and Birds...Robins, a lot!, in the Dogwoods on Path between the A Meadow and Stoneman Bridge...tried for pics, but Road in the way, and all in Shade...must try here again in Morning Light, and in Siberia too...Robins in the hundreds about!...retrieved the Bike, and peddled out to Happy Isles, around to Mirror Lake on the Pony Path, and back to Three Arch Bridge, where I heard Blue Jays scolding, and sighted Hawk, Redtail, I think...Tree to Tree with Hawk took me back to the Robin Dogwoods...continued back to Bobcat Meadow, and made the Outside Loop during Last Light...quiet, but scenic!..sat awhile at Ozone Beach..quiet...oh, Mallards, lots, at Stoneman Bridge...maybe Pileated call along Road to Happy Isles...Cat by the A Meadow...thereabout Mama Doe and One Fawn, and Two Point Buck and Doe bounding about...sunny blueblue hazy warm...

very cool clip (thanks to hiking friend!) here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/xHkq1edcbk4?version=3%20%20%20%20

Hawk

2011-10-25T01:59:00.000-07:00

Well, there's a clip that goes with the pics, Hawk preening, and it's a far away crop...for sometime!(upload too slow)...after Breakfast, snoozed until late afternoon (was up 'till four am playing wow--Halloween quests)...and it's late now--fell asleep during world series!...hmmph...anyway, made the Outside Loop counterclockwise, and starting out into Coop's Meadow (with memories of Coop on just such a Fall Day!), sighted White Chest Feathers of Hawk, Redtail...pics up...took the far away clip, and watched a long while, and then thought to move closer...but Hawk flew up, and I'd set the camera for such event, and was able to get far away flight pic...Hawk resettled near the Merced, and I thought to continue, but Hawk flew across to the River to Two Top Pine Meadow, and, oh!, I had to follow, Tree to Tree--Hawk may have gone to Two Top Pine...reached the Meadow, and Hawk flew up from the Lone Cottonwood near Two Top, and over to the Burnt Forest...left off, and continued the Loop...Maple is in color, but all in shade when I reached the Chapel...continued around to Lower Falls, and made the Inside Loop clockwise...quiet...Two Male Mallards by the Fallen Cedar...earlier, Female Mallard at Swinging Bridge...Robin, Bluebirds, Raven, Flicker, Acorn Woodpecker, along the way...sunny blue hazy, cool in morning, warm...week old report of Pileated in Siberia, and Hawk by the A Rooms...very cool to see Hawk in the Magnificent Fall Light!!

no pics today

2011-10-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robin, Flicker, Raven, and on return, sighted Mama Doe and One Fawn browsing by the Rooms...sunny blueblue warm...off to the badlands of wow to slay dragons...and tilt at windmills!

no pics today

2011-10-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach....Robin, Raven, Blue Jay, maybe Phoebe...quiet...sunnybluebluewarm...now and then I see Trout break the River's suface, oh, and Crickets...it's reallyreally quiet!...but pleasant in the evening, and the Fall Sunlight is always terrific in the Valley...pic up from other day sitting in the Woods....my eyes are often drawn to this sorta corridor....

Ground Squirrel

2011-10-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Blue Jay, Robin, Phoebe, Three Mallards fly over...sunny blueblue warm...pic up from on way to work...Ground Squirrel stretched out in the Sun watching the tourists...'oh!, he's in the Sunlight!'...tourists for a moment saw how I see, and other photogs taking pics, the play of Light...

no pics today

2011-10-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: Log under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach occupied by four seated tourists, happily in their Nature Moments, I'd say, so I diverted over to the Lunch Sit Log in Owl Woods, which has rolled down the Little Slope under the Ponderosa, this from Hign Water, and so sat awile on the Forest Duff, resting against the Ponderosa...did take one pic of the Woods, for sometime...sunny blueblue hot....Robin, Flicker, Raven, Blue Jay, and Grey Squirrel...quiet...

