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Category: Relaxing

  • Happy Pentecost!

    I don’t have very much topical or important to post as of this morning today, so how about a couple of clips of small woodpecker(s)?

    (For those who are interested, here is a link to a selection of topical verses but for TLDR, Pentecost commemorates the event when the Church got upleveled.)

    However, a few days earlier (May 22nd), I was walking around looking for pretty plants to photograph, when I heard a racket from the trees, sounded like multiple small birds. I searched for a while and discovered the source of the sound – holes high up in the tree where a small woodpecker was fussing about. A nest of woodpecker chicks plus a parent. Somewhere further away a woodpecker was drumming, as noted by a passerby while I was trying to video.

    After some cutting and editing last night, here are the highlights:

    This video is silent, commentary removed.

    And here is some birdsong. And drumming.

    Other than that, I have been selecting and editing photos for POD and tinkering with my writing.

    I wonder if I should some day post some of my fiction in this blog? On one hand I am tempted, on the other hand, I am still shy. It took me a long time to start even a blog.

    Reddish flowers, May 23rd, 2026, Berkeley, CA

  • Some May Beauty

    Selected and edited from video clips taken 2026 May 09.

    Purple flowers in wind

    Birch branches swaying in wind.

    May 9th 2026 was an average day with some wind and sunshine. And flowers. And insects. And birds. I did not get much done but got some video clips I checked tonight, and photos I am working on to see which ones I can convert into something useful and/or fun, if I have time.

    P.S. I am having some weirdness with video editor – hopefully the birch branches will be visible to all, once I have published this post.

  • Monarchy in Berkeley

    Despite lots of No Kings-signs, monarch butterflies continue to flit around Berkeley, CA. This one was filmed perching on a flowering tree on April 15th, 2026.

    Another, smaller insect makes an appearance at about 9 seconds into the video.

  • Busy Bumblebee

    A cute bumblebee seen 2026 April 18 among flowers in Berkeley, CA.

    Working hard.

  • Berkeley Trees

    A selection of clips showing types of views of different types of trees taken February 21st, 2026, in Berkeley, CA, silent and stabilized post filming (with the known artefacts).

    The spring is bursting fully. On 22nd, it was tee shirt weather and small birds were very active and singing. Heard a hummingbird, saw and heard many small titmouse and sparrow sized birds, even a very small woodpecker, and a hawk and later a pair of probable hawks. And a seagull, which is sort of normal for a seaside city. I think the small birds have a mating season.

    Crows, too, seem restless, but that might be them ending their winter. Back in Finland, the local crows (gray and black, not all black as in Berkeley) would form larger flocks and many migrated south during winter. The crows here seem to have some winter flocking behavior, even though they do not migrate.

    The bird activity coincides with the swelling of buds and opening of young leaves in many deciduous trees. The earliest fruit trees which began to bloom weeks ago are finishing their season, as are faster magnolias. It is stressing to think of all the seasonal blooming which I am missing instead of photographing it. But there are new trees coming to bloom, though one magnolia that was among the first to start in my neighborhood is still going strong. Weird to think that spring began in February.

    Dappled shadows on tree trunk, blooming fruit tree, redwood with creeping ivy.

    Magnolia, February 21st, 2026 (not the one I have been following in my neighborhood)

    Click the image above to open a free 48-piece jigsaw puzzle made in Jigsaw Explorer

  • Squirrel Eating Ginkgo Fruit

    I have been out of synch for a while, but today I realized that it is Shrove Tuesday, AKA Mardi Gras. In Finland, this day is known as laskiaistiistai, and people used to go on laskiainen downhill sledding (alternatively on laskiaissunnuntai, February 15th this year) and eat laskiaispulla which is sweet wheat bun cut like a burger but filled with whipped cream and marzipan or berry jam. Then begins lent and after that it is again Easter.

    Being unprepared, did not eat laskiaispulla, and would not have time for a day of downhill sledding, even if Berkeley weather would have allowed it (hint, there is no snow, though it was hailing a bit.) But I have a number of video clips, some maybe presentable, waiting to be processed and their fates decided, and last weekend I discovered an October 19th, 2025 squirrel eating ginkgo fruit that would be fun to post. While not exactly topical to this religious celebration, here it is, anyways.

    I was surprised last year that ginkgo fruits are yellow.

    Maybe that should not have been surprising, as their autumn leaves are also yellow.

    And Happy Chinese New Year, too!

  • February 14th, 2026, Nasturtium

    Leaves waving in wind, GIF from a video clip post-stabilized in phone camera’s editor.

  • Peekabug

    Going through my folders for images to process for PlanktonPunkt Designs, found this, and decided that it was best suited for a blog posting.

    Peekaboo!

    Clicking the image will open to Jigsaw Explorer and 24-piece free jigsaw puzzle.

    Small is pretty, both in flowers and in insects.

  • Fruit Trees Are Blooming

    Though it is February, fruit trees are blooming in Berkeley. As are many magnolias. White, pink and purple, I have not seen yellow magnolias yet. Nisperos I saw in flower already before February, and some Vaccinium-type bushes are towards the end of their flowering. Citruses, too, are blooming, though they tend to do it year around.

    I expected my Winter Flowers in Berkeley-photos to be scarce but the weather has been clement. It has been a T-shirt weather Saturday and Sunday, monarch butterflies are fluttering again, and hummingbirds are in full swing. As is the spring chorus in general. I think the spring is early this year.

    Blooming fruit tree, February 7th, 2026, Berkeley, CA

  • New Year

    Camellia blossom in the New Years Eve

    I did not go to see any fireworks, it was raining and I was busy with year end stuff. There were some bangs from outside, though, and I heard that my friends had had fun, so it is all good.

    Rain on New Year’s Eve, light, water and Liquidambar(?) leaves

    Today, New Year’s Day, it was raining some more. Photography is different in rain. I should use the opportunities when they arise, as California is not very wet state.

    Water droplet on a palm, New Year’s Day

    Water droplets on grass, sun was shining on a New Year’s Day between the showers.