Earth Day Eve

 

Anna's Hummingbird & Salvia Near Elk Glen Lake

I was reading an article about the intricacies of the biological motors that propel bacteria and another about how the motors evolved from the kinds of ion pumps that power mitochondria. Check out the illustration of the motor at the top of the article and you will agree with the author: "It's hard to fathom the level of engineering achievable by a billion years of bacterial evolution."

Add another three billion years and you have hummingbirds beating their wings fifty times per second while steering their beaks into the nectar rewards deep inside flowers seemingly tailor-made for them.

Life on Earth is a mind-blowing marvel.

I had to step into my rain pants about five minutes into my walk, but they went back into my knapsack about 20 minutes later. I snapped this partial rainbow because houses blocked the rest of it and I didn't know how long it would last.

I finally got into the open at the Sunset Parkway.

Iris After The Rain

Iris at Mallard Lake

Someone moved Woody Wooduck to a new spot.

California Towhee About To Fly With Nest Material

Allen's Hummingbird Perched Above Mallard Lake
(A pair of Wilson's warblers were calling out while foraging around the lake, but the only photo I snapped isn't worth posting.)

Mt. Clathrus

There was lots of Clathrus ruber (latticed stinkhorn) just east of Mallard Lake. I might check up on it again tomorrow.

I couldn't tell what the hummer was going after and wondered if she was sipping water droplets off the lupine leaves.

Lots of red-winged blackbirds were singing and cavorting around Elk Glen Lake.

Purple Finch

The Clamp-down

Followed By Twisting

The Salvia patch hummingbirds don't always keep watch from out in the open. This one was preening deep within the foliage.

After chasing an interloper, the hummingbird landed on a perch just a few feet away, allowing me a quick portrait before he buzzed off.

The hummingbirds chase and get chased, but they seem to take it stride either way.

Even after being chased, they eventually find a way to satisfy their needs.

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