http://spacebar.blogsome.com whatever comes to mind Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:43:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Usually around this time, the feeder is busy with birds filling up before nighttime. I suspect a hawk or two where I can’t see. The chickadees and juncos came by for a very short time this morning, but there are currently no birds out there except for a gull now ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/24/something-dangerous-out-there/ It may not seem so cold in the Bay Area, but at 7:00 a.m., waiting outside for birds to show up at the feeder, it’s not so comfortable. Especially if you stand and stand while the chickadees dart in, grab something and take it back to their warm beds somewhere. ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/19/another-shoot/ The lingering fog was lifting, but not that fast. High up on a pole, this juvenile red-shouldered hawk sat very still. Trekking around the Baylands Park, I was out for egrets, possibly herons. Mostly I wanted to know where the Canada geese flocks go when they leave the junior high fields. ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/14/5329/ I managed to get up early enough to catch them, the downside being that it was also start time for a soccer game in that field, so the players were chasing them away. No worries, they always come back. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/14/the-geese-are-getting-fat/ Just as the afternoon slump approached, I considered the mountain of footage to go through. The juvenile hawk I’ve been hearing for two days did not choose to land in any trees in our yard. There aren’t that many shopping days till Christmas. Sigh. I sank back in my chair, ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/12/quick-surprise-visitor/ Last night after dinner, I ran some errands. When I got back, my laptop began acting strange, as in I couldn’t throw away the trash. Since I’d spent the day shooting footage, this was disturbing - there was a lot to toss. Not only that, but clicking on almost everything ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/12/losing-the-finder/ I don’t think Sparky is quite ready to do this just yet. Such amazing footage from Russ Thompson. There’s only one feeder at the moment. Over the weekend, I found another that is an inverted bottle-type, but the bottle has been gathering rainwater and ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/10/hummingbird-in-the-hand/ An exhausting performance for the lady of his choice. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/05/spatuletail-hummingbird-courtship/ The feeding station has been in place almost a year now. Regulars are the typical visitors to backyard feeders: chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, California towhees, titmouse, and occasionally, wrens. The hummingbird feeder is dominated by Sparky, a fierce but somewhat friendly fellow. On the periphery are woodpeckers, crows, blue jays, robins, ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/04/the-birds-and-the-pyracantha-bush/ I set my clock just before bedtime last night, so I was pretty sure it was too early to get up. But the sound of traffic was not what it should have been well before 6:00 a.m. Loud. Insistent. Monday morning, and the commute is on. But, wait a minute. ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/11/02/the-time-change-this-morning/ According to the Beeb, Nephila Komaci has a leg span of almost five inches. Which makes my biggest garden/garage spider puny in comparison. I really don’t think I’ll be getting a ruler and stretching out its legs. For which we’re both grateful. Yes, yes, I’m releasing it today. ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/23/biggest-spider-ever/ I really didn’t plan on reading the comments following the story at Palo Alto Online, but it is hard to stop. Parents, neighbors, current and former students are discussing train speeds, school pressure, parental pressure, inability to get into AP classes, the need for a night patrol at ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/21/another-suicide/ For some ultramarathoners, surgical removal of their toenails solves a painful problem. Nor will they ever encounter that pesky fungal ailment. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/21/one-answer-for-toenail-fungus/ This afternoon seemed a good time to get rid of all the redwood tree debris from the storm last week. After the yard waste toter filled up, I was deciding which other garbage can to use when the sprinkle turned to rain. My side yard is shaded by the neighbor’s ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/19/we-missed-all-the-fun/ For a few seconds, I inverted the cup. This is one fast spider that I did not want loose in the house. Did I mention that it’s really, really big? http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/16/another-one/ For some reason, when there’s a good one elsewhere (usually not nearby), my teeth hurt. Fillings? Probably. Right now, something’s happening somewhere. