Spring

Sunday afternoon's walk was darn close to five hours - I didn't quite intend to go for that long but it was so great that time slipped away from me.  I decided to take a route down to the river and see what could be found, thinking mostly of wildflowers.  There were lots of those, including a Harlequin Lupine I've never seen before.

The best part of the afternoon: I was utterly charmed by discovering that beavers are still in residence in the Chowchilla River.  At least one is anyway.  I took a bunch of pictures of the beaver, which I believe to be female because when she came out of the water to groom, I could see what I think are nipples.  After I figured I had enough shots to feel comfortable that at least one would be good enough, I just found a spot next to a rock and watched her swim around.  She kept one eye on me the whole time, but it was so neat to watch. Finally, she popped into a hole in the bank on the other side of the river and after a few minutes, I took that as my cue to exit.

This is a view of her grooming on the other side of the river.

I hadn't gone more than a couple hundred yards past that spot when I saw four of these beautiful male Bullock's Orioles, and at least one female.  It was shenanigans all around - don't know which boy won the girl, but there was singing, and calling, and flying and chasing and I don't know what all.

Early Saturday morning, we had a stonemason come out to look at our new fireplace and talk about ideas for building a nice hearth and stonework area around it.  He got quite enthusiastic about the job as we explained that we wanted to use local stone and would be fine with something asymmetric - well the whole thing will have to be anyway because we're building a bookcase on one side.  Evidently, it's a family business and has been doing work around the area for a long time.  We both ended up with a good feeling about hiring this contractor to do the work - as long as the estimate comes in close to the range we're thinking about which we believe it will.

With all that in mind, Dino and I took a walk this morning to the river to pick out some good rocks to use for the fireplace.  We have some really beautiful river rocks, many of which Dino has already dragged home to use in building rock walls.  We found quite a lot of nice ones, and I've basically given him free rein to make the final choices as he'll be doing all the work of getting the stone out of the river bed and up to the house.  It'll be tractor work, but some of the logistics will be interesting.

He also walked me to the far end of the Northwest Territory to show me a particular shrub in bloom that he hoped I could identify.  Yes - it was a snowdrop bush, really lovely blossoms.

I Didn't Know I Needed to Be Prepared But Glad I Was

Sunday afternoon, I really needed to get out and about, not that I need an excuse per se.  Grabbed my stuff and walked down to the river; found all sort of wonderful wildflowers.  I felt a mite peckish mid-walk, found a good rock to sit upon and dredged up a protein bar from my camera bag.  (Side note:  I am known for pretty much always having a fallback snack somewhere on my person.)  As I was munching, I enjoyed the sight of a Black Phoebe working the same area of river, working hard for her afternoon snack.

I finished the bar and decided to try for a decent shot of the Phoebe, swapped lenses in favor of my telephoto and ended up with this nice picture.

I left the big lens on the camera, packed up my gear in the bag, and hoisted same to continue with the walk.  I hadn't walked more than a minute when I spotted movement at the bottom of the hill.  Gray Fox!  If I hadn't been interested in the Phoebe in spite of the fact I've taken many many pictures of these wonderful birds, I would have never been ready for the fox.  Happy happenstance.

I got several other pictures of the fox, including one of it sitting down contemplating whatever it is foxes contemplate, but I like this one because it shows how it moved in the landscape and also I love the idea of a Fox in a Field of Flowers.  Note the right ear aimed in my general direction - listening to the clicks of the shutter?

Small but Mighty. Wildflowers in Early March 2014

As must be ridiculously obvious by now, one of my great loves is abandoning my chores, er, going out for a walk on the weekend with my camera gear.  Although we are deeply in a horrid drought, the last ten days or so brought us a couple of needed inches of rainfall.  Most of our early spring stalwarts of the wildflowers are playing shy, but I found that if you stop looking for the big showy blooms and peek at the tiny ones, you can find some pretty interesting flowers.

This is the only one I've been able to identify so far:  It's Draba verna, common name Whitlow Grass.  I found about a one foot square mound of it near the Chowchilla on Saturday.  About 1.5 to 2 inches in height, the blooms were about 1/4 inch long.

