Cat vs. Turkey

I was curious how cat and turkey would interact.

The hen and chick are picking bugs out of the grass.
Our stray cat, only 10 feet away, cleans himself.

Nobody is paying attention to anybody.

When the cat notices the little one has wandered away from momma, he begins stalking -- but the turkeys remain nonchalant.

Finally the stray makes a half-hearted dash, the chick flaps up onto a low branch, no squawks or commotion, momma turkey barely raises her head, the cat saunters back, the baby hops down, time rewinds..

The turkeys scratch in the grass again. The cat cleans himself.

And that was that.

No one took it seriously.

Fungus

Newly emerged and gooey

Drying out

another specimen

for the past two years, only this stretch of roadside

Majestic

One of the many "forms" of Red Tailed Hawk.

Dragonfly - Western Meadowhawk

Have I ever seen a dragonfly not on the barb?

Morning Walk

Buckeye Butterfly

Throbbing, pulsing fungus from HELL

Small Life Revealed

At sunset, we'll sit where the wood meets pasture.

As the shadow creeps towards us, flying insects show themselves in the sunbeam.

Zooming in, about 200 yards away

They've been here all along!  We just couldn't see them.   So many insects that you wonder how you manage not to inhale some.

The birds that prey on the insects -- flycatchers, kingbirds, woodpeckers -- are breathtaking when their wings are backlit against the shadow.   Like mirrors flashing.

All day long the birds seem to dance by themselves, but in these few minutes you can see both partners.

It's difficult to photograph the birds chasing the bugs, but I'll get lucky...

----

The column of flying insects extends upward indefinitely, since at 50 feet cliff swallows are busy trawling the air and violet-green swallows work even at 2000 feet.

Drying Creek Bed

This small seasonal creek quit running a month ago, but the bed still holds some moisture.

Monkey Flower , in bloom and in seed, and a foxtail/dogtail grass.

Improbably, a pair of mallards tried nesting this season in the 3" deep water.

February photo of the mallards first settling in

April -- presumably female is on the nest

At this point the water periodically disappears until the next rain.
Mallard chicks are never seen; the parents chose a poor spot, I'm afraid.

Blackberries

Developing a month later than last year. We had a cool, wet Spring.

Early June

Early July

Hawk vs. Camera

I ruined my Canon PowerShot SD990 by carrying in my pocket without a case.  Dust worked itself into the camera until every photo had splotches.

New Camera Requirements:

• pocket size
• Canon brand, if possible
• long zoom (for birds)
• manual controls, especially aperture (for isolating plants)
• 
  

I settled on the Canon PowerShot SX210.

Zoom range: 5mm --> 70mm
Translated into old 35mm film terms, that is 28mm --> 400mm

Here is a scene at 15mm (equivalent to 50mm, "normal human perspective")

The same scene at max optical zoom (equivalent to 400mm)

Finally I crop the photo in the computer (perhaps equivalent to 1600mm!)

Coyote

Can you spot the coyote?

Zoom in..

The grass was tall and it "pronged" to get around.

Update: Jonathan saw the coyote the next day in the same place at the same time, following the same path.

Bullock's Oriole

Young male Bullock's Oriole

Swallows

Cliff Swallows

A Violet-Green Swallow (right) joins them for a rest.

Vole

Sparrow, Towhees & A Hole


Sparrow, Towhees & A Vole



Sitting at the computer, staring out the window as the sun rises, I get my first good look at a vole.

Beneath the bird feeder, he pops out to forage seed. Never more than his head.

In these parts, every step -- woods, lawn, field -- is smushy from their underground burrows. Every square inch. But they're never seen.

Until NOW!