Visitors 122
Modified 17-Feb-24
Created 20-Jan-24
39 photos
…plus a conversation between a cloud and a tower.
A cloudy morning after overnight rain – our birding transect happens every month, rain or shine. Dewdrops (or raindrops!) sparkle on every point offered in the brown grassland, each drop offering a vision of the world beyond. Mushrooms abound, different species, some new, some old. Merlin surveys the moist scene from his lofty perch. Over and over, all around: spiderwebs in dew, and rounds of robins, come for the ripe Toyon berries.
After the Merlin, this collection devolves to record shots and old favorites – with an exception. Photos of the Phainopepla Tree, a collapsing ancient Valley Oak at the top of a ridge with a view of Windy Hill; the mistletoe-bedecked Valley Oak in the hollow beyond, the muddy road leading on to the Lone Valley Oak on the next ridge; the Lone Valley Oak itself, keeping watch over the changing grassland for centuries now; and another Valley Oak off the Birding Transect Trail, with a Toyon at its feet and a ridge beyond, deciduous Blue Oaks giving way to evergreen Coast Live Oaks. [I could produce a book from just my photos of the Phainopepla Tree. I first really noticed it 14 years ago – an old tree then, with sparse leaves and ample mistletoe, a magnet for locally-rare Phainopeplas (Phainopepla nitens), a redeyed bird from south of here. Invited to join the birders then, I have visited this tree almost every month since. It offers a commanding perch high on a ridge, used by hawks, woodpeckers, and diverse songbirds. One November day after the first rain, flying termites erupted from the ground nearby, providing a feast for acrobatic Acorn Woodpeckers and Lesser Goldfinch. We visited in all seasons, in sunlight and in mist, as the tree gave up leafing out, then the mistletoe died and dried up. Now as limbs fall off each year, it still remains a prominent outlook, still a haven for birds, with a vista extending over grassland and forest to Skyline Ridge and Windy Hill.] Enough to say, I am still caught, once again, by these familiar striking images, even though I may well already have a “better” one.
An exception to the nostalgic and record photos following the Merlin: a cloud hovering over the flatlands near the Bay. Here are two treatments: an overall view taking in Jasper Ridge wildness, rolling hills, flatlands, and cloud; and a closer focus on the cloud, resting above Hoover Tower, its magnificent gesture mirroring (or mocking?) the tower’s thrust skyward.
BONUS: early light on Windy Hill, the promise of a good day, from my home before the outing.
If you are interested, I have indulged in some wordy photo captions. Or just enjoy the images.
Delight! When you tune your spirit to register delight, it surprises you more and more.
A cloudy morning after overnight rain – our birding transect happens every month, rain or shine. Dewdrops (or raindrops!) sparkle on every point offered in the brown grassland, each drop offering a vision of the world beyond. Mushrooms abound, different species, some new, some old. Merlin surveys the moist scene from his lofty perch. Over and over, all around: spiderwebs in dew, and rounds of robins, come for the ripe Toyon berries.
After the Merlin, this collection devolves to record shots and old favorites – with an exception. Photos of the Phainopepla Tree, a collapsing ancient Valley Oak at the top of a ridge with a view of Windy Hill; the mistletoe-bedecked Valley Oak in the hollow beyond, the muddy road leading on to the Lone Valley Oak on the next ridge; the Lone Valley Oak itself, keeping watch over the changing grassland for centuries now; and another Valley Oak off the Birding Transect Trail, with a Toyon at its feet and a ridge beyond, deciduous Blue Oaks giving way to evergreen Coast Live Oaks. [I could produce a book from just my photos of the Phainopepla Tree. I first really noticed it 14 years ago – an old tree then, with sparse leaves and ample mistletoe, a magnet for locally-rare Phainopeplas (Phainopepla nitens), a redeyed bird from south of here. Invited to join the birders then, I have visited this tree almost every month since. It offers a commanding perch high on a ridge, used by hawks, woodpeckers, and diverse songbirds. One November day after the first rain, flying termites erupted from the ground nearby, providing a feast for acrobatic Acorn Woodpeckers and Lesser Goldfinch. We visited in all seasons, in sunlight and in mist, as the tree gave up leafing out, then the mistletoe died and dried up. Now as limbs fall off each year, it still remains a prominent outlook, still a haven for birds, with a vista extending over grassland and forest to Skyline Ridge and Windy Hill.] Enough to say, I am still caught, once again, by these familiar striking images, even though I may well already have a “better” one.
An exception to the nostalgic and record photos following the Merlin: a cloud hovering over the flatlands near the Bay. Here are two treatments: an overall view taking in Jasper Ridge wildness, rolling hills, flatlands, and cloud; and a closer focus on the cloud, resting above Hoover Tower, its magnificent gesture mirroring (or mocking?) the tower’s thrust skyward.
BONUS: early light on Windy Hill, the promise of a good day, from my home before the outing.
If you are interested, I have indulged in some wordy photo captions. Or just enjoy the images.
Delight! When you tune your spirit to register delight, it surprises you more and more.
Dan Quinn