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Team Gecko

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  1. For those particularly interested in Yrium, his namesake commemorative cache is still active. He was a pioneer contributor in the earliest days of San Diego caching and a fine friend. His cache logs were legendary. GCK6TB -Gecko Dad
  2. Edit... Sooo... any clues if that was the cache??? Ok, really not that curious, this is more like a thread bump... J John, are you bored??? One of our caches still hasn't been found for over a year...... . John If by bored you mean waiting for Jess to bring Jakob's baby sister "j?" into the world already, then YES! And then some! But said awaiting precludes me from wandering around in the desert for extended periods of time, and that said, where's GeckoDad, TRViolin, BBB, SlabyFam or Akop etal? Do I really need go get those two lonely caches for you all? OK, done. Email sent to D-Jollymon. Game on. At least the bump worked! J Ouch. Mostly MIA on the GC front. Shifted to TCs several years ago due to caching opportunities on remote desert peaks and State Park/National Park virtuals (sadly discontinued by Groundspeak). Something special when it takes all day (or possibly longer) to place or find a hide. You will find Mike and Alan frequently there, too. Still enjoy seeing logs on our old GCs. Congrats on the new J in waiting. -GD Three weeks ago, Chuckwalla Wilderness ...
  3. Diadophis punctatus pulchellus - Coral-bellied Ring-necked Snake. Great sighting! Ring-necked Snakes are also indigenous to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. They are routinely captured, counted, measured, and released in the course of the monthly Herpetology Surveys. -GD
  4. 5 February Placed a Yrium's Pals #10 (Gromit) in replacement container for Geckos Galore Bike and Hike. This is circa 2005 so an early reprint that I found out in ABDSP in conjunction with a cache removal. -Gecko Dad
  5. Never mind about the Rubi ... let's hear about the camera you used. Nice! Very nice photographs. What a great viewing experience. These animals look like they may be from the southern herd that moves back and forth between Jacumba Mountain and Carrizo Mountain, where they typically have their lambs. That is why the Painted Gorge Road is closed for half of the year. Their seasonal migration path across the flats near Ocotillo is a primary wildlife concern associated with the proposed extensive windmill farm project (BLM/Imperial County) that is currently out for public comment. -GD
  6. Just wanted folks to know that I too dashed to Max's for a card for myself and BnB and Ironmom...I had just gotten home from work and a phone call woke me up..I checked my e-mail and noticed that fisnjack cards had been dropped...So in a blur I made it to gz and found my reward...so I got 3 cards,3 mis-prints and two extra cards to drop in the Southbay somewhere..wonder how many are left at Max's? Awesome cards!!! Hmmm. Explains the immediate shortage of misprints. Gone after only two visitors. Perhaps a few more will surface?
  7. Picked up one of the new fisnjack cards from Max's this afternoon. There were still six left at 2:30 pm. Fantastic looking card, one of the all-time best. Well done Sue, Harmon. The front now looks like a classic Yrium card with the avatars on the back. A great debut.
  8. Piling on to pass along a big thank you to Flagman for carrying on Yrium's tradition for so many years since his passing back in July 2004. It seems only yesterday that I would await for another original card to be dropped in a county cache along with an always hilarious log entry from Yrium and Gromit. I also appreciated great correspondence with him. There was quite a competition circa 2001-4 to reach some of those drops while there was still a card in them since often he would occasionally only leave one or two and the caches were often FTF opportunities, too. Tom and Harmon, I'm sure Yrium would be proud of the ever growing collection that continues in his memory. So pleased to hear that Sue will be taking up the baton. -GD P.S. I nabbed an Indiana Ed card from Max's Favorite Park earlier today on an errand running bike ride. There were still four in the cache. As I closing things up, another cacher arrived so there are probably three left now.
  9. Here are a few of many, many photos of the local White-tailed Kites at San Simeon Creek Campground. Closest GC is Whitaker Ranch 1862-Revisitedm, GC1KJWW. Landing strip konsternation Kettle of four Kites and a Cliff Swallow Ascending juvenile Standing on a wing Hovercraft
  10. Sorry for lack of recent posts to this forum. I still occasionally stop by for a GC when out hiking in new territory. Here are a couple of critters from a hike around San Simeon Creek Campground up near Hearst Castle, our home coordinates for a week during a Central Coast trip in late August. Our trip featured many birding and marine wildlife encounters, including a large string of White-tailed Kites that hunted each morning and afternoon above some fields only a short walk from our campsite. -GD 18 August 2011 Marshland Mulies near (Revised Boardwalk, GC18FZN) Grazing draft horses near Rocky Vue, GC1PPJN) Closer look (for both of us)
