Around the ranch

You know, I don't often post photos of the horse ranch where I board my horses and I really should!  I spent a morning last week just walking around, observing all the other animals there.  Rabbits were out feeding on the hay pellets dropped by the horses and two ravens were awaiting their turn.  The lizards were out sunning themselves and doing pushups and the snake lizard nearly gave me a heart attack!  He's HUGE! (4th photo down from the top).  There are about a dozen baby hummingbirds buzzing around the 4 feeders, which the ranch owner has to fill daily.  There is a family of quail up there, but they mostly stay in the bushes. I hear one of them every now and then and yesterday a woodpecker was busy pecking something. There are numerous rabbits who also feed on the dropped horse pellets and I just sat and watched them one morning.  They quietly and cautiously moved among the horses' feet, but not once did the horses scare them.  There's a family of ravens who live on the ranch, along with the quail, doves, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds.  Oh, and some very noisy scrub jays live there, too.  I'm always finding lizards out by my feed and tack room and one morning, while I was cleaning out my tack box, the cutest little white and brown mouse popped out.  I screeched at it and it screeched at me and ran off!  I DO have to be careful because I've had snakes pop out of the owners' tack room, right where the water faucet stands at the corner of the building.  Fortunately they've all been non-poisonous, although last summer she did find the marks of a sidewinder rattlesnake down by the aviary.  I have also found a snake skin by one of the horse's feeders and I took it home and nailed it on our front gate!  I enjoy my early morning visits to the ranch, but it was hot up there yesterday...about 93 degrees.  We have thunderstorms forecast for Thursday and Friday and I'm hoping to get some pics of the thunderheads which are moving up the valley.

Old building

This old building is not far from where I found the owl on the road.  I've investigated it before, but I may have to go back for another look today.

Barn owl

My goal this summer has been to find and photograph an owl.  There's a little burrowing owl who perches up on a water tower down by my school, but I've wanted to find one out in the wild.  So, yesterday I took a short drive out in the country by my horses, since it was still early, and saw something sticking up in the road.  Thinking that it was the mate to the shoe I just saw, I kept going.  I went down another road and saw a hawk up on a telephone pole, but something nagged at me to turn around and investigate that "shoe", so I did.  Turns out, it was a freshly-hit barn owl.  And, yes, it was dead.  I thought it might be alive because its wing was moving, but it was just moving in the breeze.  I pulled over to investigate it and was amazed by the delicate and beautiful feathers.  I took a stick and moved him off the road, not wishing him to be run over any further.  Poor thing.  I wonder if he was out hunting for his owlets. Each baby requires 6 mice per night.  That's a LOT of mice!  The author of "Wesley the Owl" estimates that she bought 28,000 mice for Wesley during his life at $1.00 each!!!   What's really strange is that later that afternoon, after my nap, I drove out to COSTCO and found a book called, "Wesley the Owl", which is written by a gal who took care of a barn owl for nearly 20 years!  She got him when he was 4 days old (apparently he was the weakling of the bunch and was found abandoned on a trail in the San Gabriel mountains with a permanently-injured wing) and he imprinted on her.  She had to take him everywhere with her because, as she was told, "There are NO owl babysitters!".  He slept with her every night and so far their adventures are hilarious.  I'm learning a lot about barn owls just from reading her book.She got him in 1986, before stringent laws prevent a person from keeping a wild animal like an owl.  She did take him to work at the lab with her and at this point in the book, he is losing his baby feathers and learning how to stand on a perch.  As you can tell, I'm enjoying reading this book and I'm sure I'll be posting more about owls as I continue into it.

Fire on Highway 74

There was a small (2 acre) fire up on Highway 74 a couple of days ago.  It must have been far off the road because I didn't see any sign of it going up the mountain or coming down yesterday.  Thank goodness it was quickly put out!  Phew!~I  did notice yesterday that someone has closed off my favorite dirt road (see pics). I don't know if the forest service did this or who did it.  Frankly, I'm glad because that road is very narrow with a lot of vegetation.

Desert Sunrise~SkyWatch Friday~070512

I had to run out early July 4th to buy cat food because I had 3 hungry outdoor kitties LOOKING at me, begging to be fed, and I was out of cat food!  So, off to Vons I went at 6:01 a.m.!  I'm glad I was out that early and saw this early sunrise.  It turned out to be a beautiful monsoon day here in the desert...only 100 degrees, which is cool for July 4th.  SkyWatch Friday for July 6, 2012.  To visit SkyWatch Friday, please go to:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/

More fog pics

I just can't get enough of the fog!  I may take a morning and drive back next week!

Fog!

Hubby and I drove home yesterday from San Marcos to Palm Desert.  We went out 78, caught 79 in Temecula, and were followed by fog until about Aguanga.  I pulled over and hopped out of the car to take this photo.  Apparently I awoke a sleeping husband who wanted to know if we were home yet!  And, we awoke to RAIN this morning in the desert.  It's monsoonal rain, coming up from Mexico and the Gulf of California and thunderstorms are forecast for today.  I'm hoping to drive up Highway 74 along Deep Canyon and take some photos.