Partner's Mom passed away early this morning.

Henrietta. And a lot of sticks!

It's well below freezing again, and dry so I'm heading to the garden to start hauling leaves to the plot.

I get to the Community Garden and pull out a wheel barrow and two forks. I put on my garden gloves and get to work!

The front pile of leaves... is TERRIBLE. oh my gosh, it's so bad! There's few leaves, it's mostly fir needles, and there's sticks and I'm picking out trash as well.

Dang it. So, that's just not going to work... the fir needles are bad for the soil. They won't break down like the leaves do, and they'll decrease the pH of the soil, making it more acidic. Rhododendrons like that. But garden veggies do not!

So I poke around the leaf piles before loading up a 2nd wheel barrow load. About 8feet behind the fir needles are some actual leaves. I can't get the wheel barrow back there, so I have to reach with the fork between the leaf pile and the wheel barrow. And these leaves are wet, molding and heavy! It's really really hard work.

I don't want to kill myself on day one, so I only haul five wheel barrow loads...

heh, yep, just a bit of the corner is covered.

And, yeah, going a good bit over the border, into JerkFace's plot.

Is this second round of freezing temps going to finish off the favas??

On the walk home... oh, hey! It's Angle!! I've not seen her in a couple days and was a little worried.

Oh, look how cute!

Top Sparrow: You've got something on your face.
2nd Sparrow: Oh, thanks! *wipes face on branch*

*laughs*

Tag: november 2023

Brrr! It got below freezing last night.

ugh. I don't like it! But it gives me something new to take photos of!

At the base of the hill, where Hidden Trail starts going up, I hear an odd "Thump. Thump. Thump." I look up in the tree... Oh My Gosh! There's a Pileated Woodpecker up there!!

These woodpeckers are so cool. They are big! And they look a lot like the extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker.

I walked around the tree, trying to get a decent photo... to no avail! Ha! Bird was not interested!

Oh well. Another time, maybe! :)

I get to the top of the trail and start walking up to the Acorn Woodpeckers' territory. Oh Foo...

This is NOT who I came up here for!

She's a Red Tail, and doesn't even do me the courtesy of giving me a good photo. *laughs*

She's scared most of the little birds into hiding, but there are a few brave souls flitting, low in the shrubbery.

And a single Acorn Woodpecker has stuck his head up to guard the precious hoard of acorns!

I follow the road, which curves around to the other side of their territory. Still just the one, and he's preening now.

Hey! You, up there! Are you allowed to preen when you're on guard duty??

*laughs*

sighs. Am I ever going to get close enough for decent photos of this family?

Certainly not today.

oh well. :)

Back at home, the African Violet is blooming!

And that's the happy Spider Plant, too.

Tag: november 2023

Hi Henrietta!

He's busy looking for some breakfast.

At the garden, I am weeding again along the border with Probably Not Evil neighbor. But you can hardly tell the difference when I'm done, so I think I'm going to ignore the rest of the grass. Next time I come, I'll start hauling leaves!

The Columbine has expanded a little bit this year, happy to see little babies sprouting up here and there. The flowers are pretty of course, but I love the leaves, too.

And the way they catch the dew!

And then something in the back Fava cover crop patch, caught my eye...

Oh, Yay! We had some below freezing nights at the end of October that damaged many of the Favas... But they are re-sprouting at the base!

I checked the front Fava patch, and some of them are re-spouting as well!

So that's good. It's nice when the winter cover crop actually lives thru the winter! ha.

On the way home, Henrietta is still at the same spot at the creek. Are you Still looking for breakfast, My Dear??

Tag: november 2023

It's chillier again today, with some uncomfortable wind. But it's dry, so I'm weeding at the garden today.

oh foo. Little Bird? Why you gotta be that way?

Here's where I worked today.

The raised beds are the back neighbor. The end of the board stops at the red post, which is the back corner for our four plots.

You can see I have, yet again, weeded well beyond the edge of my plot and into Probably Not Evil Neighbor's plot...

And, ya know? He might not be evil, like the last guy was, but he is kind of a jerk. This has been his first season, but I assume he's seen that I Consistently weed the edge of his plot. And he's done nothing for me in return. I'm starting to get annoyed.

And that's the corner with the Horseradish investation. I use the dandelion tool, and most of the horseradishes break off a couple inches down. But when I pulled this one up, it just kept coming!

As I'm walking out of the Community Garden, a hawk flies by and settles on a nearby utility pole!

That long tail gives her away... she's a juvenile Cooper Hawk!

Tag: november 2023

So much nicer today with our insulating clouds keeping us a little bit warmer. It was 50°F when I left the house this morning and the day was 53/37... perfectly, wonderfully normal for this time of year. And it's just about my favorite!

Here's our sweet Angle (not an Angel)... right after she was abandoned by the two ducks she was hanging out with. Jerks. They flew down to the water, but Angle can't fly. She has to slowly walk down the bank of the creek.

Poor Girl.

There was a Kingfisher flying up the creek. For once, she didn't notice me... so she wasn't flying circles over my head and wasn't laughing at me! And I was able to hide behind the shrubbery and get her photo! Yay!

The big flock of Cackling Geese were hanging out at the school field again.

And the Pigeons again! Just the two this time, I didn't see the third one.

Pigeons are so cool. In the book I'm reading right now the author says that we domesticated pigeons so thoroughly that even now, when you hold a wild pigeon, they will sit quietly in your hand. They remember.

∞ The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman

It's excellent reading and I highly recommend it. Birds are ever so interesting!

*laughs* I made her nervous when I talked to her! She jumped when she heard my voice and is now ready to push off and fly away.

I was just saying hi and how is your day going! :) but if people can't appreciate a simple greeting... Well. What're you gonna do?

My day is brilliant, thanks for asking! What a great walk! *laughs*

Tag: november 2023

Oh, hey! Here's somebody I've not seen in a while! A Black Phoebe!

This is about 100miles north of their official range. Climage change, you know.

Aw, really?

Hi Henrietta!

Here I am at the un-named wetlands. The sky is nice today!

Cute lil Song Sparrow!

Oh my goodness! Do birds Sneeze?

Well, of course birds sneeze! Everybody who has lungs needs to be able to sneeze. I just never thought about it before!

*Gesundheit*

Henrietta is still hanging out!

I'm bummed that I've not seen Knotty in a while. I hope Henrietta hasn't kicked her out!

Tag: november 2023

It's chilly again today. And it's so late in the season, I'm surprised to see some rose blooms, still hanging on!

And I've got the Riverbank path mostly to myself! That's nice... yesterday's bike path crowds kind of made me ... non-relaxed.

The art pavilion at the Downtown Riverfront Park...

Which reminds me! The park won another award recently!

That's cool! It's a small park, but it really is amazingly beautiful. Especially when you consider what it was before... the bike path did go thru this area, but it was lined with chainlink fencing, blackberry brambles and was just kind of sketchy.

And now we've got this lovely place, with walking access to downtown. It's really something to be proud of!

I'll cross the bridge to make a loop at my turn around point.

I love listening to the river here.

I try to get artsy with the trees...

And here's the Heritage Cherry Tree in all it's autumn glory.

Tag: november 2023

It is MUCH warmer and nicer today with the sun... and there are a crazy amount of people out walking on my bike path.

Here's Angle again, our ducky friend who is not an Angel yet. She's still hanging out near the bridge, and this is our third sighting for her.

Tag: november 2023

Heavy fog today, and because it's not raining, I need to get down to the garden and do some weeding. There's probably not so many non-rainy days left in the year, so I gotta make use of the ones I have!

Hi Henrietta!

I was thinking. Since I'm pretty sure Henrietta is bigger than Knotty (who I've not seen since my revelation about the two herons) ... and since female herons are smaller than males... Yeah. I think I've mis-gendered Henrietta. I should start saying Him!

