BTW

Friday Furry Friends: Hiding

For this week's Ark, doggers and kitters "hiding".
Update: For more furry friends, be sure to also visit the Carnival of the Cats and the Carnival of the Dogs. 

Yellowbird is Back!!

This is really exciting to me.  As I mentioned in my other post, although most of the lovebirds we saw were bright green, a few years ago they were suddenly joined by one bright yellow bird.  The following year, we saw that he had mated.  There were some yellow-green birds in the little flock, but we didn't see Mr. Yellowbird again after that first year.  Well, he's back.  At least, I assume it's the same bird.  I hope it is.  In this flock are Mr. Yellowbird, one yellow-green that I call Son of Yellowbird, two bright greens, and a slightly blue-ish bird.

Here, Mr. Yellowbird spotted me through the window and came to stand as sentinal while the others fed. 

(Click the photos to see bigger versions.)

After a while, he relaxed, and went back to feeding.  I was able to get several good shots of the family, although they're still fuzzy because I'm shooting through a window, and trying to get closeup shots using the digital zoom on my camera.  The regular zoom does ok, but the digital zoom isn't really that great.

On the right here is Son of Yellowbird with a Greeny. They touch beaks a lot, so maybe they're mates. I don't know much about these birds, but I'm fascinated.  On the bottom feeder is the single blue.

I've uploaded these and a few more to Flickr, so click to see more.  Also, animal lovers, be sure to visit this week's Ark for more ... everything.

Green

This week's photo challenge is "green". 

Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh!

Major frustration!

Here I am, reading and learning, playing with the focus and the white balance, trying various flash / light combinations, carefully framing shots and looking for the best angles, spending lots and lots of time ... and then, along comes the hubs, with the camera in one hand, thumb on the clicker, not even bothering to look in the viewfinder or focus or check the settings or anything, and he gets this priceless shot of Pennie, smiling and happy in the grass.

I guess sometimes it's just a right-time right-place kind of accidental gift from the gods of photography.  But it's so unfair.

UPDATE: If you love doggers, be sure to visit this week's Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's!

Lovebirds

We're still working on cleaning up, but the storms keep rippling in. After a while there will be no more roofing to blow into the yard! I haven't have time or energy left over to post, but I wanted to share this:

Every year about this time we get a flock of these wild parrot type birds coming around to feed at our feeders. I think they're African Lovebirds, if what I read on the net is right. They just showed up one year after I started putting out seed for the other birds, and they come back every year.

I don't know where they go when they leave us.  I didn't know they were migratory, but they're not in their natural home so ... maybe they go looking for it. 

They seem to be doing fine although their number varies every year. I hate the thought that some kid with a BB gun is getting some of them, or that they may be getting captured by mercinaries or eaten by hawks or whathaveyou. It's a harsh world out there. I know they're breeding because there was one that was bright yellow, and the next year we had a few that were yellow and green mottled. This year there were only four, but one year we counted 15 in our olive tree at one time. We went through a lot of birdseed that year.

I'm going to try to get better pictures, these were taken through a window blind.  I have video of the 15 at once, if I can get a screen grab of that I'll post it.

Update: I and the Bird is finally up!!  Check out all the birds.  I'm so impressed.  It's all done in clickable images.

Stormage

The last few days I've been swarmed by ants (my feet are STILL swollen from all the bites), overrun by mice, and last night the finger of god blew through our neighborhood. 

Ok, maybe not the finger.  Maybe the pinky toe.  It was a scary storm, though, we truly thought the roof was coming off.  The weather channel said flood warnings and 60 MPH winds, but it felt like a lot more than that.  When the worst of it had passed, we heard sirens all around us.  Trees had blown over and were blocking the streets, power was out for a large chunk of the grid 1 block north of us.  Apparently we were on the very EDGE of the worst of it.  Cripes.  I can't imagine what it was like in the center. 

The hubs went out - in the dark - in the rain - and climbed the roof to see how bad the damage actually was.  It could have been a lot worse.

But I hate it when he does stuff like that.  He scares the crap out of me, and he's so confident he won't fall or get hurt, but he can't control the wind.  I nearly had a heart attack waiting for him to come down safely.

Here are a few photos from the morning after. Some of the stuff in our yard is from our own house, but some of it came from somebody else's.

This used to be a pretty rose trellis, now completely smashed.  I'm not sure where the wood trellis pieces went.  The wind took them.

