Coop From Last Year's Thanksgiving Day

Didn't get out today!...sat for a few minutes outside with Orange Juice and Chocolate Muffin before work....five Ravens flew over...had the camera with...take it about everywhere...both Coop and Martin landed in the Trees across the street last year this time....so I try to be prepared....clip and pic are from Thanksgiving Day Last Year...in Coop's Meadow!....this portion is from longer clip....have a cold...sore throat part over....now the sniffles...cool sunny and blue....

Hawk Glimpse

It looks like the young Red Shoulder Hawk...flew over my head from the Deer House Oaks to Flicker Grove...tried to follow...tree to tree to tree...then across the Road... last glimpse, Hawk was going towards the Falls....sometimes...a lot of times!...this is all I see of Hawk...

went to the Post Office...and on the way back, thought I saw Hawk again at the Deer House....I was across Cook's at the Artists' Grove...hurried along the Path...but when I got to the Deer House saw it was Raven...two Flickers showed up though and I got long distance clip...clip of Blackbirds too back at the Artist's Grove...sunny warm blue....a few wispy clouds....report of 'big brown bear' over behind the A. Rooms....and report yesterday of an Honored Guest at the Siberia Thanksgiving Festivities...Spotted Skunk!...given all due respect, I imagine!!

One Fawn Growing Up

Paddled to Creek's End...and back...that was it!...for today...got up for early Breakfast but curled up right after....and woke up with just a half hour for the walkabout before work....found the Little Mushrooms on the way back by the RipRap...and next to them found my lens cap!...had lost it in the commotion taking clip of Bear 6!....Mama Doe and One Fawn were back at the Cabin Backyard...

long clip didn't upload...One Fawn has gotten pretty big!....sunny cool and blue....report yesterday of Owl by Two Top Meadow...a twilight, low, head on overhead swoop!...will upload the clip of One Fawn sometime!...(another One Fawn Growing Up clip is at 'A Giant Mushroom' post!.... will shorten the one for here..sometime!)

Bird Count

Paddled over to the Post Office....notice of the Christmas Bird Count coming up posted...see pic...on the way back happened on the Two Male Mallards...dont know where the Females were!...long clip...I like the Ducks...sunny cool and blue in the morning...clouded up later and must have rained a bit as the roads were wet tonight...a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Rainy Day Mallards

The Four Mallards were at Creek's End....I set up...and they paddled right over from the opposite bank....wasn't much of a rainy day...barely got things wet...Two Does and Two Fawns were settled down out back...pics and clip....Chickadee pic and clip from two days ago....Raven from a day before that...cool cloudy with some rain...oh!...report yesterday of an Eagle on 'crag above Vernal Falls'!

Bears

Got up for early Breakfast....and walked about a bit out back with just the 12x along...Creek's End quiet....crossed over the Ford...a Tiki Hut ornaments now the Deer House grounds!...likely for the Roofers.. Cook's quiet too!...back to the Cabin and curled up... after Noon paddled over to the Post Office...and there a Stables' denizen photog friend reported the 'big' Bear over by the A. Rooms...this would be the one that visited the Weight Room...and is on the Wanted list apparently...with no sure route in mind...I went thataway...(Silverado is on)....and on the dirt Road under the Arches found a lot of birds in the Clearing...it's the Live Oak Acorns there I think attracting them...Blue Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers, Flickers...clip...headed out the Bike Path to Mirror Lake...and saw the Grey Squirrel high up and far away in the Ponderosa...it's always a great pic when they sit like this on a stub branch!...clip and pic...when I turned around Mama Bear and One Cub were up ahead...pics and clip...too bad so shady!...and the movement made for blurry pic with the new camera...they went off to the side in the Meadow...this near the Backpacker's Camp....another clip...I set up the minidigi...and followed along..well to the back!...and that's what I got...backs!...still always fun to get clips of Bear...lost them by Indian Cave...but just up ahead a couple tourists were looking off into the Talus..and taking pics...when I caught up they told of two young 'yearling?' Bears...playing, standing and wrestling, there just off the Path...but they were gone...up into the Talus...now there's a Horse Trail to Mirror Lake thereabout along the Talus...and I took that the rest of the way...hopeful of seeing the Two Bears...but nothing until I got to Mirror Lake where a young couple with baby in three wheel carriage were starting up the Horse Trail...they were a bit lost!...explained to them how to get to the road...and we went that way...they'd seen the Two Bears too...out in the Lake Meadows...and Mama Bear and One Cub also!...oh...it was almost dark by this time...otherwise I would have sat at the Lake awhile...but as it is...on the way back to the Shuttle Stop on the Road the Two Bears came out of the Trees and crossed the Path right in front...I gave a heads up to another tourist group ahead...and we both tried for pics!...but too dark...clip and pic are still kinda neat...got to the Shuttle Stop and a little rain began....but didn't last...maybe tonight and tomorrow a small Storm...cool and grey...Sun sometime a bright glow in the clouds...one Tourist pointed out that the Two Bears were young enough to have Mama Bear nearby...but I'm thinking they might be Orphaned...oh...Bandtail Pidgeons in the Tree Tops along the Horse Trail...and some more Mushroom pics...different species...oh!...Two Does and Two Fawns by Indian Cave...clip and pic...and Mama Doe and Two Fawns as I neared Mirror Lake...low light clip...Mama Doe looked pretty thin...Deer were after the Live Oak Acorns too, I think...

