Three Men and a Dog: Days 1 and 2

Grand Canyon National Park

May 24 & 25, 2014

I spent Memorial Day weekend down at the Grand Canyon with my son Sam, my friend Jim and my dog Pongo.  We hit Sequoia National Park on the way home as well.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

We bombed all the way down to the canyon from the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday.  The drive took about thirteen hours.  Sam followed a couple of hours behind us.  He wouldn't be returning directly back to the Bay Area, spending a few weeks in Las Vegas instead, so we took separate vehicles.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Pongo woke me up at sunrise on Sunday morning.  I guess he was eager to get things going.  Sunrise in May at the Grand Canyon is around 5:00, if you're wondering just how early that is.  No one else was moving that early, so Pongo and I drove to the rim to see the early morning light over the canyon.  It wasn't the most breathtaking of experiences.  I mean, within context.  It was still a sunrise over the freaking Grand Canyon, but I'm sure there have been more interesting sunrises in that place.  The sky was a bit overcast and perhaps hazy from nearby fires, casting everything in a blue light.  Better pictures would come later in the day.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

When we got back to the campsite we found Jim sitting semi-aware in his chair.  He mumbled that he'd heard me start the car and had tried to get out of his tent to go along but the zipper on his tent was stuck.  At least, I think that's what he said.  It's always hard to tell with him until he's had his morning coffee.  We immediately set about getting some caffeine into his system.  Sam awoke soon after.  I have never seen Pongo as excited about something as when he saw Sam come out of his tent.  We had pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast then set out for our first adventure on the rim of the canyon.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Our first stop was the Bright Angel Trailhead on the South Rim.  From there, we hiked about a mile and a half to Maricopa Point.  Pongo saw a lot of lizards on the trail.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

After wrapping up that hike, we headed back to the campsite for lunch and a nap.  We were all pretty tired from the previous day's drive, the hike and having gotten up at the crack of dawn.  Pongo and I took a walk around the campground.  We found elk droppings about ten yards from Sam's tent.  We also saw a hairy woodpecker.  Later in the afternoon an elk walked through the campsite next to ours.

White-breasted Nuthatch -- Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

After a nice long rest, we decided to head out to Desert View to watch the sun go down.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The views at the East end of the South Rim were spectacular.  The sunset wasn't dramatic, but it lit the Eastern wall up nicely.  Pongo stepped on a cactus.  Poor dog.  He wasn't too happy.  He tried to attack the cactus we saw the next day.  Payback or something.  He also got to see a few elk from not too far away, so hopefully that made up for it.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

Working Birds

December 15-20, 2013

I've been spending a lot of time at work over the last few weeks.  I haven't had much of a chance to get out.  I decided to take my camera to the office and try to grab some pictures at lunch.  I caught a few birds in the parking lot, but a couple of times I drove down to Pleasanton Ridge for little lunch hour nature hikes.  It was a great way to spend a lunch hour, I suspect I'll make it a regular habit for a while.

Dark-eyed Junco -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

There are two large trees in the Pleasanton Ridge parking lot.  There's an insane amount of activity around those two trees.  The first thing I noticed were all the ground squirrel holes.  A small city of rodents must live under these trees.  After seeing the holes I noticed the squirrels themselves.  They're very skittish.  Then I realized the ground was moving.  It was swarming with little dark-eyed juncos.  They blended right in with the dried leaves.

Acorn Woodpecker -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

White-breasted Nuthatch

After watching the juncos for a while, I heard knocking in the trees.  A woodpecker!  Who doesn't like woodpeckers?  I found three acorn woodpeckers working one of the trees over.  Those little guys work hard.  Then I heard a knocking low on the trunk, much lower than where the acorn woodpeckers were storing their acorns, and I saw the head  of a nuttall's woodpecker poking around the edge of the tree.  Then a nuthatch darted around from the other side of the tree.  There were other birds darting in out of the trees.  What a crazy amount of activity for just a couple of old trees.

Nuttall's Woodpecker -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

Western Scrub-jay

There's a lot of activity up on the trail as well, but to really get a hold of it you've got to stop and allow yourself to become part of the environment.  The trees and bushes are full of sparrows that will drop down to forage once you've become part of the landscape.  I heard frogs croaking on one of the grassy hillsides, but I couldn't find the frogs.  I found a little hole, I suspect they were tucked down inside it.

Golden-crowned Sparrow -- Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, CA

Shoot, I almost left out the cedar waxwing I saw at work.  What a pretty bird,  He was too small to get a good look at when he was right in front of me.  Once I got home and saw the pictures, though, I became an instant fan.  What a beautiful bird.  Great hair, too.

Cedar Waxwing -- Pleasanton, CA