The Flickr Pushingthesliders Image Generatr

A clump of primroses find a sunny spot among the undergrowth.
My own textures and DXO NIK filters applied in LR and PS

Going to extremes! Messing about on the MAC on a lazy Saturday morning! A hoverfly collects nectar and pollen from a flaming Willow flower. My own textures and overlays. NIK filters applied using LR and PS

Sweet Honesty (Lunaria annua) that was growing in my back yard.

Messing about on the Mac. Pushing the sliders again using NIK filters, various textures and PS

A daily doodle. Pushing the sliders again

"Like human language, bird song changes over time and space. Local song traditions change as human language does. Largely for this reason birdsong, like language, shows geographical variations or dialects. The song of the Common Yellowthroat, a rapid "witchity-witchity-witchity," gains more syllables in each witchity from north to south. "

Sy Montgomery
Birdology: Adventures with a Pack of Hens, a Peck of Pigeons, Cantankerous Crows, Fierce Falcons, Hip Hop Parrots, Baby Hummingbirds, and One Murderously Big Living Dinosaur

W9 and I watched half a dozen or more juvenile (?) Allen's Hummingbirds play. They staged mock battles midair and harassed each other with their pendulum display. It was a raucous recess at Hummingbird Kindergarten. I have never witnessed behavior like this or seen so many hummers in one tight area without feeders before.
The photo shows an adult calmly mining a flower at the South Coast Botanic Garden today.

"Butterbutt biology: warblers, migration and mitochondria

A non-migratory population of songbirds appears to have acquired mitochondria from their close relatives that are migratory, potentially allowing these birds to migrate better
A non-migratory population of songbirds appears to have acquired mitochondria from their close relatives that are migratory, potentially allowing these birds to migrate better, according to a newly-published study by a group of researchers based at Canada's University of British Columbia. Mitochondria synthesise the biochemical energy that powers living cells. The team studied a population of neotropical warblers living in the transition zone between the northern (seasonally migratory) form and the southern (resident) form. Using a variety of novel approaches, they compared mitochondrial genetics and function, and migratory behaviour. The researchers found that mitochondria in flight muscles of the migratory birds may be more metabolically efficient, thus capable of powering the energetic demands of migration over longer distances.
..."Our findings suggest that over generations, the Audubon's warbler may have co-opted the myrtle's mitochondria to better power its own travels", said Mr Toews.

Yellow-rumped warblers are not the only known example of mitochondrial borrowing: last year, Mr Toews and a colleague, Alan Brelsford, identified more than 100 such cases in animals."
theguardian.com

"This little checkered butterfly is mostly white above, with black patches that generally form a checkered pattern

Size of this butterfly is 1 and 1/2 inches to 2 inches from wing tip to wing tip...
A black and white butterfly that can be seen throughout much of the United States and southern Canada, For some reason, this butterfly excludes the Pacific Northwest as part of its home range.

It is generally on the wing from spring to fall, and the year round in warmer climates.

This checkered butterfly frequents open spaces, parks and often visits home gardens."
gardening-for-wildlife.com

"The non-native non-migratory Nutmeg Mannikin, also known as the Scaly-breasted Munia or the Spice Finch, has been added to the California Bird Records Committee State List. The listing has proved somewhat controversial, as the species is endemic to Asia." audubon

W9 and I find ourselves walking the mulched path along the racetrack of Jefferson Blvd.
Now the light is better. Thin clouds pass overhead. The sun is lower in the sky.
We haven’t traveled far but apparently this duck has.
I set my camp stool up at the water's edge. The ground is soggy and spongy. The stool legs are slowly sinking. Unevenly. I do my best to dig my heels into the soft muddy soil. My Marsh Pilates will have to do to get my lens as close as possible to this exciting visitor.

I feel something crawling on my shin and look down to see it was standing room only for the ant-palooza festival on my socks.
The water seemed to bubble and boil as the duck took a dive. Underwater 15 seconds. 15 seconds to frantically smack the ants off my legs without falling off the tilting camp stool...then boom. Back to focusing and waiting for the perfect shot.
Gotta get this wonderful duck who traveled so far to see us. It’s the least we can do…

"Bushtits are social birds that live year-round in flocks of 10 to 40 birds. They range widely in winter, sometimes moving considerable distances to escape cold weather." allaboutboids
Not rare and never our target bird. I always have time for Bushtits.

"...the male Western Tanager deposits rhodoxanthin, a rare plumage pigment, in its red feathers. The species must rely on an external source of this pigment, unlike the aforementioned species, which produce red pigments from dietary yellow pigments. The source is presumably insects that have themselves acquired the pigment from plants.
Despite the male's showy yellow-and-black plumage and red head and its strong, deliberate song, the species is not usually conspicuous. Indeed, the sluggish habits of the Western Tanager, which are highly reminiscent of the habits of vireos, and its predilection for the shade of foliage, generally keep it from view. During migration, however, large numbers may appear in city parks, orchards, and open areas."neotropical.birds.cornell.edu

