Sounds like a murder novel… “The Mystery Of The Missing Huckleberries!” But really it’s not. I went out to pick some huckleberries to make some jam or muffins from our huckleberry bush and found that all the ripe ones were gone. Disappeared completely only leaving the unripened ones to pick. So leaving them on the […]
Today I was blessed with having lunch with a great blue heron. It was a rainy morning and I felt like I hadn’t been out of the house in 3 days and then this afternoon the sun dissolved the clouds along with the help of a brisk wind and I could see blue skies. Dropping […]
We have babies!! California quail babies that is. Well technically they are chicks, but it feels like we’ve had a part in their becoming so they’re babies. Did I mention I am excited? That’s because due to a brush pile that Rob created last fall we’ve had quail living just outside the front door all […]
As a photographer, drive by shootings don’t always end in disaster. In fact… you can get some of your best shots with a drive-by shooting. Birds don’t see a vehicle as a threat, so usually if you stop and turn off the engine, they will just keep going about their business as usual. Which makes […]
As I’ve been working in the garden and haven’t had the chance to go out in the field so am doing my birdwatching from the front deck. When I’m hot and tired from working in the garden and yard I take a break by sitting on the front deck and watching the birds at the […]
If you have ever seen a movie about the desert, you probably have seen a turkey vulture or black vulture. They are the bird version of a cleanup crew and when someone talks about picking the bones clean, just think vultures. They feed almost exclusively on carrion and lack the talons and sharp claws of […]
I had one of those special moments the other day when I saw a mother killdeer feigning a broken wing to protect her chicks. It wasn’t like I was running around chasing them and she decided to step in because… as I have mentioned before, it really important to keep away from the adults and […]
Very exciting day yesterday, the evening grosbeaks arrived about 8:15 am. They arrive once a year in the spring and they are a few weeks later than their arrival last year on April 11, 2016. They are immediately noticeable not only by their colouring but by their size. As I look out my window to […]
As I was sitting on the deck an eagle flew over my house. I didn’t actually see it at first as I was under the roof of the deck watching the birds at the bird feeder with my trusty camera. I always have my camera when I’m sitting outside as you just never know what […]
There is one spot that an Anna’s Hummingbird returns to year after year with precision timing. I am so fortunate to have found this little bird in plain sight on one of my walks. People jog by him, walk by him, run dogs by him and he ignores them and holds fast to his territory. […]
