Hit 90° in the Berkeley hills today. Something like the fifth day in a row of 90-plus weather (with a high reaching 105°). It’s a bit draining and overwhelming — I’ve sweat through my shirt multiple times already. But I LIKE it. I’m happy to see the summer weather holding out for as long as possible (this time last year we ended up getting 8 inches of rain in the month of September).
I’ve got 4 different water dishes that I’ve put out at various spots for the wild critters of the Berkeley hills. And they are hot items. Attracting a lot of critters. When I showed up today, this little bird was perched on the edge of one of the water dishes, desperately trying to get a drink of the water. It was incredibly tiny — smaller than a dime. And too small to be able to reach down with it’s beak and get at the water. The bird circled around the entire edge of the dish, pecking in the direction of the water, trying to find a spot where it could reach the surface level of the water. I dumped some more water into the dish to raise the level of the water to the brim of the dish. Which scared off the bird, naturally. But hopefully it’ll come back later for a good drink. . . It’s bone dry everywhere in the Berkeley hills.
It’s one of the amazing things about water. It attracts everybody. It’s very universal. Earlier I had spotted this massive deer at that same water dish — huge antlers, looked as big as a moose, probably weighed 300 pounds. . . Then later I spot this tiny bird who probably only weighs an ounce at the very same water dish. . . It’s probably a banal observation, but something about that juxtaposition of critters struck me.
Ace Backwords Photos 