The woodpecker tree and the woodpecker~Nature Notes~050913

**** Well, BLOGGER is giving me FITS this morning and I can't even see this post on my blog, so I'll wrestle with it this afternoon!***  (...pulling out hair...) At the cabin we stayed in two weeks ago, there was an interesting tree in the middle of the quad~a woodpecker tree!  It was obviously used over many, many generations because it had holes all up and down it!  And, yes, some woodpeckers were busy attacking it the weekend we were there.  I enjoyed hearing and watching them.  One even flew down to a tree stump where I had placed some birdseed, turned his head sideways, and got some of the seeds.  It was fun watching him.  I've seen a flicker do that at the other cabins where we stay in Idyllwild, too.  Here are the pics of the tree and woodpeckers.  Nature Notes for May 9, 2013.

Koi pond

We're going BACK to Idyllwild this weekend, with the grandson and his parents.  We're all staying at a different cabin this time~one at the Silver Pines Lodge.  It's a large cabin, with a huge back porch that even has a sitting swing on it.  Oh, boy!  The grandson will love it!  And, there are LOTS of blue jays and squirrels to feed!  A couple dozen quail even stop by in the mornings and afternoons to feed, so I'm buying some extra birdseed today.  Oh, and there's the koi pond...hehehehe...guess who will be down there with a book, keeping one eye on the grandson!  I just finished In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead by James Lee Burke and now I'm starting at the beginning of that series with Neon Rain.  I really enjoyed the Electric Mist book, but I'm having a hard time getting into his first novel about the detective...sigh...I'll take a couple other ones, too, in case I give up!

Fire in a canyon!

It was cloudy here yesterday and Monday.  As I drove home from school, I could hear a helicopter flying up Highway 74.  (Highway 74 is the mountain road through our local mountains, which goes to either Anza, Hemet, or Idyllwild).  This was at the southern base, near Palm Desert, on the desert side.  Turns out,  there was a fire burning back in one of the canyons.  A helicopter was making trips to a golf course pond to pick up water and drop it on the fire.  So far, it was only about 3-4 acres.  (Here's the news link to the story:  http://www.kesq.com/news/fire-breaks-out-in-palm-desert-mountains-near-hwy-74/-/233092/20049342/-/4rtop1/-/index.html)  I could hear the helicopter all afternoon from our house.  Hope it is all out by now...Apparently another helicopter came to lift fire fighters up to the Art Smith trail. I took this photo yesterday morning, out by Interstate 10, looking up at our mountains.

Cabin porch~Shadow Shot Sunday~050413

These are porch views from our favorite cabin up in Idyllwild.  It's up at the Silver Pines Lodge.  We'll be taking the family (and grandson) up there pretty soon for a weekend. He's already asking his dad (our son), "When are we going back to OUR cabin in the mountains?  I wanna feed the blue jays!"  I'll be sure to take lots of peanuts for the blue jays and squirrels as they always enjoy their treats!  Shadow Shot Sunday for May 5, 2013.

Emergency vehicles~Sunday Stills Challenge~051513

I didn't get any photos of the three fire trucks that went to assist in the rescue of a hiker who fell 20-30 feet while climbing Tahquitz Peak, but I did get several photos of the helicopters which also went to assist him.  This was a nearly 3 hour rescue.  Apparently he was up on the solid granite peak.  I don't know how they finally got to him because, as you can see, this is in an extremely rugged area.  To visit the weekly Sunday Stills Challenge, please go to:   http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/

Mountain gate and fence~Friday's Fences~050313

While out for a walk one morning last weekend, we came upon this gate and fence.  Somebody sure was ready for last winter's cold days, eh?  Friday's Fences for May 3, 2013.   To visit Friday's Fences, please go to:   http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

Mountain Trees~Nature's Notes~050213

I love trees and last weekend there were plenty to see up in the mountains.  These are so different from the ones here in the desert!  That tall bare one is called the "woodpecker hotel" and if you click on the photos of it, you can see why!  Woodpeckers have drilled holes in it all up and down.  And, yes, they landed on it while we were there.  They especially liked landing on top of it.  However, I only got a couple of photos of the woodpeckers because they were most UNcooperative!!!  :-(  I did enjoy walking around and seeing all the beautiful trees up there.  Here are some other ones:

Nature's Notes for May 2, 2013.   To stop by and visit Nature Notes, please go to:   http://ramblingwoods.com/