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Young hawks in the cemetery
The other day I walked to Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery very early in the morning, around 6:30 a.m. The air was deliciously thick with fog and it was cold, something I appreciated in light of the heat wave...
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Life bird at the feeder. Whooee!
This morning I sat in our kitchen to try and decide where I was going to walk when the the fog lifted. It was 8:30 and there was no sign of sun so I had plenty of time to decide. I looked up at the...
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Birds of a different color
While watching a flock of birds feeding in a cemetery here in Santa Rosa, I caught a brief glimpse of one with the dark cap and wings of an American goldfinch, but with white feathers over the rest of...
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Jackrabbits in the cemetery
I almost never go sketching without Chloe. Even though she sometimes gets bored while I'm working, she always wants to go if I'm going. She seems to enjoy hanging out, at least for a while, and...
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A fine day
Every morning, I begin my walk with a sense of adventure, wondering what I'll see as I wander about. Although there are days when not much seems to be happening, most of the time there's a least one...
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A visit with a snake
One morning at the beginning of September Chloe and I were near the end of an entertaining early walk at Howarth Park. As we wound our way along the last trail before reaching pavement and the parking...
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Clouds
In northern California, where I live, the sky is clear all summer long, giving us the the warm, sunny summers that California is famous for (unless you're on the coast, but that's another story). It...
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Oh, rats!
The neighborhood I live in has seen a slow but steady increase in rats, mostly Roof rats (Rattus rattus). Roof rats are also called Fruit rats, Black rats and Ship rats and have been traveling...
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Lunar eclipse
6:10 a.m.Our local paper reported that there would be a lunar eclipse on Saturday, December 11, 2011. The total eclipse was to occur between 6 and 7 a.m. The report said that the event would only be...
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A flicker of red
Red-shafted northern flickers (Colaptens auratus) are one of the first birds I learned to recognize. Their distinctive call heralds the coming winter here in northern California and the bright red...
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A death in the park
I was at the end of a walk when I heard, then saw, a mob of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) circling nearby. It sounded and looked as though they were mobbing a predator so I decided to...
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One woman's treasure...
Graphite, colored pencil on 8.5 x 11 Strathmore paperI've loved to walk since I can remember. I love to put one foot in front of the other and propel myself into the known or the unknown. It's a...
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Mushrooms!
It's been crazy dry here in northern California this winter. We had some promising rain early in the season and then high pressure systems wheeled around above us, pushing storms to the north or the...
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Food for thought
Dining at top, various escape postures belowMushrooms are gourmet fare for banana slugs so, in past winters, I've sometimes encountered banana slugs (Ariolimax columbianus) as I searched for fungi in...
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Name that bird
Ruby-crowned kingletI'm no expert when it comes to identifying birds. I haven't been at it for very long and I look for birds in only a few locations near home so I've gotten to know the birds that...
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A new acquaintance
One of the best ways to see birds is to sit quietly in a place that they like to visit, usually for food. One of my favorite places to do this is Santa Rosa Oddfellows Cemetery. It's an open, grassy...
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Cabin fever
It's been raining all day and Chloe and I are dreaming about getting back out and walking tomorrow. Until then, here are some wildflowers to remind us that there's a world outside this studio. Giant...
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Which warbler?
For a few weeks in March it seemed that everywhere I walked in Howarth Park I heard a bird singing a loud, trilling song, often from trees right in front of me. I'd scan the canopy with my binoculars...
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Dressing up to do battle
One afternoon, at the end of March, I went looking for one of my favorite spring wildflowers, Marah oreganus, also known as Manroot and Wild cucumber. It sprawls along rocky places and I had recently...
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Slug and Manroot
Banana slug stealthily eating manroot leavesA few weeks ago we were having unseasonably cold weather and I found myself looking, though unsuccessfully, for Banana slugs (Ariolimax columbianus) as I...
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Another slug
Reticulate tail dropperA few weeks ago it had rained a bit and, as I sketched a Banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) devouring the leaves of a Wild cucumber (Marah oreganus) plant, this little fellow...
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A gathering of lizards
Where the lizards gather I've read that Western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) tend to be loners, defending their territory fiercely. There's a rocky place at Howarth Park where I like to sit...
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Why do Western skinks have bright blue tails?
Youthful blue tail fades then turns dirty orange.In my last post I mentioned seeing Western skinks (Plestiodon sketonianus) hanging out with Western fence lizards. I always thought skinks were shiny...
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A royal surprise
It's been hot and dry here so mushrooms were the last thing I expected to find in the woods at Howarth Park! Agaricus augustus is also known as The Prince. They are considered to be quite tasty but a...
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