Not gonna change his name to Henry, tho... I like Henrietta too much! *laughs*

It'll be like the man they call Jayne. Bahaha!

Hi My Cute Little Mergansers!

Hi Robin!

Okay. At the garden. I SAY I'm weeding... but the ground is too muddy for that and I'm actually just ripping out the grass. Every once in a while I get a good long grass root to come out. But I'm mostly just mowing with my hands!

On the way home, I see that duck with the messed up wing again.

It's only the second time I've seen her, but I think she's a keeper. Which means I can name her.

Since I thought she had an angel wing at first, I figure I should call her Angel. But I don't want to call her that.

I think I'll call her Angle.

She'll be a little ode to my spelling problems! heh.

...

and I'm still *giggling* about the man they call Jayne!

Tag: november 2023

I thought I was going to do some work at the Garden plot today, but when I wandered past the front, I saw someone had left some freebies!!

Strawberry plants and a huge SunChoke root!

Yes Please! I grab one of the bigger strawberry plants and the SunChoke root ball!

I've been wanting some Sunchoke plants for a while. I actually got a couple roots last year... but I just barely covered them and squirrels munched them all! None of them survived.

So this time, I am going to bury them deeper!

That should be deep enough to protect them from the squirrels. And just gotta cross my fingers to see if the roots survive our muddy winter.

I'm heading home... and Henrietta has just caught a fish!

oh, ugh. Poor fish is still flopping about. Henrietta jostles the fish around a bit.

She throws the fish down in a shallow part...

And then stabs him.

But the fish is still wriggling! Dang, that poor fish lives thru multiple stabbings.

I think Henrietta just doesn't want the fish wiggling and alive in her stomach.

After a few more stabbings, she finally swallows the poor, tortured fish.

The fish is so big, she has to force him down.

A pretty big meal. She won't have to think about eating for a while. I wonder what kinds of hobbies she can work on now!

A moment of silence for our fishy friend... I'm sorry his death was so hard, and may his remains give good nutrition.

Tag: november 2023

It's misting this morning, and dark and dreary...

... But not actually THAT dreary! I hadn't fixed the exposure on the camera from yesterday's sunny day. *laughs* so the photo came out a bit wonky!

Here's something bright and cheerful to counteract the dreary.

This is the pollinator mural at Charnel Mulligan Park. It's called *Honey Forever* by David C.P. Placencia.

(I really like the concept art, Park Mural Project... it's too bad the finished art had to be so square.)

Not a very exciting walk. ha. Sometimes that happens.

Tag: november 2023

It was raining when I got out of bed this morning. But the day lightens up and I am thinking about visiting the Acorn Woodpecker family.

There were a couple turkeys walking across the street, and a car had to stop for one of them. The turkey kept sauntering and the driver waited patiently.

Oh! Here's something super cool...

My Squirrel friend is standing in a Pacific Madrone Tree!

It's one of our natives, they range along the Pacific from British Columbia to half way down California. That peeling bark is normal. And you can tell it's related to Rhododendrons, because that's what it's leaves look like!

I've never seen the berries before, they must get eaten up pretty quickly. But it's nicknamed the Strawberry Tree because the berries are bright red.

I get to the top and wander thru the Acorn Woodpeckers territory.

Looks like just males, again... The females have a band of black across their forehead, between the white and red.

I wonder if females ever have guard duty.

Tag: november 2023

Here's a different view of the foggy trees on the hill for you!

Aw, what happened to your tail, Little One?

And who's this?

You know what happens when you look up Little brown bird in Oregon? *Laughs* You get lots of sparrows, lots of wrens, and you don't get any of these birds!

And then she flies away without even showing me what she looks like from the front! sheesh.

But that warm, cinnamon red tail gives her away!

Hermit Thrush!

Looks like they are another one of our winter visitors.

Tag: november 2023

I had just gotten on the bike path and a Nutria swims by. She's quick and I don't get a good photo before she disappears under the bank. I wonder if she has a home there.

Okay. Today I'm clearing out the Second Cucumber Empire. Pulling up all the veggie plants, untangling the tomato cages, and doing a bit of weeding. Here's the result!

*laughs* All the Tomatillos that didn't get ripe! and look!

They are all skeletonized!

That red plant is a volunteer and I wasn't sure if it was a beet or chard. I decided to look it up when I got home...

Turns out... Beetroots and Chards are the Same Species!!

What?!! Yep, they are just different cultivars. That is just crazy and it totally blew mind!

∞ wikipedia, Beta vulgaris

It's good to learn things!

The back Fava patch is mostly recovering from the below freezing nights we had a couple weeks ago.

The Fava in the front was too tall and it's having a harder time with recovery.

But this stuff is also growing in amongst the front Fava...

I'm pretty sure this is Dead Nettle. I don't know if it will survive the entire winter, but right now it's doing a great job of filling in for the failed fava cover crop!

Before I left, I threw the Soybean hulls down, to add some fiber to the tomatillo compost banquet! haha! At some point I'll be covering all this with leaves, and it'll decompose and add nutriets to the soil.

I finished shelling the soybeans last night! There were 1288 pods and it took me four days to finish, working about 40 or 45 minutes a day.

There were no bugs. Which was surprising, considering how buggy the Favas were when I gathered them.

Shelling the soybeans was not big deal at all, and it was kind of meditative. Regardless of how the homemade tofu turns out, I am def going to plant soybeans again!

Tag: november 2023

I came up behind this one, and with the sun, all I could see was a dark silhouette. But right away my brain said That's a funny looking Crow! *laughs*

Cooper Hawks are about the size of Crows. They eat song birds and so they must be small and maneuverable to fly thru the trees!

I obsess over those trees out there!

This news item is a couple weeks old now, but I've been meaning to talk about it...

∞ American Ornithological Society, English Bird Names Project
The AOS commits to changing all English-language names of birds within its geographic jurisdiction that are named directly after people (eponyms), along with other names deemed offensive and exclusionary, focusing first on those species that occur primarily within the U.S. or Canada.

This is so awesome, I can't even tell you how excited I am!!!

I despise all the old, white men names in the bird world... So much so, that when I talk about these birds, I always remove the possessive...

That Cooper Hawk above? Technically they are called Cooper's Hawks, and I hate that!

I can't wait for them to start renaming our birds! The Bird Names FAQ says there are about 70 to 80 birds to rename.

Anna Hummingbirds will be someone new! Maybe Steller Jays can be Stellar! OR maybe they can be Blue Magnificants! haha! Bewick Wrens. There are lots of Townsend's and Audubon's... I'll be glad to see them go!!

Tag: november 2023

Warm and windy today, a pleasant 52° (11°C). The river is brown with mud and is flowing better for the rain we've gotten.

The ponds are higher, and muddy as well. But no spillover from the river yet.

Just glancing at the ponds... I can see our winter visitors are ever so much more happy. The muddy water is yucky, but there's more space for everyone.

The Cormorants are always just a bit too far away for the camera to do them justice. Their beautiful eyes!

Cute little Grebe... but they look so weird without a tail.

Listening to the river at my meditation spot.

It is just so beautiful out here!

Tag: november 2023

That house is always in the way of the photographic trees.

I wonder if they ever see me pausing on the bike path to point my camera in their direction!

Well. Now that I think about it... That's kinda creepy!

*laughs* Great. I'm the creepy person putting random houses under surveillance.

Aw, Ducky. That isn't good for you!

She's hanging out with the homeless people under the bridge, and at first I thought she had an angel wing from eating junk food.

But I look again and realize her wing is damaged. She's hurt!

The Year of the Sick and Injured Wildlife continues. Sighs.

I'm wandering in a new neighborhood, past the end of the bike path. And I discover the Eugene Weekly office!

