Monthly Archives: July 2023

July 11, 2023 · 23:08

Mockingbird Nest

Remember the day that a HUGE red-tailed hawk swooped right past me in the front lawn and grabbed onto something in this bush that’s grown up around a support pillar in front of my front door? (Here are the pictures.) I may have figured out what it was going after.

A couple of weeks ago, after noticing some mockingbirds flying into and out of that bush more and more often, I took a closer look and found a nest in there.

Yesterday I heard a very soft peeping sound coming from there, and found at least three mockingbird chicks in there.

They’re ALL MOUTH. They must only be a day or so old because they’re blind and just running on instinct. Something comes near (i.e., me) and they pop up for a few seconds, mouths open, peeping, then hunker down and hide if no food is incoming.

When I’m getting close enough to get these pictures, rest assured that Mama Mockingbird isn’t far away and is giving me the stink eye every second. The nest is at about head height, with the gutter about four feet above. She’ll perch up there sometimes, the better to be that much closer to me so she can save time in attacking and gouging my eyes out if I make a false move. Or she’ll be out on the power line, thirty feet away, with a mouthful of food to bring back as soon as I get out of sight.

Directly above them on the inside of the roof line is the mourning dove nest, still with two fledgelings, although they’re big enough now to take off more and more often.

Welcome to the “Willett Aviary – Front Yard Edition!” Here’s a quick video of the little squeakers! And you can actually see all three!

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Birds, Photography, Video

July 10, 2023 · 23:33

Christmas In July

From Christmas 2017, what would turn out to be our final Christmas at the old house, although I didn’t know it then. 😭😭😭

Yet another thing that *I* keep in mind when looking at potential new “forever” homes – where do I hang the lights, where do I plug them in, and how many can I put up before I blow the circuit breaker panel?

The “really really nice on the inside but outside it’s just a box on an acre-plus of dirt with zero landscaping” places not only don’t have anyplace to hang lights, they also tend to be so far out in the boonies that no one will ever see them. Yeah, I’m the guy who, when meeting a neighbor from down the street for the first time, goes “YEAH! That’s me!” when they say, “Oh, you’re the lunatic with a gazillion Christmas lights?” (I will also note that many of them who say that are also putting up lights and more lights than before after the first year or two when we moved in. I think of it as being a good influence, leading by example, that sort of thing…)

Leave a comment

Filed under Christmas Lights, Photography

July 9, 2023 · 23:25

More Lousy Roses

What a long day! What a busy weekend, and not necessarily in a good way! So what have I got for you?

That’s right! More lousy roses! (It’s right there in the title!)

I thought that I still had some photos on my phone that I hadn’t used yet. And I was right! (Blow this one up and look at the vein structure detail in those petals!)

These are gorgeous (and I’m particularly fond of gorgeous) and I enjoy sharing them.

The more I look at houses in the high desert (either Lancaster/Palmdale or Hesperia/Apple Valley) and how they have really nice houses plopped down into an acre of slightly graded dirt with no lawn, no landscaping, no NOTHING, the more I know that if we end up getting one of those places, I’m going to harken back to my English heritage (a LOT of generations ago, like, going back to 1664) and start building little gardens to putter around in.

Putter, putter, putter…

2 Comments

Filed under Flowers, Photography

July 8, 2023 · 23:49

July 4th Condor Squadron

On July 4th we had nice weather and the day off work, so before the local bombardment started (and, for the record, it’s still going on out there tonight, four freakin’ days later!) I had opportunities to get out the big camera and lens and take pictures of hummingbirds and lizards. Then, just before sunset, I heard the unmistakable sound of a group of Texans.

No, not the citizens of that US state between New Mexico and Louisiana. The WW2 training aircraft!

While scrambling to grab the camera and get outside I missed their first pass overhead, but they’re often on training flights over us so I figured they would loop back over. They did! With smoke on, so they were performing for someone!

To my delight, they then came back right overhead for a third pass, still in the diamond formation.

And a fourth pass!! This time in trail. And then it was off to the northeast, back toward their home at Van Nuys Airport.

I can only assume that someone paid them to put on a show for their party somewhere in the neighborhood nearby. There were a number of big parties going on and I don’t know who hired them, but we all enjoyed the show.

Gotta love that “sound of round” from those big old radial engines!

Leave a comment

Filed under Flying, Photography

July 7, 2023 · 22:46

July 4th Lizards

The second photographic opportunity of July 4th on Tuesday was the reappearance of a few fence lizards in the back yard.

It’s either been cool and foggy, which has them off in their burrows to conserve heat, or it’s been boiling hot, which isn’t any better for them. I’ve seen a few during that Goldilocks period in late afternoon when the sun’s setting, but not many. But the 4th was lovely, and there were several out lounging along the wooden dividers.

