Tag Archives: birds

Would you like to be on Facebook?

My wise old grandmother told me that it’s alright to talk to myself, but when I start to ask myself questions, and then answer those questions, I might have problems. So I learned to talk to the animals, although not quite Dr. Dolittle style.

I usually either tell them “I’ll put you on Facebook” or ask them “Do you want to be on Facebook?” Here are some of the responses:

Nope. Big Brother is watching.

Sure! I hear you get lots of LIKEs!

Facebook? Hmmmm. Not sure about that.

Yeah, whatever.
Raptor

These four decided to take their toys and go home.

Seagull

Surfer

Sure! Hold on and let me show you my good side.
Butterfly

This guy decided to show off for the Facebook crowd.
Surfer

Facebook? Please, please, please. Thank you!
Crab

Nope. We’re outta here.
Paddleboarders

Sure! Facebook likes good-looking birds!
Bird

There are always a couple who want what others don’t.
Seagulls

Are you one of those bird molesters?
Great Blue Heron

You’re that Russel guy. I don’t trust you. I’m leaving.
Great Blue Heron

Checking Facebook…
Man at the beach

In some languages “Facebook” means “water.”
Seagull wanting a drink

Will I be the first roach on Facebook?
Will I get lots of likes?
Roach

Mr. Chairman?
I move that we let Russel put us on Facebook.
Seagulls

What is Facebook?
Black bird

Sure. Let me get dressed first.
Surfer

Out & About—The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

12 Replies

I went to Julian, California, for their Apple Days the weekend of September 24 and discovered three cool stores. The Warm Hearth is in my blog post here. The second one I want to talk about is The Birdwatcher. How can anyone resist going into a store called The Birdwatcher?

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

The first home that I remember was where we lived when I was 5 in 1960. It had a row of windows under the eaves to let light into the living room. Sadly, birds would fly into the windows and knock themselves out, dying an agonizing death on the ground below. I was picking up dead birds every morning. I resolved to never have windows that would kill birds. Of course, now that I’m a little older, I realize that all windows have the potential to kill birds. You can help our feathered friends by using WindowAlert. Pretty neat.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Rick & Brenda Campbell own The Birdwatcher, and Brenda kindly gave me permission to take interior photos for my blog post here. Thank you, Brenda!

A beautiful selection of wind chimes just in case you don’t have any songbirds at your place.

Birds like taking baths. I mean, who doesn’t?

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Bird cards to send your family and friends.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Real honest-to-goodness books about birds for your own personal library.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Cute hangings for your yard.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

They have a special wall in the store where they display bird pictures taken by anyone and everyone. All you have to do is send them a picture!

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Bird houses and bird feeders of all shapes and sizes to help us care for our feathered friends.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Proof outside that their bird feeders work:

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Hot pads, coffee cups, and hand towels.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Birds, nests, and eggs for inside, without the resulting mess to clean up.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Shirts and socks. No pants? No underwear? Sad.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Beautiful and whimsy wall art.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Dishes.

The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

Of course, I came home with something. I could have come home with a lot more but I was in the Corolla instead of the 18-wheeler.

Barn owl from The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

And if there are birds around, well, you know there has to be a cat around, too. Here’s The Birdwatchers indoor kitty:

Indoor kitty at The Birdwatcher in Julian, California

As soon as I told her that I was going to make her an Internet star, she gave me that look in the first photo and then curled up and pretended she was asleep. Yeah, right.

I was carrying my new video recorder around with me and got a short video of the many hummingbirds hanging out. I think The Birdwatcher even has more hummingbirds than the San Diego Zoo!

If you need anything at all relating to birds, stop by The Birdwatcher in Julian, California.

I'm Zoey the Cool Cat, and I approve this post

The Squirrels are beating the Rabbits, 4-2

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I live in my own little world

On June 26, 1999, Jim and I closed on our first home. We were celebrating 5 years together. Although it was much too big for two people— 11141 Valley Lights Drive, El Cajon CA

3,984 square feet on 1.83 acres of land with a 45,000-gallon swimming pool and a 15,000-gallon spa

—we probably would still be living there if Enron of Houston had been not so greedy….

In June 2000 our gas & electric bill was $4,700, a thousand dollars higher than our monthly mortgage. We never thought prices would come down so we decided to sell. We closed escrow on the sale on June 26, 2001, exactly two years to the day after we bought it. It wasn’t until December 2001 that the world found out that Enron had been manipulating the energy markets west of the Mississippi River. After Enron’s bankruptcy, energy prices here in San Diego did come back down.

That was the largest house and the largest yard we have had. We rented a house from 2001 to 2002 while looking for a house to buy. We settled on one that was 1,588 square feet on ¼ acre. We stayed there for five years when we decided to downsize, which basically meant going someplace without a yard. My poor body just wasn’t into yard maintenance anymore.

We lived in condominiums from 2007 to 2017, one of them 50 feet up in the air, before deciding that we’d rather be back on solid ground. Our new home, which we moved into on July 21, 2017, is 1,440 square feet and has a yard which has not been landscaped. So I have a little work to do there, but the yard is not too large so I think it is manageable, especially since I’m going to switch to container gardening.