Two Fawns

2011-10-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Ouzel, Ravens, Robin, and just before return, Mama Doe and Two Female Fawns...sunny blue warm...yesterday, near Dark, Two Chickarees at North Pines Campground...too dark for pic...pic of Grey Squirrel on Short Cedar Snag on way to work...and scattered Pine Cone Seeds around the Cabin Cedar...look to be the work of Chickaree...Anltered Buck grazing on the Chinquapin by the Cabin when I returned from work...tried for pic...didn't have waterproof with, ahd telephoto lens on newer camera doesn't work too well with flash!...wished for pic...Buck had Many Point Antlers..

no pics today

2011-10-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, I did take a few pics on a peddleabout over to the Backpackers Camp towards Evening....friend on their mountain bike tagged along as far as the Village, so I was distracted with talk, and called sister with cameraphone while waiting at the Camp to maybe here Owl, and distracted there too--pleasantly so!...did take a few scenics from the Bridges and Meadows....rolling about in Silver I've gotten out of touch with the Valley, sorta hard to explain...parked the Bike in Siberia after dinner, and returned on the Shuttle after dark, and recollected coming back late from hikes and riding the Shuttle...Shuttles remind me of the Caterpillar Ride at the Carnival when I was a kid...Ride Car was like a Long Caterpillar, that once started, closed over with a Roof, the Caterpillars Skin, and everyone was in the dark...Shuttles approach with their lights, red, green, amber, silver, shining through the Trees...one clambers aboard, and the interior lights go off--dark like the Caterpillar!...no luck at the Camp...old Tiki has been replaced with three new Tikis, just like the ones along Road to Mirror Lake...Earth moving machines about that removed the old Tiki Pipes, and the Camp Ground kinda dug up...hmmph...sunny blueblue warm...Robins, lots, at the A Meadow...Doe there, and Two Point Buck on the A Meadow Lawn...pic up an afterthought...Cabin has Tree, a Ponderosa, on left, like hereabout, which is, I gather, is Good Dragon feng shui...and the Stump Bench is still at the Old Post Office in Siberia....

Owl

2011-10-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Early part of the Day taken up with trying to trim the cameraphone bill...trimmed texting, and tethering, and tried to trim the homephone too, and by some quirk of things got added service there and lower price, though now 'am locked into a contract for a year, and two years on cameraphone...and it is all very confusing, and long waits on hold, and it all reminds me of buying a car...one hears 'you need this and this and this..' and one capitulates because one needs the car!!...one of the problems with the cameraphones is they are small computers, and one is familiar with all the things computers do that a one fee Internet connection provides, though one needs a phone to have the connect, unless using wi fi places, which I'm tempted to do, but all my web efforts, and computers, are tethered to the home phone, so, so...one needs phones!!...anyway, paddled out in the evening to Two Top Pine Meadow, sat awhile by the Merced at the Slough, and soaked my toes, and proceeded with the mundane maintenance of toe nail clipping...I've often done this on trails when boots and toenails are in conflict, and it's become a kinda ritual routine...mundane ritual maintenance of one sort of another gobbles up a lot of time...thereabout on the Sand: Mallard floatby, clip, Flicker, Blue Birds calling, DownyOrHairy Woodpecker, Ravens...quiet...paddled back to Owl Woods, and Providence smiled...Owl pics and clip--Owl's ritual flight preparation...trimmed take-off from clip...like old times, I thought, hearing, then sighting Owl, and good fortune....sunny blueblue warm...

Local Flora here: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_consort.pl (web catalog of Valley Museum's collection)

I imagine somehwhere there is a Local Fauna collection...

no pics today

2011-10-16T23:38:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Robin, Blue Jay, Flicker, Ouzel...quiet...oh..Crickets...sunny blue hazy warm...report from White Mountains, and East Side...hot in places, in places cold and icesnow...Bald Eagle, Red Tail, Golden Eagle, Sharpshinned a maybe....Tioga is open, so can go East on weekend tomorrow...kinda worn out with all the driving about...just did a down and back to Merced Friday before work..still in sleep debt from that day, along with playing wow!...so..so...if I can level up tonight, quickly (my mage at 49 and a half), maybe a rollabout tomorrow!