Bucks

Diving Ouzel

Paddled out through Cook's to the Post Office...needless to say, another late start....took the Bridge route as the WeedWackers were right out back....at the Leaning Twin Cottonwood Snags there were a lot of birds....one of those mixed species flocks...small group...Robins...pair of Flickers...Kinglets?...Downy Woodpecker...pair of Brown Creepers...a first to see two together!...and Mountain Chickadees...tried for pics and clips but everything Illusive!...was leaving and a Chickadee posed in the Willow Shrub...long clip and pic...and that was tonight's post, I thought...until I got way over at the Merced between Happy Isles and Mirror Lake stop...and found the Mushrooms...and heard Ouzel...when I went to find Ouzel all I could see was the rushing water and stones...until Ouzel hopped up on the round stone..just like in the clip!...very cool...I was on the use path on the West side of the Merced between Happy Isles and the Stables...there was another mixed group, Robins and Flickers....and this is a kinda neat trail...it's out and away enough and near enough the water to be attractive to the critters...will revisit it now and then...hopped on the Shuttle at the Stables...and hopped off at Day Use to go back to A. Meadow where ALL the Deer were....lots of Photogs too!....took a souvenir pan clip...then thought, why not hook up the minidigi?...and just as I finished with the rigmarole...I'm peering at the lcd screen...everything jiggling as it does with the long reach....and the Bucks begin butting anlers!...a little unglued, I tried to keep them in view...and focused...with the hope I could take my hands away so the contraption wouldn't jiggle!...long lenses have that drawback!!....anyway, I did the best I could with the minidigi...and switched off to the 12x...and got some good clips!...I uploaded them in their own post...see Bucks...but as of this moment it's in the Google cue I guess...as not visible yet...took days for the other clips with this circumstance to go up...so it may be awhile....it was a good day for pics and clips!...and cold and cloudy....rain tomorrow, they say....oh...Western Bluebirds were on the Boardwalk from the Artist's Grove to the Road...and I set up...in plain sight, I'd say....and a bicycler rode right by me and through the Bluebirds...scattering them...I have to try for that one again tomorrow...was really close to getting good clip!!...Mountain Chicadee clip and pic for sometime..

Fall Robin

Stretched out on the bunk after Breakfast and checked my email...a mistake!..as I just rolled on my side and curled up!...did finally get out for the evening walk...but not much stirring...clip of Robin...pic is from yesterday by Rocky Point...loud noise there today like a noisemaker...maybe the Bear management...made the Big Loop counterclockwise...then caught the Shuttle at Sentinel stop for a looksee ride around the Valley...finally some Deer at the A Meadow Picnic Benches...back at Last Chance walked a bit in Owl Woods...already dark...daylight too short!...think I heard Owl...oh...might have seen Hawk at Ozone...did see a lot of Blue Jays there...sunny cool and very blue...should of loosened the tripods pole a bit!...clip's a bit squeeky...

oh...and here's a link to the modern follow up of the Grinnell Storer survey....
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/pdf/2007_Yosemite_report.pdf

Yesteryear Clip of Coop

Late start...paddled over to the Post Office...picked up a salami sandwich and had lunch at the Deer House picnic tables..tourists about...beginning of Turkey week...just a few pics...Buck with a large set of antlers...another scratching his antlers in the Aspen Grove...Raven...almost Kingfisher flying by at Creek's End...soooo...for tonight I post up a clip of Coop from last year!...I have a bunch...it's Hawk weather....maybe they're up higher with the mild days...a few clouds came over late in the Day...but tonight I can see stars...sunny cool and blue...

