February flash, flung 1 day late =D

 He is glorious; she has the munchies.

It's that time of year, turkeys parading all over.

I LOVE the percussion males provide to accompany their dance. SO COOL!

Squirrel-y cunning leads to tasty breakfast.

Extremely impressive core strength in this creature.

BIG THING FOR FEBRUARY:

new-to-me species!

Common sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) I found while raking around the grape arbor.

 Pretty gorgeous tummy, eh?

Those are pine needles, so you can see this is a SMALL snake.

It was kinda cold, so I righted the snake for a photo,

then returned it to its home under a bunch of leaf litter.

Such an exciting discovery, and I'm glad it was unharmed (far as I could tell).

For more info on this species, I highly recommend its page at Calherps.

Now that gardening activity is on the upswing (here in the northern hemisphere),

a friendly reminder to CHECK under your row covers

EACH a.m. & release anything trapped w/in. =)

Beautiful male wasp (ichneumon, I believe)

I found under my row cover and released. 

It was 0% aggressive and, btw, males don't have the

equipment to sting. Note LACK of pointy barb @ end. =)

From February 1st--note the snow on the ground.

Seems like FOREVER ago. =)

Super cool stuff soil does when the cold freezes the water out.

I didn't grow up in really cold places, so this is fascinating to me. 

One of the first macro photos I ever took was

of this non-native early bloomer, red-stemmed filaree.

Changed my view of the world.

I'm a sucker for visible pollen grains, especially on purple anthers! =)


A lovely little flower...

Gorgeous small beetle I saw clambering across the greenery as I photographed the above flower.

So glad I got to see it.

Wildlife prints I found at the work site:

best part is the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) print...

you can SEE the fur on the underside of the fox feet. SO cool!

K. That's some of the myriad delights that transpired in spring.

March onward!!! =)

xoxooxbb

The Stranger

Was supposed to take a photograph of a (presumably human?) stranger, yesterday,

for the photo challenge, but I didn't see one.

Work at the house, & no one darkened our door, yesterday.

So, how 'bout this charming creature, from a few days ago?

We've not been formally introduced.

This spotted towhee was on the back porch during the cold snap,

when snow covered almost everything,

and our porch sported birdseed.

It was a rare treat--this is a pretty people-shy bird.

Since the snow melted, most of the birds have abandoned our porch,

save the ever present dark-eyed juncos, and the occasional western scrub jay.

The spotted towhee is among the missing.

*sigh*

Perhaps I should have called after them, "Don't be a stranger!"

I fling birdseed onto the back porch, and the towhee ignores it.

It doesn't want to be my friend.

I can't blame it.

After all, I have cats.

Professional killers in my house.

Clearly a character flaw.

Smart bird.

xoxobb

Shadows

Day 9 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Squiggly & weird.

Why, yes, I DID prune that tree myself, how did you know?

Yo no soy arborista.

I yam, however, tall, so trim limbs that threaten my noggin,

or block my kitchen-office view of the garden.

Hitting the road, today,

so if I continue to try & meet this photo challenge,

it is more likely to be via twitter (@biobabbler).

xoxoxobb

P.S. Years ago someone who was learning English (his English was very good)

asked me (16 at the time) to explain the difference between shadow and shade. Made me think.

Interpreting "dance"

So, watching flames dance on a pre-dawn, 14F morning,

I realized I had my photo(s) of the day (yesterday).

While not technically lovely, you get the idea.

And as an alternate, after the sun rose,

I saw the sunlight refracting in the grass ice.

So, that's Day 8 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge (fm @just_go_do_it).

Today's theme, day 9, is Shadows.

xoxobb

Beauty (this is gonna be EASY)

Day 7 of the 30 day photo challenge.

I'm going for everyday beauty,

'cause frankly, it's all around, all the time.

And to prove it, I'm not even LEAVING MY HOUSE to do this.

Western scrub-jay gettin' snacks post 6" snow dump & 14F night.

 Spotted towhee doing the same.

Ditto junco.

 Traffic signs showing mammalian searches for food & love today.

=)

Next photo assignment is Dance.

CAVEAT

To be 100% honest, these may evolve into mere tweets,

'cause I'm traveling this week, visiting, and will be BUSY

w/no internet action most the time.