Antlered Buck

2011-10-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Crickets, Cottonwood Leaves falling and rustling, Robin, Flicker, Blue Jay scolding overhead, Ouzel bobbing on the Far Side of the River, Raven flyover...and Antlered Buck hesitant to cross the River, and finally deciding to cross at the Bend Shingles....when it's this quiet in the Valley, one tends to latch on to every small sighting....sunny blue hazy warm....oh...Maple Leaves beginning to turn on the Slopes of Sentinel...'unseasonably warm' tv weather report says....

Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589793838?qid=1318744232&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2

America's Wildlife Refuges, A Complete Guide...

Book was touted in email , and is on sale at amazon, and, I didn't hesitate a moment to one clic!!

Well...hmmph...read amazon's reviews, and many carps...this book a second edition, shortened from first....butbut, any book nowadays is just a source for google searches, and google maps...oh, and one can pick up a national map of refuges atfthe refuges!!!....I should add that to the reviews!, but have become completly blase about quarrels, political, environmental--even sports...hmmph...and I am completely mystified at what key turn my curser into pac man....if i go back sometime to edit, letters just get gobbled..nd now it's stopped!...no...just lost an a!!

Black Oyster Catcher

2011-10-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Robin, Blue Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Raven....calls mostly, think I saw Robin...sunny blue hazyclouds, warm....pic up I posted yesteday, and from 17 mile....Black Oystercatcher, I think, and new bird, for me...cool...I may have seen Oystercatchers at Bodega Bay...farfar away pics from that journey I haven't ideed...

Two Mergansers

2011-10-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Robin, Blue Jay, Ouzel, and Two Mergansers on a floatby...pic up...sunny blueblue warm...report of Hawk call in the morning by the Rooms...

Oreo

2011-10-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach..one hooo hooo hooooo...Two Ouzels about....Robin, Raven, and Pileated call, I think, farfar away, by Swinging Bridge, I think!....sunny blueblue warm...pics up from Monday rolloutandback...I didn't take many pics...sat in the passenger seat most all along 17 mile...got cold on the one looksee for pics...Bird with Orange Bill, from 17 mile, I may not have sighted before...need to id!...Cow, Burrow, Dove, at the Garlic Store on Bloomfield in Gilroy, Kite at Moss Landing...

Otter

2011-10-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Returned to the Valley around one pm...errands to do...forgot to get gas last Tuesday, which is problematic, as no gas stations in Valley, and of late, the nearest station on 140 has been closed...fortunately, was able to get some gas in Village...returned to the Cabin, and forgot to get mail, so sat and waited at Last Chance for Shuttle to return to Post Office, which arrived full, and left same, without me--full Shuttle!...hmmph...thought Summer was over...so diverted and walked to the Village and fortunate to sight Two Mama Does with Two Fawns each....apparently, my Two Fawn pics are Four Fawns: Two Fawns at the Mini Meadow, looked to be Does, and Two Fawns at the Oak Groves, Fawns with Antler Buds...sighted Two Antlered Bucks resting in Village...Two Does too at the Mini Meadow...more Valley Deer than I've seen in awhile!....pics for sometime....pic up from Moss Landing yesterday, a journey in the tradition of Mr. Toad!...and I wasn't driving....very glad to be back in the Valley!

Monterey

2011-10-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well, played wow until five am last night, dragons still have the upper hand, and around nine I hear taptap on my window...friend with question, "on vacation, wanna go to Monterey?"..."huh, will I get to see Moss Landing Otters?"..."sure"..."brb"...and, a long day there and back...so...so, Otter pics for sometime, and pics from 17 mile drive...friend much dissappointed by drizzly weather, 17 mile being reason for journey...anyway, back in Merced tonight, waiting to return rental car tommorrow...report and pics for tomorrow too!

no pics today

2011-10-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robin, Blue Jay, Flicker, Ravens chasing....sunny blueblue warm....off to slay dragons in the badlands of wow, though right now they have the upper hand!!

