Yay!

I went for a quick jaunt down by the river to see if I would be fortunate enough to see all the wildlife without worrying about keeping track of my dog. Not nearly as many birds were around this time, but still got to see some interesting wild life.

Got to see a red winged blackbird again today! I'm not sure if I saw a pair, or if it was one blackbird and one cowbird. The blackbird was hopping around on a partially submerged log, looking for bugs is my guess. They have such a pretty call, too. While watching him, I noticed all this crazy splashing on that pond and the pond on the other side. At first I thought maybe it was an otter or something outlandishly cool like that (because it appeared to be rolling over and splashing around), but after watching for a while one was finally close enough to tell that it was some sort of fish spawning. The guy next to me thought maybe carp but I have no idea. They were spawning like crazy!

On the way back, I saw some sort of large rodent. Possibly a beaver, but more than likely a nutria. I really couldn't see it that well, and I certainly couldn't see it's tail or I'd know for sure. :D

Noticed a sign today that said that this one area is a pond turtle nesting area. So maybe later we'll get to see some turtles! That would be awesome. Then when I was almost to my truck, I noticed a Canadian geese pair and was watching them and a mallard pair. Then across the pond I saw another geese pair surrounded by a ton of chicks! SO CUTE.

Saw Final Fantasy Advent Children at Suncoast for only $20, but they weren't open. Couldn't find it at Borders, but did find a Get Fuzzy collection (30% coupon! YAY!), His Dragon's Majest and some Naruto manga (sale!). Yay for books!

When Hummingbirds Attack!

Had a great day today. Went out to the ranch a little earlier than normal, so Nate and I could take a walk up the hill. The lower portion is fairly clear of blackberries, but I still don't see a way to make it up to the gravel road. I'll have to talk to my cousin, as my uncle thought he was working on clearing a path to get up there. Have to find out where he's doing that from so we can enjoy the long hike again! I'm so looking forward to it. It is so nice to be able to walk Nate off a leash and not have to worry about running into anyone else.

During lunch, we were watching the hummingbirds and finches at the feeders. Grandma has two hummingbird feeders - one on each side of the trailer house. I'm used to seeing the Anna's Hummingbird, but this is the first time I've seen the Rufous Hummingbird! SO pretty! We noticed that it seemed to be going from one feeder to the other, then disappearing for a while. After many hours (visiting, picking up groceries and Rx for grandparents, etc) we came back to discover that one of the Rufous males was guarding BOTH feeders as well as he could. He finally got to the point where he'd land on the fence and wait for one of the other hummingbirds to try to feed, then he'd dive bomb them. Then he'd go over to the other side of the house and repeat. Insane! He's using up all of his energy reserves doing that!! He also did NOT like us messing around in the garden. Eh. Oops! May have to move the feeders further from the house, but then that's no fun for watching them. So cool to see hummingbirds all day long like that, though!! I wish I had some that came to our house here in town. Maybe once my garden is up and growing it will look more inviting.

Sooooo tired. Couldn't get to sleep until midnight last night, and then woke up at 5 in the morning. Ack!! Oh, well. Had a great day but now I'm running out of steam. Also, today was gorgeous and sunny without being too warm. Perfect!