 

 

One of the varieties of popcorn flower - there aren't very many this year.

Mountain Violet - oh I do love a yellow flower.

Baby Blue Eyes - one of my favorites.  I found a decent number of these on our Northwest Territory and Dino reports he saw a bunch in their usual spot on the sandy area by the river.

Of the remainder:  tiny white flowers is all I know.

Too Small to Overcome Deficit

A couple of days ago, Dino sent me a graphic produced by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) that demonstrated how much a respite last week's rain was:  not much.  We're still only at 4.54 inches for the entire rainy season. 

 



We've already started doing some of those uninteresting and less fun things that will help us use less water - shorter showers (yours truly is doing the navy shower thing already which is un-fun in the morning) and capturing the warm-up shower water to use for flushes.

 

I gathered up all of my buckets and placed them in the most productively drippy spots under the eaves during the best portions of our little rainy moments.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, today is a bit of a milestone for the building project.  The power company was scheduled to come out today to install a new pole and finish moving our meter.  Dino has been working like crazy on the electric work to get ready.

 

 

 

 

 

The World is a Drop of Water

It's safe to say that we're all very worried about our drought situation.  I decided recently that I would start a photo project to document the drought rather than complaining about how hard it is to find subjects that weren't completely dried out. 

Yesterday, I set out with the intention of taking images that I could use in comparisons - this is what it looked like four years ago when rain was adequate, this is now all dried out. 

I got sidetracked.  I headed up one of the creek beds which had retained much of the small rainfall (a whole 1.02 inches at our place) that we received this last week.  The feeling of moisture and the heavenly fragrance of growing things were delightful, even as I knew they won't last.

Numbers 102 and 103

After a Christmas road trip to the Bay Area to attend various family festivities, at which yours truly consumed far too many rich foods and/or sweet goodies, we've returned to what passed for normal here.  The building project is starting back up after a short hiatus to allow Dino to get a few items accomplished - the roofers finally started getting the actual roof on this week.

Saturday, I hitched a ride with Dino to the red gate.  He had a meeting to attend in Madera, so he headed left up the hill, while I headed right toward the river.  I was torn between enjoying the lovely day and fretting about the drought. 

It was a great day for birding.  Number 102:  Hooded Merganser:  I saw two males and a female.  Number 103:  American Wigeon - not sure how many, at least four. 

I got photos of the Wigeons but again these images were good enough to confirm the ID but sort of embarrassing otherwise.  This Hooded Merganser shot isn't the greatest either, but at least it gives you the idea.

I had some fun taking pictures of this female Yellow-rumped Warbler, a species I am quite fond of and who has been given the nickname Butterbutts. 

In Which We Recall Our Heroine's Last Post

I'm sure I've discussed Acton Grade in the past. The cute little snow I mentioned last time translated to snow and ice all the way up the grade - and it stuck for days. Tuesday morning (the week before Christmas) was a more eventful drive to work than usual; in fact it took me nearly 5 hours to get there.  I was making my way up the grade, repeating my crappy-road mantra "slow and steady", when I turned a corner and there in front of me was someone else's pickup truck, stopped and blocking the road.  The mantra changed to something more like "are you kidding me?".  I lucked out in that only a few feet ahead of me was a great spot to pull over so my truck wouldn't have to stop in the middle of the road.  I rather thought that being out of the way would be useful later on when whoever was going to have to unjam this mess showed up.  And in case you are wondering nothing was going to tempt me to attempt to back down the hill.

By some miracle of modern technology, I was able to get a cell signal and called the sheriff.  A few minutes after my call, one of the men working on our house remodel started down the hill but he was still on good pavement and was able to back up and out of the way.  I told him to go back up to the top of the grade to prevent anyone else from starting down.

I'll spare you a lot of the other details, but in time a sheriff's deputy showed up at the top.  And finally, a county road crew showed up at the bottom.  Some time after that, a big tow truck arrived, also at the bottom of the hill.  All of the rescuers put their heads together and the plan turned into:  chains from the tow truck were walked up the hill, attached to the stuck truck and to the sheriff's vehicle (big 4 wheel drive thing), and the truck was hauled out.