Deer of CAD Beach

Paddled over to the Post Office...shopped for a new watch at the Village...maybe I can find one I like online!...picked up an egg salad sandwich and went back to the Artist's Grove and sat awhile.....it's really quiet...critter wise...and really noisy!...construction wise!...did buy plush toy Great Horned Owl and Grey Squirrel...Xmas gifts...or I might keep them!...and a little wood flute...both Grinnell and Muir mention that whistling gets the attention of the Douglas Squirrels...which I cant find of late!...did see one Ground Squirrel today...thought they had all curled up for the Winter...couple times tried to get Grey Squirrel clip...saw a pair of, I think, Red Headed Kinglets at Chapel Bridge...too quick!...chasing one another!...looked for Owl on yesterday's perch...but gone today...heard Brown Creepers...saw a Flicker...and a Robin...Ravens are about...a flock of maybe Juncos flew high above with Sentinel as a Backdrop...wish I had gotten clip...this was out in Two Top Meadow...Black Phoebe there..and too back at Cook's...Blue Jays here and there...did see a Western Blue Bird yesterday....heard Ouzel...and saw a Downy...heard Downy's chatter too..I'm anxious to see the Kingfisher again and am mistaking its call!...heard Hawk which drew me across the Creek on the Round Stepping Stone Ford...of the two, I prefer going over the Twin Cedars!...kept my feet dry...sunny cool and blue...clip is from early December Yesteryear...a favorite!...and the Deer yesterday were doing much the same gamboling by the Perfect Dogwood...oh!...I did take a pic to post today...will put it up before I curl up!!..on the laptop at the moment...and the local news is not good for the Rooms for Rent in Siberia...the rockslide fear has permanently closed down about half of them...the pinch in employee housing may bring a crowd to Tree in the Door and the Backyard...sigh..

Oh...found the old Bridge Rivets test pics...I've been taking pics of the Bridge with the different cameras and lenses..and yesterday I did one with the minidigi...missing the pic with the bigdigi...I'll have to drag them all down to Creek's End on a sunny day and put them through their paces!...must say though..I hadn't resolved the graffitti until yesterday...sigh...

Sleepy Owl

Went back to the Creek...a late start again!...made a left at the RipRap and up to the Bridge...right and across...then another right to the Deer House...and out to Chapel Bridge...and along the Merced...and over to the Woodpecker Tree...and three pretty German girls were trying to take pics of themselves with Falls and the Tree in the background...should be one of those Kodak Picture Spot signs thereabout!...asked me to take their pic with their 3x...and I obliged...and tried to explain the Acorn Woodpeckers..and all the holes..showing where an acorn was in one of them...and they asked, "Are you a Birdwatcher?"...I was flumoxed...but smiled and owned up to it!...tried for a pic of Woodpecker with an acorn...then picked up...and out the Boardwalk to the Road....and along the Road I hear one Blue Jay scolding...kinda halfheartedly...but I went over to the Cedar Blue Jay was in and thought to take a pic...and just happened to look left...'Oh...what's there?', I thought...I so often get fooled by Owl lookalike branches...and with the binocs...looked closer...and came unglued...Owl in the Daytime!...and in Sunlight!...took a quick pic and clip with the 12x which was on the tripod...then set it to video...and took pics with the new camera...thought to get closer..but the upward angle wouldn't be an improvement...did go side to side to get different background colors...very pretty with the gold oak leaves and blue sky and green mosses...Owl was really sound asleep...though now and then a movement and half open eyes...and Owl's head turned...so I tried to be quiet on the leaves and moved to the side where I could see...didn't realize Owl was sideways to me...and in the new spot took some more pics with the new camera...and...and I had completely forgot I had the minidigiscope along!...remembering and all thumbs again I struggled to set it up...be quiet..and sight it on...took awhile...took a long while!...but I was the least of the rackety racket noises!...and I got the contraption to work..and it really works!!!...I was very lucky no one came over to see what I was doing...I got the clips I wanted with the mini digiscope...and a couple pics...looking back I would have liked more pics with it...missed getting a full front face pic with the minidigi...but I got to a point where I felt like it was time to go...and I picked up...walking away I could hear the Blue Jays coming back...and I went over to the Village to pick up lunch...tuna sandwich...and when I walked back...twenty minutes later?...Owl was still there...not to be disturbed, I thought...though I looked through the leaves for my lost lens cap for the scope...which is a very nice screw on one!...couldn't find it...and left it for a later visit...I wanted to see if Owl would still be there at Sunset....left Owl in peace and paddled back to the Deer House and had lunch at one of the Picnic Benches...then back the way I came to the Cabin..and to Last Chance...Does and their Buck were about...got good clip of them gamboling...after snack at Last Chance caught the Shuttle back to the Village..and walked back to Owl's Oak...Owl was gone...but found the lens cap!...once again went out to Cook's and made the Big Loop...and then looped back to Owl Woods...sunset by now...and heard one Owl Woods Owl....sunny warm and blue...and a happy clam I am to happen on Owl in the Daytime!...not since two Springs ago have I seen Owl in Daytime..and back then I only had a 3x...a circumstance that motivated me to get the new cameras....and the digiscope contraption!...which I reiterate..really works!!...it's warm for Fall...not quite cool enough for the gloves...report of Mountain Lion in Siberia...in fact...warning flyers up...got a good clip of Ravens at CAD beach too...and one last clip of Buck settled down for the night in Owl Woods...couldn't see in the dusk where all the Does and Fawns settled...