This was a special day in so many ways. Jerry was going to drive several freeways to the Huntington Gardens. It would be a bit of a splurge. The admission is a bit spendy and the gardens have a formality and organization lacking at most of the other SoCal gardens. Do your gardens have the original Blue Boy by Gainsbourough? Didn't think so.
Few people know this but after closing hours the groundskeepers round up the stray peacocks and bulbuls and put them on a bus to the arboretum. Keeping up appearances.
I took a beat to decide what to wear. Usually the decision is easy. Consider the weather and then consider what is clean. I even thought about wearing a nicer pair of boots. Black boots that show the dirt. I think I've worn them to a funeral once. Anything fancy was voted down. I turned my shirt backwards so the bit of a bleach spot wouldn't show.
We had 3/4 of a nice sandwich and a box of power bars in the glove box as a backup. Our plan was to indulge in lunch at one of the atmospheric restaurants.
It wasn't meant to be. We were greeted by signs stating the garden was sold out. Just our luck to arrive on the one day a month that garden entrance was free if you could score tickets via the internet.
We did have the option of buying a family season pass to gain entrance. A fine choice if you live nearby. It boiled down to not wanting to be in a crush of humanity.
So we had to devise a Plan B. Descanso Gardens would fill the bill.
Not terribly expansive and lovely in its own way. The day was overcast and the sun was trying to burn through. Warblers, woodpeckers, and a variety of tiny birds were flitting about the tree branches. Suddenly we feel a big bird swoop closely overhead. A cry goes up. Lookit lookit lookit!!!! There is a term in bird watching: GISS. "GISS stands for General Impression, Size and Shape. a military term originally. also variously known as jizz and gesalt. GISS to birders means learning the art of identifying and mastering birds by their (usually)species-unique quirks, shapes, sizes, antics, behaviors, etc....the impression they give you...." not sure where this quote came from...
Big. Silent. Green. Hey! That's a parrot!


"According to the research of the California Parrot Project, founded by Kimball Garrett of the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, there are at least 10 species of parrots that have become naturalized throughout Southern California, from San Diego to the northern reaches of Los Angeles and east to Redlands. An estimated 2,500 feral parrots are living freely in California."OCRegister

" Long associated with the sun and its life-giving warmth, yellow is the age-old spokes-color for warm feelings of friendship and optimism. In many Eastern cultures, the color represents joy, wisdom and power."
proflowers.com

The light was not ideal. Clouds and I think ash are still in the air. We almost had the marsh to ourselves. I was chasing munias when I saw the greenie hunting. Jerome says when they are hunting they tend to tune out distractions... like Sasquatch and Co.
I liked the reflections in the water and pushed all the sliders to inject more color and life. Happy Slider Sunday.
"The Green Heron is one of the world’s few tool-using bird species. It creates fishing lures with bread crusts, insects, earthworms, twigs, feathers, and other objects, dropping them on the surface of the water to entice small fish." Allaboutboids
"The small size of this heron, somewhat smaller than a crow, its short cut-off tail, its general greenish-black color with a chestnut-colored throat and bluish-gray primaries make its recognition in the field easy.
The green heron is too interesting a bird to be used for a pot hunter's target as is often the case. He who is so fortunate as to have a breeding place for this bird near him should zealously guard it and he will learn many interesting and amusing traits and will be well rewarded.
Green Heron* Butorides virescens
*Original Source: Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1927."

Jerry looks over my shoulder as I tinker with the flower photo in lightroom. "You took that????" Asks Jerry.
Happy Slider Sunday!
"Sacred Datura is an easy plant to identify and a fabulous flower to gaze on. Leaves are up to 10 inches long, flared trumpet flowers are 5-9 inches long, and the overall plant is often several feet high and a sprawling four or five feet across.
Stanley Welsh, author of A Utah Flora, has this to say about Datura wrightii: "The flowers are the largest of any native plant in Utah, and are sweetly scented. The herbage smells like a wet dog".
"Datura" apparently comes from either the Arabic "Tatorah", the Hindustani "Dhatura", or the Latin "dare". According to Harrington (in his Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains) "Jimsonweed "is a corruption of "Jamestown Weed", a name given to a related Datura that poisoned a number of soldiers in Jamestown in 1676."
swcoloradowildflowers.com

W9 and I decided to try Ballona Freshwater Marsh today. We found a California Thrasher who had "sampled" some Red-tailed Hawk and worked it into his treetop song. We found herons and egrets.... our resident Common Yellowthroats, Bushtits. And a wonderful variety of swallows showing off their aerial acrobatics. The babies had left the nest and pestered the adults to feed them. A few were resting on the swaying reeds. Too far away for the detail I crave, still exciting and handsome creatures. This little swallow was wet from a bath.

"Pipevine Swallowtails are a big help to other butterfly species without even trying. Because adult butterflies are poisonous to predators from all the pipevine they eat as caterpillars, most birds avoid them. Other butterfly species have developed mimicry. Mimicry is when one animal copies the look of another, and gains protection. Some species that mimic Pipevine Swallowtails include Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (females), Eastern Black Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, and Red-spotted Purple. None of these species are poisonous, but birds avoid them because they have the same color and size as Pipevine Swallowtails."fcps.edu

Oak Titmice "form pair bonds in their first year and mate for life. Both sexes defend territories year-round, meaning they don’t flock in the winter the way many other titmice and relatives do. When defending against an intruding member of its species, the Oak Titmouse raises its crest, quivers its wings, and scolds. "allaboutboids