Lazuli Bunting, Yosemite water craze & obligatory Monty Python reference

 Hey, there peeps!

"I'm not dead! Think I'll go for a walk!" 'nuf said? =D

Lazuli Lifer

Lazuli Bunting appeared on the feeder (Sunday) &

I freaked out SO HARD my hands were shaking.

I'd NEVER seen one EVER & had to look up among the SHOWY birds 

I've never seen to even figure out what it was. WOW!!! =D

Then it took off & I jumped up and down

& DH & I high-fived. 

The Iris Time

A furled purple iris. I love how moody they look.

Polka dots! =D

Those tiny specks make me CRAZY happy.

Just sitting there, looking (& smelling) glorious...

The carpenter bee has returned to its annual haunt of the iris bed outside our window:

Love this giant, territorial creature: it flies laps & dispels other bees

and I'm grateful it's been cutting me slack, so far, as I walk past... =D

I will always adore these flowers & am so glad they like our Mediterranean climate. =D

Yosemite Flow

Have been going to the park (Yosemite) more than usual this spring,

partly for work (poor, poor me) and partly 'cause there was SO much rain this winter.

The waterfalls are CRANKING like MAD and the Merced River

is WAY up so marvelous reflections abound. Fabulous! =D
Yosemite Falls

North Dome & wetlands & a TINY piece

of Clouds Rest & Half Dome. =D

This was just inches south of Southside Drive,

just west of the chapel. Water!!! =D

Speaking of, I tweeted & Instagram-ed videos of Yosemite Falls
that I took with my iPad  &
it got picked up by SFgate & GrindTV ,
the latter in an article called,
"7 incredible videos of the historic Sierra snowpack melt at Yosemite Falls."
Turns out TWO of those 7 are MINE?!? Crazy.
And I only know 'cause the Tweeple alerted me to it.

Hooray, you guys!! =D

Anyhow, that was bizarre & fun. It's totally DH's fault:
he alerted me re: when the river would peak (high flow)
so recommended I drive up, so I did & it was HEAVENLY.


Etc.

Got a few new hummingbird feeders, including this orange one

which just ADDS to the Anna's hummingbird's amazing pink shimmer. Phew!

Color not enhanced AT all. =D

This is DH photographing a small bear we startled on the Valley Loop Trail in Yosemite:

As you can tell, I'm respecting the bear's privacy,

NOT totally being a bear-scaredy-cat. =D

The bear had been ear-tagged but was doing good wild bear stuff,

shredding a downed log for delicious grubs.

With all this winter rain, the grass at our place is OUT OF CONTROL!!

There's ENTIRE DEER there...

And here's the view from my back porch, looking across the grass sea... *sigh*

Some of the grass is nearly as tall as I am (6'). I THINK there's a few

planted plants in the garden amid the crashing waves of weeds... 😁

So, I will be in the valley MOAR this summer since due to my 1st gig this spring,

and the kind woman who hired me, I get ANOTHER gig in early summer! =D

Which means numerous required visits to the park to plan where we'll

meet & stop & walk & what I'll blab about.

Which ALSO means I get lots of steps hiking for research.

In Yosemite Valley.

Which means I get happy.

Again.

HOORAY!! =D

xoxoxobb

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Masterful clouds, acorn woodpecker fun & a fawny face

Post winter storm sky, this morning.

Forecast calling for stopped rain, and a return to the weirdly warm temps of highs in the 60s.

And from a wee bit ago, before the rains added more watering hole options for the birds,

we'd been rich in avian visitors...

Two males. The females have black between the cream and red on the head,

so the sexes are very easy to distinguish.

Therefore, lady on the left, gentleman on the right.

Whoop! Waterbowl is slippery (and in need of a refill).

And a cutie (male mule deer fawn) stopped by to lap up breakfast,
namely some of the bird seed we'd flung here and there.

Hope you all are well.

I am feeling VERY grateful for the rain we finally got.

Hooray!

xoxobb

A valiant effort

to rain, but none was forthcoming.

It was nice to have cloud cover, though.

Back to sunny and mid-60s. In JANUARY.

And there's a wildfire in the county.

In what is normally the COLDEST, wettest* month of the year.

xoxobb

*I KNOW we get our coldest temps in Jan, not sure we get the most rain then, but we're Mediterranean, so get the VAST majority of our precipitation in winter, and virtually ZERO June-October. And so far, January is precip-free, which is FREAKY. Setting records all over the place, in this, the first month after the driest year on record for California.

