As we left the house for a sunset stroll, the subtle brush stroke clouds added such beauty to the colorful sky I ran back in to grab the camera. Framing the shot I noticed the little bird sitting in the palm tree at the top. Is it enjoying the sunset or just doing whatever birds do before nightfall?
Sunset Bird
We’ve wondered lately also about the burned hills above SB. First, are they a new fire hazard rather than providing a few years’ respite from wildfires due to all the chaparral being gone? Second, what’s the brown stuff we see that has us worried? Third, how tall is that stuff? When we flew around on Friday it was easy enough to swing by the peaks and take a look. We’ve heard from fire experts on Edhat that it is indeed a hazard, and though we still don’t know what the stuff mainly is there’s no doubt that it’s several feet tall as you can see from this closeup.
0898 Burn Edge
The bare sticks are all that remains of the burned chaparral that was several feet tall, and the dried out non-evergreen stuff that surged up from the heavier than usual rainy season is nearly as tall. The brown areas predominate on vast areas of the mountainside as you can see in this photo of just a portion of areas affected by fires of the past two years or so.
0899 Burned Area
Maybe I’m part bird though, because a lot of my concern about fire potential eases when I take in this vista. Concern tries to inch back up when I see our town nestled by the shore in the distance, then ebbs again with the beauty of it all. Would a bird just survey this looking for a meal and watching out for predators?
John & Anne Wiley 
You must be logged in to post a comment.