Me trying to be artsy fartsy.  The wind blew a lot of crap into the pool, again, some of it ours, and some of it from god knows where.  Somebody 3 blocks over is missing a couple of buckets, some roof insulation, a boatload of that little white popcorn stuff for packing (now covering my patio) and a deck chair.  I liked this shot of the morning sky reflected in the pool with some of the junk in the foreground.

The "morning after" sky.  Looks like one of those "god relented" kinds of things, doesn't it?

Hey, I'm just glad we're not in the path of any hurricane.  My sympathies to those of you who are!!

Furry Friends Friday

Biscuit gets a cuddle from my niece.  He gets a lot of cuddling and manhandling, or rather, girlhandling.

He never seems to mind.

Mom has the best treats!

Poor Zach. During thunderstorms he gets so scared. He either tries to crawl up into my lap as far as his 80 pound body can get, or he curls up into a tight ball in a corner.

Pennie, peeking out from HER favorite hiding place.

Be sure to check out this week's Ark for more animals.  And don't forget this next week's
Carnival of the Dogs (up early!) and Carnival of the Cats

Fruity Morning

We finally got some relief from the heat last night - a thunderstorm.  And it looks like more coming, all week the weather predicts thunderstorms and period showers.  I don't mind the thunder or lightening, except for the dogs that try to bury themselves in my lap or behind my spine (when you're afraid you can never get close enough). 

Yesterday the light was very strange.  Kat was talking about having a Stephen King kind of day yesterday too, so maybe it wasn't just here.  And I don't think it was storms approaching either.  The hubs said (in his logical fashion) it must be the distant fires, smoke drifting so high we can't really see it but it's affecting the ... blah blah blah...  After a while the scientific stuff turns into a blur in my ears.  I nod my head and say "Huh, maybe so..." but inside I'm still feeling disturbed by the eerie color of the sky.  The sun, usually bone-chalk-blinding-white at 1 in the afternoon is ... soft pink.  Almost red.  The color you might see at sunset, but not early afternoon.  It disturbs me in some deeply visceral way I can't explain. 

The dogs seemed to be bothered too.  Did they feel something off in the air?  Or were they responding to my mood?  They're very in tune with momma.

I tried to take some pictures but the camera doesn't do justice to the color.  I'd have to take a picture of a regular high-noon here to have a comparison shot.  Even that prolly wouldn't communicate the feeling.  Ah well, in place of pink-noon-sky, I have mid-summer fruit bowl. 

Fruit blogging?  Produce blogging?  Whatever.  I'm still experimenting with closeup shots and whatnot, learning the camera.  I just loved the colors.  These are Rainier cherries, white nectarines, and strawberries, soon to be breakfast.

Equal Time for Dog Blogging

Zach the Black -
He's a big goof with a tender heart.  But he either won't look at you,or gets right in your face. 

    'sup?

Biscuit Finds a Friend

Our poor boy was going nuts in my aunt's little one room apartment without even a window to look out of.  So she has taken to keeping him in a harness and letting him outside on a tether.

Now, I don't like the idea of cats on leashes.  But I totally understand my aunt's fear that Biscuit will get run over or eaten by a passing dog.  And of course I'm all for keeping little birdies and bunnies from death by claw or tooth. 

( A question for other cat people - how do you deal with the inside / outside issue?  How do other cats live? )

While I was there visiting, we let him off the leash.  He romped and sniffed and rolled and had a great time.  And then the real fun began. 

Dakota, the neighborhood tramp showed up.

Who's this in my territory?

I bet I can sneak up without her seeing me...

Hallo.


Don't hallo me, you sassy little twerp.

Aw, come on and play with me!

I want none of this, back off!  Can't you see my ears and the hackles on my back?  Don't you understand cat-speak?  I'm old, and this is MY turf.

Damn little upstart pipsqueak won't leave me alone.  Maybe he won't see me here.  If I sit like stone and don't look at him...  maybe he'll go away.

She wouldn't play with me!  I didn't mean to scare her, honest.  I just wanted to runandjump and playandwrestle!!  Oh well, I'll pounce on this fluffy stuffed thingee. 

Hey, it looks a lot like my new friend!





Update: Don't miss this week's Friday Ark for more animalius.  (is that a word?  feh, don't quibble...)  And this week's Carnival of the Cats will be purring at Boxing Alcibiades.