Sandhill Cranes

2011-10-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

At Breakfast, sighted Four Young Antlered Bucks at Ozone Beach while making my first call on newest cameraphone....could have gone with a live broadcast, but needed to be in wifi range...on return to Cabin, sighted Fox Sparrow, I think--still studying pics for id....sunnybluebluewarm...at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Beach...Ouzel, Robin, Raven, Blue Jay, Flicker....forgot mention of Coyote sightings going back aways...twice at Night, on Tioga Road, sighted two Coyotes crossing Road--that's four all together, and usually around White Wolf to Crane Flat...last week Coyote at night in the Cabin Frontyard...and in morning by Pohono Bridge last Tuesday, Coyote crossing Road....pic up from MWR, and too farfar away, but difficult to get close to Cranes!!

Ring Necked Pheasant

2011-10-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Robins (lots!), Raven call, Flicker call, Fawn tracks in the Sand at my feet....sunny blueblue cool...Pheasant pic from MWR...sighted Pheasant just before Bitten Marsh, and Second Pheasant just beyond Marsh...new bird, for me...and very hard to get pic...Pheasant has a scurry and run, and looks to be very shy....

Greater White Fronted Geese

2011-10-06T23:37:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat for just a moment beneath the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...Ouzel on Far Bank of the Merced....heard Owl, and thought to stay seated, needed a break, but paddled out the Diversion Channel to Creek's End...Owl quiet...One Doe...returned same way...Robins, Flicker, Black Birds, Ravens...day after storm weather, clouds moving along the walls, cool...pics up from MWR....I tried to reach the Refuge before First Light...a bit late...on review of pics, a new bird, for me, Greater White Fronted Goose...first pic, second, Ibis, third, Swallows, and last, Sandhill Cranes...news report of twenty one inches of Snow at Ostrander Lake...and that's lower than Tuolumne...so maybe Tioga Road closer for Season...sigh...well, lots to see to the West!!!

Rainy Day

2011-10-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

I tried to upload pic of Half Dome shrouded in Clouds and dusted with Snow. First pic with newest camera. An iPhone. Took me awhile to learn to use my first computer. Mac Plus. Long live Apple.

Phoebe

2011-10-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Oh, a long Day...pic up from Merced Wildlife Refuge...more pics, and report, for tomorrow...Sandhill Cranes are back!!!

no pics today

2011-10-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Shuttled over to the Village for mail...Two Bucks beside the Road...thought to hike, expecting cool weather, but hot inspight of clouds coming, cooler this evening....tomorrow, a long day...visit down the hill to Town....Mama Doe and Three Fawns reported in Siberia...forget if I mentioned...three day old report too...played wow all afternoon...found a dungeon in the badlands, which look and feel much like Death Valley...took break for dinner...back now to wow...hmmph...

no pics today

2011-10-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat for the time under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Raven, Blue Jay...wondered were Robins are, and maybe saw Two Robins across the River...Doe on the Far Side....maybe saw Ouzel...sunny blue with puff clouds, not sure what the weather forecast is, foot of Snow above seven thousand feet Wednesday?...

Two Fawns

2011-10-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach...quiet...Two Ouzels, Acorn Woodpecker hammering on the Snag behind the Rooms...on return, sighted Mama Doe and Two Fawns (earlier, Young Antlered Buck in the Diversion Channel)...pic up....sunny hot blue, afternoon clouds rolling in...report Storm on the way....report of Bobcat behind Last Chance catching Ground Squirrel...are Fawns Bucks!?...looks like Antler Buds on Fawns...

Half Dome and Moon

2011-09-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile, the whole time actually, under the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach visiting with new friends, the English tourists from yesterday...talkabout Owls (and pic viewing on cameras), critter sightings, and vacation adventures...very cool...picked up to return, and Mama Doe and Two Fawns right behind us...pic up...Half Dome pic form Owl Morning...sunny hothot blue...report of Rattlesnack under the handicap ramp entrance to Last Chance from Teusday...a marvel!!!...more report of Owls calling over in Siberia...and in foothills too...trip maybe in works to Foothill Ranch with lots of Owls...