The Eugene Weekly is our local, alternative newspaper. It is only published once a week, but it's good and fills a needed niche that our corporate newspaper fails at: Letters to the Editor.

Suspish was invited to decorate the building with their signature fish, and I'm glad to see it. It's been ages since they've put up new art and I miss that.

Tag: november 2023

It's a little chilly this morning, 39° tho the wind chill makes it 33°, brr. But the forecast says the rain will hold off until this evening, so I decide to walk west on the bike path today.

I thought this was Henrietta...

But the more I look at all the pics from today, that's def not the same heron I have been seeing! That dark blue patch at her shoulder is quite a bit bigger. huh.

And now I'm looking at previous photos. oh my gosh! There are def two Great Blue Herons at the creek! This one, with the big blue shoulder patch and another one with a very small patch. And I've been calling them both Henrietta! haha!

I need to look into this! *** But first...

I'm going out to the unnamed wetlands again.

There's nothing special here.

Or, I should say... I haven't yet discovered what's special here!

But I always seem to find some birds on the walk back!

There's a little flock of Bushtits.

As usual, they bounce around too quickly for me and the camera!

And a Spotted Towhee.

And some sparrows.

I turn off the bike path to walk thru Stewart Pond Park... But we still don't have a pond yet. It's still all prairie out here.

But there's a flock of Cackling Geese here, anyway. I'm sure they would prefer to have some ponds here too.

Rain! Where are you, Rain?!

Okay. It's time to figure out who this really is!

I go clear back to the beginning...

I named Henrietta on Feb28, and here's her pic from back then...

This is def the same heron that I saw today. Big blue shoulder patches, plus you can see some of the dark blue feathers underneath her wing too.

And here's a pic of the other Great Blue Heron I've been seeing...

We'll call her Not-Henrietta, for the moment! Very small shoulder patch, and you can see some of the cinnamon coloured feathers behind it too.

And it might be the angle or her stance, but I feel like this heron is a bit more petite, and doesn't have as many of those fancy feathers hanging down at her chest.

Not-Henrietta back in July...

So, she's been around... and been mixed up with Henrietta for a good long while! Ha. It's funny! I'm glad I finally noticed! :)

And yes, I will go back thru the old posts and correct them! (Looks like our first sighting of Not-Henrietta was in June.)

And since I've seen her so many times, and can now identify her in the future, I've decided to call her Knotty!

Knotty is in keeping with the not theme of Not-Henrietta. And when you say it out loud, it sounds like Naughty. She didn't trick me on purpose, of course! But she is def messing with me! *laughs*

Tag: november 2023

There's more rain in the forecast, so today I'm digging up the sweet potatoes. The vines had died with the below freezing temperatures at the end of October and it's time to see what we've got!

At the garden, I dig!

I am pleased with all the Sweet Potatoes I dig up under the first plant! There are some good sized tubers, tho they all have cracks in them. That's a bummer, I don't know why that happens.

Under the second plant... there's hardly anything! I dig more and find a couple of potatoes that may have belonged to the first plant. ha. oh well!

The water is still on, which makes this a lot easier! The dirt is mud and I'm glad I get to wash off the sweet potatoes before I haul them home.

Once home, I set a fan on them to get them as dry as possible. I always lose a couple anyway because mold starts growing on some of them right away. And they don't keep, I'll have to eat them quickly!

While in the porch room, I notice the Peace Lily is blooming!

In the evening, I get back to the soybeans.

I've now shelled 500 soybeans. And my shelling technique is def getting more efficient.

When I started, it took over 15min to shell 100 soybeans. Now it's taking closer to 10mins.

So that's good. And I've made a pretty good dent in the pile.

Tag: november 2023

I thought I was going to work at the garden today. But it started sprinkling before I got there... and I walked right on past!

I do regret the backpack, tho. It's got the hand tools in it: spade, shears and dandelion tool, along with other odds and ends like garden gloves and such. It's not terribly heavy, but my back was hurting a lot by the time I got home, having walked around 5 miles with it!

Ha! We are almost the same colour as the leaves and branches!

Oh! Pigeons!

They are cool, but weren't very interested in getting their portrait taken.

Back at home, I decide to do some shelling!

Well. This is not going very quickly. I glanced at the time while I shelled 100 Soybeans, and it took me over 15minutes. Dang. How long to do all of these??!

Hopefully I will get faster!

Tag: november 2023

Oh, hey! It's that youngster I saw in the park the other day with the shortened tail!

I've seen him three times now - I also saw him out my bedroom window a couple days ago. And that's the point where I usually give someone a name. But... I don't know. I get the feeling that he's still wandering and doesn't have an actual territory yet.

I'll hold off on the name until I see him again.

I get to the top of the trail and walk up to the Acorn Woodpeckers home. The sun is coming out... and can you see? There's the faintest of rainbows leading right to my woodpecker friend!

They are just SO interesting!

They've managed to jam two acorns into some of the holes!

Tag: november 2023

Good Morning, Friend!

Henrietta is busy hunting. (Yep, it's Henrietta!)

Last night got too chilly and I had to close my bedroom window again. I guess I need to get used to the fact that winter is coming!

Blazey's Guy, running errands on his bike, passes me twice! When he goes by the second time, he tells me there are geese, way out at the school. I wasn't going to walk that far today... but I can't turn down the first flock of Cackling Geese of the season!

Cackling Geese are the smallest cousins of Canada Geese. We have both species this time of year, but the Cacklings... uh, Cacklers? heh. Tend to gather together in huge flocks.

The clouds are starting to break up.

On my way back, I noticed a spider web, glistening in the sunlight...

Wow, her anchor lines are at least 12feet long! And she's caught lots of food.

Tag: november 2023

It's been mid-60s (18°C), and even the nights have been warmer, in the mid-50s (13°C). And yesterday afternoon, it got so warm I was able to open up my bedroom window again.

I got to listen to the rain all night, and that's the best thing ever!

Today, still it rains!

So I'm just walking in the neighborhood today. The rain means I probably won't see much wildlife, and the camera will remain tucked under the rain jacket.

But the trees are so lovely, I just can't resist a little bit of photography!

Tag: november 2023

Hello Young Fellow!

There was some excitement on the way to the Community Garden.

On the bike path, barely a block away from the Garden, it's probably 9:40ish am. There are two cops, woman and man, on the path talking to a homeless guy on the other side of the creek. I couldn't see him at all, thru the trees.

Woman Cop: okay. Thank you.
Man Cop: (Indistinct but asking a question)
Homeless guy: ahhhh. (Long pause) No.

(I don't even know what's going on... but that very long pause jumped out at me. That guy is SO guilty!) I'm within hearing disance now, walking on by.

Cop: So you didn't shoot a pistol or something like that?
Homeless guy: I was just listening to my music. (Indistinct)
Cop: Because it was reported in this area. (Pause) Exactly where you are.

So that's just great. Shots fired at the bike path.

And now I'm kinda freaked because somebody's shooting their stupid gun... and are they even paying attention to where they are pointing that thing?!

Sighs.

And then I get to the garden and I'm starting to futz around in my plot when I notice there's a woman, on the inside of the Garden fence walking past all the gates. She stops at the gate I had just come in and rattles the chain. I always spin the lock well.

She walks back the way she came... and climbs up on a chair...

I have so many questions. Like how the heck did she get in? And what did she do, while she was in here? She obviously didn't take anything.

Well. Some things you just have to let go. I keep an eye on her, but I've got stuff to do today!

I started out the season with about 30 soybean plants. Not all of them grew up to normal size, but most of them did.

As I pulled pods off the stalks, I counted what I was getting from each plant... there were 60 to 70 pods on an average plant. They were in clusters of 1 to 5 pods every 6 or 8 inches going up each stalk, and a plant had at least a couple branches of stalks.

