30 Jan 2015 - Lucky Ducky Days

January. Another overly warm month. One small snowstorm, a week of wind and cold, then back to warm days. Days that were 20 to 30 degrees higher than normal. While it wasn't t-shirt and shorts weather, it was warm enough to go look for a bird or two. And I found some pretty gorgeous ducks. 

I was tickled to find three beauties--a  Barrow's Goldeneye 

and a Common Goldeneye.

It was a day for black and white ducks. Next up was a Bufflehead.

Followed by a Ring-necked Duck. 

 

On the way home I stopped to see what was happening at a local wetlands where I saw a Harrier. Naturally, I had to send a picture to my brother. 

I was immediately informed I needed a better bird book because this was no Harrier, it was an Osprey. He always manages to make me laugh while at the same time one-upping me. So funny. This "osprey" was a lifer for me in the mechanical bird species.

The day after seeing these ducks I was back in San Francisco. I spent some time at Heron's Head Point where I saw yet another duck, a Surf Scoter who has a most amazing bill. 

 As long as we are talking about amazing bills, I was really happy to see a Brown Pelican in his breeding plumage which consists of the bright red on the pouch and the dark stripe down the back of the neck. Stunning.

San Francisco was good to me birdwise. I added quite a few to my list while I was there.

Anna's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Lincoln's Sparrow

Red-bellied sapsucker

Varied Thrush

 Townsend's Warbler -- did not want to pose for me.

Purple Finch

Golden-crowned Sparrow

And like any good fish story, there are always the ones that got away.  I got some really great looks at a Pacific Wren,  Pygmy Nuthatch and a Bushtit. But they are so tiny, fast and furtive, I could not catch up with them with the camera.  I'm looking forward to another chance. 

And while this is not a new bird to me, it did give me a chance to get a nice shot.  

Yellow-rumped warbler

14 January 2015 - A New Personal Challenge

My friend Elisa is a maniac. I mean that in a good way. She is a rabid geocacher. I mean that in a good way too. Three years ago she gave herself the challenge of geocaching every day for a year.  Okaay. Not only did she do it, but she has gone on to geocache for over 1000 consecutive days, and in doing so has found over 5000 geocaches.  I have admired her perseverance and dedication. She works full time, is a quilter, has two cats to love and take care of, and is totally dedicated to her family. And still, she geocaches every day. 

While I admired her dedication from afar, it is just occuring to me how hard that is to do. There are days she's been sick or just plain tired. Exhausted might be a better word. She has had family members in the hospital.  You name it. But still, it was a personal commitment and she keeps going. I'm thinking the energizer bunny needs to look like Elisa. 

Why do I bring this up? I just started (as in 14 days into it) a year-long birding challenge. It involves submitting a birding list everyday to the national ebird database as well as getting bonus points for birding 10 different locations in every county of the state. We have 29 counties. Ay yi yi. 

I am not out to win this challenge, mind you. There are many birders here that go several places every day even without a challenge. I am using this as a personal motivation to get out more, learn more, see more.

This means counting the same birds you see everyday and noticing the ebbs and flows and how it changes with the weather. It makes you more aware of the state they are in. This little house finch was tucked way inside a trumpet vine on a day the windchill was -17. You can see how he is all fluffed out to keep warm. 

It means grabbing the binoculars to see just what is in the top of the Russian Olive tree. In this case it included  robins and cedar waxwings.

Cedar  waxwings are just  beautiful and always a treat to see. 

 My plan is to emulate Elisa's determination. Go forth into this new year with motivation. 



 

10 January 2015 - Shelfies and Color in the Winter

I have a vision of you all reading 'shelfies' and thinking that I am such a techie dinosaur that I don't know it is really selfie. Ha. I really do mean shelfie. 

Ever walked through your house and smiled when you see something on one of your shelves that you really love?  I have a couple of shelves that always make me happy, so today I am sharing my shelfies. 

