The Way Eye See It

This is just a random little project I started for no reason. I was collecting the inside stickers from printable CD labels, and got the idea to draw various different eyeballs from all sorts of creatures. How many do you recognize? (And don't feel bad if it's not many, I'm not the best eyeball drawer in the world.) See below for answers:)

Human, snow owl, pengiun, iguana, spider, snail, shark, horse, cuddle fish, chameleon, goat, cat, barn owl, alligator, Secretary bird, tarsier, dragonfly, shrimp, frog, wolf.

Bear! ... Humans!

When I was in northern California we saw a reasonable amount of wildlife. Hawks, and owl, blue jays, squirrels, deer, a variety of insects, and one freaked out bear. We were actually in the car riding down the road from camp to "town, when it came tearing across the road in a panic, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Were like "Bear!" and I'm guessing by her pace the bear was thinking "Humans!" and raced for the hills and off into the woods on the other side. We were all so surprised that it was practically gone before I even thought to reach for my phone to snap a photo. I got two. They are kind of blurry and the bear was far away, but I think you can at least tell it was a bear, and not a bunny or a bigfoot. I had no idea they could run that fast. It was pretty amazing to watch.

My Little Cheep Cheeps

Proud Parents:
Cheep Cheep (on left) and Cheeper (on right) 

For the most part my little patio garden is devoid of any living things besides those that creep or crawl....or shimmy (is that what snails do?). But every spring, for the last 3 years I have noticed that a couple birds (actually 4 last year) seem to find my hanging spider plants an ideal location to nest. But never before has it resulted in chicks. The first year it rained and a gutter broke and practically washed all the dirt out of the pot along with nest. Last year a ornery old cat came and knocked the plant over,  (I still don't want to think about what happened after that).
So this year I made sure I moved my hanging spider plant to be both out of the rain, AND in a place that felines can't reach. And just like clock work, my little birds came back! There were only two this year (I had 2 doves also last year, but I think the cat ate them because there were feathers....lots and lots of feathers...)
And sure enough they made a little home in my spider plant! When I got home from Alaska, about two weeks ago the pair, Cheeper (Momma bird) spent most of her time in the nest, while Cheep Cheep (Poppa bird) spend most of his time "cheeping" at me and trying to distract me from said nest.
Then about a week and a half ago I was outside watering my plants when I heard the weirdest noise. It was like a high pitched screeching noise. Kind of like an "eeeeeeeeee". Then as suddenly as it began it would stop. Meanwhile Cheep Cheep was practically having a heart attack and jumping all over the place, fluttering around me, and getting much closer than normal. That was when I realized I was getting awfully close to the nest with my watering can. So I backed away and took a seat at my patio table and waited. Soon Cheaper was back, and she took a sort of incremental path to the nest watching me the whole time while Cheep Cheep was STILL jumping around making a racket and trying to distract me. She wouldn't fly up there if I was looking right at her, so I had to hide behind my sunglasses and turn my head a little in the other direction. Then she'd go from her lookout on the fence to the olive tree....wait, and check on me...then from the olive tree to the bistro table.....wait, check on me again....and then quickly up to the nest, where I immediately after heard "eeeeeeeee".
My birds had babies!!! Hooray! I was super excited. It sounded like two or three, but I never got close enough to actually look in the nest because I was afraid that Momma and Poppa would have a heart attack and die, or worse, abandon their little ones.
For about a week after that as soon as I got home from work I'd open the sliding door and listen to my little avian family. And it was always the same routine. Cheep Cheep was the lookout, and first responder whenever I stepped outside on the patio. He was relentless in chirping at me and never stopped until I went inside. Cheaper was a diligent mother going back and forth, back and forth, with food for her babies. I think she trusted Cheep Cheep to keep me distracted because she never went out of her way to ward me off. She only made sure I wasn't looking when she flew into the nest with her mouthful of green little worms and insects.
I managed to take a photo of the nest from afar by holding up my camera, and zooming in, but it's not a great shot, and I didn't dare try to get any closer for fear of attack by Cheep Cheep.
And then on Sunday morning I noticed a strange silence outside when I opened the sliding door. I stepped out, and Cheep Cheep wasn't there to holler at me. I got close to the plant and whistled, but still nothing. I have no idea how long baby birds take to leave the nest, but it seemed awful quick. I looked around on the ground hoping I wouldn't find little chicks with broken necks anywhere. I didn't.
Then on Monday when I got home from work I almost got dive bombed my Cheep Cheep on the way to the front door. I was like "What the heck?!" as I hurried to unlock the door and rush inside. I peered out the window, and even then Cheep Cheep was fluttering in front of it trying to distract me. I tried to see if maybe somehow the little chicks got out of the nest but couldn't fly, but Poppa was having none of it. I gave up.
Then on Tuesday I was walking to the front door again after work and a little tan and brown striped bird flew up and crashed into my screen door, then got stuck fluttering in the corner of the building. It was swerving (as much as a bird can swerve) all over the place, half falling then, flying up, then tumbling back through the air. At first I thought it was injured.....but then came Cheep Cheep and Cheaper to the rescue (yes she joined in this time). They practically dive bombed me, and  there was birds chirping, and flying things everywhere, and me freaking out in the middle of it all. Finally Cheeparito (the baby) managed to remove himself from my doorway and I was able to dash inside. I spent the next half hour at my kitchen window watching the FedEx, UPS and mailman get harassed by the worried parents. It's much funnier when it's not happening to you. I only saw the one chick, so I don't know if there were others that died or what.
Yesterday I was finally able to grab a couple photo's of my little family or squatters. Cheeparito doesn't look like mom or dad, but he is also much harder to see on the ground than they are, so maybe it's to protect him. I am wondering if his feathers wont change when he is older. I've heard of some birds laying eggs in others nests, so that's a possibility too. Either way he's pretty cute.
As of yesterday he can fly...sort of. And all afternoon he fluttered around the yard and bushes and mom and dad were right behind him. Cheaper is feeding him still. Or maybe she is trying to teach him what to look for and how to feed himself.
You might be wondering how I can tell Cheep Cheep from Cheeper, and it's mostly based on behavior, and the fact that Cheeper always feeds the baby. She stays on the ground looking for bugs and whatever only paying attention to me when I am super close, while Poppa is always between us, and ALWAYS watching me and ALWAYS making noise.
Anyway, I don't know a darn thing about birds really, so all of what I've written is just based on what I saw. Who knows? I could have it backward. Maybe the dad's feed the babies and the moms do all the guarding? I don't even know what kind of birds they are! But I've enjoyed observing them and learning a little about them through good old fashioned observation. Here are a couple photos of the happy family!

