Another scorcher

Came down to CMO fairly early this morning and watered until it got up to 105,° then took a nap. Three miles to the south of me got .65" rain yesterday. CMO, nothing. I was feeling deprived until I realized how lucky I am to at least have plenty of water.... for now. Of course, today the pump would only work about 10% of the time so I only got half the watering done.

While I'm watering a tree and waiting to move the hose to the next tree I look for odes and butterflies. Fun today because I got to start my July lists. Thus occupied, I went into the arroyo behind the oasis. When I spied a bird flush from a nest in my soapberry thicket I tried to photograph the nest from the arroyo where I was standing to see if I could figure out what species it was. The Lumix is a bit hard to focus and in the process I saw an Elf Owl through the lens. Later, when I went to show my sister, the owl had relocated, but he stayed put when I was there.

Here's the nest. Since I have a limited number of nesting species, there aren't too many things it can be. Maybe a Varied Bunting?

A few butterflies from today....

Tiny Checkerspot

Chinati Checkerspot

Vesta Crescent

Remember when I posted a video clip of the two mountain lion cubs captured on my sister's wildlife cam? (Jan 16) Well she hadn't gone up the mountain to check her camera for about 4 months and now the cubs are full-grown. The one's calls sound just like an Elf Owl to me. (turn on sound). The dates the videos were taken are on the lower right hand corner of the screen.






Tomorrow I'll post some video clips of Aoudad in the cave.