a link to talkabout about what links us all!

http://corporate.disney.go.com/environmentality/index.html

Oak Mouse

Mouse was pretty sick and expired this morning after a night in the infirmary card board box (House is on TV)...took Mouse back to the woods...for a tinytiny funeral...then walked over to the Deer House...crossing the Twin Cedars...had heard the Kingfisher again from Creek's End...somewhere up by Chapel Bridge...and I think it's Kingfisher's call...might be a very loud Ouzel!...when I got to the Deer House Oak with the big Burl...Hawk whooshed right over my head and landed in the Ponderosa...see pic...got clip too...but all distant...Hawk flew to another Oak by the Deer House...then flew off over the Creek and out the Swatch(Swath!)...back I went to the Cabin...took the Bridge route....looks to be the Redtail...this maybe the fourth time I've seen Hawk in the Deer House Oaks...lots of noise out in Owl Woods....the weedwackers at work again on the Himalayan Berries...I dont know if they just need something to do...or are doing something!...thought it would disturb the daysleeping Owls...but they were about at Sunset...doing their duet...clip recording....sunny warm blue....same ghostly breeze about...sometimes it touches a single Oak and just it's leaves come rattling off...clip of this at the Deer House!...Ladybugs clip from yesterday...

Hawk and Bear

Paddled over to the Post Office...picked up lunch....egg sandwich...actually an after noon breakfast!...and went out through Cook's...lots of noise...work going on...even a stack of cedar roof shingles by the Deer House...which could use them!...so because of the noise thought to have lunch all the way out by CAD beach...and maybe see Hawk, I thought...this was the time last year I got the clips and pics of Coop in Chapel Meadow...had just crossed Chapel Bridge...and starting to take the along the river route...and Hawk flew over!...took a perch in the same tree I got the Xmas eve pics and clips...so Coop's about...took a long distant pic with the 12x...and then set it to video...and tried to get close to Coop with the new camera..got only as close as the pics indicate!...about forty yards...Coop flew off to the other side of the Merced!...I thought the video might show me sneaking up!...but it ran out...card filled up...tonight I put the 8 gig card in it!!...good thing too..as after doing that and a late snack at Last Chance I happened upon Bear back at the Creek...Bear was approaching on the Creek path..and I was coming up the Swath....kindalike an intersection!...started to use the new camera..and thought 'too shady'..and just dropped it!...then all thumbs got the 12x on the tripod..and just pushed the button when Bear came nosing around the tree...Bear saw me and turned right around on the run and down into the Creek...where I could do the rest of the clips..from a little further back!!...came across the Does with Buck several times...at the very end of the day out by the Lily Pond...clips and pics...with the sun gone, I thought to go back to Creek's End to listen for Owls...and once there...heard them out down the river by Chapel Bridge...in other words..out in Cook's where I just was!...sunny warm blue...Tshirt weather...got anther Buckeye Pic...Lady Bugs clip...and a sick or injured Mouse...co worker was poking at something on the edge of the road by Last Chance...'an animal?'...'some kinda rodent'...he was using a long stick...I just picked it up by the tail and put Mouse in my lunch bag for relocation in a more dignified place...clip is too sad to post...it's a tinytiny wee mousey!!

boardwalk repair at CAD beach, and I didn't have lunch breakfast until I reached Ayer's Stump!...I walk by now Swinging Bridge picnic ground with new appreciation...have just bought Sargent's book on Galen Clark...he had a cabin there...which I've mentioned before in regard to the Cedar Tree told of in the Valley tree book...

will try to video one of my sneak ups on Hawk another time!!...Bear seems to have the move!!....see clip!...oh!...and that's the Kingfisher's call in the Bear clip...but once I got to the Deer House...had to go to the Bridge...didn't want wet feet...all that was there were some Acorn Woodpeckers chattering...