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/16/earthquake-teeth/ The lone ruby-throated hummingbird has been by more than a dozen times this morning, happy that I finally refreshed its nectar supply. Yesterday during the terrible storm, it refueled much more than usual. Because we accidentally/on purpose manage to meet up at various places in the yard, I decided to ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/14/my-friend-sparky/ Coinciding with school being let out, not a good sign. Sounds like multiple emergency vehicles up at the intersection, blaring their horns. The back patio is still underwater, big puddles elsewhere in the yard. Big chunks of palm tree came down but no fencing, thank goodness. I put garbage cans under ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/13/lots-of-sirens/ On Friday, I didn’t find much at the estate sale. The only things that caught my eye were the flags in pristine shape. When I held one up, someone behind me said they thought it was either the Australia or New Zealand flag. I put them back. Useful for props, ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/10/prop-hunting-and-the-93-year-old-gentleman/ Octomom, via SFGate’s Mommy files. Gimme money! http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/09/easier-than-the-duggar-mom-costume/ It comes in blocks, a teal-ish color. On the cover of the box, a little mouse is taking little bites on a corner of a block. Last evening I put out three - one by the compost container, one by the raised bed where I have put all the cactuses ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/07/a-new-rat-poison/ So I got on the phone, taking care of some business which is a long series of automated questions, at the end of which a human would come on the line and save me a trip to some office downtown where I don’t particularly want to go today. I glance ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/06/somehow-they-know/ It’s 46° at 7:45 a.m. Brrrrrr. Absolutely wonderful. Might have to turn the heat on early this year. Yesterday I went for an impromptu walk with an old friend in the bracing wind. It took some time to warm up since I was somewhat underdressed. Few fallen leaves, but in ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/05/moving-right-into-winter/ Was that a sparrow I just saw and banished from the feeder? The kind that forced me to remove the bird food for many weeks? I’ll know by the end of the day, when and if it brings back 153 of its friends. Fingers crossed. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/03/no-no-please-not-that/ In a new book, Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benedictus and Mark Burgess (illustrator), an otter joins the group. Nothing like a character of the female gender to shake things up a bit. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/10/01/pooh-and-lottie/ The other night I spotted it over by the window while I was fixing supper. A family member immediately went into some kind of loop: How did that get in the house? How did that get in the house? How did that get in the house? Somehow, the subject was cornered. ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/30/the-reluctant-subject/ When the boys were young, there was the occasional LAN party, usually on someone’s birthday. Food was not particularly important, and the present-opening tended to be anti-climatic, with everyone anxious to get back to whatever they were doing. The pizza and cake disappeared as the night went on, and the ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/28/lan-parties-of-old/ In which the poor beast is compared to Tom Cruise. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/28/some-observations-about-giant-squid/ As most of my readers know, I have little patience for the suburban pests that seem to multiply in my yard. By now, you also know about the bird feeding table here right in front of the window where I work. On a normal day, the dark-eyed juncos appear around ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/25/a-surprise-visitor-at-noon/ Gmail can’t access my contacts. iStock has 60 staff members working on their problems, and their site is up and down. And the market is tumbling due to weak housing data. The squirrels sent an email saying they’ve eaten all the baby zucchinis off the plants, what else is on ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/24/istock-gmail-and-squirrels/ This time of year it’s hard to check the garden without walking into spider webs. In the 95° temps this afternoon, I found this creature. A hot breeze came up, so I didn’t get the shot I wanted. I suspect it will still be there tomorrow. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/18/so-glad-its-against-the-fence/ A family member saw the feathers coming down from the oak tree. By the time I set up the tripod, the hawk was mostly finished, and sailed off across the rooftops. Although there are bigger birds, it seems to be after the little dark-eyed juncos lately. The junco breeding pairs ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/18/all-thats-left/ Dear Mass of Teeming Insect Life, My lone brain is obviously inferior to your collective genius. Despite my peppering the ground below with a potent ant poison, you have managed to sidestep this formidable obstacle, and once again reach the holy grail of hummingbird nectar. You have gathered those among you ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/18/a-special-message-to-the-ants/ A few posts back, I was gloating