Of Birds and Bees, and More

I'm having some success capturing the local birds in photos.  Some are a challenge. The chickadees, titmice and nuthatches zoom in and out so fast that it's tricky to catch them.

Update: Just after I posted yesterday, I was able to catch a hummingbird in action:

A really lucky shot!

Nice view of her irridescent back

With wings extended

Best photos yet of the Western Scrub Jay:

The Black-headed Grosbeaks are back:

The House Finches always seem to arrive in bunches:

Dark-eyed Juncos prefer feeding on the ground:

Here are some of the speedy visitors:

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Nuthatch - if it walks down trees upsidedown, it's a Nuthatch

Nuthatch in a rare still moment

Oak Titmouse

Now, on to the bees:

Tower of Jewels - the bees love it

In coming...

Yum...

The bees like these, too:

Happy Chappy rose

Parrot's Beak

Critters - real and imaginary:

Where there are bird feeders in the neighborhood, there will be squirrels.

Newly acquired sheep sculpture 

Almost looks real, but definitely NOT fuzzy

Various views from the hill:

The bay from our top floor

Close up of buildings across the bay

Container ship in the bay

Muted sunset tones

Canyon side after a rain

Sun breaking through, clouds over Mt Diablo

Beauty and My Olympus SH-1 Camera

Having a new camera has inspired me to try some new things - such as getting up at 4:40 AM PDT to catch the recent lunar eclipse.  I set up a tripod and set the SH-1 to night time and maximum magnification and was able to get this photo:

April 4 lunar eclipse as seen from the Oakland Hills

(Tip: click on any photo for a larger version.)

Here's the regular view for comparison:

Moon over the bay

I'm still fascinated by sunsets & rises, views of the bay & canyon and rainbows.

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An all to infrequent event here - rain.

Coral bells after the rain

A Scrub Jay enjoying some artifical rain.

Plants on the decks, balconies and in the yard.

Tower of Jewels plant continues shooting up

Tower of Jewels beginning to flower - close up

Parrots Beak bursting into bloom

What the Parrots Beak looked like ust after we bought it last year

Rose season begins for us

Early Girl and Black Cherry tomato plants

The latest version of our driveway planters:

The newest addition - an Echeveria cante (White Cloud)

Oscularia - pre-bloom

What the Oscularia looked like almost a year ago.
We're eager to see this year's blooms.

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Kalanchoe pumila starting to bloom despite being munched by the House Finches

What the Kalanchoe looked like last year when we bought it

We moved this Artemisia (last year's photo) to a new location

Artemisia (2 plants) with flower spikes in their new location to the right of a Manzanita

Manzanita means little apple - fruit visible in this photo

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We are moving his lovely Lavender to a location where it will have more room.
We're hoping it will continue to grow and spread. 

We enjoy our neighbors' yards, too.

California poppies in the foreground, ice plants above

And the plants we see around town.

Bougainvillea

Giant Bird of Paradise - aka wild banana