April May Showers Bring June Flowers.
Somehow my Facebook account was locked last week by a hack or my mistake, probably the latter. Anyway, each day FB gave me a chance to "identify" my friends in snapshots, faces circled, and 7 name choices. Hey, I have 3600 friends on there, are you kidding? Well, finally got 5 out of 5 correct, a miracle, back on there, big deal...
Tom and I witnessed a fight between a Bald Eagle and a Great Blue Heron, the heron having to drop a baby Columbian Ground Squirrel she had caught to scream “arrrkkk!” Herons stabbing these guys in the field and maybe drowning them in the slough before a swallow? Anyway, I must get this "on film."
Every spring the water rises in the slough and our bridge to the river starts floating. Tied down and towed out to re-install later with heroics from friends. Just about to happen now, bummer.
Thanks to our friend Jay Sumner that posted our free camper on Facebook Marketplace and the first folks to respond came over today and hauled it away in a very professional manner. Sue loves it, her little "SheShed Hideaway" at their property in Dixon, and especially perfect with the big "S" on the front. Tom spent many a logging season in this, but it has just been parked since we moved here 20 years ago. Sue displays those original 1968 keys, and the Notary at the bank admitted she had never seen such an old title. So glad it will be loved again!
It goes like this - Calliope Hummingbird on May 5th, then Vaux's Swifts on the 10th, then House Wrens yesterday! All in the yard, cool. And turkeys are here all the time.
I bought Nick Dunlop's Sony A9 camera body and bought a 200-600 mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter and a huge learning curve, different brand and mirrorless! This will take some time, figuring out the nuances, but love it so far.
The whole school was here for the day, 90 miles away for a drive in the little school bus, and we lucked out with the weather. K-6 student population = 11 students. These kids were pretty darn savvy- one boy knew that Peregrines top speed is 240 mph (!) Everyone observed the difference between the Pygmy and Saw-whet Owls, and told me the size of their eyes indicates day-time and night-time hunting, little versus big. Yep, Junior Zoologists and way fun, especially for Nico the Dog.
Webmaster Steve Palmer has created a wonderful page and way to purchase books directly from the author! Check it out!
The male brought in a Columbian Ground Squirrel (yea!) and feeding at least one chick but never got a good peek. And White-faced Ibises!
Hope our bridge across the slough heading down to the river doesn't float and have to be re-installed when the water drops; 18 of 20 years this has happened. Nico and The Bridge.
Okay, back photographing the eagle nest after a three year hiatus, not of my choosing but of the eagles. She is feeding at least one here, unfortunately blocked by nest material. Project Number 1 is a new dry-point etching (Peregrine Flight) and Number 3 is photographing the Red-tailed Hawk nest. Gotta get your ducks in a row, so to speak.
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