Critters

First Ride in the Convertible

bear-bertable2.jpgLately, we have been getting ‘Bear’ our G-Shep/Lab mix dog accustomed to riding along with us from time to time. We’re hoping that she will get used to it so when we take our winter cruise in the motor home, she will be mellow and not hyper.

Today, she rode along with me while we were on an errand, and her mood was somewhere between hyper and mellow. She had never been in my Sebring convertible prior to today; she was very good with it and seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

Firestorm Caused by a Bird?

orange-sun.jpgA Local brush fire is now under control, but not before the smoke nearly blotted out the sun. Fine, white ashes continue to fall here, even after sunset. This is how the sun looked mid-afternoon from the back yard. Click to enlarge.

SoCal Edison blamed the fire on a bird. From the Daily Breeze:

Firefighters mopped up the remnants of a 10-acre brush fire this afternoon that briefly threatened the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall earlier in the day.

Unlike fires raging elsewhere in Southern California, the one on the Palos Verdes Peninsula was put out quickly. It took about 100 firefighters and two helicopters about an hour to extinguish it, authorities said.

The fire was reported at 11:02 a.m. It burned in a canyon near Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive South.

“It started to go to the city yard,” said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Jeff Vroomes. “That was our priority. We made an aggressive attempt to get in front of it.”

No homes were immediately threatened.

Southern California Edison officials determined the fire was caused by a bird that landed on power lines. After being killed by electricity and catching fire, the animal fell into the dry brush, Vroomes said.

A Pretty Pelican

I took so many pictures at the seashore over the past couple of beautiful weekends here in SoCal. I keep finding many that I want to share at the peril of looking like “The Seaside Channel.” Anyhow, this one of yet another California Brown Pelican in flight along the cliffs caught the details of the underside of these beautiful birds. Click on the image for the large version.

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California Brown Pelicans Soar over the Cliffs

On a clear, beautiful day on the Southern California Coastline near Point Vicente, I took over two hundred fifty photos. This is one of several that stood out as exceptional. These are California Brown Pelicans soaring in the updrafts over the cliffs on the south side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Santa Catalina Island can be seen across the channel in the background.

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Click on this image for the large size.

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is 42-54 in (106-137 cm) in length, weighs from 6-12 lbs (2.75 to 5.5 kg) and has a wingspan from 6 to 8.2 ft. (1.83 to 2.5 m).

Contented

Going through the electronic photo album, I ran across this image of “Bear,” our Lab-Shep family companion. She just finished her “Frosty-Paws” doggie ice cream treat and rolled onto her back in her characteristic gesture of contentment. After a tough week on Wall Street, this is something we should all do – have some fun and be contented. Click the image for big.

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