I spent my time waiting by watching birds, enjoying the view, and generally practicing my patience skills.  Occasionally, someone would ask to use my cell phone.  I had dressed appropriately in lots of warm layers, had my hat, gloves and uggs on, plus had a stash of snacks in my truck so I knew I was fine.

101 and a Snowfall

Friday night/Saturday morning brought us a couple inches of snow.  According to Dino's fancy weather station, that translated to a half inch of rain.  OK, better than nothing, plus all the white stuff was pretty.

When I took the above picture of the tree and the snow with the woodshed and the Ford in the background, I did not know that the Ford had narrowly escaped being crushed by a falling oak limb. That Ford is our ranch truck..., it's not legal for the road, but since it never leaves the ranch that's not a problem. This looks like a big mess, but the limb came down just in front of the truck. To get the limb off, Dino put forks on the front tractor blade, stuck the forks under the limb and lifted. 

I had all sorts of fun taking pictures near the bird feeders of our usual visitors, this one is of a treetop full of House Finches.  I think it looks a bit seasonal, like a Christmas wreath.

Number 101 - Golden-crowned Kinglet.  Regrettably, the picture I took was good enough to confirm the ID, but not good enough to share.  These little birds have almost certainly been around as they are not rare by any means, but we just hadn't seen one yet.  What a great year for birds!

November. Plus We Got Our Century

Bird news:  we've finally reached the 100 species identified mark.  Friday's walk took me to the area of the river just above the bridge.  As I was walking downstream, I noticed a big white bird.  Egret, I thought, until it started walking.  It was a Snow Goose!  Not the usual critter for around here, and I was able to spend some minutes watching it until it flew downriver.  I ran into some neighbors later as I was walking home - they told me that the bird has been hanging around for a week or so.

I'm on the tail end of taking a week off work - actually I'll have been off a total of 11 days since I was able to capitalize on the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I don't want to sound ungrateful for my good job, but when I checked my most recent lotto ticket and found that I'd lost again, I entertained yet another a micro-second of disappointment.

Dino has been nursing a sore leg.  On one of his walks last week, he stepped over a log and got whapped hard by an unseen branch that landed on the juncture between the bottom of the calf and the top of the Achilles tendon.  He said initially he wondered if it was a snake strike, even though those critters are well underground by now, it all happened so fast. 

In spite of that, he's been busy with getting the rough electric done.  I've done my part there by doing lots of "shopping" on lighting web sites.  Let's say that there are lights and lamps for every taste - thousands upon thousands of combinations. 

We've also worked on getting the work area around the house tidied up to as great an extent as possible.  The other day, Dino put the fork blades on the tractor and moved several piles of stuff away from the front area and re-organized it all near the new carport.  I had lots of fun working the big magnet finding all the nails scattered about - they make a nice "clunk" when they attach to the tool.

Of course, I've squeezed in several excellent walks.  My favorite shot of the past couple weeks is of this big cedar. It lives near the river and is a magnificent big tree.  I've been contemplating the best method of photographing and tried a wide angle shot from directly below.  It smelled lovely there.

Latest Book - Volume 6

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Hot Diggity, Number 99

On my walk Saturday - where I got totally taken up by the wonderful fall weather while exploring the river - I spotted our 99th bird species.  I didn't know at the time it was 99, that had to wait till I looked at the photos when I got home.

This Savannah Sparrow was with a mixed flock of other sparrows and juncos with a few bluebirds in the mix.

In further good news, Dino reported over a half inch of rainfall by noon(ish) today.  Excellent.

In Appreciation of the Pomegranate Tree

Aside from the fact that they create a very delicious fruit, pomegranate trees are altogether a beautiful tree.  In spring, their leaves are a satisfyingly fresh green, the blossoms are a lively red/pink/fuschia and in fall:

More Birds! Are You Surprised?

