Tag Archives: birds

Odds, Ends and Quail

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I have only seen Red and Mrs. a few times since we got back home from Hawaii for the New Year. I was disappointed with the photos I took. They were blurry, fuzzy and altogether not good. While I was taking photos of my quail, Red showed up and posed for me on the pink flamingo. I kept trying to snap photos, but my camera wasn’t cooperating. There was a large “E” on the screen.

Then I exchanged the camera battery, thinking that might be the issue. It wasn’t. I glanced back at my laptop to see the dongle plugged in with a card reader. The SD card wasn’t in my camera. No wonder the photos of Red weren’t going to happen.

Red flew away. I had to be content with quail photos.

A female quail acting as “look out” in the tree. This is normally a man’s job.

A male doing his job.

Then he flew up into the tree from the rock.

While in Hawaii, I received an email from my photography professor. He said the class is no more. I had registered for Spring semester which was to begin this month and run until May. There were five others in the class along with me. The class is by invitation only, so there’s no signing up if the professor didn’t think you’d be a good fit for the class. He told me before I joined that everyone is dedicated to learning and improving in photography. That everyone is on the same learning curve, just at different points along the way.

I’m sad the class won’t continue. But in the meantime, I’ll continue working on my learning curve, wanting to improve my photography. What’s really sad is that professor said after 26 years of working at the college, he was sent an email coldly telling him he was no longer employed.

I’m starting off the New Year with a very light calendar. No more ladies’ group, newsletter, photography class. Even the neighborhood coffee has ended. With all this free time, I’m going to get back to my focus on writing. I have several projects and manuscripts that need my attention.

What would you do with a cleared calendar?

Is there a project you’d like to start on or continue?

“All good things must come to an end”

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I was looking through my “bird folder” and found a few photos I really liked but didn’t remember taking. They are from April and May. I brightened them up in Adobe Camera Raw and cropped them.

“All Good Things Must Come to and End” is a line attributed to Chaucer, a 14th century English poet. It seems fitting for my life right now.

First, I decided to no longer serve on the board of my women’s group. Then I learned a few weeks ago that the organization is caput. I believe it lasted for more than 30 years and I’ve been involved for about three. I was in charge of communication for membership and for the public, promoting our work and events. The group post COVID had dropped in membership from 200 to 20. Plus a lot of women are getting older. It just wasn’t feasible anymore.

Next, I decided to resign from the HOA newsletter. I worked on the newsletter for four years. I enjoyed it, but a new board was micromanaging and it was no longer a joyful experience.

Does anyone know what type of bird this is? I’ve only seen it once. I’m glad I got a photo.

I had my last photography class last week for the semester. I’ve really enjoyed it and have learned so much. There are five other students who have taken the class for three to nine years. I’m the newbie and this was my first semester. I thought this was going to be an ongoing experience for me. In our last class, I was the last person to present my final project, which I posted HERE.

Then the professor said he had some business to go over. He said the community college may be discontinuing the class. He won’t know for sure until January. So this too may pass.

A Harris’s hawk taking off.

The class is over zoom and there was complete silence when we heard the news. Apparently a student in another one of the professor’s classes was causing trouble for him. He didn’t go into detail, but said the other issue is low attendance. The advanced workshop is by invitation only. It’s not open enrollment. The group is very cohesive and everyone is talented and open to improving and trying new things.

There’s nothing I can do but wait for the New Year and find out if I have a class or not.

Mourning dove landing on the fence.

What good things in your life have come to an end?

There’s no place like home!

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My first day back home and I was thrilled to have visits by Red and Mrs. They haven’t been fed in the week that we were away, so I was afraid they left. My husband reminded me that they live in the wild. All of our birds have to find their own food — unless I’m home.

Mrs. the cutie pie was first to arrive after I put out the seed block. The seed blocks usually last four days. This one was gone within 24 hours. The birds must have been hungry. The pouring rain didn’t stop them from feasting.

Red and friends munching away.

This wet momma quail was hanging out under a bench to get out of the rain.

Can you see the rain on the barrel cactus spines?

The last bits of the seed block enjoyed by quail, sparrows and Red.

No, the quail aren’t fat, but fluffed up their feathers to protect from the rain.

Red with his House Sparrow buddies braving the rain.

What’s happening with your winter weather?

If you have a favorite photo, which one is it?

A Free Bugatti?

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Here I am minding my own business, taking photos of quail and working on my photography presentation due Wednesday (today). Then I checked my email and I’m receiving dozens — no make that hundreds — of emails about a free Bugatti.

What’s a Bugatti, you ask? I googled it and this is what I found:

Everyone on the spam list is replying all with “remove me” to more colorful expressions that begin with the letter “F.”

I was on the phone with my son and told him what was happening. I’m trying to block the sender and move them to my junk folder. But they come in faster than I can click.

One reply made me laugh out loud. “This looks legit. Can I send you my bank account number and mother’s maiden name?”

But I’m literally receiving hundreds of emails every hour. I mark them junk and block or mute the sender. They’re coming into my Apple email folder and the culprit is from China. Not good. I’m worried I could be hacked.

I may turn off all my email devices like laptop and phone until tomorrow!

More QUAIL:

“Where’s she going?”

What a beauty this poppa quail is.

Here he is again! I think…might be another guy.

Busy times on the birdseed block. I can now navigate the stairs that go down to our sunken pool bar which I used earlier this year — prior to my broken ankle — as my bird blind. I can now take photos on level again with the critters.