I had brought three small ziplocks with me... but those filled up quickly! ha! I pulled out one of the gallon ziplocks that I always carry with me, and got it mostly filled as well!

Awesome!

On the way home... there were different cops, and a couple of Parks employees poking around the bike path, their trucks parked on the grass nearby.

I checked the police dispatch log when I got home. And sure enough...

Call time: 09:09:33 AM
Dispatch time: 09:29:30 AM
Incident Desc: Shot(s) Fired
Disposition: PATROL CHECK

Sighs.

Back at home, I spread out the soybean pods and put a fan on them. Most of the soybeans were on stalks that were standing up and those were ovbiously good and dry, they rattled in their pod. But some stalks had fallen over and were on the ground and wet. This should help!

And, wow, that's a lot of pods I'm gonna need to shell out!

Tag: november 2023

oh, poor mangy dearheart... barely has any fur.

I don't know. Do squirrels get the mange? I bet she's terribly cold. And just another continuation of The Year of Sick and Injured Wildlife. Sighs.

I wish I could magically throw some medicine at her and make her better!

Okay. Here I am at the Community Garden, with another, healthier squirrel. She's got a small sunflower head... They like to cut the heads off and just take them with them, to munch on at their leisure!

Here's a sunflower head in my plot that the squirrels didn't take! It's empty of seeds... it provided food to many birds!

This is the section I'm going to work on today.

You can see all the Early Girl tomatoes, from where I pulled up that plant the other day. Today I'm going to untangle the two SunGolds from their tomato cages, and the Striped German.

And wow, those SunGolds had some roots! It was really hard to pull them out of the ground! And, of course, they were sprawling all over the place, so getting them out of the tomato cages wasn't easy either!

I really need to think about doing something with the soybeans!

Someone else's kale.

Tag: november 2023

Well, this one is scary! But look at the adorable dragon gargoyle!

Okay! Up the hill!

I saw the deers first, but the camera was not being agreeable...

And then the deers were being skittish. I assumed someone was walking a dog, around the corner. But actually it was these guys! haha!

Mourning Doves! So nice to see our native doves for once!

But I'm actually up here to visit the Acorn Woodpeckers.

They are too far away again. SIGHS!

SIGHS!

Well. That's not a woodpecker! haha.

Varied Thrush. There is such a great diversity of native birds up here. They are doing construction, further up the hill and dang, I hope they don't cut these trees down.

That's all I get today. That's okay, I'll keep coming up here and they'll come closer eventually!

Back down the hill, and there's a whole flock of female Turkeys... Over a dozen! And they were just walking on past me!

And checking out the patios!

So Cool!

Tag: november 2023

Another morning with frost, ugh. They promised me some warmer mornings this week!

Okay. Since the frost has killed all the veggie plants at the Garden plot, I'm going to start the winter tidy today.

I've pulled up the Wax Beans, and weeded a bit there. and then I pulled out the Early Girl. That monster had been held up with four tomato cages. But then it made so many tomatoes, all four cages fell over with the weight!

Crazy thing! And untangling the plant from all the cages took a bit of work. And look at all the tomatoes that were still on the plant...

There are 40 in this photo, and I tossed more from the plant in other directions! Not to mention all the ones I took home right before it got frosty! So incredibly prolific!

Tag: october 2023

It's another frosty morning. But warmer nights are on the way!

On the way out, I had heard some crows caw-cawing, but there were trees in the way and I couldn't see if there was anything going on.

On the way back, the crows were still yelling and I took a different route thru the neighborhood.

And now I could see what the crows were talking about!

oh my gosh, how awesome! She's a Great Horned Owl!

And the crows are standing sooo close! And just cawing. Nothing else.

I wonder if the owl is all, Dang it you all are loud with your stupid Cawing! Will you shut up already so I can get some sleep?!

*laughs*

That beak! Those ears!

So, so Awesome. I've never seen a Great Horned Owl in the wild before! It's just so cool!!

Unfortunately, my photos aren't clear enough for printing. But, you know... I think I will make a postcard anyway!

Ha! See me embracing imperfection! :)

Tag: october 2023

It got down to 25° (-4°C) last night! Brr! I do not like it! It's not supposed to be this cold, this early in the season!

The Egan Warming Centers are preparing for another record breaking winter. Last season they were open 31 nights, which beat the old record.

The Fava I planted on 1 Sept was too tall. These plants will survive, even tho they are permanently bent over. The smaller plants, that self seeded, are much happier, no damage at all.

The soybeans are still standing. I need to do something about these at some point! ha!

These things caught my eye again. Some kind of lily seeds. and this time I grabbed a few to see if they will grow for me!

Tag: october 2023

It was 28° (-2°C) when I left the house this morning... The first frozen night of the season! There's some frost in the shade, but the sun is melting it as soon as it hits.

A Heron, and some headless Teals! haha...

Some are sleeping, with their head tucked under a wing. Some are eating, dabbling in the water.

A Red Tail! But she's being mobbed by a handful of crows.

And she doesn't stick around very long.

But it's so nice that I can just show up at the wildlife area and get to take photos right away!

Not _good_ photos, but photos! *laughs*

I just love this little flower bed, next to the path, and there's a bench here too. It was created earlier this year and someone local must maintain it, which is nice!

Two miles on from my starting point, Owosso walking bridge is my turn-around point. I decide to cross it today and walk back on the other side of the river. The other side isn't as exciting, but it's nice to see different things!

Looking north, and downriver, that's the Beltline in the distance.

Tag: october 2023

*laughs* The Little Free Pantry Cat does not want to be photogenic today!

And why are these books out here, anyway? There's a Little Free Library right there! Sheesh.

One of the Persimmon trees. The colour combination of that particular shade of orange with the green... and the shapes of the leaves! Just makes me happy.

Oh, Henrietta! Do you hunt all up and down the creek? (Nov9 note... Yes, this is Henrietta!)

Still just a dry prairie out here. I wonder if ducks will come when the ponds fill up.

Back to Stewart Pond Park.

Ha! Artsy!

Juvenile Golden Crown Sparrows bouncing around just outside the park.

And an Eastern Fox Squirrel bouncing around inside the park. This park isn't big enough to accommodate our native Western Grey Squirrels.

Tag: october 2023

It's chilly today... I'm still wearing my cut-offs, but I'm glad I put on a heavy shirt!

Oh wow! There's a Red Shoulder right outside the Community Garden!

And she's totally not detected at all... there are little birds bouncing around in the garden and singing without a clue about the danger!

See? Lesser Goldfinches, all out in the open and happy and playing without a care... barely 30feet away from the hawk!

Well. I don't think Red Shoulders normally eat little birds, and the hawk flies away before too long.

And on to my plot...

The forecast has a freeze advisory, this weekend the over night temperatures will be in the upper 20s (-3°C).

That will do in all of the remaining veggie plants here at the garden, so today I'm picking everything that I can carry!

The biggest zucs are barely 6inches, but I pull them. I'll have to eat that slug munched one quickly before it goes bad!

The Striped German.

That one is so green and I don't pick it. Just as well. It would not have fit in the backpack...

I have to leave so many tomatoes on the Early Girl... But the backpack will be full, and that's a lot of tomatoes to eat as it is!

On the way out, I stop to admire the Fava patch that I planted at the beginning of September as a bit of winter cover crop.

Hey! Wait a second...

An aphid! Ha! Munch away, little bug!

I am happy to support bugs. Yep, even the pests.

Tag: october 2023

You should skip this top part. It's bad. And then I go into some doom. sighs.

The bike path goes by an apartment complex that has a dog area right next to the fence. Today I witnessed a person hitting their dog. 1. 2. 3.

