Friday, January 29, 2016

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Parrots!!!






As I've blogged about before, there are wild parrots in our neighborhood (all over Southern California, actually). There were three in the twisted juniper next door, making a racket; two of them flew away leaving this guy/girl behind. Not the best photos, but they still reveal the coolness that is these birds!

I envy my friend Robin (see above link to previous blog post) who has them up close and personal right in front of her house. Cool!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Bee Still My Heart

 Last Saturday I got to do something I've always wanted to do: don a bee suit and get up close and personal with my bee girls. (Anyone who has read this blog for more than a minute knows that I'm obsessed with three things: Tallulah Mae, birds, and bees.) This was a "beehive tour" led by Hilary Kearny of Girl Next Door Honey. It totally lived up to its promise!

Warning: if you don't like up-close-and-personal pics of many many many bees, don't look!
 A bee box.
 Hilary lighting the smoker. Beekeepers smoke a hive to cause the bees to think there is a fire nearby; they then gorge themselves on honey and thus become more lethargic and less likely to attack.
 This girl is going back into the hive with her "pollen pants" loaded.
 The frames inside the bee box.

 Honeycomb! And honey capped off (the dark area).

 More honey.

 Busy busy busy!




 Some of the honeycomb cells have bee eggs/larvae...we watched one hatch. She immediately went to work after emerging from the cell.
 More pollen pants!



Amazing. In another life I think I was a beekeeper (and maybe in my next if all goes well!). I love them. The more you learn about them, the more obsessed you become. It was a fantastic experience!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Gerbera Goodness

It's hard to beat a Gerbera daisy for sheer prettiness, isn't it? This pale pink color is especially nice...

Monday, January 25, 2016

Chickens






From hawks to chickens...I love them all! Bird geek extraordinaire!

Friday, January 22, 2016

Tallulah-Palooza Friday


Oh, this girl...look at that face and the weird position of her ears. Silly Mae!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Hawk Watching, Watching Hawk





Here's my hawk friend sitting atop a utility pole; he was calling and calling.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

OMG OMG OMG















THIS!!! A hawk hanging out in our fountain...he was here for about twenty minutes, mostly standing there, but also taking a bath. I was transfixed. Such a gorgeous creature. I feel very luck to have seen him.