Raccoon and Ouzel

Paddled over to the Post Office...caught the Shuttle back and hopped off at Lower Falls...oh...before Breakfast a Doe and Buck were right behind the Cabin...and on the way to Last Chance I discovered some more Deer...pics and clips...later on the evening walk...and after getting control of the Cabin's dishevelment!...I found Ouzel....see clip...and at Sunset the Owl Woods Owls were hoo hooing...(Nat Geo on Moon show had a little clip...Moon with Owls hoo hoooing...just like the Moon Owls!!)...no pic though...I'm content with the Sentinel and Cottonwood Owl pics and clips...and dont pursue them so much as before!...like hearing them..and if they want to show themselves and pose I'm geared up!!...after dinner in the Village, Raccoon showed up...see clip...sunny warm and blue.

more Postcards

Made a quick circuit of Cook's...out past Lower Falls and back the same way...as far as the Woodpecker Tree...Acorn Woodpecker pics!...and that was it for pics...held up at Breakfast with talkabouts about cell phones...and what I'll do with a week off...well...maybe I should go out and do watercolors hereabouts...I did once upon a time get out and about with the paints...the pics from November 2003...all done plene aire...which I like...to just sit outside!!...but...I'm told...I should 'get out' of the Valley a bit...as I'm afraid the blog is evidence!....so if some blank days show up ahead...I've gone somewhere!....sunny warm and blue...Falls look like late June...one could raft the Merced!!

Wildlife Stampbooks

I paddled over to the Post Office...I had ordered up on amazon the Grinnell book...last Wednesday I think...Animal Life in the Yosemite, Grinnell Storer...it came and it's a big book!....I know much of it is on line..as I've been linking it!...I sat awhile at the Deer House picnic tables looking it over...one of my far flung reporters showed up...Deer and Two Small Fawns were across over by Lower Falls... a Kinglet...I think!...landed in the tall Ponderosa...clip of it hopping about...but too back lit to identify...it made a small call...almost like a Kingfisher...and told my friend I heard another louder one over by Chapel Bridge... I went to the Bridge to investigate and there was a Kingfisher!....just got a glimpse....will have to set awhile there tomorrow...Kingfisher is a very pretty bird...especially in the Fall light and color....back at the Cabin was Mama Doe and Two Large Fawns... sunny warm blue....light breeze....Bobcat on the cover of the Wildlife Federation Stampbook...very cool little books with the stamps...Brown Creeper clip from two days ago...

Half Dome

Walked out through Owl Woods...sat awhile at Heron Point...Blue Jays were right out back of the Cabin..pic or two...only pics I took...and too shady...would like to get one of Blue Jay on Cedar Bark...it's quiet...picked up from Creek's End and got back to the Cabin with fifteen minutes to spare!....report of twelve Deer...Does with one Buck....over at the A. Meadow...I didn't see any!....sunny...cool to warm...blue....old Half Dome watercolor...and the little Fawn I'd forgotten...it was just a sketch from memory...Fawn was tiny and resting under a young Pine...they went together!

Postcards

Paddled over to the Post Office....new pair of Levis and a photo enlargement...bottoms of old Levis have worn out!....photo magazine too....Canon's new camera...dslr with video...saw a Brown Creeper..clip...heard Hawk in the Oaks along the road at Cook's....couple Grey Squirrels...heard Kinglets again...another quiet day again!...however!!...report of Bear working out in the Wellness Center...3am in the morning!...and tonight Bear was outback of Last Chance..."reared up"....tourists were a bit nervous about walking back to their rooms!....pics are two postcards I made from little pastels...few years back now!!...sunny blue with hazy clouds and cool...report no weather change in sight...

Chicaree

Paddled over to the Post Office...took the Shuttle back to Lower Falls...sat awhile at the Village stop...and at the Deer House Picnic Tables...but didn't see much anywhere!...could hear the little Kinglets...and Acorn Woodpeckers at the Woodpecker Tree...a few Bluebirds at the Oak Arc Branch Over Half Dome...finally I saw a Downy Woodpecker up in an Alder in the Deer House Oaks...distant pic and clip...oh...and Raven came by and said a clocking hi!...clip....Creek is nice to see with the water running....and to hear!...with the Falls too!...pic and clip is of Chicaree (Chickaree)...which I've been calling Golden Mantle Squirrel...and it's from Oct. 28 last year.....on the Riprap by the Creek Bridge....saw one Grey Squirrel today....it's going to be interesting to see what happens without the acorns...Old report in the Nature Notes...like from 1922!...I'll have to post that up....said all but a couple of Acorn Woodpeckers left the Valley when the Acorn cropped failed...cool sunny...hazy gauzy clouds....