Some of the bright spots have to do with color. For example, shelves full of chenille. These yarns were some of Jack's favorites for use in his weaving projects. But the arrangement by color always make me stop and admire. 

As a quilter I have the obligatory stash of fabric.


 A friend convinced me to arrange them by color and it kills me to admit that she was right. But even though I haven't done any cutting or sewing lately, just having a stash that is ready and waiting for me to get inspired is pretty darned great. 

Guess you can see I really like bright and bold colors. I have projects in mind for the pile of yellow and ideas for the greens as well. One of these days I'll have time to dive in.

 Speaking of colors, how could you not like a shelf that looks like this? 

Big color with bigger attitude. Plus two great artists: Picasso and McKimson.

And the Taz's dust devils? Just not in sight at the moment. 

While window sills are not quite a shelf, they count in my book since they can certainly hold collections of stuff. In this case, some of my favorite insulators.  Just something else that makes me smile. 

Many of you already know I have quite a love affair with gargoyles. While most of them live outside in the garden, I finally collected enough of the Notre Dame water spouts to have a choir. 

Could anyone see this on a daily basis and not just beam with happiness? Not quite sure if they are howling at the moon, engaged in some barbershop quartet silliness or just joyfully raising their voices in song.

What can I say? Show me your shelfies!

7 December 2014 - Skulking for Yard Birds

Hard to believe it is December. Today showed up with a deep blue sky, temps in the lower 50s and many trees still have some leaves, enough to provide camouflage for birds.

Not quite what I would expect for December.  And speaking of not what you would expect, yesterday the yard was full of birds. Today hardly anything was flying. Feeders were still. Baths unused. What was up with that? I have feeders on three sides of my house and they are often so busy that I'm wearing a path going from window to window.

When I went out to get the paper this morning, I could hear lots of very soft bird murmuring, but nothing was in sight. I had a challenge on my hands. I got my camera and found a place to sit and started looking. I was amazed at how many birds there were in the yard, but they were quiet and high in the trees. The pictures I took were not great bird photos, but they showed how stealthy the birds are and how well they can blend. Often the tell was a slight shaking of a branch. While I could then find the bird in my viewer, they would move further in the tree or behind branches before I could focus.
 
Birders often describe a bird as being skulky, which means it flits around or hides in the  underbrush, making it hard to see or recognize. 

So today I skulked about the  yard.  This involved sitting behind the wisteria hoping to just blend in, or trying to be as motionless as the the stones on the rock wall. I sat quietly scanning the trees for movement. Sometimes I would see a tree limb and then realize it wasn't a stub but a bird.

Closer up, I discovered a robin in this mess of limbs. 

Robin

This Robin was motionless and stayed in this position for over 30 minutes before it quietly disappeared. 

Later I was admiring the monster crop of cones around the very top of a blue atlas cedar.

 A second look showed a little lesser goldfinch was nestled up in the top. 

Female Lesser Goldfinch

It was astounding how many birds I found tucked away in the trees.

Black-capped chicadee

Junco

Western Scrub Jay

Female Lesser Goldfinch

Red-shafted Flicker

Steller's Jay

 

Downy woodpecker

Oregon Junco

House Finch

Magpie

Female House Finch

California Quail

Spotted Towhee

I particularly like how this jay hides in plain sight, dissolving into the sky. 

 And sometimes, just being perky, in this case flipping the tail up and down can attract the eye.

While hiding out looking for birds, I spotted some mating red squirrels in the crotch of a tree. Just what we need. More squirrels.

And my biggest rodent. She was a little put out to find me on her route over the fence to the next yard.

3 December 2014 - Night Postcard from San Francisco

Last month I was in San Francisco. I have always said I would never want to live there, but the more I visit, the more I want to see and while I have always seen the charm, I am beginning to be charmed by the city itself. 

This time of year it gets dark before five making it hard to walk the city streets looking for urban oddities. However, the city lights up nicely.  I had been out for a walk and darkness descended on my way back. Nothing quite like lights on the water. 

In addition to the Bay itself at night, the city puts on a show as well.