Two are old friends coming back for the winter, the other I think is year-round and I just got lucky with my shot.

Western Bluebird:

Northern Flicker - I think these are such beautiful birds:

Bushtit - these guys are tiny and fast as they move among the branches, this was the lucky shot:

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Numbers 97 and 98. House Update

Quite a few folks chimed in on the flycatcher - verdict:   Willow Flycatcher.  Neat!

Then, last week, number 98!  Another flycatcher - Greater Pewee.  There were two of them, although I wasn't able to capture a good shot of both together.  My initial thought when I saw the first of the pair was that it was a Phainopepla, but it became quickly obvious that was not the case, although the size was right.  They put on a good flycatcher show, swooping out for insects, then back to the perch until the next bug caught their attention.

The house project is coming along - in fact, we've got some walls up now.

Tuesday, all of the house building material showed up as promised - our uphill neighbors helped out hugely by stationing themselves at the top and bottom of the big grade and making sure the trailers going in and out didn't cause problems for the other drivers on the road.  They were still finishing up when I got home from work.  But two days later, the framing was up for the shop building and also partially for the rest of the addition. That was exciting to see when I came home.

Wednesday Bill came into town and we used up my lunch hour at the door place looking at doors and door hardware.  We picked out a super nice front door with two sidelights and an art glass window in the door itself. 

Saturday, we made a trek to Fresno to look at possibilities for kitchen countertops, lighting, tile and hardwood flooring.  I unerringly picked out the most expensive granite countertop as the one I liked the best and had to ask the saleswoman to point me toward the more middle range choices.  There IS a budget involved here.

The front of the house as of Sunday afternoon:



The interior of the new shop building - look at the view out the side window - love it.

Taking a Different Perspective

I've walked by this corral on a neighbor's place many a time.  Had never looked at it this particular way before.  I love it when that happens.


Yesterday, Dino gave himself at least a partial day off to go birding with one of his Audubon friends, this particular expedition being designated as a "Raptor Run" day, aka an Audubon Society citizen science project.

When he got home, he did head right back outside to continue working on the water lines, which are definitely getting there.  Some days seem to bring a few more obstacles than one would think absolutely necessary.

Saturday's walk had me in arachnid and insect mode.  The first fly is Minettia flaveola, a common fly in California.  The second fly is a bee mimic, I have not been able to figure out species yet - we'll see how much peering at flies in insect field guides I can take.

 



Finally, I spent quite some time sticking my macro lens in the direction of a Green Lynx spider who was guarding her egg sac.  These spiders seem to believe that tarweed stalks make good egg sac substrates, as there were four or five of them scattered in one relatively small area in our Upper Rodeo Meadow area near the road.

 

95 and 96. The verdict on 97 is still out

Great walk today!  Bird #95:
Vesper Sparrow

 

Bird #96:
Green Heron (juvenile)

Can't count this next one yet, probably a Willow Flycatcher, but we're still waiting for a couple more of our birder friends to pipe up on the ID.



And finally, lest the mammals feel left out, some of those blankety blank wild pigs.

 

 

Big Fun. Except For Those Who Had to Work

The house project is really underway now - six cement trucks rumbled down the grade yesterday to pour the foundation for the addition.  Once they got started with it, there was no such thing as stopping - a veritable whirlwind of activity it was. 

Digging and Construction Oh My

We've been planning for what seems like forever about getting an addition built to the ranch house - and now after a year of working with the builder and the contractor and a couple of different banks, it's starting.  Dirt is being moved around for the pad where the foundation will be poured.  We heard this morning that the outer wall of the living room will be coming out Friday!  We'll be getting a temporary wall there while the rest gets built, but yipes sure wish we'd known so we could have moved furniture around over the weekend instead of after I get home from work.  Never mind, we'll get it done somehow in spite of my currently gimpy hand.

Dino has a to-do list about a mile long.

Of course I could not resist prowling around the heavy equipment that came in last week.  The Case compactor had an interesting aspect.