This dude wasn’t having any part of me wandering around and took off for the bushes as soon as I showed up. He did stop to do a couple of pushups to show me who was the boss. I notice under his chin there’s a bit of color, more green than blue, but there’s some blue behind his front legs.

Bailing off into the Mexican feather grass he paused for a second to give me the stink eye.

This dude didn’t run, but was heavily into the pushups as a show of dominance. I was suitably impressed and intimidated. I also note that he’s showing some blue shading on his belly, similar to the bigger members of his species in the yard.

Leave a comment

Filed under Critters, Photography

July 6, 2023 · 22:33

July 4th Hummingbirds

The Fourth of July here was most pleasant, not too warm, with a number of events worth grabbing the big camera for.

First off, sitting out on the back porch I was amazed at how many hummingbirds we currently have. I have two feeders up, plus all of the flowers that are in bloom, so there’s plenty of food for them. They’re tough to count since they’re zipping about like F-35s in a dogfight, but there are at least six or seven and it may be as many as nine or ten. Maybe more?

As always, Little Bastard was guarding “his” feeder. He’ll zip between a perch in the orange tree on the south side of the yard and one here in the big tree in the middle of the yard.

Whenever any other hummer gets near, he zips over drive them off. I do notice that the others seem to be working together, coming in pairs or trios with one serving as a decoy to be “driven off” while the others hit the feeder for a quick sip before Little Bastard can come back.

When Little Bastard’s neck feathers catch the sun, the bright red iridescence is gorgeous.

It’s quite the game they’ve got going, but it makes little sense to me. I keep both feeders supplied so there’s plenty for everyone, but I guess hummingbird senseless greed and territoriality doesn’t have to make any more sense than human senseless greed and territoriality.

It’s also always surprising just how stinking LOUD they can be when they’re buzzing by at full speed within arm’s length. It’s very cool.

Leave a comment

Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography

July 5, 2023 · 23:30

A One-Picture Day

I told you there would be days like this! I didn’t expect today to be one, but they’re sneaky like that.

Some nights you’ll remember forever. Down on the Bund in Shanghai…

Leave a comment

Filed under Photography, Travel

July 4, 2023 · 22:55

July 4th 2023

It’s 22:30 local and it still sounds like a war zone out there. Once again we didn’t go out and fight any crowds or traffic to see a fireworks display – we can see them when we go to a Friday night Angels game.

From the hill we live on we have a decent view of a local display that’s about four miles away. While we were sitting out in the back we were serenaded by at least three (probably more) red-tailed hawks who were NOT HAPPY about all of the boomy sounds all around. They kept perching for a few minutes in the pine trees in front of us, then circling and screaming over the neighborhood, then perching again. I haven’t seen that before.

Finally, just after 22:00, the 95% full moon came up through the clouds of cordite and smoke, looking like a pumpkin or a full lunar eclipse.

I hope your day was enjoyable and safe.

Leave a comment

Filed under Astronomy, Los Angeles, Photography

July 3, 2023 · 23:50

Random Old Photos – July 03rd

Mount Washington, New Hampshire. The cog railroad to the top, 2004.

You can also drive to the top, but unless they’ve upgraded that road in the 50+ years since I last did it, I recommend the train.

Either way, it’s a cool place to visit, especially on a clear day when you can see for hundreds of miles.

Leave a comment

Filed under Photography, Travel

July 2, 2023 · 23:14

Fiesty July

Two days in and July is…fiesty. And that’s not even counting the guanopsychotic politics and whatever is happening on Twitter.

For example:

I keep seeing lights up on Castle Peak after dark. Sometimes WELL after dark, so it’s not just someone who misjudged how long the light would last after sunset. Groups of 3 or 4 lights usually, apparently headed back down.

Given that this summer we’ve seen rescue helicopters up there multiple times a week for hikers who have fallen or broken something or gotten trapped during the day, hiking at night doesn’t seem prudent.

(Image from Earthquake.usgs.gov)

Originally reported as a M4.1 shaker, later downgraded to a M3.8 event, it was felt all over the LA Basin and San Fernando Valley at 01:29 last night. Given the location and size I would have bet a lot that it would have jolted me awake, but I slept right through it. It’s not like I was dead to the world asleep, last night was actually a pretty lousy night’s sleep. But the earthquake wasn’t one of the contributing factors.

Of course, given the upcoming holiday, every night there are more and more illegal fireworks being shot off.

We know how much (badly needed!) rain we got this winter, so the hills and mountains were green and covered in new vegetation this spring. While May and June were generally cool and cloudy, now that summer’s here it’s gotten into the 90’s every day. A + B + C = all of that new growth is turning into kindling. One moron with illegal bottle rockets can set off a catastrophe.

Fiesty!

Leave a comment

Filed under Los Angeles