Archives

Holler Hummers Battle The Centurion~

Aug9

Each hummer wants this plant all to themself.

Between sips of nectar, they are constantly battling for dominion.

The plant is a blooming Century Plant or Agave Americana, that is the largest I have ever seen, big enough to feed hundreds of hummers. It is well over thirty feet tall and as wide as a telephone pole

Century Plants produce many offspring in their lives and we have lots of them at The Holler. You may notice the plant looks like a giant asparagus stalk. This is because it is related to the asparagus family. The Centurion stands guard by our front gate.

Other birdy pollinators, like orioles, love the nectar too, but they are far more civilized about sharing. The most they do is chatter endlessly at each other.

Bees are attracted en-mass to the centurion which blooms only once in a lifetime, and many 1000’s of bees are busily gathering pollen in the huge masses of flowers.

Century plants are not accurately named. They each live 10-30 years. Soon the entire plant will die, and the hummers will find something else to fight over.

Cheers to you from our giant pollen creator and the beautiful bickering pollinators~

Water, Water Everywhere~

Jul23

And not a drop to drink. I can relate to The Ancient Mariner.

The Holler flooded with nice cold drinking water while we were away visiting the baby grand-twins. A faulty refrigerator filter was the culprit. There are 84 industrial fans and scores of dehumidifiers running our electrical bill through the roof. We do, thankfully, have insurance.

The damage is legion,

causing me to dream at night of waves,

and sea creatures.

When the dream waves became violent,

and the creatures creepy,

I knew it was time for a change of scenery. (We are thankful for family members willing to stay and monitor The Holler).

So now we are in the desert, where the temperatures are hovering around 105F which is cool for summer in the desert and thunderstorms are in the forecast. I love the desert in the summer, and in all the years I have been coming here, I have never seen a summer desert thunderstorm. The clouds are forming and I can’t wait! So, bring on the water….

Cheers to you from the soon to be sodden desert~

Floribunda~

Jul6

The flower is
the stem’s cry of beauty
to the universe.
-Vassilis Comporozos

Thimbleberry flower, Washington State.

These pink and red poppies

were also found bursting in bloom in Washington state.

We can’t grow peonies at The Holler, but I buy them in season,

to display in bouquets.

Holler white rose.

Holler sweet peas.

We had loads of blooms this year due to the wonderful rain.

Rhododendron Washington State.

Cheers to you from summer’s smiling flowers~

Bird on a Wire~

Mar6

Ospreys aren’t usually avid people watchers.

But this guy was!

He couldn’t hide his cross-eyed curiosity about the strange human looking up at him.

Eventually, he resumed more raptor-like disdain,

and went about the serious business of people ignoral.

He focused on anything but the nosy photographer.

Finally, my presence outlived his patience,

and off he flew in a rapturous huff!

Cheers to you from the people-watching osprey~

Flow River Flow~

Feb17

The Holler is getting hammered by storm after storm. This is the view looking north from our back patio, taken on Valentines Day as The Holler was being hit with the most massive rain storm. You can see raindrops on the lens. My iphone sent me 6 flash-flood warnings in 24 hours.

Here is the lower pasture being chewed up by the little creek which turned into a rapid-filled, raging river. The pasture gate is the white structure in the back left of the photo. It partially collapsed in the onslaught.


The river flows.
It flows to the sea.
Wherever that river goes,
that’s where I want to be.
Flow river flow,
past the shaded tree.
Go river, go, to the sea.

(Lyrics: The Byrds)

We hiked along the creek in the pouring rain on Valentines Day. You can see my son by the oxbow, to give you perspective on how big the creek is. It was thirty feet wide at some sections and was carrying logs and trees along like matchsticks!

Our rain gauge kept over-filling at 6 inches, and more storms are on the horizon.

Southern California is getting more snow than Boston, and the Sierras have the biggest snowpack in the country.

This is The Holler looking east this morning. It is still snowing in the mountains, which are obscured by clouds, but there is sunshine here today, with more rain forecasted.

And this is the view to the west. Our multi-year drought is finally over!! Cheers to you from the very wet, and very happy, Holler~

Hiking the Holler~

Jan19

The Holler is surrounded by thousands of empty acres.

It has many oak groves, and permanent and seasonal creeks running through it.

900 of these acres are set aside as a permanent nature preserve, and many more 1000’s of acres are still free from human development.

There are no hiking trails or public access, but we live adjacent to the preserve and hike it several times a week.

The Holler was first settled in the 1890’s and consisted of 2,700 acres. It was a working ranch for much of its history. Crumbling fences and old ranch dirt roads remain. We hike the dirt roads, and game trails, which are everywhere.

This is the lower pasture below our house, and this is where we access the preserve.

Since people are not here, The Holler is full of wildlife and has an entirely different feel from hiking in parks that people frequent. This natural ecosystem is unique for over-developed Southern California.

We see oodles of tracks, coyotes, bobcat, cougar, raccoon, but no deer. There are no deer because there are too many predators for them to survive. There are lots of kill sites and bones scattered around, but I will spare you photos of these, even though I have them.

And of course there are hundreds of birds! Cheers to you from the still wild Holler~

Enraptured~

Jan12

Elusive raptors,

rarely let you near.

When they do,

you are enraptured.

Melanistic red tail hawks have more melanin or pigment in their feathers than other hawks making them distinctive. It used to be thought these morphological distinctions were an isolated variant, but now scientists are noticing behavioral differences associated with the changes in feather color.

Melanistic hawks typically let me get much closer than other hawks and I wonder if this might be due to behavioral differences associated with their color variance. After all, it is often true, those who are different, are also braver!

Cheers to you from the brave and different hawks~