Have you been spammed like that with hundreds of emails? Have you been hacked? How did you handle it?

Birds Plus More Surgeries

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I was so excited to capture this photo of Red taking off the Ocotillo!

I’m going to the Bay Area to take care of my daughter post shoulder surgery. She has a repetitive use injury from swimming from kindergarten through college. Her practices in college added up to 12,000 yards of swimming per day.

I’ve been especially nervous and haven’t been sleeping well. There’s a back story to that, besides the anxiety and worry. (Ever since our last thunder and lightning storm our house alarm has been going of at 3 a.m. Now that I figured out how to get it to stop, my body is programmed to get up at 3 a.m.) Once awake, I worry about my upcoming trip and my daughter.

Mrs. giving a side-eye to another bird at the birdseed block.

I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to take a last look at my ankle. I discussed my other foot with the doctor. My first visit to her was about the left foot, but she discovered my “sprain” was a break in the right ankle — and I was scheduled for emergency surgery.

Now we’re back to the original issue and I’ll have surgery after taking care of my daughter!

Here are more photos from my backyard buddies:

Gila woodpecker taking a turn on a flamingo.

I learned my chipmunks are really Harris Antelope Squirrels! Who knew?

Red’s turn on the flamingo.

The Beavertail sculpture is another favorite perch for Mrs.

This father quail keeps watch over his flock from the tree.

Red ignoring both flamingos and other backyard birds.

I’m afraid I’m at that age where my future will be lots of doctor visits. Hopefully no more surgeries.

Which photos do you like?

How is your week going?

Flash Flood Warnings

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Mrs. found a perch on one of the flamingos.

Red prefers the Beavertail cactus art.

The past few days have been stormy and wet! The rain doesn’t seem to stop. We were supposed to go to a friends’ house for dinner when my phone started blowing up with warnings.

Along with the scary words, a horrendous sound goes off.

I called our friends and questioned if we should cancel and stay home due to the phone warnings. However, we ended up going because it’s uphill a mile and there wouldn’t be any washes to drive through. The rain had stopped when we drove and the roads were drying up.

Unfortunately, the entire area was not that lucky. To date, four people lost their lives who were in their cars about an hour south of us. I don’t think these warnings should be taken lightly.

The roadrunner paid us a visit. He moves quickly and this was the only picture I managed to get.

House finch on the beavertail art.

A spotted a gilded flicker in the tree.

This house finch looks all fluffed up.

Have you had any weather warnings this early Fall? If so, what have they been about?

Social Life

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I’ve written my Memory and Meaning proposal for my photography “Art Studio” class. My subject as I’ve said is sea glass, first choice. Back up plan is birds. This is one of my first sea glass pictures, taken outside in the morning light. I wrote about my sea glass project HERE.

We’ve had more than our usual social outings lately. It’s because our good friends and neighbors have been out of town — and then we were out of town. We wanted to connect and get together before we go our separate ways again. It’s busier than I enjoy, but there have been some moments that really touched me.

AI Overview:

Social life refers to an individual’s time spent interacting with other people and the quality of those relationships, often involving activities for pleasure or enjoyment with friends, family, and the broader community. A person’s social life can include both in-person and online interactions and is shaped by the bonds they form and the social opportunities available to them. 

I went to a baby shower for a woman who was a swimmer with my kids on the Palm Springs swim team. She earned a swim scholarship at ASU, broke the 200 free record, and now teaches elementary school in the Phoenix area. Her husband does electrical work for us and we’ve had them over for dinner.

I was so excited to see her, her sister and her mom. The mother-to-be is four years older than my oldest, but they all hung out together at the pool. Her sister is a year older than her, but I have the best memories of being at swim meets, so impressed with these sisters. They would engage the youngers under pop up tents playing cards, games and being silly at swim meets.

When I told my kids I was going to her baby shower, they both said, “We love them!” That’s saying something more than 15 years later from being swim teammates.

Back in the day, this mom took me under her wing and taught me all about being a swim mom. She showed me the ropes of volunteering at swim meets and what jobs were the best ones to sign up for. We’d host Friday through Sunday swim meets in Palm Springs with close to 750 swimmers. Maybe even bigger. That meant there would also be a mom, dad — even grandma and grandpa — for each swimmer. We had a snack bar that would serve breakfast and lunch for all those people.

We had a separate area of food for the coaches, around 50 of them. Our team had a reputation for the best food ever in Southern California for swim coaches. There were two reasons for this. (REASON ONE) Chef Francois from the Ritz Carlton was a swim dad. His daughter was one of our daughter’s swim friends. He prepared the coaches’ meals (REASON TWO) which was prime rib, turkey dinner and yes, LOBSTER. Another swim dad free dove for lobster off the Southern California coast and took his kids and their friends to assist in the catch.

All those memories came rushing back when I walked into the baby shower and got hugs from the sisters and the mom. How wonderful to reminisce, be around younger people that I truly love and the mom who I spent so much time with. We sat and talked during swim practices and worked together at meets. I didn’t realize how much I value these friendships from my swim mom days.

Below: Finches at the birdbath.

What do you consider a busy social life?

Do you like being quiet staying at home, or being out and about busy?

What friends from your past do you still see?

JoyRoses13 from Nuggets of Gold wrote a fun story on her blog using my photos of Red plus pictures from another photographer. You can read it HERE.