Izzy likes corn

Izzy likes corn
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Does this seem like normal pet behavior? I've known about Izzy's prediliction for corn, but never before had the opportunity or inclination to acquire such graphic photographic evidence.

Harry Potter release party

We had a great time attending the Harry Potter release party at "M" is for Mystery bookstore in San Mateo. They turned the alley behind the bookstore into a Diagon Alley with various vendor booths, lots of folks in costume. As always, it's so cool to see that many kids so excited about reading!

GrooveLily @ Little Fox Theatre

GrooveLily did an excellent show tonight at the Little Fox Theatre in Redwood City. Sound was excellent, thanks to their Bose gear along with a clean house PA. This is a very nice venue, highly recommended.

I really enjoyed myself. I especially loved the revised live arrangements of songs from their older records (especially You Take Control or Weight of the World). These folks can really _rock_ one second and be terrifically sensitive the next. Their message is fundamentally upbeat and encouraging, despite all the lyrics about how hard it is to make it as a musician. Great stuff. Now make us a live album already!

Set 1:

Looking forward to looking back
Live Through This (Are We There Yet?)
Snow Song
Can't Go Home
Give the Drummer Some
Every Little Bit (cover of Patti Griffin)
Million bucks
No room in your bag

Set 2:

Patiently
You Take Control
wheelhouse ... Open roads
wheelhouse ... Way to see america
wheelhouse ... Givin' it all away
Weight of the World
Try Again
Apocolyptic Love Song
The Odometer Song

changes at birdWalker

I uploaded some changes to birdwalker today. The change I intended to upload was a new scheme for browsing through trips with next and previous links at the top of the page. Try it out and let me know what you think (You could, for example, start here).

I accidentally uploaded a new "species of the day" entry on the front page, with a photo (when available) and a map showing all the places where we've seen the species. I love the way the trip entries look in the right hand-column -- now I just need to make up something plausible to put in the left-hand column!

KKUP Jazz Marathon, July 10, 2005

KKUP Jazz Marathon
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Hey you all, it's time again for the annual KKUP Jazz Marathon in Santa Clara. Come hear me perform with the Pat Smith Trio on Sunday, July 10th, at 5pm. We'll be playing out in front of the KKUP studios at 1241 Franklin Square in downtown Santa Clara. The music starts around noon and runs all day, so grab your lawn chairs and get on over there! See the KKUP website for more details.

Kern River 2005

We're just back from an outstanding four day trip to the Kern River valley. Our fearless leader, Bob Power, showed us a lot of beautiful mountain birds, including some Mary and I hadn't seen in a long time. One of them, the Green-tailed towhee, has been my nemesis for eight long years, ever since Mary saw it on one side of an interstate rest stop while I was on the other side.

This trip was also notable because I rented a Canon 500mm f/4L from Keeble and Shuchat and dragged it with me everywhere. Although it got heavy from time to time, I really enjoyed using it, and got some decent results, most of which are posted at birdWalker.

You can look at the thumbnails for all the pictures organized in by date, the Kern ones are at the top:

You can look at the reports for days one, two, three, four of the trip, click on the little Cameras to see the photos.

The Tubes, San Jose

Roger Steen in action
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Last night I went to see The Tubes playing at a park in downtown San Jose. They played a great show! I was particularly impressed with the guitar playing of Roger Steen. His soloing can be virtuostic, but more often has instead that thoughtful, melodic quality that I so admire about Eric Clapton.

Quick trip to Cape May

Grey Catbird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We just had a quick trip to Cape May (see details for day one and day two) where we worked on familiar east coast birds like this here Gray Catbird. Hot and humid, but well worth the trip.

Hooray for summer!

American Avocet
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I love the part where I can get in a few photos after work and the light is just getting good. On this particular tuesday I was practicing flight shots, and these guys were moving slowly and predicably, so I got them in focus.

you know you're an XSLT geek when...

you know you're an XSLT geek when you've read about and start to understand the Muench technique for building an index over an XML document that helps you remove duplications from collections. [thanks to Joe Pallas for tracking down the URL]

Blessing the Rectory

University Church Rectory
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

After many years, University Church in Palo Alto, California blessed its new Rectory on Saturday. I served on the Pastoral Housing Committee for at least five years, and to be honest I had many doubts we would ever get to this point. Many thanks to our outstanding project manager Duane Bay, without whom this would never have happened.

bye bye, piano

bye bye, piano
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, the time has come to return Pastor Foster's piano. At least he has a parsonage with a lovely Great Room that accomodates the piano very nicely. I was a very fortunate to have had the use of this vintage Steinway D for several years, and I bid it a fond farewell.

My Mom Rocks!

My Mom and Brother
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

How do I come by this cool photo of me, my Mom, and my brother? Because my mom made this cool scrapbook from when I was thirteen. And this is just one of several big volumes of really cool stuff from my childhood. Thanks, Mom!

South Texas Slideshow available

Neotropic Cormorant
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I've put together a slide show from the South Texas Tripat at flickr. You can watch an automatic slide show, or page through at your own rate. Enjoy!

My Cliff Swallow published in Berkeley

My Cliff Swallow photo has been published by the Berkeley Daily Planet in an article entitled Cliff Swallows Use Social Strategies for Survival. Check out the article, it's very interesting!

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas

Holy Cats!

Inca Dove

Inca Dove
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, we're back from Texas, and I'm finally starting to sort through all the pictures I took, including this cute lil' Inca Dove who seemed to be nesting in the Frontera Audubon parking lot.

South Texas Day Five

50 species, including four life birds.

(Will have to write more trip notes later. Just got home at midnight sans luggage after changing our plane tickets in Dallas. Grrr, gosh darn airport luggage office. Meanwhile, you can admire the species list for the whole trip)

South Texas Day Four

83 species, including four life birds.

An overcast day with winds from the northeast gave high hopes of being a premium fallout day, but we had to settle for quality over quantity at Padre Island. Life looks at the Cape May Warbler at the convention center were enough prize to distract us from a "low" day total.

Our first trip to the convention center turned up only, ho hum, Blue-winged, Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, 2 orioles, Indigo Bunting and a few other passerines. We took a break by going to look at plovers, terns and gulls on the beach behind the convention center itself. On our return, the Cape May Warbler was spotted almost immediately by the 5 or more photographers with large rigs pointed right at the bird's last known location.

We stopped at the beach and jetty at the south tip of the island, then said good-bye to South Padre and headed out to Bensen for owls and nightjars. An elf owl emerged from a known location at 8:14 pm and was quickly joined in a near-by conifer by a second bird. In the dusk, we observed multiple food exchanges between these two birds before it got too dark to see them at all. A much more satisfying experience than a simple check-mark on a list.

Birds observed by others on the trip include: Clapper Rail, Least Sandpiper, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Bank Swallow, Cave Swallow, Grey Catbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Clay-colored and Savanah Sparrow, Hooded Oriole

(notes by Mary)

South Texas Day Three

112 species, including 5 life birds.

Weather was extremely hot and muggy, with varying clouds and occasional breeze.

In addition to the female Northern Parula, we observed a hybrid Northern x Tropical Parula.

Other critters included Pocket Gopher, Coyote, White-tailed Deer, Eastern Cottontail, and Spiny-backed Orb Weaver.

Today we celebrated our 450th life bird, a Grasshopper Sparrow seen at Santa Ana NWR.