Owl

2011-09-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: of late, I've been having Ozone Beach to myself at Lunch, but this evening, two tourists were sitting on the Log under the Cottonwoods...'nice spot...'...'oh, yes!'.....and I heard Owl, and lots of daylight, an early evening Lunch....'do you hear Owl?'...'oh?'....and I paddled up the Diversion Channel...startled Owl, Sentinel, and a blurry flyby pic...and a few pics when Owl perched in the Black Oaks...on return, 'I don't want to intrude, but would you like to see Owl?'...'oh, yes!'...turns out tourists were from England or Austrailia, where there are 'pink and blue Blue Jays', and Woods in their Backyard, with Owls, and reported they once saw Owl. with Mouse in beak, pass the Mouse to another Owl..all this while both Owls were in flight!!...maybe Mama Owl feeding Fledgling, I thought...a fine brief talkabout about Owls, the Valley, taking pics, and such...suuny blue and cloudy, hot...report of hoo hooos in Siberia, and behind Village....considering these reports, and report of hoo hooos at Backpacker's Camp, I'm wondering how many Owls are about the Valley...maybe a before Dawn bicycle rideabout in order...friend who heard Owls in Bobcat Meadow, Flicker Grove, too, hoo hoos at me at work...

Northern Harrier

2011-09-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

no pics today...Morning taken up with mailing bills and shopping...At Lunch taken up with showing Bobcat and Coyote book to friend, which has become a routine...since book has no text, I narrate as I turn the pages..friends are usually snacking across from me..what happens, friends usually expect a good pic of Bobcat, and to sorta respond like one would to a souvenir pic from vacation...but as I turn the pages, jaws drop...and when I finish, I say to them, 'your food is getting cold...'...much fun....oh...saw W. in Village, and she gave me a book of Valley Songs, with a new Valley critter, Sierra Long Toed Ring Necked Black Eyed Squeegee...W. signed book...a very fine Souvenir!!.....Harrier pics from yesterday at MWR....sunny hothot blue...

Waterbirds

2011-09-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

Rolled down the hill to town for errands and snacks, and time for rollabout Merced Wildlife Refuge...Water is back now at the Entry View Platform, and some Waterbirds too...I've learned Birds' names, but not to the point I can recall them off hand...anyway...it's charming to see Birds return...one wonders where Birds have gone and what adventrues Birds have had...Big Wings, Buzz Birds about, and Small Hawk I couldn't id, and Notrthern Hariiers, which I almost got good pics of...Harrier pics I'm haveing trouble getting...Harrier's are always on the move horizontally, bobbing and swooping...thought is, if I can ever get in front of Harrier's flight path, Harrir will fly right into me...but I haven't even come close to that happening...not being able to get out and walk being the problem...anyway...Harrier pic for sometime...now, on the blog, if I post more than one pic, thumbnails appear below, and one can clic through all the pics, rather than scroll...trouble is, one can't click on and enlarge, like before, unless, there is just one pic up...so, sometimes now I just post one pic, so one can enlarge ti and study it more closely...a large res uncropped pic can usually be clicked on and enlarged twice...sunny hothot blue...gone most all day, and no Valley pics or walk.....

Two Yearling Deer

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Two Deer by the Cabin this morning...pic up...sunny, maybe cloudy, (didn't get out much!), warm....after dinner at last chance, picked up a mocha (which I have been getting on the farflung rollabouts--a travel treat) for the first time at Last Chance, which has a coffee corner, which I've never gotten coffee from before, I mean, it's right there, but as part of my chores, I make coffee, and can have coffee for free, or when off work, half price, and I dont know, it just never occured to me to get the special coffees, which are sorta like deserts....anyway, with mocha, paddled out to Ozone Beach...sat awhile ahd watched Mama Doe and Two Fawns, One Fawn, and Bucks and Does over in the Diversion Channel..made the Inside Loop counter clockwise...sat awhile at Creek's End...there's a fine Log now with the old view in front of Owl Log..and I was content to watch Last Light fade from Half Dome...Blue Jays, Robin call, Mallard call, Ouzel, Phoebe, quiet...report of Bobcat catching Ground Squirrel behind the Rooms..