Which is good, too.

Anyhow, if you've not yet, feel free to

check out @biobabbler (Samantha Biobabbler) on "the twit"

for more from the 30 Days of Photographs (via @just_go_do_it)

in case this site grows still.

xoxoxobb

Rockin' sunset saves my bacon: photo challenge day 2

"Where I Live"

Facing southwest by our house: the Sierra foothills.

That is the theme of Day 2 of the Just Go Do It 30 Day Photo Challenge

& I already have a confession: I took this photo yesterday, not today.

It rained ALL DAY, today.

Not a lot of tugging the Nikon w/me as I sklitch & slide around the property.

So: among the tree species you see above are

ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa, go figure, the pointy ones)

and foothill pine (Pinus sabiana, the rounded ones).

Same sunset, looking due south.

Foothill (or grey or umpteen other common names) pines grow,

as the name suggests, at low elevation (20-2200 m),

and can tolerate the (100+ F) heat and drought we have here. SUPER tough.

What they DON'T tolerate too well is snow.

snow art emergency

I can't not post these, even though I want more photo quiz guesses (see last post).

But, it SNOWED last night. And I want to share these NOW:

 snow + asphalt = art

bunny + tire tracks

Thurthday thnow thparkles--tho pretty!

imperfect re: focus, dark, spots, etc. 

but it's all about the PRETTY, SPARKLY SNOW COLORS!!

Love it.

D'you have any colorful snow/ice sparkly shots?

If so, feel free to put a link to them in the comments.

xobb

Feeling sore? Yosemite-ice it. You'll feel better.

Teetered carefully around Yosemite Valley, today.

Cold & icy, but lovely, of course.

Deer snowstorm,

"Dear Snowstorm:

Thank you for bringing these tasty leaves

nearer to our noses. 

(Munch, munch, munch...)

Breakfast was so yummy,

we told our friends.

Love,

Even this little guy can reach the leaves, today.

The Deer.

Transcription provided by: biobabbler.

BOBCAT! In da SNOW. TODAY!

OMG.

I am SO glad I skipped "Game Night" (w/ pardons to my lovely friends).

Look who visited my kitties and I!!

Max is back!

I timed this guy (or, er, gal?),

and in SIXTEEN MINUTES

it detected (through SNOW, mind you),

caught,

killed,

and ate

THREE rodents.

UNbelievable efficiency.

This next sequence is 27 SECONDS long:

Twenty-seven seconds.

And that's a fatty rodent in his fearsome maw.

Then he came back and hunted more,

but it was too dark for photos,

and I wanted to leave it alone,

so it'd head to my ground squirrels.

No luck there.

Just now, writing this,

talking w/ Bear about the opossum he saw here Wednesday night,

scratching at our back door (how very odd),

a skunk walks past our back door.

RIGHT by the door (snow-free zone).

"Doo-delee-doo-delee-dum."

Word must be out that we have no dogs.

I LOVE LIVING HERE!

And am so glad Max seems to find it rewarding, too.

=)

xobb

fluffy rain

This is why the public meeting scheduled to occur

at Wawona in Yosemite NP today was cancelled.

Per Yosemite's facebook page, 

Today’s Merced River Plan workshop in Wawona, scheduled from 1 – 3:30 p.m., has been cancelled due to inclement weather and a power outage in the Wawona area, including the Community Hall. Heavy snow continues to fall in Wawona, and there has been no power in the Wawona Community Hall since 8:30 a.m. We apologize for the late notice, and will let you know the date for the rescheduled meeting as soon as we determine it.

The above photo is our driveway, about 3500 ft.

You have to drive to 4000 ft. for Wawona, at least.

And I heard there's an accident on Highway 41,

so part of it is closed.

And it's snowing even harder, now, than when I took that photo.

=)

Happy Spring!

Maybe I'll go grab my snowshoes....

xobb

cavort cavort! romp in da snow!

deer levity this a.m.

"What in the..."

"I have no idea. "

Guess they're psyched it's spring and the snow,

be it ever so white and pretty,

it short lived this time of year,

and only serves to make more grass.

Hooray! =)

Happy spring.

I recommend cavorting.

Seems to be the thing.

bb