Me: You know it was inevitable, right? That I’d duct tape a beat up DV cam to the eyepiece of the spotting scope pointed at the mama-to-be hummingbird and hook it up to a laptop to send images of the nest (with or without the little lady) onto the internut every few seconds. You: Uh, …
I saw a most amazing thing last weekend. I was up in the rear of of our backyard watching a number of bushtits chirping and flitting through the branches of the unknown flowering tree that’s centrally located back there. Suddenly an Anna’s hummingbird dives in and squares off aggressively against one of the bushies only …
Yesterday after breakfast (and before the day’s NFL Conference Championship games yielded the two teams I least wanted to see in the Super Bowl; but still: Go Giants, beat that Brady Bunch!), Susan and I went for a morning hike with Ranger in Bronson Canyon Park, a place I’ve been visiting since I was 12 …
I’m doing much better. I still have moments where I’ll be watching TV or talking on the phone or washing dishes or whatever and my breath will catch in my throat and/or I’ll get a little verklempt when my thoughts suddenly turn to Shadow. But all in all, I’m not near the wet rag I …
Literally the moment I got home from yesterday’s bike ride, I found a thirsty squirrel scoping out the birdbath from the adjacent fence, and managed to get my cam out and capture the squirrel figuring out how to alleviate its dehydration, brought on no doubt by the extended lack of rain around these here parts. …
Read more “Birdbaths: They’re Not Just For The Birds Anymore”
Shadow’s deterioration into total immobility during her last months made it tough to remember when she was so full of life and personality. And that’s what makes finding this forgotten (albeit ultra low-res) video mostly of her during a 2005 hike with me and Susan in Bronson Canyon Park that much more of a pleasant …
I’ll be saying goodbye to Shadow later this morning (I last wrote about why on December 23). A veterinarian who makes house calls will be arriving around 11 a.m. to administer to her with a respect and a dignity that is hard to find on the cold and sterile metal surfaces of an animal hospital. …