Here in SoCal it’s pretty warm during the day, bugs are out and about and these noisy little birds snapped them out of the air right in front of me. It was daylong entertainment, at least half a dozen birds catching flies and (I think) termites in mid-flight.
Black Phoebe
Scratching on the ground, a few California Towhees make my garden their home. They love their reflection and tap at the window or anywhere they can see themselves.
This was a peaceful first weekend of 2021.
Since the ash tree endured its yearly abscission, I raked fallen leaves for the very last time and have been enjoying this disrobed version until late afternoon when I noticed the branches were once again full; not of leaves, but of dozens of happy, chirpy little birds adorning every space.
So completely adorable.
One by one, they flew away, and the tree was once again barren.
Just a hungry scrub jay hanging out on the deck. They LOVE raw peanuts. I still find a few empty shells hidden in the garden nine years later..
One of my favorite photos from September 2011.
First there was one, then another, and for a while, there were about four jays who hung out and let me hand feed them.
Did you know that scrub jays are very intelligent?
From Wiki: Recent research has suggested that western scrub jays, along with several other corvids, are among the most intelligent of animals. The brain-to-body mass ratio of adult scrub jays rivals that of chimpanzees and cetaceans, and is dwarfed only by that of humans. Scrub jays are also the only non-primate or non-dolphin shown to plan ahead for the future (known as metacognition), which was previously thought of as a uniquely human trait Other studies have shown that they can remember locations of over 200 food caches, as well as the food item in each cache and its rate of decay. To protect their caches from pilfering conspecifics, scrub jays will choose locations out of sight of their competitors, or re-cache caches once they are alone, suggesting that they can take into account the perspective of others. According to new research from the University of California @ Davis, scrub jays also summon others to screech over the body of a dead jay. The birds’ cacophonous “funerals” can last for up to half an hour.
#ThrowbackThursday
A pic from a camping trip to Yellowstone in 2013.
I wish I was there right now; It looks so refreshing, doesn’t it?
#wordlesswednesday
From 2017 for #throwbackthursday
It was a great day to spend time in my garden with these two hawks. Do you know what they were looking at? Me, taking photos of them.
The eagle was sitting on that branch waiting for everyone to stop pointing at him so he could swoop down and take a better look at a huge dead fish that washed up on the shoreline.
My neck hurt because I couldn’t believe that I was actually in the presence of an eagle, my very first ever sighting, and I wouldn’t look away until he was gone.
Now I can cross that off my mental list….I’ve seen wolves and mountain lions and bears and of course, my favorite: coyotes.
Not all at the same time, but these are the special pearls in my necklace of life experiences, memories strung together since most of them happened so fast and were such brief encounters that I didn’t have time to take photos.
I wish I had brought my big lens in addition to my iPhone, but it’s good enough as it captured the special moment.
These are admittedly crappy photos, but it’s most definitely a Bald Eagle. I know they’re considered a nuisance in parts of Alaska, but this wasn’t a common occurrence at this location. I didn’t even try to look for an eagle feather because I’m aware that under the current language of the Eagle Feather Law, “unauthorized persons found with an eagle or its parts in their possession can be fined up to $250,000.”
“There’s a raccoon. Look at that!”
I thought he was joking because it was the middle of the day and we were on a sandy beach so I continued to keep my head down to look for seashells.
“LOOK!”
When I finally looked up, there he was.
He scampered up the bluff and was gone.
What an amazing day! An eagle and a raccoon.
Random.
I LOVE whales (I mean, who doesn’t?) and three years ago in August, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with my camera to chronicle a juvenile California Gray Whale that became confused and almost stranded in our Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
See that post here: https://enchantedseashells.com/2017/08/08/a-full-moon-and-a-lost-whale/
A large crowd gathered and we all took pics and video of the poor little one trying to get back out to open waters and back to mom. It was a magical moment and I’m happy to say there was a happy ending. Several agonizing hours later, s/he safely disappeared beyond the jetty.
This little whale reminds me of that special day. I know it’s a bird feeder, but I filled his mouth with yummy little succulents instead of seed.
And this way, that little baby whale can stay with me forever.
Because nothing is longer than forever.
In the blink of an eye.
It’s true. You never know when the unexpected will occur.
We get up in the morning, drink our coffee and make plans for the day. Those plans NEVER include an auto accident or other unforeseen catastrophe.
I love to make lists:
-Traders for tofu, coffee, ginger tea…
-Go to the nursery
-Pick up prescription
-TJ Maxx
-Dentist @11am
Nowhere on any list does anyone ever pencil in, “be involved in a freak accident on a mountain road”. Or is that just me? Maybe a fatalist WOULD include that in a daily schedule. I dunno…maybe now I will.
I wasn’t the driver so I was literally paying zero attention to the road.
I was looking at all the photos I took and remembering how I got altitude sickness on the way up the twisty windy road and vomited everywhere (ick), but now we were relaxed and dusty and exhausted but happy to be heading back home after a few days of camping and hiking where we saw lots of deer and other animals.
I was startled to hear, “Oh, shit!” and the car swerved a bit and then we felt two large bumps that tossed us about and a large crash.
We pulled over to the narrow shoulder on the two-lane highway. Doing a quick triage, I determined that everyone was unharmed.
I turned around and saw a large piece of a car that we had apparently smashed into, but didn’t see a car. At that moment, a highway patrol car pulled up about fifty feet behind us. I ran out of the car and flagged down the patrolman. Fortuitously, he had been driving that way as part of his routine.
That’s when I saw it.
The deer.
The poor dear deer.
The poor dear dead deer.
When I wasn’t paying attention, this was how the scenario unfolded.
A deer ran across the road, the big truck in front of us hit the deer which caused his front bumper to fall off. That horrible man kept going; he never even stopped. The impact must have killed the deer instantly. We were unable to avoid hitting it as there was traffic all around and nowhere to go. So the two bumps we felt was us running over the already dead three hundred pound deer.
The patrolman said that was the third one that day. (There are lots of deer and not enough natural predators.)
Our vehicle was pretty messed up but it still ran and was OK to drive the rest of the way home but it was in the shop for three weeks.
After the poor dear deer was moved to the side of the road, I kneeled down and petted his head and told him how very sorry I was that he died.
I guess the moral of the story is that you never know when something bad is going to happen. As much as I like to predict all outcomes, sometimes it’s not possible to gaze in a crystal ball and see the future.
Honestly though, what kind of a horrible person hits an animal and doesn’t stop???
Out of respect for the deceased, I won’t post a pic of him, but here are other deer enjoying life.
For me, when hell breaks loose all around, there is solace in symmetry and succulents.
My happy place. No matter what.
Garden; verb and noun.
Breathe.
Happy Saturday!
I love these little matching pots from Daiso. They kinda sorta remind me of Chanel quilting. The plant saucers, also from Daiso, were meant to hold ginger and wasabi for sushi.
Nothing but a round sunny yellow plate with a variety of succulents, but they bring joy.
