Today I settled onto the back porch with my camera and a simple goal: to photograph the birds visiting our backyard rest stop. Throughout the day, they arrived to refuel on seeds and flower nectar, pause for a drink, or splash enthusiastically in the birdbath. Each species seemed to keep its own schedule, as though the garden were a well-organized little station along a busy avian highway. The birds clearly prefer this bath to the one in front. Here they can perch—or dangle—a

I took time today to observe birds and bees and a few other things. I sat on the porch for a while and took photos of some of the visiting birds. I also used Merlin to identify bird song. This is what Merlin picked up: Lesser Goldfinch Pine Siskin Steller's Jay White-breasted Nuthatch Oak Titmouse American Robin Acorn Woodpecker House Finch California Towhee American Goldfinch Anna's Hummingbird Chestnut-backed Chickadee Spotted Towhee Dark-eyed Junco Yellow-rumped Warbler Mo

Most of the flowers I enjoyed in April are still lingering, while a few, like the Globe Lily (Calochortus albus), made only a brief appearance. The most prolific flower in May is Iris fernaldii. A few began blooming in late April, but now the fields are full of them. This year, irises are appearing in places where I haven’t seen them before, especially in areas where trees have died and opened the canopy to sunlight. They spread by underground rhizomes, yet it still baffles m

When I arrived home after three days in Monterey Bay, I found a disgusting pile of something on my front lawn. I had made cauliflower curry a few days earlier, so naturally that was the first thing that came to mind. Had some animal gotten into the house, eaten the leftovers, and vomited on the lawn? That couldn’t be. Still, it certainly looked as if some creature had regretted a very bad meal. I checked the Reconyx camera to see if it had captured the culprit, but there were