Muir's tale of the Douglas Squirrel
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_mountains_of_california/chapter_9.html

Moon Owls

Slept in 'till noon!...and finally stirred up to walk over to the Village....Blue Jays were scolding Hawk in the Oaks near the Library...tried for pic but only a glimpse of Hawk flying through the branches off to another tree...Bluebirds were still about..and they're not Mountain Bluebirds...but rather...lemeget the new little book...brb...Yosemite Pocket Guide by Douglas H. Hubbard... but rather Western Bluebirds.....I'm going to have to make a blog to correct the errors!...found another with the little books help....the squirrel I've been calling a Golden Mantle Squirrel looks to be a Douglas' Squirrel or Sierra Chickaree...which I haven't seen for a long while....and I found another thing...the call hanq hanq hanq belongs to Red-breasted Nuthatch...I think!....well..the correction blog will have the addendas too!...it's really hard to drill back down into the old posts and make edits...I do do them as I find them...the Guide is really a nice little book...and it's small size belies it's volume of info!!...a must have for walkabouts in the Valley...for the second time I checked out from the library Tree Adventures in Yosemite Valley by Rod Haulenbeck....it has tree finding guided walkabouts for the Valley...very cool...and I want to find a copy for my library...I need to make a blog too for the Valley related books I read!...reviews and comments and such...anyway...came back from the Village through Cook's..over to Lower Falls..and to Last Chance for late lunch....it was a quiet walk!...and then out to Creek's End...still quiet...and I want to get the moon rising over Half Dome pic...but it was cloudy...heard Owl around four twenty...but just a couple of who whoos...then after sundown the Owls started up...the same two...one low hoooos...one high hoooos answering...I heard before...are they mates!...stumbled about with my eyes on the darkening tree tops and finally spotted one of them off on the branch end...see clip....Owl flew from there to the Ponderosa right above my head and perched just like last night...I manged to get the minidigiscope aimed and focused on Owl...but the video mode of the 3x was just dark when I started clip...apparently the 3x cant shoot video in the low low light like the 12x...did some clips with the 12x but they're blurry...it has trouble focusing in such low light...the object of clips like these is to capture the mood...or sense...of the scene...same with the moon pic and clip!...got that going over to Last Chance and just happening to look to my left through the pines...at one point the moving clouds dimmed the moon just right...but I wasn't set up right...hmmph!...still...clip is kinda neat...and the pic is handheld...which reiterates that the technology of these little cameras is doing the work!...cool partly cloudy and not very many tourists or auto noise about...brb...

quote

SS Clearwater—a screw steamer built in 1894 by Wigham Richardson & Co. at Newcastle, England—was acquired by the War Department sometime during the latter half of 1899 and renamed Ingalls. She was used by the Army as a transport until 23 December 1910 when she was transferred to the Navy. Renamed Yosemite, she was placed in commission, in reserve, on 11 November 1911 at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Ens. Alfred H. Miles in command.

unquote

on a whim I googled up November 11, 1911, Yosemite...actually!...I should have googled up that year of the last hour, last day, last month, of WW1...11-11-11...brb....

search brought this up...from article I've quoted before..

quote

Anyone who has been visiting Yosemite for almost 82 years is likely to brag about it, and I do incessantly. I started going to Yosemite in 1918.


Brower on the Yosemite Valley Plan
David R. Brower
Monday, November 20, 0

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/11/20/ED122370.DTL

unquote

and this:

quote

Yosemite National Park has had 11 winter floods since 1916 that have caused substantial damage to property. All of these floods took place between November 1 and January 30. The largest floods occurred in 1937, 1950, 1955, and 1997 and were in the range of 22,000 to 25,000 cubic feet per second, as measured at the Pohono Bridge gauging station in Yosemite Valley.

http://digital-desert.com/yosemite/water.html

unquote

while on Chapel Bridge was looking at the metal sign with the old floods marked...and was pleased they included the 1937 level!...

brb...there's more in this search!

quote

In mid-August 1918, fire destroyed the new Foresta dining room. Horace and George Meyer and the park’s civilian rangers managed to contain the blaze. Davis, beginning to run out of development money by the fall of 1918, dropped his association with Foresta in the summer of 1919. Simoneau & Company of Los Angeles took over from the Foresta Land Company. It stressed the idea of mutual interests and exclusivity for the area, noting that several professors on the faculty of the University of California owned Foresta property as well as such notable members of the Foresta Assembly as John Muir, Jack London, and George Wharton James. Despite these efforts, this company’s selling campaign also lacked success. Davis sold his remaining holdings to his daughters shortly before his death in 1922, and they organized the Yosemite Valley Land Company to continue property sales.