We are in the boondocks, so we have a lot of wildlife out here, and I think container gardening will be less disruptive to their way of life. The living room looks out on a corner which is conducive to watching the wildlife. That corner is where I feed and water the wildlife. This morning I got a picture of four squirrels and two rabbits sharing among themselves.

It's 4-2, squirrels over rabbits

Since baseball season is nearing an end, we’ll say the score is 4-2, Squirrels over Rabbits. But it’s just the top of the second inning.

Even got a picture of a rabbit taking a bath. Who knew?

Rabbit bath

I also had two unknown birds stop by this morning for bird baths, so I guess I need a bird feeder, too.

Unknown bird and squirrel

I don’t know what kind of bird that is, but it’s quite beautiful with its long, curved beak.

Unknown bird

I have named the corner “Wildlife Corner.”

With our new window tinting, I can now get right up against the window because the wildlife outside cannot see into the house. It will make for great picture taking, and once I get the living room floor cleaned, I’ll set up my camera on a tripod so I can take videos. These squirrels and rabbits are just way too much fun to watch.

I'm Zoey the Cool Cat, and I approve this post

Meal time is for the birds!

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I love to watch wildlife eat.

I don’t always have a great appreciation for some of the things they eat, but I love watching just the same.

Here is a video of meal time for the African Openbilled Storks (Anastomus lamelligerus) at the San Diego Zoo:

I’m wondering if you can guess the native habitat of the African Openbilled Stork…………LOL

As you can see from the video, they eat snails, mollusks, and—gulp—mice. I liked the way several of the birds picked up a mouse, walked over to the water, and proceeded to wash their food before they ate it….

Although not endangered globally, they are threatened in South Africa by habitat loss, entanglement in fishing lines, and pesticides added to water to control mosquitoes.

Need a unique gift?
Choose Photographic Art!
Visit Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos at Fine Art America.

SNIPPETS (5-24-14)

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snip-pet: a small piece of something

: mini blog posts

SNIPPET 1

I hope everyone had a happy World Turtle Day yesterday! Let’s have one final turtle picture in honor of turtles throughout the world.

SNIPPET #2

Sometimes when I’m doing a home inspection, a child follows me around, often asking, “What are you doing?” My answer never satisfies them because they following up that first question with a second one: “Why?”

Sometimes a cat or dog will follow me around, such as this little cutie:

I’m pretty sure she had no interest in becoming a home inspector. Another few minutes and my bag would have been her new home!

SNIPPET #3

Sometimes I get followed around by non-children, non-cats, and non-dogs:

Those birds were used to being fed right there. How do I know? Because the property was vacant except for a big jar of bird seed to feed the little ones. How sweet.

SNIPPET #4

Ever wonder what a butterfly convention looks like?

SNIPPET #5

I ordered a printer from Staples on May 15. A couple of minutes after placing the order, I got an email message that it would be here May 23. The email included tracking information so I could follow its journey to San Diego. The tracking information link never worked.

No notification arrived yesterday, either by phone or email, so I chatted with a Staples rep online. The printer had been here since May 16! No phone call or email notification from Staples telling me that, though. Ack!

Where is our customer service today? Oh, wait. Staples is a company that Mitt Romney set up. Nevermind. (That was a political comment…)

SNIPPET #6

Who was the bright individual who decided that power buttons should be on the back of big, tall, wide printers? In fact, who decided that power buttons, possibly the most used and most critical part, should be on the back of anything? Ack!

SNIPPET #7

Zoey the Cool Cat did not like the box the printer came in. It was way too big. However, she did like all the papers that came with it.

SNIPPET #8

The jacarandas are looking particularly stunning this season, possibly because rainfall was lower than normal. They just really don’t like to be all wet.

Here is Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos of my favorite
jacaranda so far this purple season:

SNIPPET #9

I realize that all life dies, but I still feel sorry when it happens, as with this poor duck which died at Union Station in Los Angeles.

SNIPPET #10

Ever find a really neat-looking building and wish you had enough money to buy it just to say that it was yours?

When I went to the Cat House on the Kings fundraiser on May 3, this building was next to the hotel where I stayed:

It used to be a restaurant, King’s Buffet, but it is vacant and shuttered now, wanting someone to buy it and bring it to life again.

Need a unique gift?
Consider Photographic Art!

Visit Russel Ray Photos.

Visit Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos at Fine Art America.

►►►►◄◄◄◄

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend James Frimmer, Realtor, CDPE
CA BRE #01458572

►►►►◄◄◄◄

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

My new BFF

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I found a new BFF at Chollas Lake Park today.

I went there specifically to feed the ground squirrels.

Lots of little baby squirrels running around but they don’t seem to eat bread yet.

Only the older squirrels were interested in bread.

Following are four videos of my time at Chollas Lake Park.

In the first video, watch how an aggressive snow goose went after the little boy with food in his hand.

Friendly ground squirrels

Baby ground squirrels

My new BFF

I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

You stay on your side, we’ll stay on ours

11 Replies

That picture was taken in La Jolla, California, where my home inspection was earlier today. There are five seals on the left end of the island and lots of cormorants on the right side.

I have always wanted a panorama picture of that rock, and after my home inspection, I walked across the street to take four pictures which I then had Photoshop CS6 merge into a panorama. So easy…. So cool.

Now I have to look for a new theme that will let me have a wider blog. This 600 pixels width is for the, uh, birds, so to speak.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

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