I was shocked into silence and I was so mad I started to cry. The person yanked the poor dog back into their apartment pretty quickly. And I was left on the bike path, crying and I don't even have any tissues in my pocket.

Could they have broken the dogs ribs? But even bruised ribs are terrible, it will hurt to move for days and days.

God damn. Why are humans so awful? I hope humans go extinct soon. Unfortunately, in the process, humans are trying to make everyone else extinct as well.

If things were to change for the better right now, there might be a chance for cockroaches to survive, once it's all said and done. But that's not happening... humans aren't doing a single thing to fix climate change or to fix the poisons we spew. The way things are going, it's going to be a runaway greenhouse effect, with the poisons thrown in for funsies. The whole planet will be dead, like Venus with plastic, except maybe some bacteria in the stratosphere.

I'm pretty down. But it's always good to see Henrietta.

And the clouds are nice today.

But then I didn't have the exposure set correctly on the camera for this split second photo. ha. oh well. It's still kind of a cool photo.

And then my friend Eric rides by and has a friendly wave and a big smile. That cheers me up.

And a sweet squirrel stops to have a conversation.

Okay, now I have something to munch on. What did you want to talk about?

Not very professional for a therapist, is it? :)

My Squirrel therapist says I need to counteract the doom...

∞ Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage, study shows Detailed analysis finds plant diets lead to 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than meat-rich ones

Go Vegan for the squirrels!

Tag: october 2023

*laughs*

Little Free Pantry Cat!

While this goofy fellow is amusing and sweet... all cats should be indoor cats! But Siamese Cats especially should stay indoors.

Because of their breeding, Siamese Cats can't see very well at night. The genes that make their point colouration also screw up their optic nerves and they are missing tapetum lucidums in their eyes, a retroreflector which amplifies dim light.

So please just keep your kitties inside!

This house def has my favorite Halloween decorations!
Clowns, NO! Skeletons, YES! :)

But this bat cracks me up (top middle)... it has ears! haha. Ears would not be included in anyones skeleton!

I've come up the hill to see the Acorn Woodpecker family who lives up here. But dang it, the couple who are here are standing in trees way too far away.

I walk up the road a bit, to see if I can get closer. Their granery trees just fascinate me!

Some of their words are Wika-Wika-Wika and a Churrr sound.

This is a fun article!

∞ Acorn Woodpeckers Hoard Thousands of Acorns in a Single Tree That's not even the weirdest thing about them.

And on reddit I learn about trypophobia, aversion to the sight of holes. ha!

∞ A Woodpecker's acorn stash in a granary tree

Back down the hill.

Didn't know dragons were Halloweeny!

Tag: october 2023

This Geranium growing out in the wild, right next to the bike path has put out one last flower for the season.

Still some signs of our busy Beaver at the creek!

Tag: october 2023

I'm checking my PO Box mail this morning, and there's a small Nutria in the front yard of the Post Office! ha.

This is crazy! Where's the nearest creek? I'm not even sure, but there's no water close by that I know of! You have dispursed to the wrong place, little one! Altho I'm sure those dandelions are delicious.

Okay, on to the garden!

oop, gotta move somebody off the bike path!

I gather what veggies there are!

The smaller Tomatillos at the top are from the volunteer plant living in the tofu patch. That one actually started growing before the two or three in the Second Cucumber Empire, so I'm not sure why all of it's fruits are so much smaller. They are a lot more lime-y, too. The bigger ones kind of mellow out a bit.

Oh cool, I found a Tomatillo where the husk has skeletonized but the fruit is still good!

I do some exploring in the Community Garden and find this a couple plots down...

What is it? Is it a crop? I have no clue! The internets aren't helping me, either. huh.

Tag: october 2023

The sky was dripping this morning but once the sun rose, it resolved into some on-and-off misting. I decided to go out to the river, despite the wet... it probably won't be very exciting since not much wildlife comes out when it rains.

But that's okay. Just getting some exercise in an amazingly beautiful place, is a good thing!

oh my gosh, the colours!

and the vines!

And more colours!

Silver Lining is def my favorite!

Sheesh. I am such a sucker for the roses! Moving on!

oh my gosh! There is an art installation at the Downtown Riverfront Park! Colourful banners up on the path lamps!

Aw! It's LGBTQ+ positive artwork! With bears! I love it!

Aw... but it's making me cry.

∞ Cultural Currents Artist Highlight, Coda Stone
Everyday Bears!

The second artist has a way with wonderfully bright colours!

Seahorse!!

∞ Cultural Currents Artist Highlight, Pattrick Price
The Colors of Formline

I get off the main path because it seems to be filling up with humans wearing green shirts. Heading towards the university arena? I thought the football game was at the new stadium. So I'm not sure what is going on.

But then I get distracted by this one! what the heck?!

Gives it a shake... but now she looks even more pathetic!

She is NOT going to dry off any time soon with this misty weather happening.

And what did she do? Was there food down in the water? Did she intentionally take a bath? Today, of all days?! What were you thinking?!

Okay... no red on the shoulder. Is she a Red Tail? ah, no. Red Tails don't have bands on their tail feathers. And that super long tail... This is a juvenile Cooper Hawk.

She notices me watching her!

Silly kid! I bet we are really cold too. brr.
Well, I hope you live to tell the tale, kid!

The bridge is my turn-around point to make a loop over to the other side of the river. But, oh jeez, so many humans. I never did figure out what was going on.

But I walk past a fabulous group on the drums. And I walk thru a parade of people to get to the other side.

And then, walking back... there is a huge and beautiful tree, just outside the Rose Garden that I really love. And it has fruits!

And they look like Olives?!

They are quite a bit bigger than the olives you'd get in a can, well over an inch long and nice and fat. And there's a bunch on the ground, but they are all still green.

Well. I don't know. But I pick one up and put it in my pocket. I will dissect it at home to see what's inside. I will report back soon!

This turned out to be an awesomely incredible day.

I thought I was going out for a non-exciting walk! But interesting things were happening all around me!

Tag: october 2023

Another foggy and misty day!

I love the cloudy days... tho when the clouds are thick like this and it's so dark and dreary, the photos will be blurry since the camera likes a lot more light!

Well. You know. More blurry than usual! haha! Once upon a time I had the idea to redo the design here from the silly old sunflowers to some Blurry Birds! Maybe I should think about that again.

Oh! Henrietta nabs someone right as I come up! A poor Crawdad. (Nov9 note... this is Not-Henrietta!)

oh foo.

We mostly see Varied Thrushes in the winter, when they come down from the hills where they've raised their children.

Their song is a simple, one note whistle which is very beautiful.

Tag: october 2023

Extremely heavy fog this morning, visibility is hardly anything.

*laughs* I wonder if eating flowers is like candy for snails!

I thought the crows were just having a meeting...

... but they kept getting louder and more angry and ever more were flying in. They are so loud and WHAT is going on? There's dozens of crows yelling! I watch them and think they are mobbing a hawk or somebody in the next tree over.

But then I hear, kekeke a begging juvenile hawk. And he sounds so pathetic... and desperate. And I'm all You Crows are mobbing a CHILD!

The kid keeps begging, and he is sooo intimidated and desperate, and he doesn't know what to do, and you can hear all of that in his voice and it's just breaking my heart!

And How? How can the crows keep going, knowing this is a child, hearing his distressed crying??! Are they heartless??! They should be ashamed of themselves!

Well. They can't keep it up. The mob starts breaking up. In just a couple minutes they're gone. A couple crows remain to keep an eye on the situation, and nobody's cawing.

They're not heartless, after all.

I hope the juvenile hawk is okay... physically, anyway. He probably has emotional scars and PTSD from all those stupid bullying crows who were probably just bored and wanted some drama. Poor little hawk.

Meantime, I've been gathering...

That's Butternut #2, the third one is still green and the vine has died, so that's it for the butternuts.