Two Fawns

2011-09-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: Sighted, what I thought, was just Mama Doe and One Fawn nestled in the Grasses by the Use Path on the way to Ozone Beach, but on review, see Second Fawn in pic too...so the head count today, okay...Second Doe about too...sat awhile under the Cottonwoods...Ouzel, Blue Jays, Robin call...quiet...sunnycloudylightlightsprinkles, warm...asked friend who was up in Tuolumne on their weekend by Pothole Dome if they saw Deer Herd...'yes'...and Birds?...'no big ones, hardly any others at all'...oh,,,and a web report of Golden Eagle at Cartwright Reservoir....wait...looks to be Young Bald Eagle..:)

Owl

2011-09-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

Out and about before Sunrise...at the RipRap, heard Owl, Sentinel, across the Creek...crossed the Creek, and followed call, calls, Ponderosa calling too, to Flicker Grove...thought I made clip of both calling together...but newer camera didn't record calls...disappointing, as Owls were calling back and forth....too dark for pics...and sighted first Ponderosa fly over head back to the Creek, and Sentinel calls followed, and I crossed back over the Creek, and at Owl Woods, sighted both Owls again...and missed calls again in clips...pic of Ponderosa too dark, and pic of Sentinel up, very grainy...was going to call post, Black Eyed Owl...very cool to see Owl with pupils dilated all the way...picked up, and at the Merced, Ozone Beach, sighted Mama Doe and Two Fawns upriver at Cottonwood Bend...clip for sometime...sunny blue with thunder clouds in the west at dawn, thundershowers later in the afternoon, clear tonight....at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Beach...Ouzel, Robin, Bluejay, Flicker call, and lots of Ravens...quiet...friend heard Owls too at Flicker Grove, and asked if Owls always there....I dont know if Owls are about in July and August, two months I have no pics or reports...I suspect Owls dont call much in Spring and Summer....

Ouzel

2011-09-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Gathered the gear, and before First Light, paddled out to Creek's End...Blue Jays calling here and there...quiet...continued on Inside Loop, clockwise, and at the same place I saw Mama Doe and Two Fawns the other morning (Bear Plop Shores), I made another effort to sight the Little Bird in the Willows thereabout...lots of blurry pics and clips...sighted Song Sparrow, Brown Creeper, and the Little Bird of most interest, Winter Wren...Wren was singing and talking...call on clip...behind me, heard Deer crossing the Merced, and too, Two Mergansers diving for Fish...picked up and followed Mergansers around Cottonwood Bend as far as Ozone Beach..been awhile since I played leap frog with Mergansers...object is to trot ahead, set up, and get clip as Mergansers pass by in the Current...have many avi clips of this, but few hd...and still few..clips too far away..Deer clips, Wren clips, too blurry...the newer camera doesn't lend itself to moving subjects..anyway...Ouzel pic up from morning before...I'm trying to make a routine of earlyearly morning walks, and maybe posting too--five thirty am at moment...sunny blueblue hot, clouds in afternoon...at Lunch: Ouzels about, Mama Doe and Two Fawns across the Merced at Ozone Beach...tourists came by on two rafts, kidding one another loudly and laughing, all the way to Swinging Bridge, voices echoing--River very low now, and likely last rafters of Season...heared Hawk, Redshoulder, in the Morning, Flicker too, and Flicker at Lunch...and the Tall Cottonwood that stands by itself at Ozone Beach is dropping its Leaves...thought is that it was overwatered during High Water...Leaves on all the Cottonwoods look to be pale, kinda like the Alder leaves when they begin to fall...Alder Leaves dont change colors much at all, and am wondering if the Cottonwoods wont show much color this Fall...

Cottonwood Bend

2011-09-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: paddled out to Cottonwood Bend...Mama Doe and Two Fawns thereabout...pic up...Ouzel too...pic for sometime...Robin, Mallard, Blue Jay,...quiet...sunnybluehot, afternoon clouds, balmy night...oh..a short post...off to ride a Mammoth!

no pics today

2011-09-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

At Lunch: sat awhile at the Ozone Beach Cottonwoods...Robins, Blue Jays, Song
Sparrows, glimpse of Ouzel...quiet....sunnyblue, and then cloudy and a few sprinkles....

