I was outside
this morning by 6:30 and hummers were already on the feeders. They were up and
moving before I was! I saw no sparrows on the ground at this time, but at 6:31
a.m., there was one on the suet cake. Temperature was a balmy 59o ,
but it still felt a bit cool after climbing out of a warm bed. Sunrise clocked
in at 6:37 today, so based on my observations the birds were a smidge ahead of
their usual morning schedule.
----------
The hummingbirds
were slow in coming to the yard this year. Now, there are routinely 6 or 7
flitting around, being sassy with each other. I’m out of the way of their
antics if I’m sitting alongside the camper; usually in the mornings, I sit at
the picnic table. Due to the number of hummers flying around nilly willy this
morning, twice I thought I was going to get hit. But both times, the bird expertly
swerved around me. No flailing of arms
necessary on my part.
----------
Took an e-bike
ride down to the end of Picacho Hwy this morning. Left at about 9:15, returned
about 11:15. Only purpose was to get some exercise; although Kim did have the
drone onboard, just in case an opportunity arose. I reset my trip meter before I
left the yard; Kim reset his over by the mailboxes, which meant mine was
already at .2 miles when his trip meter was set. When we finished, mine was reading 17.8 miles
and Kim’s was reading 18.1 miles. So,
mine was ahead of his to start and his finished ahead of mine…and we both rode
the same route. Something’s not right about that, but roundtrip was somewhere
in the 18-mile range.
Both of us have
been trying to rely on our own pedal power instead of using Pedal Assist too
often, so we were able to limit battery usage on several of our longer bike rides.
However, all good things must come to an end…the batteries were both in the
range where getting charged before another big ride was prudent. Because they
were going on the charging when we got back to camp, there was more use of the throttle
on the return trip. Felt wrong…bicycles use pedal power and motorcycles use throttles.
----------
On our ride
today, we rode past a dead rattlesnake in the road; Kim always has to turn
around to check the snake. This one had a mark on its underbelly and was laying
on its back but otherwise there was no sign of injury. In fact, when Kim made a
move to pick it up, I asked if he was sure it was dead because it wasn’t smashed.
He assured me it was dead. Indeed, it was a dead diamondback rattler maybe a
little over 2 feet long. We’ve seen several dead rattlesnakes over the years,
but the rattle was always flattened. This snake had a pristine rattle and in a
moment of not being myself, I asked Kim if he could cut the rattle off. He
obliged and held it out to me. Having suddenly come back to my senses, I asked,
“You mean, it has to be put it my saddlebag?” Wrapped it in a napkin and dropped it in my
bike bag. I know there are grandkids who will find it very interesting.
----------
As we were
riding along, Kim wondered if the number of segments on a rattle indicates the
age of the snake. I looked it up when we got back to camp. The short answer is: No, it doesn’t.
The slightly
longer answer is: No, because rattle segments are added when a snake sheds its skin,
which happens multiple times a year for younger snakes and less often for older
snakes. And segments can break off due to wear and tear because after all, a
snake crawls on its belly.
----------
----------
By starting earlier on our bike ride, we beat the hottest part of the
day. However, this afternoon, there was no relief from the heat. It was 90o
and no moving air. Turned the air on in the camper and then went to the movies
so the camper could cool down while we were gone. Saw ‘Solo Mio’ and both of us enjoyed it. Good
plot, interesting characters and predictable outcome. Plenty of humor, no profanity,
a little implausible at times perhaps, but still a good movie.
----------
A Gila woodpecker found the broken-up pieces of the seed ring on the
ground this afternoon. Spent a lot of time hammering away at it. I don’t know
why it didn’t pay attention to it when it was hanging from the tree, though. The
Gila has been more interested in the hummingbird feeders than the seed ring. Then
in the early evening, Peter Cottontail was in the yard enjoying it also. So, I expect that it won’t be laying around
the yard much longer.
----------
Sky cleared off, so Kim was able to set the scope to take more images of
the Dolphin Head Nebula.
