Happy new week folks! Don't foget to check the last few posts of the previous week. Heron posted a photo of a female reed bunting, AQ saw a "ginormous flock of corellas" (must Google that!), OG has found a nice B&B for her trip, Alan posted a nifty shot of the changing of the guard at the eagle nest, folks are wondering how Diane is doing with the storm the big storm back East, and much, much more! :-) We had almost 2 inches of rain in Santa Barbara today, which is brilliant. Still sorting files and likely to be doing so for a day or three to come. Take care all.
Morning/afternoon all, just gone 8.30am here
We didn't get one snowflake out of the storm, just cold and wind so we were very lucky. I think we are due some on Wednesday, the same system that Diane was talking about, just a day after her. Still, long way off and things can change.
Diane, glad the power didn't go of and loved the description of the trees:) Sorry about the launch!! Next time maybe.
Annette, thanks as always and glad you are getting some needed rain but i too saw about the mud slides. How awful and I saw people trying to dig out by hand:((
Dibnlib, hope you enjoyed the swim. Sorry you are living in the breakfast room for a bit longer but I'm sure the end result will be worth it.
TerryM, glad you had a nice trip and coffee and cake facilities are one of the first things I check out when planning my trips!! LOL
BrendaH and Alan, good morning! and sorry about the dreary weather.
Lindybird, enjoy the walk.
Hopefully a nice quiet day here again so check in later:)
Much better weather at Norfolk Botanical Gardens today:
Osprey chick at Dunedin.
Tiger Signature
Thanks Tiger. I have been checking this site regularly but you beat me to it:
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2/6/10 - Forecast for this week below. We heard from an experienced observer that there was a hatch at 5:18pm. Here is the report from LC, "I'm very sure you had a hatch. At 5:18 mom did a poop and then moved a 1/2 shell to left end of the nest bowl." BW"
Morning all: Well, the Gray Whale Count for 2010 officially gets underway tomorrow, so I'll be out on the bluffs from 1 to 3 p.m. for my first shift of the season. Typically, nothing happens for the first week or three, but last year the first whale showed up at 9:10 a.m., just after they got all the scopes, etc., set up. Tomorrow is also reckoned to be the only sunny day this week, although it's sunny today, though breezy.. We do count in the rain, but not in strong winds. It'll be interesting to see how the calf count compares to last year's, when it was lower than hoped. I also have to get up to the rose garden this week since they've pruned the bushes and this is our big chance to get after the weeds before the roses start filling out again. Must also attack the weeds in our garden. Still sorting through files, but think I'll save the next round for another rainy day.
From Wikipedia: The Little Corella, Cacatua sanguinea, also known as the Bare-eyed Cockatoo, is a white cockatoo native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It grows to 36 to 39 cm in length and congregates in flocks of up to several thousand birds, which often include many Galahs. The bird generally roosts in trees overnight, and flies off to feed in the early morning with an almost deafening screeching. It mostly feeds on the ground, eating seeds including cereal crops such as wheat and barley. It is so common that it has become something of a pest throughout much of Australia, and can be destructive to the trees in which it perches, by chewing the bark off smaller twigs.
Diane: It's an El Nino year; hence the heavy rains here and snowfall across the country. No mudslides here; creeks are running well, but some LA homes below the recent burn areas have had problems. Hope you guys miss the worst of the next round of storms. Just woke up to see they'd canceled the launch. Oooh, trumpet vines wrapped around trees. What color are the vines? I love them. Those Black Locust trees sound worrying and I guess there's not much you can do other than be aware.
OG: Of course! Duh. Thanks for finally explaining why Sunday is the first day of the week. May won't be long in coming!
TerryM: Outing sounds good, too bad about the teabags! How nice to see huge flocks of birds; we don't get them that large here for some reason. But we do get massive schools of dolphins at times, which stretch across the horizon and really kick up the ocean while they feed. (I have to have them pointed out to me by Mike, our whale count main dude, since he's used to spotting things like that at a distance.) I heard the other day that after humans, they reckon dolphins to be the next "most intelligent" specie (though I'm not that impressed by some humans, but don't get me started!)
Off to sort myself out, back later. take care all.
Nice pic of the 3 eggs:
Oh they are fast at these things over at "ospreys". :)
Alan, excellent capture of the three eggs.
Annette, sounds as if you could have another busy week ahead, the difference being, that you are doing things which you obviously enjoy taking part in. I would love to join you on the whale count. It must be fantastic when you actually have a sight of them. Weeding is a pain, but right now I would love to spend a day in the garden, even if it was just weeding. Probably change my mind come the Spring.
We went to the coast after lunch but it started to drizzle and after a while, you realise you are getting quite wet, so came back home and did all the ironing, whilst watching the rugby. ( I won't comment )
Thanks, Diane, for your tree list, I have looked up locust tree and found it is a Robinia, which we have in our garden too. It’s not very big but must be slightly brittle as a branch came off in the wind a couple of years ago. We have 6 small ones growing in the lawn now, where it seeded itself. OH job to move them before they get too big. Off to have a look at AQ’s Pacific ducks now.
Annette, I read that corella definition in Wiki too. How far out are the grey whales? How fantastic to see loads of dolphins. I think I'll come with you.
Terry in Cumbria
Just seen the osprey chick being fed. Absolutely magic.!!!