D. August Baertlein - Writer & Ruminator
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Mother Nature Decorates for Christmas in the Chaparral

12/17/2019

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     The San Francisco Peaks stand dusted with a cape of snow. No, they're not in northern California, but in a volcanic field north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphrey's Peak is the highest one, and the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet. Mother nature lets us ogle them from below in our warmer chaparral climes.

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     Pale blue juniper berries are thick on some trees this time of year, absent from others. I've not figured out their schedule. We have at least two varieties of Juniper here—the alligator with chunky scaled bark like an alligator's skin, and another which I think is the California Juniper—but that doesn't seem to account for the difference in timing of the berries.

      My father-in-law used to take us looking for alligators when we'd visit from the desert. I thought he was yanking my chain the first time. And then we found one! What a card.

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     I confess. This Pyracantha isn't native, and the snowstorm at its feet swept in a few weeks ago and melted soon after.  But aren't the berries lovely? The internet says they're not toxic and birds will eat them, but mine linger for months untouched. Perhaps because they're not native here the birds haven't developed an appetite for them.

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     The red bark of manzanita is a year-round treat. Still, the Christmas colors caught my eye.  And dead branches, like those to the left above...

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     ...make a lovely Christmas tree.
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Spotted Towhee

12/12/2019

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     The Spotted Towhee is a a common sight here in the Arizona chaparral. In spring and summer I often see them perch high in trees singing up a storm. Audubon says this is the male defending his nesting territory.

     Apparently, they have several different calls. (Listen at this same Audubon website.) The one that catches my attention in spring and summer is a chip-chip-chip-buzzz call. The number of chips varies from two to four, and I've always wondered if it means something different in bird-speak, or if these are different call-signs of different birds.

     My sister, Kris August, gave me a fascinating audiobook on bird language
a few years ago. It's by the wilderness skills instructor and tracker, Jon Young. He talked a lot about towhees, which at the time I didn't know from chickadees or flickers or much of anything else for that matter. In this short video Young describes how paying attention to a towhee's behavior clued him in that he was being followed. 

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     Females and males have very similar color patterns, but the female has a grayer head, where the male's head is black. Both of these photos are probably of male birds.

     I enjoy spotting spotted towhees even in winter, but they're much quieter and shyer, down in the dirt scritching through fallen leaves for insects. By the time I raise my camera, they've generally flitted away. So these pictures are from summer and fall.

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Our Elusive Coyotes

12/4/2019

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     Coyotes can adapt to just about any environment. They modify their diet to whatever is available, from bugs and bunnies, to trash and house cats. They're everywhere, including here on the ranch.

     I hear them sometimes in the evening. On occasion I see one trotting across the road. too fast for me to whip out my phone or camera. One spring, a couple raised pups in the boulders not far from our house, defending vehemently when my dog came near. 

     So, surprisingly, this is my only Coyote picture. So far!

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    Author

    I made a career of writing software by day while scribbling stories by night, a combo made even odder by the fact that I started my adult life as a marine biologist/geneticist. 

    I got my Ph.D. ever so long ago, but I still love science, especially the biological variety. Now I write SciFi and Fantasy that's full of it!  Science, I mean.


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Photos used under Creative Commons from dedhed1950, ScottM70, peru, lili eta marije, erin_everlasting, timparkinson, allspice1