Cheeparito in his nest.

Cheeparito outside my kitchen window

Cheeparito. What a cute baby!

Cheeper with an ant in her mouth for baby.

Poppa Cheep Cheep always on the lookout!

Coldfoot Alaska: Arctic Safari Tour

Our tour guide Jason.

I went on the Arctic Safari Tour while visiting Coldfoot Camp. It's a tour that takes you further up the Dalton all the way to Atigun Pass. If you've done the drive from Fairbanks to Coldfoot (instead of flying) then you might wonder if the Safari will just be more of the same. It's not. Coldfoot lies just at the southern end of the Brooks Range, so what you drive through on the way between Fairbanks and Coldfoot is different. The Safari takes you straight through the Brooks Range all the way to the North Slope. The mountains are beautiful, and depending on when you go (I 've only gone in winter) there are also some rivers that I bet are beautiful when they are not covered in ice.  The geology also becomes pretty spectacular as you get closer to the pass. Even if you aren't into rocks, it's impressive enough to admire.
I am not sure what the animal situation is in summer, but in winter the main attractions are moose, ptarmigan, caribou, and Dall sheep. I am guessing in the summer black bears and grizzlys are around as well. On the tour I went on we saw three moose, a singular Dall sheep, and then a whole herd of 9 individuals further up the road, and a flock of snowy white ptarmigan. I guess I should say here that for the most part the animals were a ways off the road. It was the same the last time I took the trip. They don't like the trucks and noise, so they tend to stay back. But while they weren't cruizing down the shoulder, they were still visable and really beautiful. I only mention it here because I think that some people might feel disappointed they aren't up close. If you own a pair of binoculars I would totally recommend you bring them. Being able to see the amimals up close really made it more personal, and made up for the fact that they were kind of too far to photograph.
The drive is a long one, and the tour takes almost all day (from like 11:00-6:00) but it's worth it I think. It comes with a sack lunch, and there are hot beverages the whole time, and you can spend all your time looking out the window while the tour guide navigates the road.
If you sit in the back I would reommend requesting that the seats be rotated every couple stops, because the best photographs are out the front window. But I rode in the back the whole time and I didn't miss anything.  And still got some nice shots with my camera.
Also whenever possible the tour guides will pull of and let everyone out to photograph something interesting. They will only stop though if they can pull the van completely off the road. And you aren't allowed to leave the pullout areas to walk on the shoulder of the road either. The semi-trucks are dangerouns, as well as the gravel they can kick up, and for everyone's safety they limit when and where the tour can stop.
The tour passes the tree line (most tree lines are formed by going up in elevation, but this one is formed by latitude and the limits of sunlight) and there is a dramatic change in scenery as you climb the Chandalar Shelf and head up into Atigun Pass.
The final thing about the tour was that the guide provided a lot of information about the Camp, Wiseman, the Dalton itself, the pipeline, the local wildlife, and they were really interested in answering questions when they could, and sharing antecdotes along the way. On our safari we learned about the history of Coldfoot, and then by pure coincidence we ran into the guy (Dick Mackey) that actually founded the camp in the 80's. He's also a famous Iditerod musher! That was really awesome! And more exciting since we all had just learned who he was.
It was a fun trip, and I saw some really beautiful animals.  See below for a couple of my photos.