Tuolumne Morning

2011-09-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

Gathered the gear, and rolled up the hill to Tuolumne...near Pothole Dome, sighted Deer Herd...I've seen Deer hereabout on several of the visits to Tuolumne, lots...counted like fourteen this time, Does and Bucks, but no Fawns, and mostly Mature Antlered Bucks...and knockdown hd clip of Deer all crossing and wading up the Tuolumne River...and will have to find time for upload to youTube...there is a backlog of clips I'd like to put on youTube, in fact, I'd like to edit many of the old ones, and upload, as the resolution is good on youTube, and length limit is like fifteen minutes now, which is plenty....anyway, continued to Mono Lake...checked the Bird Report Board at the Visitor Center, and rolled over to the County Park at Lake's North Shore for looksee...just a rollabout, in the distance on the Lake, looked to be same Birds, Seagulls and Grebes, as last weekend, so didn't walk out the Boardwalk...should have to check for Osprey...didn't see Osprey mention on the Board...Hawk, Redtail was about..bottom pic up...Hawk, Redtail, just above, was over Dana Meadows...continued, and rolled back up Tioga to Tuolumne...hotdog, fries, and ice tea, at the Grill for snack...sat across the Road at where I like to sit, and didn't see one Bird...very quite...Raven flyover...had thought to continue back to the Valley, but walked out to Sept. 1915 Bridge, and it is veryvery quiet...sighted just a couple Songsparrows, I think, and Nutcracker Call...Blackbirds at the Store Benches....Tuolumne has been very different for me this Summer...rolling about all over the map in Silver, I haven't taken the Hiker's Bus to the Meadow, or backpacked....having a car speeds things up, but it doesn't really make for more Critter sightings, well, maybe...what I'm thinking, is that I'm not seeing the Critters in depth, so to speak, on the rollabouts...walkabouts slow down ones perception, as it should be when sighting Wildlife...butbut, the rollabouts have given me a perspective of just where I am on the map...north west south and east were a bit of a mystery, but now I have a notion of the Carrizo Plane, Great Basin National Park, Tule Lake, Point Reyes, along with a few other places!!....Silver has made for a very different year...thought was to roll up to Tuolumne on Summer Weekends, and have a longer time to day hike and backpack, which has been diverted for one reason or another--big reason, all the Snow in June and early July...butbut, usually this time of year, when the Hikers Bus no longer makes trips to the Meadow, my Tuolumne visits are over for the season (unless finding ride with friend), butbut, now, I'm not sure, but Tuolumne Hiking Season for me, may just be beginning....if Snowfall holds off, like it often does, until December, I'll have all of October and November for hikes...next weekend, errands in Merced, and I'm curious to see all the Hawks being reported--kettles of Swainson Hawks...sunny blueblue hot, thunder clouds in the afternoon...

Two Fawns

2011-09-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Gathered the gear before First Light, and started out along the Path to Two Top Pine Meadow, and behind the Rooms, heard Pygmy Owl call, and, both Great Horned Owls, Sentinel and Ponderosa!!...diverted out to Owl Woods...too dark for pics, but waitedwaited....Ponderosa quiet, and then Sentinel, and enough Light, but no luck...waded through the Grasses to the Merced (everything damp, and pants legs too--Mists about) and Mama Doe, Two Fawns, and One Yearling Doe, about the Cottonwoods at Ozone Beach....clip up....continued to Two Top...by the Broken Cottonwood, Blackbird Flock, I think...pic for sometime...Sunlight coming down the Rim, crossed to the Burnt Forest, and to Breakfast, and to Cabin to snooze all day, 'cept for foray to Village--had played wow all night in fact, over last two days, maybe a stretch with maybe just four hours sleep!!....not hard to explain to someone familiar with game!...sunny hothot blueblue...report of Owl call in morning at Backpackers Camp....it's late, the Tree Tops beckon, time to visit the Gryphon Master....

