This, That, and Random Photos

Other than a few days in the 70’s and 80’s, it’s been dark, wet, and chilly. Whenever I wish for sunshine instead of clouds, I remember the relentless heat and blazing sun from last summer. And the drought. After a year and a half waiting, we’ve had two straight months of above-average rainfall and a cool spring! Because we’ve done such a great job of conserving water throughout the state for so long, the water companies are raising their rates – notably higher. Whatever.

Tonight I’m a little frazzled and out-of-focus. My attention span is shorter than usual so this will be off the cuff, so to speak. This and that.

My house is so snakey. The Black Rat Snake I found on my front porch is the fourth and newest species I’ve seen here, along with another type of small black snake, a Hog Nose Snake, and a Garden Snake. Snakes, snakes, and more snakes. Black Rat Snake is non-venomous but might strike, so I didn’t even entertain the idea of sitting down next to it for a good photo. Oh, my, you're a big one... It became a little annoyed with me and slowly retreated back down the brick wall and coiled up on the trellis that holds the witch hazel.

The cooler weather has been keeping the toads and frogs quiet but there are signs of reproduction from two weeks ago. We’ll eventually have about 2.3 million toads and frogs this summer but the snakes will certainly keep the population under control.

Been busy, man. I'm damned tired.

Pishing helps bring birds out but my camera skills have gone downhill lately without the practice on dark days. Brown Trashers are so cool.

However - one sunny day last week,

I got lucky. A campus Bluebird came to me. Bluebirds are photogenic and they know it. Can anyone possibly tire of seeing Bluebirds on this blog? I hope not.

On the same sunny day, I found a couple on that special tree I admire.


After my foolish fretting during last few weeks, the hummingbirds are finally getting active. Yesterday I saw three females humming around a feeder, followed by a male a few minutes later. For fear of scaring them away, I freeze in my tracks. No camera necessary – just the pleasure of watching them is enough fun but I threw caution to the wind and took a few photos yesterday. It was dark and the photos are horrible. I can’t wait to sharpen my hummingbird picture-taking skills! Just wait and see.

AIN’T SHE SWEET?