Apr 17 2012
While doing some gardening in the backyard, I finally captured some images of an endangered California Gnatcatcher whose protected nesting area covers some of the canyon behind our backyard. An unexpected surprise for me was how pretty its singing was.
Apr 12 2012
Before meeting up with my friend Angelica and her two daughters, I walked around taking pictures at the San Diego Zoo listening to my Photo Tunes playlist on my iPod. First ran into my friend Rick, the Zoo’s ambassador, and we talked about his upcoming Today Show appearance and about the Gibbon Conservation Center emails …
Apr 10 2012
Latest update photo of the Hummingbird chick growing in the Tapias’ backyard patio. This photo unfortunately confirms that a second chick did not survive. Not unusual, but sad. It also shows the surviving chick doing really well so far.
Apr 07 2012
While visiting Sylvia and Rodrigo we discovered that the hummingbird nest in their back patio contained two chicks. We’re not sure the condition of both chicks but the mother was feeding at least one of them. This shot is basically looking straight down into the nest from me standing on a hummingbird-friendly ladder. We set …
Apr 07 2012
This morning I found one of the two Mourning Doves sitting on the edge the hanging pot, their home for the last few weeks. Only moments after I took this shot both of the juveniles flew up to the roof and stayed there together until mom came to feed them, and then they all flew somewhere into …
Apr 06 2012
Today was the first time I witnessed both Morning Dove parents, kind of tag-teaming, feeding both chicks. Also, it was the first time I saw at least one of the chicks flapping its wings. I have a feeling they will be gone within the next week or two.
Apr 03 2012
Noticed that the Mourning Dove mother had temporarily flown away from her nest so I took the opportunity to run and get my camera to get a couple of shots of the quickly-growing chicks. I have no doubt that they will be flying very soon.
Apr 02 2012
One of our Mourning Doves was sunning/drying itself on the grass after a nice, refreshing rinse in one of our bird baths.
Apr 02 2012
Normally the neighbors’ cats enjoy watching a good bird show outside one of the bedroom windows. Keeps ’em busy for hours. Today though they had a special treat in store. A gopher (quite possibly the same one that’s been burrowing in our backyard until recently) scored a jackpot by digging up underneath a bird feeder …
Apr 01 2012
Drove up to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with my mom, my nephew Stephen, and his girlfriend Jeri, to attend the evening’s Butterfly Jungle Tweet-Up gathering. We arrived early enough to walk around a little before the meetup. We checked out some exotic birds around the lagoon adjacent to Nairobi Walk and then stopped …
Mar 29 2012
Made my way down to Old Town to walk around and take some photos before meeting up with my female friends Heather and her daughter, and Lannie and her kids. My photo spree began at the La Casa de Machado y Stewart Museum, built in 1835. It seemed to be especially fascinating to a group …
Mar 27 2012
After accidentally scaring away the mother Mourning Dove from her nest outside my bathroom window, I ran for my camera to get a few photos of her chicks before she came back. This shot was the only one that worked, but at least I got one. The chicks were much bigger than I was expecting …
Mar 24 2012
Stepped on this long-ago deceased mouse’s lower jaw in my bathroom this morning. No idea how it got there. Didn’t even know what it was at first. It was so small I thought it was a claw. (That’s a square of toilet paper it’s resting on.) To paraphrase Messrs. Cleese and Palin, it is an …
Mar 23 2012
This afternoon, while I was outside weeding around the milkweeds again, my mom called for me (see what I did there?) from inside the house to let me know there was another alligator lizard, this time in the kitchen. It had scurried under the stove/oven. I moved the appliance away from the wall but we couldn’t find …
Mar 18 2012
My last full day of house-sitting for Sylvia and Rodrigo. Started out with occasional heavy downpours and incredibly strong wind gusts, proof of which is the large, broken branch from the neighbor’s tree across the street, sandwiched between minutes of blue sky and sunshine. The one outdoor shot below was taken sandwiched between some steady …