And the fuzzy pods are a test run of the Soybeans! To see what the beans look like and if they are getting dry yet!

Last week, I got a tofu press. And I already have cheesecloth. So I think I'm set with tofu making supplies!

AND THEN!

As I was coming out of the Community Garden and walking out on the side path... This crow flew right over me.

And she was OBVIOUSLY holding one foot higher than the other, in her flight!

Falkor! But look!

She's putting both feet down, to stand! Oh my gosh! Falkor? Is that really you?!

She flies right over me again... and again, I see that she is obviously holding up a foot as she flies. She lands in a nearby tree and turns to look at me.

Oh my gosh, look at that tiny twig she's standing on! She's healed!

She's healed! And I can hardly believe it!

But it must be her! It has to be!

Why else would she get my attention, by flying right over me. Twice!

Thank You Falkor! Thank you so much for saying hi! :)

Tag: october 2023

The forecast said no chance of rain, but I'm getting misted on! It's kinda chilly, too, even tho it's supposed to warm up to 66° this afternoon.

This is a terrible photo of a Western Bluebird standing on the Community Garden fence... but those pale, washed out colours!

Oh, ha! Here's another wild squash on the bank of the creek!

I couldn't get a decent pic of the plants surrounding the squash. But the little white flowers are some kind of nightshade. The purple blooms are a garden flower that I recognize but don't know the name of. And along the top is the ubiquitous Himalayan Blackberry.

I found another wild rose bush where I can pick hips for tea.

But it turns out you need quite a few rose hips for a cup of tea. And you need to boil the heck out of them for 15 or 20 minutes. And a couple sites say that you should also steep them overnight. And then of course, you've got to strain the whole thing.

So this is sounding like more kitchen work than I want to do! But... it would be interesting to try!

Tag: october 2023

I'm walking west today for something different.

Ha! I found a tiny skateboard!

It's good to hear the contact calls of the Song Sparrows again. Jeep. Jeep. Jeep.

Instead of turning off the bike path to go to Steward Pond Park, I just keep walking!

This is a raised path that goes thru some Wet Prairie and makes a loop with the bike path. It's not rained enough, and the wetlands are still in their dry prairie stage.

This little walk doesn't have an official name, other than it's part of the West Eugene Wetlands.

I make that my turn around point and start heading back.

AWWW! This is awesome... Cedar Waxwing kids!

There's a Nootka Rose bush right before the turnoff, going to Stewart Pond, and I pull a few rose hips and stick them in my pocket. I've been thinking about trying some Rose Tea!

My public service announcement...

Never, never eat anything in nature unless you are 100% sure about what you have!

And this time I've got an addendum...

Never eat anything in nature unless you know all the look-alikes as well!

Fortunately, roses are easy. And none of them are poisonous.

Here I am, coming up on Stewart Pond. It's still a dry prairie as well.

Inside the park, there are several groups of guys playing Frisbee Golf so the little forest is quiet and empty again. But just outside the park, there's a happy little flock of Golden Crown Sparrows...

Bahaha! She's got a wing poking in one direction and a toe poking in another direction!!

And she's all What? *snort*

Tag: october 2023

Oh my gosh, I walk out the door and it's just pouring down rain! Camera gets tucked under the rain jacket and I wonder if I will take any photos today... beyond the cute squirrel who greets me from the sidewalk!

The rain backs off to a sprinkle, and some things in the neighborhood catch my eyes!

This hell strip is just amazing. Look at all the colours!

Tag: october 2023

It never did rain yesterday after the eclipse, even tho it was 40% rain in the afternoon. The clouds kept things warmer over night... I've still got my bedroom window open, and I didn't have to pull up the quilts to sleep comfortably.

*laughs* I know! I'm always taking photos of the same garden plots! But they have the best flowers!

Here's something different! A tiny little Violet!

The volunteer pea plant in the front garden square that I cleared for some cover crop.

A juvenile White Crow Sparrow, they are winter visitors here. And an enthusiastic tomato plant!

I wasn't going to gather anything today... but I happened across some ripe tomatillos. The leaves are tomatillo too.

The neighbor has some pretty peppers.

huh. Lily ... berries? Or I guess we can just call them seeds!

*eyes a little sunflower head* Probably picked and abandoned by a squirrel!

This is the Audubon subspecies of Yellow Rump Warbler... Yesterday was the Myrtle subspecies, with the white throat!

Tag: october 2023

The Eclipse isn't officially over, but the clouds are covering it up completely now. It's maybe a little bit darker than a normal cloudy day... but I'm surprised at how NOT dark it is!

There is a huge group of crows wheeling and chasing each other, over the main pond! They know something's going on and have decided to celebrate! ha!

But for everyone else, the business of life and death goes on.

I love this little flower bed... they put it in earlier this year, along with a bench, and it's just been so happy!

A Yellow Rump Warbler...

We have both subspecies here. This one, with a white throat is the *Myrtle* Warbler. *Audubon* Warblers have a yellow throat.

oh, great. Another shorebird. ugh. Shorebirds are so hard to identify, their winter plummage all looks the same. but yep. I'm going to give this one a try. Because look how pretty.

Oh! They paddle like ducks?! ha, with those skinny toes! heh, I don't know why that surprises me, but I've never noticed a shorebird paddling!

I think this might be a Long Billed Dowitcher.

But don't quote me on that... because the bill on the Short Billed Dowitcher looks just as long to me! haha!

Tag: october 2023

I have been watching the weather forecast for weeks, even tho I *knew* it would be cloudy and maybe raining today!

At the beginning of the week, it was to be cloudy with a good chance of rain. Thursday the forecast said 60% chance of rain. Fridays forecast said 40% rain!

This morning the forecast still said 40% rain, but the rain was supposed to hold off until after 11am! The morning was to be partly cloudy!

Oh my gosh! There might be a chance... the tiniest chance to see the eclipse!

The day starts with clouds and fog, but when dawn breaks there is a moment when the sunbeams come thru, under the cloud layer.

Hope Springs! But only for a moment. The clouds roll in.

The eclipse starts at 8:06am and the Ring Of Fire will occur from 9:17 to 9:19. And then completely over at 10:39am.

I leave the house around 8:50. It's cloudy, but the clouds are moving around quite a bit... So I'm having an inordinate amount of hope now!

As I drive, it seems like a normal, cloudy day even tho the moon is covering well over half the sun by now!

At the park, the parking lot is fuller than usual for a saturday, but there are a decent number of spaces left. A few people have arrived at the same time, and more are trickling in behind me. I have to walk out to the field, because there's trees in the way.

At 9:06am, this is the 2nd photo I snap... No zoom, no cropping, no colour adjustment. Look closely, the sun is just left of center!

Wow.

The river flows to the northwest here, and Greenway walking bridge would have a clear view of the east. As I suspected, a lot of other people had my same idea...

I stay in the park for the moment and Oh My Gosh!

It's SO AMAZING!

And I can SEE IT! The clouds are heavy enough that I can look directly at the sun, without any trouble!

The camera is having such a hard time with the auto-focus! It's just clouds, it says! So I point it at the trees and hope they are far enough away that the eclipse is in focus as well. It kind of works.

The clouds start moving around and suddenly it's way too bright to look at the sun any more! I crank up the exposure on the camera, but it doesn't help.

With a break in the action upstairs, I decide to move out to the bridge.

Oh, nice! The view is lovely here!

And the clouds are moving around again... and oh my gosh, we are so close to the perfect Ring of Fire!

SO FREAKING AWESOME!!

And with that, the clouds got heavier and there were no more views of the eclipse.

A lady in the crowd, asked people to join her song, to see if they could move the clouds along... ♪ Here comes the sun... ♪ she sang, and the crowd sang the Dah-da-doo-doo! :)

She sang a couple more lines, but it fell apart pretty quickly since nobody quite remembered how the song went!! But so delightful and it made me feel really good to see people come together and be happy together.