Foresta History 1916 to 1930

http://foresta.tv/content/foresta-history-1916-1930

unquote

That's of interest...Foresta...and the Big Meadow...are a possible relocation sight for a lot of Valley facilities...maybe everything, I'd say!

brb...there might be more...oh..I learned the home owners in Foresta rent out their homes!....a curio!...

brb...

quote

Bird life in the fall season is very far from being evenly distributed over
the valley.
In a few limited areas a number of individuals may be seen in a
short while, yet there are vast spaces where a person might wander around for
a long time without seeing a single bird, and only hearing an occasional dis-
tant note. That is to say, this is the case at the time of year concerned in this
article, from mid-August to October 1. Judging from the stories of people
who have spent some time in the valley, and have taken a passing interest in
its bird life, there must be many more birds in evidence in the nesting season.
In fact old nests were found in places that were absolutely without bird life in
the autumn time. Even then there must be large spaces in the forest that have
few avian visitors, and for some unknown reason this seems to be the rule all
along the Sierras, though it would seem proper to assume that where there are
plenty of trees there must be plenty of insects, and that certain of the insecti-
vorous birds would keep pace with the food supply. On occasions, the writer
has wandered along through the woods and meadows for as much as an hour
and a half at a time, covering say three miles of territory,
even in the early
morning on beautiful days, before catching sight of a single bird, and hearing
during that time but little other than the distant call of a woodpecker.

EARLY ADTUMN,BIRDS
IN YOSEMITE
VALLEY
By JOSEPH MAILLIARD

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:miF4FrAzrfkJ:elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v020n01/p0011-p0019.pdf+yosemite+november+11,+1918&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=26&gl=us

unquote

That's of interest!...especially the comment of how things can be very quiet on a walkabout...then..and now!! Mailliard was about for six weeks and thought to make a determined effort to record the birds he saw...I think the article is from a magazine or something called Condor...a dogear hear to study it out!

to continue...brb...oh...found a postcard from 1918 of the cabin in the Mariposa grove...on ebay...brb...

quote

"We didn't set out to study the effects of climate change, but to see what has changed and why" since the last full scale survey in Yosemite in 1918, said study leader Craig Moritz, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology and director of the campus's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. "But the most dramatic finding in the Yosemite transect was the upward elevational shift of species. When we asked ourselves, "What changed?" it hit us between the eyes: the climate."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081009144057.htm

unquote

a study in 1918??...have to study that out too!...another dogear...

brb...

wiki page has pic of cows grazing in the Valley in 1918...

brb...

book Protecting Paradise has a 1918 map of Valley...I think I have that book!

brb..

well...I watched on youtube the YV railroad...eight minutes...from Merced to El Portal...sigh...the allure of the modelrailroad!

brb...

oh...search yosemite 1918 survey brought up collection of usgs pics...brb in awhile!!...

http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?free_form=matthes;search_mode=noPunct;start=150

well...no Creek pics..hmmph...

brb...but they might be somewhere here...a place for browsing...a bit like the cows...

http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_mode=noPunct&free_form=yosemite&free_form=&free_form=&free_form=

brb...I think the survey of 1918 referred to is this:

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grinnell/

which I've referenced before!...the chapter on bird species...each species having anecdotal tales from the Valley...is very good!!

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grinnell/birds.htm

that whole page is a temptation to copy and paste here!....insomuch it links each species to Grinnell's account!

quote

AMERICAN EARED GREBE. Colymbus nigricollis californicus (Heermann)
Occurrence.—Common on Mono Lake during the summer and autumn months; seen on Gem Lake, September 13, 1915. Reported on Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley, August 21, 1917 (Mailliard, 1918, pp. 16, 18).

unquote

That's cool...I was just reading Malliard's story of the Grebe...kids were tossing rocks at it in Mirror Lake!!

brb....

Grinnell's effort to make the Valley a wildlife sanctuary....
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/runte2/chap9.htm

brb...

a dogear

Trophic cascades involving cougar, mule deer, and black oaks in Yosemite National Park
William J. Ripple, a, and Robert L. Beschta

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5X-4S7HWND-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=88ca8566d52741d48d3c3ca45ce123f7

brb...

a dogear!

79.7.17 Records of Yosemite National Park, CA
History: Established by an act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 650).
Textual Records (in San Francisco): Records of the superintendent, 1910-53.

http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/079.html#79.7.17


in a box somewhere, I imagine!!

brb...

Grinnell, J. & Storer, T.I. ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE: An Account of the Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibians in a Cross-Section of the Sierra Nevada. Pp. 752, 60 plts -- 12 clr plts, 2 clr maps, 65 text-figs. Gilt-decorated early half leather with five raised bands, over marbled boards, with matching marbled endpapers, t.e.g., 8vo. Berkeley, 1924, first edition. Some light sunning to spine, a near fine to fine copy. A beautifully-bound volume. $120.00

Hall, A.F. HANDBOOK OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. A Compendium of Articles on the Yosemite Region By the Leading Scientific Authorities. Pp. xiii, 347, 27 plates, foldout map. New York, Putnam’s, 1921, 1st edition. Near fine. $45.00
http://www.naturalhistorybooks.biz/mammal.html

well....that's enough of tonight's virtual walkabout!!