Semi truck heading north.

Jason taking photos of guests.

The Brooks Range and Ptarmigan Tracks

Ptarmigan

The Pipeline

Ptarmigan flying away.

The Pipeline and the Brooks Range

Lone Dall sheep

The icy Dalton

There are 8 Dall sheep in this photo!

Dick Mackey and pal.

Dick Mackey and Jason.

Watching mooses!

The moose that we were watching.

A Study in Jellies

I haven't painted in months. Part of the reason is that I paint outside on my patio, and its been winter. And the other half of that is that I just haven't been in the mood. But today was spectacularly sunny and warm, and it just so happened that I didn't have much to do. (OK, well I do have stuff to do, but...) And I suddenly felt inspired to paint!
My muse? Jellyfish, and the idea of making up a new method of painting. I know, it's weird, but that just  my crazy brain works! I don't know why it thinks what it does. I just do my best to go along with it.
Anyway, I gave it a shot. I have to say I am (mostly) pleased by the results...the only disappointment is that the (acrylic) paint looks so much brighter and prettier when it is wet than it does when it dries. I haven't figured out how to keep the colors vibrant, or maybe I'm going about it all wrong and have to think in brighter and lighter colors when I initially paint. At any rate, thanks to Instagram and their awesome filters, I was able to tweak the paintings to look just how they did when they were wet and fresh and...brillant. (Not intellectually brilliant, but in terms of color intensity;)
Anyway, these are the manifestations of my random mind on this very lovely Friday afternoon. I.e. here are the results of certain impulses that just happened to fire in my brain earlier today....Making something physical from only electrical/chemical energy (well, and some paint too). I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Brains are awesome!

Study 1

Study 2

Study 3

Bird Bath

I was just walking to the grocery store to pick up some soup for lunch when I noticed a blackbird taking a bath in a puddle created by a broken sprinkler head. I was amazed by this because it never really occurred to me that a bird is smart enough to take a bath. I mean, isn't that something? Somewhere in their brains is the knowledge and ability see a mud puddle and decide to clean themselves.
First it ruffled its feathers up, then it dipped its wings in the water then immediately shook them off. It did that a couple times, then it dipped it's head and sort of arched it's back and tail feathers up (splashing its back I guess) and repeated the whole process.  I don't know, maybe it's dumb, I certainly feel silly writing about it, but it just struck me when I saw it.
I got to thinking about it on my way back, and wondered exactly why they were doing it. It turns out that they do it for the same reasons we wash our hair, to remove some of the oil, and to keep lice away. Ha ha, isn't that great? If I ever have a reasonably sized back yard, I will have to get a bird bath.

B-E-A-utiful!

I did an image search the other day on Google, and was greeted with the most beautiful results I have ever encountered. Even though half my search involved the word "spider" I was pleasantly surprised by this lovely collage of arachnid eyeballs.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

Over the holiday break (and while I had family in town) we went down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for an afternoon of under-the-sea adventures. My two favorite exhibits were the jellys (they are always my favorite!) and a new one on seahorses. Take a peek at some of my best shots;)