a bit from the Madnees of Sweeny (see wiki's take..), which is here:
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T302018/index.html

quote

Gloomy this life,
to be without a soft bed,
abode of cold frost,
roughness of wind-driven snow.
Cold, icy wind,
faint shadow of a feeble sun,
shelter of a single tree,
on the summit of a table-land.
Enduring the rain-storm,
stepping over deer-paths,(?)
faring through greensward
on a morn of grey frost.
The bellowing of the stags
throughout the wood,
the climb to the deer-pass,
the voice of white seas.
Yea, O great Lord,
great this weakness,
more grievous this black sorrow,
Suibhne the slender-groined.
Racing over many-hued gaps
of Boirche of hut couches,
the sough of the winter night,
footing it in hailstones.
Lying on a wet bed
on the slopes of Loch Erne,
mind on early departure,
morn of early rising.
Racing over the wave-tops
of Dun Sobairce,
ear to the billows
of Dun Rodairce.
Running from this great wave
to the wave of the rushing Barrow,
sleeping on a hard couch
of fair Dun Cermna.
From fair Dun Cermna
to flowery Benn Boirne,
ear against a stone pillow
of rough Cruachan Oighle.

Misty Morning Hawk

2011-09-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well, there was more than enough Light by seven am, gathered the gear, and started on the Path towards Two Top Pine Meadow...and not far along, heard Blue Jays scolding, and sighted Hawk flying up to a Pine Top...far away pic..thought a bit, and diverted to Bobcat Meadow when Hawk flew thataway...Creek low enough to walk across behind the Deer House...almost certain Hawk was about the Meadow...Blue Jays still scolding...but no luck..too many Leaves on the Oaks....paused a bit at Flicker Grove, and thought a bit on what the gardeners have done...all the Small Trees, Cedars and Ponderosas, volunteers, have been removed in the Grove, which is a mix of Black Oaks, Cedars, and Ponderosas...and now, now one can sight right through the Grove and easily see Bobcat Meadow, which makes for some new photo ops, albeit kinda artificially...pic up of Woodpecker Tree and Morning Mists through Flicker Grove...I like the pic okay, but I know it has been fashioned, or something...I cant argue that it's not natural, every scene in the Valley has some fashioning in it. or something...even if a car or building isn't actually in a pic, one can turn about, and, well, stuffs eveywhere....overheard a tourist commenting on seeing Bear...'it's like I saw Bear in a zoo'....worse, was 'it's like Nature's television'...hmmph...oh...this morning, tourist commented on the Cabin and the Cedar...'they wouldn't build the roof around the Tree like that today'...often I hear on waking..'which came first, the Tree, or the Cabin'...and the other morning I heard, 'have to cut the Tree down, it'll be in the way of the rain gutter when we re-roof it'...and in answer to this comment, another worker launched into a description of the Tree in the Door of one the Cabins on A. Meadow Row...'it was the healthiest Tree I ever saw'....that Tree was cut down a year or so ago, I've seen the Stump...another Small Cabin thereabout still has its Tree in the Door...there was a time in the Valley when there was a sense of humor...Galen Clark had a Tree in the Cabin...and one of the Artists did too...and the Post Office in Siberia had one, a Tree on the Porch, then its Stump for a Bench, which I think may be gone, but have to check...have heard the pigeon hole mail boxes are gone...hmmph...sunny blueblue hot, cool on the morning walk...picked up mail, and back to Breakfast, and snoozed until worktime...lost lock for locker at work (forgot keys inside,--bolt cutters removed lock), so didn't take camera, and no lunch walk, well, I walked to the Cabin and back...report of Bobcat, yesterday, at Happy Isles...'I'll have to get combination lock...'...'can't remember key, won't remember combination'....hmmph...workman humor....

Two Backyard Deer

2011-09-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried to upload clip, Two Yearling Fawns in Backyard, right behind Cabins (Cabin Fawns from Last Year, I think), but fell asleep...clip too long...a souvenir clip for upload maybe sometime....sunny blueblue cool in morning warm...at Lunch: sat awhile at Ozone Cottonwoods...Ouzel call...quiet...report of Falcon over Rooms...latelate, or earlyearly, now, three thirty!, so maybe awake at Dawn and will paddle out for looksee...maybe Falcon in Two Top Pine Meadow...