Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Monday, April 22, 2024
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Whistling Ducks
Some
whistling ducks are conspicuous; like this Black-bellied Whistling Duck.
Hard
to miss.
Slightly
more elusive are the Fulvous Whistling Ducks, but I was lucky enough to spot a
small flock of them passing a quiet afternoon amongst an assortment of other
birds on the bank of a pond.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
My laptop
…has
wings.
We
mean to travel in the van this summer and I want to be able to work comfortably
when we’re on the road. When I’m working, I have multiple files open at
the same time, one or more usually providing information for the one I’m
working on. That single laptop screen just doesn’t get it. This
winged-screen attachment feels like a winner. I’ve been test-driving it
on the dining room table. I’ll try pairing that with a real keyboard that
has a number keypad and that could do it.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Progress report
Los
tres amigos.
The
Firebush
The
Lantana
And
the Esperanza.
All
recovering nicely from their winter stress.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Northern Parula
Range map. Where it
winters. Where it summers. I forgot to include it.
An eastern bird.
We’re westerners, so we never saw it before we got here into this eastern tip
of Texas.
Here is one for the summer
tanager too.
A southern bird. It
doesn’t make it to Colorado or the west coast, so we never saw it before
either.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Jury Selection
It
is reported from inside the courtroom that Trump may have dozed off a little
during jury selection today. The chin may have hit the chest a time or
two. That’s unfortunate for someone who refers to his opponent as Sleepy
Joe, but here’s the deal. Having sat through oh so many in-person
afternoon continuing education classes, while a presenter stood at the head of
the room, reading tax code or government regulations to us in a monotone
without ever looking up to make eye contact, I too have been the victim of the
afternoon slump. In that regard, I understand the pain of the
ex-president. Mandatory attendance for an excruciatingly slow process, in
the afternoon.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
There is a northern parula in the center of this photo
It’s
a tiny little migrant. Kind of blue-gray, yellow throat, green back,
wing-bars.
Northern
Parula.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Friday, April 12, 2024
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
It probably looks easy and safe doing what I do
Taking pictures of birds.
But there are action
shots.
And you never know how
those are going to turn out.
Sometimes I have to duck
and brace for impact!
Monday, April 8, 2024
Solar Eclipse
We
didn’t travel to watch today’s total eclipse. We were in Oregon in 2017
and watched that one with some friends. That was a fun celebration.
This
time we watched a 92% eclipse from our yard. It was mostly cloudy.
It got a little darker and cooler during the peak. The birds got more
active. We got to see the crescent through the clouds a few times.
We took some cellphone snaps through the eclipse glasses, but they came out
like this.
A
blurry crescent.
We
know now that if we look directly at the sun without eclipse glasses, the light
will burn through our retinas and our brains will burst into flames, but when
we were kids, when we were 10, didn’t we have contests to see who could stare
at the sun the longest? We didn’t spend any time looking at the sun today
without eclipse glasses, but even so, I don’t really like the way my eyes feel
afterward. I still feel a little snow blind. I think I like lunar
eclipses better.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Passages
Long-time friend Joann.
We’ve logged a lot of
hours together on the deck.
We see her here every
winter. She’s back east with her family in the summer. Lately she’s
been spending more time there than here. Her family is here for a few
days to help her pack up her things and move back there with them
full-time. There was a big farewell party for her at the park
tonight. It’s fun to meet her family and we’re enjoying them as much as
we enjoy Joann, but they’re all leaving tomorrow.
We have those different
times in our lives. Things change. It’s time for the next phase for
Joann. We’ll still be in touch. We can visit them if we’re along
the eastern seaboard, but that doesn’t happen much. We’ll miss seeing
Joann here.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Look
It’s Henry.
And he’s awake.
Oh. Nevermind.
He’s old now. He
gets to do whatever he wants. He is playful and active every morning,
then spends most of the rest of the day sleeping. He’s given up on dog
food. No more kibble. No more Fresh Pet. No more canned dog food.
He used to love cheese, but that’s off the menu. No more dog
treats. He just turns up his nose. Hot dogs, he’ll eat.
Cooked ground meat, that works. Scrambled eggs. We’ve always been
pretty careful about not giving dogs people food, but we’ve given up on
deciding what we think is best for him and just let him have whatever he wants
now. Whatever he will eat for as long as he will eat.
Of course, Jesse, she
pretty much gets to do whatever she wants too.
Except eat people
food. She can’t do that. She’ll still eat kibble.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Maybe I was wrong
…about
having to get out more. This charming scissor-tailed flycatcher was on a
wire this morning right in our back yard!
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
I need to get our more
I’m
running out of bird pictures to post.
Well,
there is this black-throated green warbler I can share.
He
came right up close.
But
yeah, I should get out more.