Cold Day

Cold and and cloudy this morning....had a late breakfast....dealt with the Cabin's dishevelment a bit...then curled up!...but got out and about about two....still cold and cloudy!....went to the Post Office and back on a short walk...forgot the 3x at the Cabin...and had the mini scope with...was going to take pics at the Woodpecker Tree...and Bluebirds at the Artist's Grove...they really like to sit on the splintered stump!...but was stuck without the 3x for the mini scope...after picking it up back at the Cabin I had late lunch and then out to Creek's End...the Four Mallards were there...see clip...it's getting dark fast!..and before I knew it Owl time came...and I heard Owl back in the Woods...after getting back into the Woods I heard Owl back at Creek's End!...and spotted Owl way up on top of the tallest Ponderosa by the Reflecting Pond...earlier I had tried to set up with the digiscope on the Mallards...but they flew off just as I reached to press the shutter button...and as I was setting up with it to sight on Owl...Owl flew off just as I reached for the shutter button!...but it was cool to hear and see Owl...the Moon is almost full and is rising right over Half Dome as seen from Creek's End...tomorrow I'll try there for some pics...cold and cloudy...Sun did peek through and splash some sunlight on Half Dome at dusk....

Ears

Well...another clip didn't work...dont know what goes wrong.... (okay now)

Went to Creek's End to try the new mini digiscope...not a critter stirring!...cloudy and cold...everyone likely curled up!...so I just tried some experimental clips and pics sighting on Half Stump...I can reach out now and take clips of half of Half Stump....finished the walk by going out the Diversion Channel and back around to the Cabin...

In the Visitor Center is the 3d map...and in reading on line the old Nature Notes I found that one was made for the Museum when it was first opened...and I'm wondering if it is the same one...though the one now looks to be made of plastic..I dont think they had the material back then!...I'll have to study this out more...it's depiction of the Creek has me wondering....the banks in the Diversion channel dont look like they've had a lot of river erosion...and it's loose sand...no stones....which reminds me...the Creek pushes a lot of gravel into the Merced...and the confluence is likely the shallowest point of the Merced's travel through the Valley...and it was really getting shallow until the rain!

Clip is of a Fawn resting and turning it's ears this way and that...and is from last early November....cloudy today and cool...clouds moving along the Rim...no pics of note...and a short walk...tomorrow a day off...not much in the way of reports too...a few Deer here and there....a Skunk in Groveland!....

Cedar Seed

Well...hooey...the little video I took with the new mini digiscope didn't post up...yet...or not at all...I cant tell! (okay now)...anyway...did a lot of errands...sent off a pic to a local gallery contest...Appletree Bobcat!....this entailed journey to two redi tellers...one didn't work...and the Post Office...just getting the pic onto disc and figuring out it's size and how to frame it...well...on my wish list is a good printer and mat cutting tools....the presentation part of my photos and art has been a very long work in progress!....using Kodak I realized they are resizing my pics when they do my enlargement...which I like very much...but for the contest the pic I submit has to be like the print...they accept...well...I'll just have to take it to Oakhurst and the photo lab there!...difficult to do with out wheels..but odds of being accepted are slim...I sent pc off to the Canon contest too!...that was easy...just email...that was Snow Bobcat...which is a very nice pic if I do say so!...anyway...I like contests...I like lotto tickets!...but I avoid them..as in the interims I'm so convinced I've won that it's just too heartbreaking to find none of the numbers match!...

the mini digiscope works pretty good!...and will take it out and about tomorrow...now...last night when putting it together to see how it might work I returned to the thought of putting the 3x up to the binocs...since I've gotten the Barska digi bracket...that's actually possible!!...I tried it...and it sorta works!...and has the feature that I can focus while looking through one side..the other side has the camera...I'll have to put up a picture of it together!...and will see how it does..just wasn't time today!...it clouded up...and cool...and rainy tonight coming home from work...tourist were talking outside this morning about the Cedar tree in the doorway...it's always a puzzle!...which came first.. the cabin or the tree!....and in the middle of last night I think I heard two screeches of Owl...either that or a vivid dream!!

Blue Jay pic from behind Cabin...Blue Jay I think was jealous of the Bluebird pic!....Grey Squirrel with Cedar Seed was over in Village...and fun to take...Grey Squirrel was on an overhanging roof ...and I snuck under and waited...and we'd peek at one another!!