Dear ominous, threatening storm clouds,

I believe you.
(eep!)

bb

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.

don't fall in the desert

Again, not flower blooming time so, like Yosemite, it's kinda dull now.

Joshua Tree NP in October (all these are from 10/2010)

And rocks don't change, so if you've been there once...

Plus last time I went there in fall, it rained.

Bummer.

So, if I think of places that are good to visit in fall,

I'll be sure and let you know.

xobb

p.s. Do you have any favorite places to venture in fall? DO tell. I am curious.

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

2 photos = not quite summer yet...

European-paper-wasp-sicle, 5 days ago.

biobabbler-sicle, 10 minutes ago

Reynaud's rearing it's yellow-purple head.

It's not summer YET.

=)

But it's pretty nice(-sicle)!

bb

snow news is good news =)

Just about a foot of the fluffy stuff.

We'll take it!

=)

bb

photogenic, yes. always perfectly beautiful & elegant? uh....

 

lovely...

(thought bubble is "hum, tee dum...")

only slightly odd, startled look... still cute.

("whaaa?")

...annnnnd the money shot.

("urrrrr")

=)

10,000 robins here, today.
Did impromptu garden work,
Rhode Island red stuffed herself silly
on the earthworms she unearthed in the garden w/me.

It started sunny; now we're in a cloud.

And tonight is a crazy windstorm.
Predicted gusts to 75 MPH.
Sweet!

Will post re: photo quiz soon.

xobb

after the storm

 

Ran around the Mariposa Grove yesterday,
then got to Glacier Point (both in Yosemite)
just when a lightning storm arrived.
Jagged white bolts zapped down into the valley's rainy mist,
and stunned the wet, granite wall by North Dome.

FABULOUS landscape of black, white, and 10,000 shades of gray;
wind, rain, blinding flashes, and huge, rumbling thunder.

Thor was having a good time. =)

Didn't have camera out much, as you might guess,
but did snap these when we briefly stopped outside of the park.

One of the most spectacular sunsets I've seen in my life,
thanks to that storm.

It's JUST getting started in the shots above.

Next, once I figure out what it is,
I'll post a shot of an orchid we met
along a fen in the Mariposa Grove.

xo

bb

pining

 

bb

turmoil

 

bb

last day of July

 

good bye, July

bb

magic corn and summer storms

 

1. This is the corn before I watered it today.

It hadn't rained in MONTHS.

I hadn't watered it in days.

No other plants had water on them.

It was humid this morning.

Is this corn magic?

 

2. Summer skies, today.

Heavy, sluggish air.

Under increasing clouds,
I spin white string
to marry the beans to the sky.

bb

update: video, too: woah, blogger got pics of the dust storm in AZ, AWEsome!

 
Check it out, Arizona Plant Lady. And it gets DARK!! (This super darkness is NOT shown in the video below)

Thrilling, and I LOVE her attitude. None of this fear crap (pardon), just "CHECK IT OUT!!! Woo-hoooo!"

Oop, and now video from the AGU (American Geophysical Union) blogosphere:



bb

Photo quiz: warning--wildlife poop post (tho' not totally gross)

 
So, here it is:

Who might have left this:

And why am I excited (happy) that it's here?

BTW: replanted ALL my pole beans yesterday as the ones I planted a ways back did NOTHING. Granted, the beans were in a glass container on the counter for, oh, a few YEARS, so probably not a shock. Replaced them with beans I bought yesterday, inoculated, and planted yesterday, so hope for some success from this batch.

I have a lot to do, today, but maybe I can v. quickly get some beds ready for squash and shove some seeds in the ground. And maybe some more flowers??

Was at a (lovely) wedding yesterday & everyone I spoke with who is a gardener started their garden update (I asked, of course) with "well, I got a really late start this year..." Yeah, 'cause we had SNOW in the middle of May, maybe?

Gardening is always different from year to year.

That's part of its charm--you never know what's going to happen.

biobabbler

P.S. Due to a precocious guess (that'd be YOU, Katie =)), I'm reminded to tell you that super-accurate guesses will be temporally suppressed, initially, in order to allow everyone a fresh guess. Smarty-"guesses" are much appreciated, and their guesses, like a fine wine, will not be served before their time. =) bb