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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A little something for everyone?

Despite the fact that my neck has not Sad smilemade a miraculous recovery, I decided to do some of my planned activities today.  I did have to cancel my plans for a good hike in a National Forest not too far from here.  I just didn’t feel up to it.  For you foodies, though, I did make a trip back to the Pecan House to stock up on some more of those delicious Mississippi pecans.  Somehow, two bags of dark chocolate pecan clusters also hopped into my shopping bag.  Don’t know how that happened.

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For you bird nerds, I include a couple of pictures of cedar waxwings.  There have been large flocks of this bird moving through the surrounding woods lately.  They love to eat berries, and if you look closely at the right hand pic, you can see that this is some sort of a berry bush.  I wasn’t able to get close enough to get a picture of the little red or yellow tips on the end of their flight feathers that look like drips of wax.

 57 MS Sandhill Crane NWR37

I guess by now most of you know that I just couldn’t post only two pictures of birds.  Smile  Today, I saw my first Eastern kingbirds of the year.  (center photo)  These birds hawk insects on the wing, and I watched this fellow catch a dragonfly in mid air. 

 

Even though I take my seed bird feeders in each night because of the raccoons, they apparently are not happy with my decision to do this.  When I stepped outside this morning, they had not only totally emptied the hummingbird feeder, but looped the rope that I hang one of the feeders on way up in the live oak tree.  Grrr!  I had to get out one of my walking sticks to tinker around and finally get the rope hanging down where it belonged. 

57 MS Sandhill Crane NWR36

For you plant lovers, I include the first fruits of the season.  I think these berries are edible, but I’m going to check with Doug first before I partake.  You just can’t be too careful about these wild fruits.  The berries on one of the holly plants that are abundant here have the word vomitus in their Latin name.  Use your imagination there to guess what they cause if eaten.  Nyah-Nyah

_MG_0821 _MG_0823Is a good rat a dead rat?

And now for you road kill fans, a couple of dead bodies!  You just never know what Emma and I are going to find on her first outs.  Yuck!

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Last, but not least, are some picks of Emma’s new neighbor to steal the scene.  Roxie would like to make friends with Emma, I think, but…

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Roxie has figured out exactly how close to the end of Emma’s tie out she can get.  Emma, aka, Wild Child, just doesn’t seem to understand why Roxie won’t come any closer.  Smart dog, that Roxie.

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                                                                                 THE END!!

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. Awwww, Roxie's adorable but looks like she's trying to stir up trouble. Love the photos. We get a flock of cedar waxwings that come through every year and eat up our chinaberry (?) tree in the backyard. They are so beautiful.

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  2. Road kill is a take it or leave it thing with me :) I have heard that chocolate nuts are good for neck pain!

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  3. Do you have road kill fans? I'm not sure I want to meet them. :)

    Jumping chocolate (with or without pecans) is a common phenomenon. It jumps into my shopping cart from time to time, also.

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  4. Sure hope Chuck and Anneke are right and those chocolate nuts make your neck feel better really quick. My Skitz wouldn't even get that close without totally going berserk. Roxie is sure brave.

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  5. King birds and Wax Wings..love them!! I think that chocolate is prescribed to heal your neck!!

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  6. As far as I'm concerned, that's the only way I want to see rats. They can really wreak havoc in an engine compartment.

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  7. hope you enjoy the chocolate pecan clusters!..yum!!..maybe they will make you forget about your 'pain in the neck'!!

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  8. Just love your pictures of the birds...have learned from them...

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  9. Absolutely... Only a dead rat is a good rat!!
    Funny you should mention goodies being able to jump. I had the same thing happen to me too. When I got home a chocolate rabbit had jumped into my bag. What is the world coming to!!!

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  10. Love Cedar Waxwings, they are such elegant birds. We have a large flock fly in every year when the cherries on the neighbours tree ripen. They pick that tree clean in no time.

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  11. We had a terrible experience with Cedar Waxwings one year. We had just moved into a house with large, west facing windows, when a large flock of Cedar Waxwings came thru the area late in the afternoon. Unfortunately the windows reflected the sky in a way that the birds could not see it.

    Many birds flew into the windows. Fortunately most were only stunned.

    We lived there for four years. We saw other migrating flocks, but never had a repeat of that day. I think the sun and the light was just wrong for them that year.

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  12. I just noticed your counter and you almost have 100,000 hits. Wow.

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  13. Have never seen a Cedar Wax Wing so maybe you could send a few our way. Nice to see the foliage & berry bushes coloring up down your way. Still mostly gray & drab here. Have had to use some 2010 file pics for the blog because our Spring is so far behind this year. Example was that Rose Breasted Grosbeak that you rightly figured was a bit too early for these parts. Should have included the words 'file photo' with that pic. Sounds like you might have just had a 'crink' in your neck from sleeping at an odd angle or something.

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  14. Our local candy store owner says, "dark chocolate and nuts equals health food!!"

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  15. I just love it when your shopping and some items decide to just hop into your cart and it's a surprise when you get home and pull it out of your bag. I sure hope the chocolate pecans make your neck feel better.

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  16. When I help with the food shopping, we always have chocolate in the cart...I think Maureen is catching on :>)

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  17. I don't have a particular opinion about rats, but a dead snake is for sure always a g.o.o.d. snake!!!

    Wouldn't it be great if there were prescriptions for chocolate and insurance was forced to pay for it!!!

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  18. Chocolate pecan clusters? I'll bring the wine. :) I love your "The End" photos! After a long, crazy day today I really appreciate the giggle this one gave me! Hope your neck feels totally better sooner than soon! Hugs to Emma!

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