out with the kids

Nov 25, 2003
afternoon
Dry Creek east off Walerga Road
cool - maybe 60 - high thin clouds but sun is strong
hiking and exploring with the kids
constant sound of construction tractors
chirps and twirps from birds



The kids are antsy, not real happy to sit in one spot while I shoot and write. Little birds chasing each other catch our eyes and suddenly the tree seems to all be moving, little brown birds flitting around like little brown leaves. A sharp cry overhead gets our attention; a large bird of prey, white underneath with black tips on it's wings, grayish on it's back. Phil thinks maybe an osprey. Meanwhile, Dee has observed the little birds in the trees with her binoculars: goldfinches like some that visit our backyard.

The green grass is taller than the last time I came here. There hasn't been much more rain but it's been cool and moist.



We've headed back and we want to get closer to the creek again... The sun is so low that it puts the whole creek in shadow but the field to the south still has a nice glow.

late afternoon

Nov 21, 2003
park on Auburn Blvd near Watt Ave, next to Discovery Museum
late afternoon
cool & clear, not a cloud out but a light gusting breeze, almost too cold for my sweater

There's a bridle path near the creek here (maybe Arcade Creek?) but I don't have time to wander too far...



Big oak just off the bridle trail near a ballpark that's right here, too. Birds call out, one flies low and twees as I walk down the path, not a kildeer but I wonder if it's trying to get me away from a nest nearby.



Many many oak leaves litter the ground and crunch under my feet as I walk back to the car. It's a little sad that they just turn brown instead of some glorious red or yellow. I guess the Valley Oaks are glorious enough without flashy colors.

dry creek

Nov 13, 2003
Dry Creek at Walerga Road
2 p.m.
cool - mid 60's, a few clouds hide the sun, then it comes back out again

The weather has changed a lot these past two weeks - rains have come and gone and the creek is higher now. The plants and lower banks look as if they have been flooded lately, no doubt the waters rise during a storm.

A couple small brown sparrow types twit and hop among a pile of cut branches across the creek. Traffic passes by constantly - I'll see if I can follow the creek away from the road...

I've gone a little farther, now the sound of running water competes with the traffic. A crow passes overhead, calling out. A couple smaller birds chit chit chit in the branches of trees while the beep beep beep of heavy construction calls out.



Poking up from the dry horizontal straws are a carpet of fat new green short blades - rain here means green.



I stop to make a photograph and I hear rustling noises in the tall dead growth nest to the path I'm on. I'd love to look further but my time is up...