october roses

October roses are my favorite. They are an unexpected bonus of the growing season.

hepatic tanagers

These slightly fuzzy images are a male (top) and female (bottom) hepatic tanager. Here's what Cornell says about their range: "the Hepatic Tanager is a bird of the pine-oak forests of the southwestern mountains". So not an Alameda bird. We first spotted the male, thinking we were seeing things. But when both of us saw it, we got out our bird books and searched the internet. The female is a more recent arrival. My birder friend says the bird world would be envious of having these two in their backyard.  I'm just happy my dogwood berries are going to good use.