One last photo upriver, with the beautiful morning sky...

And then on with my walk.

Tag: october 2023

oh, cool! The dew has revealed the Grass Spider webs!

The spider in this one ran into her den as I approached.

Grass Spiders have to be quick and smart because their web isn't sticky. When someone walks across their web, the spider has to know whether to run out and capture the prey or hide out in the den if the creature is too dangerous!

That decision has to be made in an instant. Can you imagine having to live your whole life like that!

It must be too chilly this morning... this one was just standing in the middle of the stupid bike path! sheesh!

Milkweed is setting it's seeds free...

But look! There's someone tucked up, inside! They might be a baby Lady Bug!

This pretty thing is in the demonstration flower bed, but I didn't see it's label, so I don't know what it is.

Oh, hey! A Pine Siskin! That's somebody different, for a change!

The Nasturtium in the tofu patch has decided to bloom after all!

Ha! This one was drumming for a while before I realized that sound wasn't a human with a hammer! *laughs*

He flew away before I could get closer. But ha, he's doing a number on the back of this Bluebird nesting box!

Lots of veggies to bring home today! But oh, the SunGolds are not sweet.

The Tomatillos are fun to find, tho! I squeeze each one on the vine, and if the fruit has filled up the husk, I turn it over to see if the husk is starting to split. If it is, I give it a little tug and it pulls right off. And then I go up the branch, because any fruits closer to the roots are going to be ready to pick as well!

The Striped German has decided to try making tomatoes again! That's nice, I thought it was quite done!

And of course the SunGolds continue.

And on the walk home, Henrietta! (Nov9 note... this is Not-Henrietta!)

Tag: october 2023

Oh Hi, Kitty! Aren't you beautiful. Hey could you do me a favor and tell your hooman the Little Free Pantry needs some more food in it? Thanks!

Turkeys!

Their cute lil frowny faces!

More Turkeys! Ha, they are every where!

Eeee! Clowns are too scary for me... But the trapeze skeleton with rainbow hair is awesome!!

Okay. Here we are at the hiking trail!

I come across a bachelor band of three Black Tail Deers! Ha: big, medium and small antlers!

oh, Small Antlers has broken one off already! Playing too hard!

I go up past the end of the hiking trail, I'm hoping to see the Acorn Woodpeckers again. But dang it! This one was just flying thru!

A Red Tail Hawk, obviously. She standing at the top of one of the granary trees, see the holes? Ha, I bet the woodpeckers are mad about that, but what can they do?

The hawk has scared most every body away, but the guardians of the territory slowly reveal themselves!

I don't get any good portraits of the Acorn Woodpeckers today. But wow, their trees are so interesting!

Tag: october 2023

Sprinkles and rain today, so the camera mostly stayed tucked under my rain jacket. But there was also a breeze coming out of the south...

Ugh, so annoying! Even with my hat, and pulling the hood of my jacket around, my eye glasses are still getting misty droplets on them. Humph!

But when I saw a couple Crow families playing Top of the Tree, ha! The camera came out regardless of the damp consequences!

I win! ... No! Me! I Win!

... Nooo, I'm pretty sure I'm higher! ... But Look, I'm so high I can't even stand!

But to Win, you have to be able to stand! I'm standing, I win! ... No, that's not how it works! I'm the winner!

And then this one decides to play a different game.

*laughs* I don't know if anyone caught that little bit of twig on it's way down!

I have been eating about one Spaghetti Squash from the garden, every week.

It takes a lot of kitchen work, and once a week is about all I can stand! *laughs* I hate cooking and I hate spending time in the kitchen.

You know how they say that celery is a negative calorie food because it takes more energy to chew it? I think Spaghetti Squash is like that too...

You have to cut it into quarters, that's sometimes pretty hard. And then you have to get the stupid seeds out. And then after you cook it, you have to rake out the spaghetti-ness!

So. Much. Work!

I guess it's worth it, tho. I do love eating it.

I am a little sad, tho, seeing my huge stash of Spaghetti Squash get whittled down, week by week!

Tag: october 2023

It rained all night! And all morning! Ah! So nice! How I love the rain!

The slugs love the rain too. I found this one right as a Parks truck was passing me on the bike path. Slug is intimidated by the vibrations: she-he has stopped and eye-stalks are pulled in! But I made sure the truck didn't squish her-him!!

That hole is her-his air mouth, called a pneumostome. The chamber acts like a lung and the hole opens and closes on a two minute cycle.

The ducks are happy too.

Oh Cool! A Cooper Hawk!!

I'm so happy that I'm seeing more birds, lately! I think many birds molt after their nesting time, and keep a low profile at the end of the summer.

heh. There are two crows mobbing, and the hawk has to duck as the crows dive bomb her!

Okay, time to leave.

Tag: october 2023

Cooler today, and much more ordinary weather than the mid-80°s we had over the weekend... 65° and it starts sprinkling around my turn-around point!

This one was bouncing around happily!

Bouncing around and being goofy! What's the leaf for, Sweets??

Hey Human... get your own leaf to play with!

(Drops leaf, randomly.) Okay. What's next?

I don't know why I am obsessed with these Buckeyes! There are just a couple big trees in the neighborhood beyond the end of the bike path, that I walk under.

I pick up three of the nuts... they are a good size to hold comfortably in your hand and pleasantly smooth.

Tag: october 2023

While I'm gathering veggies, I notice this one is munching on their own harvest!

Eating that way cannot be good for your digestion!

The Zucchini plant is trying so hard!

And so is this Crookneck in the 2nd Cucumber Empire.

The Soybeans are still doing their thing.

Oh, haha! I didn't notice this one until I looked at the photos! A cute little Seven Spot Ladybug!

The first big harvest of Tomatillos! I guess they need a long growing season. The SunGolds aren't ripening, so maybe they will sweeten up at home.

At home, in the porch room, I notice the Spider Plant is blooming!

Yay! I'm so happy! I think it was last year that I transplanted it and put all the Spiderlings in the dirt!

Those varigated leaves are the Dumb Cane plant. Dieffenbachia. It blooms all the time, it's a very happy plant, along with the Peace Lily which blooms a lot too.

Tag: october 2023

Tho the rain started early in September, there's only been a day of rain here and a day of sprinkles there. Not enough to bring up the ponds, and certainly not enough for the spillover.

And the turtles are enjoying the unusual hot weather we've had. 87°F yesterday and 85° today. The bottom turtle is a native Western Pond Turtle, the rest are the terribly invasive Red Ear Sliders.

The main pond is full of Gadwalls, who are diving in the middle of the pond, and Green Wing Teals, who are dabbling in the mud at the edge of the pond.

It's too bright to be taking photos of Egrets. But... Wait a second! ...

We are totally STANDING on that turtle! Haha!

Little turtle is all Dude! Seriously?! *laughs*

I walk around the pond, and the Egret has gotten a clue and both feet are on the log. But I think the little turtle is still thinking, Sheesh!

There's a few cute Coots at the ponds, too.

My place on the river to listen to the water.

On the way back, past the ponds... Oh great. Some stupid Shorebird, that I'll try to look up but won't be able to identify. Shorebirds are hard! Their winter plumage makes them look all the same. Just some with long beaks, and some with short beaks. SIGHS!

But this one does look pretty distinctive. Maybe it'll be worth it to TRY looking them up?

... They are Snipes? Ha! What? I thought Snipes weren't real! *laughs* Well. It's good to learn things!

Wilson Snipes.

And, one last turtle, swimming in the side pond.

Tag: october 2023

Oh! Oh my gosh! This Green Heron has caught a frog!

Poor little frog.