about ant-proofing the hummingbird feeder. Apparently, the ants keep up with the blog. As I sit here eating toast, deep in work, the hummingbird shows up. Instead of landing, it hovers from one opening to another, then disappears. I peer ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/17/two-moats-is-nothing-said-the-ants/ Thursday is garbage day (at least 3 trucks, sometimes more). It is also the day the gardeners come and do their leaf-blowing for two houses across the way, which cranks up the chihuahua in back and sometimes the chihuahua mix next door to it. If I’m really lucky, some neighbor ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/17/the-noisy-day/ It has resided in the pimento jar on my desk for several days. I haven’t been anxious to take a photo, thank to the vivid memory of a family member’s experience as he leaned in to shoot one years ago. His subject made a sudden move, prompting him to drop ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/16/shooting-the-spider/ In early September in the Bay Area? No way. A few drops on the skylights at first. I went back to sleep. But then, a definite shower woke me up again. Did I leave sacks of fertilizer open? No. Did I leave tools out? Yes, all the pruners. Did I ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/unexpected-rain-and-the-gardener/ For over a month now, I’ve been trying to photograph the lone hummingbird that comes to the feeder. He and I are old friends now, and he has been quite patient with my efforts to get closer. Yesterday I did away with the tripod to see if I could do ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/11/new-hummer/ It used to be home to a number of salamanders living under a large, rotting stump. Not sure if they are still around, but the local raptors like to dine in the branches above. If the collections of feathers aren’t a giveaway, the whitewash on the blades of the clivia ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/09/the-wilderness-in-the-side-yard/ I don’t know about you, but headlines like this make my morning a little more cheery. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/02/a-use-for-that-roadkill-stashed-in-the-freezer/ I go to give the hummingbird feeder a close-up check for ants, as in ‘Is that an ant in there or a shadow of something’, and the hummingbird decides to fly in at the same time. Jeez. As if the ants have that much of a chance. The feeder is still ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/09/01/surprise-is-when/ You know it’s going to be bad when the blue-belly lizards are basking on the patio right in front of the window where I work. I think they’re looking for shade. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/29/p5290/ Two of the younger members of the flock of dark-eyed juncos that empty the feeder on a twice/daily basis. They seem to make it their goal to deplete the supplies by nightfall. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/24/immature-and-ravenous/ A surefire method to get several of these is to move the feeder from its customary place, then arrange the camera, tripod and chair directly under the original feeder position. I didn’t do this on purpose. Having gotten hundreds of shots of the bird from one side, I wanted it ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/22/hummer-flyby/ So how many things are wrong with this photo? Yesterday afternoon he showed up and perched on a tomato cage. I haven’t been shooting hummingbirds very long, so this particular situation unnerved me. Usually, he bobs up and down at the feeder, then zooms away. That I can deal with. He was ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/21/not-so-great-a-shot/ Nepenthes attenboroughii, named after Sir David, is capable of putting away rats. Not wee mousies now and then, but . . . well, there’s a photo. The accompanying video shows remarkable footage of how the plant produces the nectar-filled pitchers. http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/21/rat-eating-plant/ Less than a minute after I cleaned out the feeder and put fresh nectar in, he checked out the results. We did make progress today. He allowed me to get within about two feet, and didn’t mind that I kept opening the screen door to go in and out. Still no ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/15/fresh-nectar/ Part of the morning was spent moving the feeder around to get a better angle on the bird that comes by every 15 to 30 minutes. Most of the sites were in the sun, and I got a couple of good shots, so a few minutes ago, I hung it ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/15/annoying-a-hummer/ The wind has been blowing most of the day, and my eyes are itchy and feel gritty. Is it because it’s Friday after another week of PhotoShopping numerous photos and therefore, simple eyestrain, or is there stuff blowing from Santa Cruz? Enough work for now. Tonight I get to choose ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/14/smoke-from-the-fire/ Just before my usual wakeup time, I tend to have the most aggravating dreams, possibly to serve to do just that, get me up. I haven’t had a test dream in a while, maybe a couple of months. This time, it was history that I hadn’t read. And this time, ... http://spacebar.blogsome.com/2009/08/11/the-exam-dream-again/