I took one of my usual long walks yesterday, ending up by a little pool on the river.  I was intending just to cross at the narrow end by picking my way through and across the rocks to reach the other side, but I perched on a rock midway to take pictures of a butterfly.  After a few minutes, I realized that about a half dozen bullfrogs had gotten over their initial fright at my approach and had risen to the surface to bask. These frogs are invasive - they eat the native minnows and the baby pond turtles and are generally frowned upon, although it can be said in their favor that the blue herons find them quite tasty.  (Note: perching on a rock in the middle of the river while keeping the gear from falling in - extra credit.)

The butterfly in question - a Woodland Skipper, I believe.

What Did You Notice Today?

I'm in the middle of reading a book called "The Tangled Bank" by Robert Michael Pyle - all essays originally published in Orion Magazine.  The essay "Roll Call" caught my attention this morning, with this quote: "In the country, many people (though fewer every year) still take their livelihood directly from other forms of life.  Townspeople are less likely to connect with nature on a regular basis.  Some, such as bird and butterfly watchers, wildflower and mushroom fanciers, organize their free time around nonhuman encounters.  But such folk are uncommon overall, and considered strange by many of their neighbors:  eccentric, obsessed, if harmless.  The majority, in fact, shows little awareness of other life forms beyond cats, dogs, lawns and fellow humans."

I decided it would be interesting to follow his suggestion to make note of all the species I could today, to the best of my ability.  Of course, I was at work for 8 of the day's hours, and unless there's a spider hiding somewhere, I'm unaware of many additional life forms in my office (aside from my house plant and lunch species, as noted below).  I didn't go out of my way to find any of these, I only noticed what I saw on my usual rounds.

Birds: House Finch, Common Raven, Mourning Dove, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, California Quail, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Scrub-jay, Brewer's Blackbird, Anna's Hummingbird, Roadrunner.  This is actually a bit of a light bird day for me, for some reason, although the roadrunner was a good sighting.

Mammals:  Ground Squirrel, Gray Squirrel, Homo sapiens ssp. sweetii (my husband), Homo sapiens ssp. moronius (the icky person in the jacked up F350 who tailgated me on the way to work until I found a safe place to pull over), Homo sapiens (all the other generic folks in town and non-icky drivers), dog, horse.

Reptiles: Fence Lizard

Insects:  a light insect day also.  Only a couple of ants in the house - evidently they are giving us a respite at the moment.  These were ants of medium length, stocky body, dark brown and a strong formic acid smell.

Cultivated Trees/Plants:  fig, apple, Italian stone pine, the old olive and walnut trees on the neighbor's place, rose, a large number of plants and trees in town that I can't name, the house plant in my office Zamioculcas (Zanzibar plant), oleander, juniper, rosemary, quince, pomegranate, iris, mugo pine

Trees/Shrubs/Wildflowers/Grasses:  Interior Live Oak, Blue Oak, California Buckeye, Mountain Mahogany, Manzanita, Lichen, Moss, Wild Oats, a large number of other grasses and forbs not known to me, Tarweed, Bull Thistle, Turkey Mullein, Wooly Mullein, Datura, Purple Milkweed, Pearly Everlasting, Blue Elderberry, Yerba Santa, Poison Oak, California Broom, Manzanita, Deer Brush, Cedar.  I have no doubt there are many other species I could have added to this list if only I'd known what I was seeing.

Species or products thereof that I've eaten today:  peanut, chia, coconut, sunflower, mango, cow milk (yogurt), bacteria (yogurt), grape, cinnamon, vanilla, chicken eggs, carrot, tomato, tomatillo, onion, coffee, almond, cocoa, wheat, black beans, lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, celery, asparagus, red cabbage, apricots and whatever spices were in the jarred salsa.

Other:  sheep (the lanolin in my hand cream), whatever the old carbon life forms that ended up producing the gas in my truck, the bacteria or virus that made my hairdresser feel too unwell to get to my haircut appointment today, various natural fabrics in my clothes and household, and whatever wood the fence posts and utility poles are made of.

A picture of a species I ate the other day (not today, darn it):  wild blackberry.  Yum.