Frog squirms! He wants to live!

Smack!

Frog is less lively now.

And now he's mostly dead. Eee.

Gulp!

Mmmm. Tasty!

Urp!

A big meal for Green Heron, and she's happy. But I need a moment of silence for poor frog.

Tag: october 2023

Oh foo. Just as I get here, they are closing the Rhododendron Garden so they can spray and kill the Azalea Lace Bugs. They are invasive and do some damage, but who else gets killed when they spray? Everybody gets poisoned. :(

I sneak thru the edge of the Rhody Garden, so I can wander thru the Native Plants Garden.

Oh my gosh! I have seen this bird bath before, but today there are birds!

I was wandering the internets the other day and watched a video talking about edible berries... and I recognized some leaves! There are a couple sections along the hiking trails here, that are lined with ThimbleBerry!

There are sadly lots of dead Douglas Fir trees along the Ribbon Trail. Climate change... it's not so much the lack of rain, it's the too hot summers. It stresses them. And then Bark Beetles finish them off.

When I was done taking pictures of the dead Douglas Fir, I looked around the forest, "CHEEP!" Haha! I startled a chipmunk, and boy was she mad about it!

"Che-che-che-che-che-che-CHEEP!" heh. Sorry to upset you, but it's kinda funny!

Oh, nice! The trail head has gotten a kiosk!

I walk a little bit beyond the trail head... but the sun is beating down here and it gets uncomfortable pretty quickly. It's abnormally hot today... 87° where normal for this time of year is 70°F!

In addition to the new trail head kiosk, this sign says they'll also be repairing the trail here! That's good... there are places where the trail is starting to slough down the hill!

And, for once, a Woolly Bear who I don't have to rescue... She's already made it to the edge of the path and is heading back into the forest! But first we need to munch on the greenery.

Tag: october 2023

This is Frodo, our one-eyed stray cat that the neighbor feeds. Frodo has been around for ages, she must be getting pretty old by now.

No rain, but clouds until 1pm. I am thinking about the eclipse that's happening here, next weekend, in nine days. But this cloudiness is standard for autumn... So I don't think there's any hope about actually seeing the eclipse. sighs.

Oh! It's damp enough for mushrooms!

And these are pretty, with their little twirly thingees!

You gotta be careful walking under the Buckeye Trees!

A blurry pic of the first Mergansers of the season at the creek! heh, the closer girl must have molted her head feathers all at once!

Tag: october 2023

No chance of rain today, but the clouds are pretty low this morning!

There's Zinnias galore at the Community Garden!

And these Mini Zinnias are happy to look at!

And then you've got the Dahlias!

And here we are at my garden plot.

The Tofu patch is getting increasingly yellow!

And the pods are starting to dry out! There's so many of them! I can't wait to gather them up and make tofu!

And while I was back there in the tofu patch, I decided to grab this one, tiny Spaghetti Squash...

I had tried growing some squash plants from seeds of a Spaghetti Squash I had eaten last year! Seed saving is cool!

I started some in pots at home, and planted some directly. Neither of these methods really work out... There's not enough sunlight for seedlings at home, and they don't usually recover. And then slugs like to munch on all the baby squash seedlings and transplants.

But, yep, one plant lived to make that tiny Spaghetti Squash!

And then, when I was checking for ripe Tomatillos... Wow!

A Tomatillo husk has been turned into a skeleton!! So cool!

And the big volunteer Sunflower is still trying to be pretty!

Since I got that Spaghetti Squash, I decided to get the littlest Butternut as well! A good harvest today!

and I'm on my way... only to see more beautiful things on the walk home!

Bittersweet Nightshade berries.

I had to search to see what this is... it might be Silky Dogwood. Aren't the colours just delightful!!

Tag: october 2023

There's a Western Grey Squirrel in the park again... but this one is obviously a youngster. Not Worf.

And again, I don't get close enough for a decent photo. But I will be able to identify this kid again if I see him... His tail is a little bit short.

The other Persimmon tree. I just love the wavy leaves!

There are two types of Persimmon... Astringent Persimmons, which are the heart shaped ones. And these Non-Astringent Persimmons, which are squat shaped.

The habitat at Stewart Pond park is a Wet Prairie... It's a dry prairie during the summer and shallow ponds during the winter rainy season.

We've gotten a good bit of rain, here and there. But not enough to start the ponds yet.

Unfortunately, they were mowing in the park when I arrived. So this Robin outside th park was the only wildlife I found.

The little bit of forest is still a pretty place, but I prefer bird song over the sound of mowing!

Ha! I love that I can just point and click with the camera at the moon... and can actually see some craters and stuff!

Tag: october 2023

Another bit of sprinkles today. It's nice!

I wander across the street into a neighborhood I've never walked thru before. And I find this...

What... it looks like huge, pink snowberries!

And I get home and look it up. And sure enough. They sell a variety of different shades of pink Snowberries.

ha!

And here's a crow I liked so much I decided to turn her into a postcard!

∞ Postcrossing: US-9788171, USA to Japan
She's already been Favorited a couple times!

Hi Henrietta. Long time, no see. You should stop by more often!

Tag: october 2023

You can't be on the bike path, Little One! This Woolly Bear was a little hesitant to climb up onto my hand...

But then she didn't want to leave! She clung to my hand with a hard grip. Okay. I figured she just thought this place in the grass I had picked for her was a terrible idea. And yeah, it was in the shade, and really wet with dew. So I walked a bit further and found a sunny place for her.

But she was still gripping my hand. Look, you! I can't just carry you around all day! But she was upset about being abandoned.

The Goldfinches are stuffing their faces and filling their tummys with Sunflower seeds.

I decided to pick that funny looking Crookneck today. And when I went to get that stealthy Lemon Cucumber... there was another one right next to it! Yay! I ate them for my lunch today! Num num!!

Hello my little Grasshopper friend.

Tag: october 2023

February 2023 (partial)

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023 (partial)

June 2023 (partial)

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

Tag: 2019

So I've looked at a map, and I hope I get around the new Downtown Riverfront Park without getting lost this time. It's closed because they are using it for the World Athletics Championships, which started yesterday and runs until the 25th.

This amazing mural just outside the Rose Garden was finished just in time for the Championships.

And, of course, you can't go by the Rose Garden without obsessively taking photos of the roses.

And then we gotta check the Osprey nest on the other side of the river. There's one child there today, and she takes off ... only to make a loop and come back to the nest.

XXX... Goal: Finish this post!

Tag: xxx 2022

I'm archiving the 2022 posts...

∞ January 2022

∞ February 2022

∞ March 2022
Story of nesting Anna Hummingbird begins here!

∞ April 2022
... And the nesting Hummer story continues here, until the babies fly away in mid-April!

∞ May 2022

∞ June 2022

∞ July 2022

(completed 28 May 2023...)

January thru July 2021 Archive

August 2021 Archive

September 2021 Archive

October 2021 Archive

(No entries for November 2021)

December 2021 Archive

Goal: revisit August 2021... Road Trip to Utah!

And then keep filling in posts from there thru the end of 2021.

Tag: 2021

(completed 27 Dec 2020 thru 5 Jan 2021...)

2020 Archive... January thru July

(posted 21 Apr 2023...)

2020 Archive... Aug thru Dec

GOAL...

Revisit the Aug thru Dec archive page and add photos and clear out the xxx!

Tag: 2020

(Posted 22 Dec 2020...)

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2019 journal entries

Tag: 2019

(Posted 18 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2018 journal entries into an archive page. I did not write very much in 2018, so I decided not to divide them up into months, like I usually do.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2018 journal entries

Tag: 2018

(Posted 19 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2017 journal entries into an archive page. And again, I didn't write very much, so the posts for the entire year are on one page.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2017 journal entries

Tag: 2017