Goin' Outside Between Storms

We have had another week of rainy weather, but this morning it looked like there would be a little break, or at least nothing serious. I went to Skyline Wilderness Park, and climbed to the top of Sugar Loaf, where it started to rain again.

A Western Bluebird in the picnic area.

At Heron Lake was a pair of Wood Ducks.

A little further up the trail, a pair of White-tailed Kites were building a nest somewhere nearby.

It's nice to see Acorn Woodpeckers on a tree rather than a power pole.

A lot of wetness in the wetlands, looking southwest of Napa.

When I got home, there was a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks in the tree across the street. It seems to be one of their favorite perches, as I have seen them there off and on for several months.

I put up my hummingbird feeder about 3 weeks ago. This is "Flea", a male Anna's Hummingbird. I saw Flea perch on the feeder for 21 minutes straight a few days ago. He has been driving off at least one other male hummer to protect his feeder. Something I learned in the marvelous book "Birdology" is that the bright red/purple color is caused by air in the males head and throat feathers, which causes a prismatic affect when sunlight hits at the right angle. The color is not part of the feathers.

Same bird, purple head. Well, that was a taste of my day today. Hmmm, shall I reheat that soup one more time, or...?

Mr. Mallard Goes Home

Not long ago, we did an on site release of a mallard duck, as there were other mallards in the area.

High drama, as Isabel, Yoch, Monique, and I take Mr. Mallard out to the duckweed pond.

Drumroll Please!

Mallard Goes Free, Not Far

Mr. Mallard must have liked the looks of our duckweed pond, because that's all the further he went. He disappeared later.

Zim Zim Falls

Yesterday was a glorious day for a hike, and what better companion than Nick to share it with.

Our destination was Zim Zim Falls, in the northeast corner of Napa County, a BLM area that is a wildlife corridor between Lake Berryessa and Clear Lake.

There was this one tree with these yellow fist sized fruit on the ground that we could not identify. We tried Googling "Alien cornball fruit", etc. but had no luck. Anyone know what this is? (That means you, Andria).

The first couple miles is a nice, flat, amble up the creek.

A Pacific Tree Frog at water's edge.

There was a tug 'o war going on between the brown of last summer, and the green of winter.

We had to cross the creek mumerous times, but thanks to Gortex, our feet stayed dry.

Let's play "guess the object". This is a ____________ ...

... bottom of an old enameled kettle. You can see the little holes where the spout went.

Spring has sprung for these two buckeye butterflies.

Nick, sniffing out fungi like a beagle.

After a steep climb in elevation, we spotted the falls.

We scrambled to the base of the falls like moths to flame, or ticks to blood.

Nick leaning at a precarious angle. At the bottom was a nice sized pool, maybe ten feet deep. This would be a good swimming hole later in the year.

We climbed well above the top of the falls, found a perch, and finished our lunch. This is the view looking back the way we came.

A few lupine were beginning to bloom.

Hawkeye Nick spotted this geo-cache, filled with little mementos.

Hamming it up for a self-timer shot.

Nick sees art in nature all the time. This oak and shadow didn't go unnoticed.

One of many rocks we examined and marveled at.

Nick stopped to make a call.

All aboard!

Party time!

Oaks and shadows.

Hi, Newt. Goodbye Zim Zim. Hello civilization.

Follow-up on "Stick"

"Stick" had a name change this past week, and became "Kabob" (see story below). He was released, yesterday, after a full recovery. Knowing gulls, however, he is probably looking for another BBQ to raid.

Stick and the Black Swan

This is "Stick", and let me tell you, gulls are tough. Stick was brought to IBRRC about 10 days ago from Napa with a stick sticking out of his rear end. After a few days, Becky, our vet, pulled the stick out of his mouth. The stick was a BBQ skewer that Stick had swallowed, which must have had food on it. Stick was himself skewered from his esophagus, through his body, and out near his vent. His body surrounded the stick with fibrous tissue, so there was no surgery and no bleeding. He seems to be doing just fine, and should be released soon.

Our last day with our lovable black swan. Jeanine discovered a retreat near Healdsburg that has a large pond with a black swan. We had been perplexed trying to find a proper home for the swan, and Marie was even thinking about contacting Disneyland, which takes good care of its birds. Here, he's looking at his friend in the mirror.

Goodbye, beautiful swan! Here, Jeanine is taking the swan to a carrier for the long drive, accompanied by Donna. Late in the afternoon, we got a call that both swans hit it off, and the location was perfect.