ACORN WOODPECKER

He is known as a clown around here.   I haven't seen too many yet this summer.


He is so grouchy
His look can intimidate
Clownish  his actions

I caught him in the most funniest poses.  Hanging upside down from a feeder is his best act.

BLACK HEADED GROSBEAK

Hoping July turns out to be a beautiful peaceful month for everyone.

I THINK ANOTHER TRIP TO THE BIRD FARM SOON WILL HAPPEN

The farm is in  Riverside  County so it's about an hour  away.

I love to go there  and spend a lot of time in their aviary-cages rooms...  It's sad that birds are sold and owned but  I use to have some myself.  I had a cockatiel that was free to roam outside on our atrium because for some reason she could only fly straight up and then drop back down.  It was never a problem to just leave her cage open and give her free roaming.  We no longer have her as she passed away several years ago. 

It's hard now for me to think about "owning" a bird unless it gets out of its' cage often.  I do like however, going to the bird farm for photos to sketch later. 

Some of my favorite birds are zebra finches.  Some day in my dreams I will have an atrium/aviary and lots of happy birds.

PIGEONS ARE BEAUTIFUL

We have pigeons who land on the deck here and they are so nervous  we can't even move in the slightest way without them flying off.  I like them around because in the back yard whatever seed the birds throw out of their feeders, which is quite a lot, the pigeons come later and clean it up.  Whatever is in some bags of bird seed that the birds don't care for you can watch them pick it out with their beak and throw it go the ground.   There are at times at least 20 pigeons in the back yard having a feast.

BUGGY PAPERWEIGHTS

Yesterday I was working on a sketch when I remembered I had recently found my paperweights i bought one time when we were in Sedona in 2011.  I forgot how much I loved them when I bought them.... but some how through the years they were put away and never thought of again. 

When I found them in a box recently I decided I wanted to photograph them and do a reverse image search to see if there are more I could look at.  Doing a regular search yesterday  with just a description of them brought up nothing.  Now since I have the photos I can see if I can locate the maker of these. 

Aren't they beautiful.

RED BREASTED NUT HATCH

I always keep plenty of high energy suet around.  When the Stellars Jays aren't hogging it all, the red breasted nuthatches move in. 

WISHES TAKING OFF IS WHAT I THOUGHT OF WHEN I SAW THE PHOTO.

(I went to Google and chose some paragraphs that describe the dandelion and the myths.


Yesterday at the lake I photographed this dandelion and its' friends but this photo I liked the best.  What I saw was wishes taking off detaching itself from the cluster of "downy parachutes" - I love that term.

The white puffy stuff is the cluster of downy parachutes, each with a seed attached. These get blown off in the wind, distributing the seed. Of course it's all dandelions, as it is the plant that is called the dandelion, not just the flower.

 The white tuft at the top of each stem acts as a parachute enabling the seed to travel on the breeze or be picked up when brushed by a passing animal or person, thereby reproducing the dandelion. It is this distinct fluffy sphere of the dandelion which enables it to reproduce


Once the flower head has matured, it closes up and the withered flowers contract into a bud-like shape and fall away, leaving just the tufty white parts called pappi, which will help wind disperse the dandelion fruits or cypsela.

Dandelions in Magic and Superstition. The cheery yellow flowers and airy white puffs of dandelions seed heads have lent themselves to many uses in magick and folklore over the centuries, mostly in the areas of divination, wishes, good luck, communicating with spirits, and dreams. ... If seeds remain, he is not loyal.

As dandelions turn to seed, children everywhere rush to pick them, so that they can close their eyes, make a wish, and blow the seeds into the air. ... In addition to granting wishes, many people believe that dandelion seeds will carry your thoughts and dreams to loved ones when you blow them into the air.

The dandelion has five distinct stages during its life. Other names for the dandelion are Irish daisy, bitterwort and priest's crown.

A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER DAY - LET THE GAMES BEGIN

The research game that is.

The first photo was over at the shoreline and the day was beautiful.  The other photos are the flowers i always look forward to in summer.  I have this compulsion with these  flowers.  I found the name of them last year and can't remember what they are and trying to describe them through a google search doesn't help. I'll do a reverse image and see if they come up.    Damn, I'm compulsive.  In the light of all eternity the name of this flower doesn't really matter. 

The other thing is the Western Wallflower (yellow blooms).  I start searching in summer for these flowers.  Big Bear Lake use to have a patch of them along a trail and they are  not there this summer.    I finally saw a few on another trail.

I will learn though, to not think I need to learn the name of everything I see.  I will just walk by and admire them and that's it.  So that's it.  Now off to do a google search.

WILD GRAPE SODA LUPINE AT BIG BEAR LAKE

Can't resist posting so many - it was beautiful but then you had to be there to experience the fragrance, the good weather, perfect temps, slight breeze.  I could have walked for a lot longer than we actually did which was fairly long.  These were from two different days about a week apart - the lighting was different both days.  Also included a favorite bench to sit and watch the gulls or pelicans (which now they have moved on)..  and a male and female Brewer's blackbird with food in their beaks.

THE BRIDGE OVER THE LAKE

I love this area of the trail that we walk quite often.   I love walking through the covered bridge over to the other side of the lake.  Whenever we don't have a lot of time for a long walk - we go to this trail which is about just a 40 minute walk roundtrip but you feel like you've gotten out and enjoyed nature for much more than that 40 minutes - it just kind of hangs with you - the feeling of this place. 

This is near the grocery store we go to "Staters" ...so a lot of time we will just do a quick walk through Lake arrowhead village and maybe then over to the resort and down through this trail, before coming back and doing our shopping at the store.