Archives

Holler Lakes & Birds~

Nov18

There are several lakes surrounding The Holler that provide wonderful places to hike, picnic and birdwatch.

This osprey was vigilant,

intently watching the lake for her next meal (despite the feather stuck on her beak.)

Bald eagles are congregating in greater numbers around Holler lakes,

which thrills me to no end, because they were almost wiped out locally, and I went decades without seeing them here.

Brewer’s Blackbirds are common at The Holler. They are very friendly birds and often eat out of my son’s hands.

Ring necked ducks were on the lake in force,

resting from migration.

The area around The Holler burned extensively in 2007, destroying 1000’s of homes and extensive habitat. You can see the progress of regrowth and the burned trees on the horizon.

Cheers to you from beautiful, burning, California, my native state~

Hollerites~

Nov6

We have the best neighbors at The Holler,

the kind with feathers.

They are the most populous of all The Hollerites,

and they make the most congenial neighbors.

At the first sign of conflict,

they just fly away,

and land somewhere quieter.

I try and emulate them,

leaving crowds behind,

and seeking my own quiet spaces.

The only problem is I can’t fly! 

Cheers to you from the feathered Hollerites~

(Note: I did this post with the new Gutenberg editor which was kind of fun. Can you detect any differences?)

Why Did He Go?

Oct7


I remain as amazed by this question as this little toddler.

There is this wonder of birds, and children.

You want them to stay with you, but if they did, it wouldn’t be the same.

We are home now in sunny Southern California.

I still have more of Iceland to share,

but thought you might want a break from fire and ice,

to soak up a bit of sun and surf.

We still, desperately need rain, but like the song says, ‘you can’t always get what you want.’

Cheers to you from home sweet home~

Window Shots~

Aug15


Meep-Meep Jr. is much shyer than Mama-Meep.

He likes playing me like Wile E.

Whenever I venture outside,

he vanishes, in a cloud of dust.

He forces me to shoot him through the double-paned, not too clean, windows.



Cheers to you from the very fast, quite shy, and oh-so-wiley, Meep-Meep-Junior~

Froggie Went A’Courtin~

Jul28


Either Mrs Toad is expecting, or she is feasting on far too many bugs! She is over 5 inches long and quite chubby.

Dragon, the fly, needs to keep his distance, because Mrs T can spring into action quite suddenly.

Mrs T is a clever critter, who waits patiently at the right time of day for the drip line to start emitting precious water, providing needed relief for an overheated toad on hot summer days.

T is a California Western Toad, a threatened species of ‘special concern,’ due to die offs caused by fertilizer contamination, disease, and habitat destruction.

Western Toads are terrestrial, and we have a thriving colony of them inside The Holler fences.

Cheers to you & happy weekend from the comfortably chubby, and quite toadish, Mrs Toad~

Winged Lightning~

Jul21


Of all The Holler’s,


flying folks,


Hummer’s are the fastest of the fast.


They pause, only seconds, to sip,


and then flash by,


like winged-lightning.


Cheers to you from the The Holler’s fastest flying folks~

Baby Peter Cotton Tail~

Jul15


So far, Baby Valentine the owlet, only looks at Baby Peter Cotton Tail,

and visa versa!

They don’t know what to make of each other……

yet!

Cheers to you from The Holler’s still safe baby buntings~