Bluebird of happiness

Or, at least, bluebird of good luck for the Freshmen Baseball team today:

 

Western Bluebird in the Eucalyptus trees

Yes, it’s small, but those suckers are FAST! They are flycatchers after all. I spotted it hunting bugs above my head and when it settled I pretty much just pointed my camera up the air in the general direction of the tree branches and went for it 🙂

It’s been a fun week for nature – spring must really be approaching despite all the rain. This week during our lunch time walks out on the utility road portion of the Torrey Pines reserve, my coworkers and I saw a roadrunner – now that’s kind of rare! I knew they are up there, but I don’t see them very often and it’s been a few years at least. This one – true to his name, ran across the road and then alongside it for a bit up ahead of us. Naturally, I don’t have my camera with me on our walks so you’ll have to settle for this picture I snagged off google:

Then, we had some drama. Snakes! One day someone thought she was stepping over a stick and then it moved (yipes!). She jumped a few feet in the air naturally. Then Friday we saw one slithering back into it’s hole and it was BIG! At least 6 feet long and pretty thick. Also, very very pretty and NOT a rattlesnake. We figured out later that it was a Southern California variety of King Snake. This is a pretty good likeness:

Clearly I need to carry my phone or bring my camera with me on the walks!!