  11. Looks like a Gophersnake. See this description.
  12. I visit with Jerry and his wife regularly. I am happy to share with him collective or individual well wishes and notes of appreciation from our GC community. -Don So very very sad. Words uttered by most every San Diego hiker: "What does Jerry say about it?". Don I don't think you could express in words what he and his books and columns have done and will continue to do for SoCal hikers. Wish him well and thank him for all of us. r/ JnJ Will do. I think he will enjoy the "What does Jerry say about it?" line. Here is a touching post to Reader from a couple of weeks ago that seems to sum up what many feel about Jerry and his contributions. Posted by: "Capt Bivy" Thu Jul 7, 2011 5:16 pm (PDT) I guess it's out now, Jerry Schad is dying. He told his friends three months ago. He had just had his kidney out, but was told it was too late. The cancer he has is extremely aggressive and the doctors only gave him a few months. I've thought about him everyday since. Recently my facebook "who are your heros" page was changed. They are MLK, RFK, and Jerry Schad. I haven't communicated with him much. Didn't know what to say, and everytime I think about it I cry. I had two memorable trips with Jerry. The first one was dayhiking Mt Whitney in 10.5 hours (we ran back). The second was hiking the Santa Rosa Mountains (from Toro Peak to Rabbit to Villager to S-22). Jerry was very fast, having been an adventure runner. I remember being jealous of his trail runners while I wore boots. He supported my club, being the first few to join back in 1991. I always considered him the finest trail book writer in the world. Most writers are hikers first, and write the books because no one else has. Jerry is a writer who was one of the first to hike the all the areas in his book, but he was also a geologist, a geographer, a biologist, a physical scientist. In fact he wrote a physical science book for his classes because he had something to say. Jerry is a true treasure. Everyone knows this. EVERYONE! Jerry, thank you for being the "John Muir" of San Diego and opening up the wilderness to thousands of people.
  13. I visit with Jerry and his wife regularly. I am happy to share with him collective or individual well wishes and notes of appreciation from our GC community. -Don
  14. Perhaps we should start a write-in campaign to nominate Harmon to the Dos Equis folks to become their future Most Interesting Man. Just a thought.
  15. James- Based on the chest streaks, long tail, and short beak, your bird appears to be a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. We had an adult Cooper's fly into our backyard back on 5 May. I was in the front when I heard its call and it flew low overhead and around the front corner of our house. I had about a minute to grab my camera out of the 4Runner and get through the side gate to see the following view as it perched briefly in one of our trees. This was the only shot I got before it flew off. -GD
  16. O puh-lease, don't throw me in the briar-patch with all of them gal-pals. Long before Uncle Remus and ignoring gender reversal, the Bard, through Prince Hamlet's mother, the Queen, might also have said ... Harmon doth protest too much, methinks.
  17. > Note to Self: Just what I need, another gal-pal to torment me. Harmon = Br'er Rabbit????
  18. 13 April 2011 After seeing James's recent post I realized the Critter forum has been a bit slow of late. Here are some critters spotted on a cloudy morning walkabout down hill from GC24BPK. -GD Bumbler Hare raising A gopher's perspective Red-tailed launch pad Red Diamond, tongue up ... ... tongue down
  19. Friday, 22 April 2011 and Friday, 29 April 2011 Sadly, the Robb Field Osprey pair's 2011 nest fell last Saturday night and there was no sign of the three nearly fledged chicks the next morning. A rough estimate is they would have started flying next week or the following. I missed most of the season due to out of town volunteer work and other travels but was fortunate to stop by on the 22nd to see them for the last time while the nest was still up. This post is similar to my previous note and image upload to Facebook but I also wanted to share these images with the Critter forum's contributors. -Gecko Dad 4/22 Male bringing fish to nest, all five family members visible (female far right) Three pre-fledged siblings, one exercising wings and showing feather growth Three siblings - one eating, one watching, one trying to look uninterested Three siblings, another exercising wings and showing slightly more advanced feather growth 29 April Nestling shrine Male bringing token branch to female's lamppost roost Nestless male (left) with branch, female (right) with fish
  20. Thursday, 10 Feb 2011 While walking on the path between our campsite in Borrego Palm Canyon and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitor center, this huge flock of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) was spotted a couple of thousand feet above us. There appeared to be two subgroups and they separated and rejoined while gaining altitude for a crossing of the crest near Hellhole Flat. I visually estimated there might be 500 or more of these huge birds. With wingspans that can reach 9 feet or more and weights of 16 pounds, they are among the largest birds in North America. Closer inspection of my photos revealed a larger count, perhaps 650-700 individuals. The next to last image shows a remarkable bird-like formation within a subset of the group. -GD Massing for passage This way and that way Bow Tie Getting their bearing Superbird Up, up, and away
  21. Friday, 4 Feb 2011 An encore performance by this little speedster cruising a couple of circuits over the mudflats late this afternoon. I stopped by after work to check on the Osprey pair but little was happening in that direction so I headed the other direction and was rewarded with this performance. The entire show lasted less than a minute but in that time he/she covered a lot of terrain before heading off to the east. The flight sequence appeared to be a hunt and may have been one of the reasons the rest of the avian neighborhood was in quite a dither. This is a young bird in juvenile plumage. -GD Low and fast Low drag coefficient Turning on a dime - image 1 Turning on a dime - image 2 Turning on a dime - image 3
  22. Thursday, 3 Feb 2011 I try to stop by daily to check in on the Robb Field Osprey pair. I'm pretty sure the female has laid her eggs in their new nest near the San Diego River Channel and the TFTC’s SDCET Top 40 TB series of caches. Today I was fortunate to photograph some nice flight sequences and observe a shift in pattern wherein at least one bird stays on the nest. As I was returning to my car, I saw what initially looked like an oversized Kestral approaching from overhead. What a pleasant and unexpected surprise to see the cheek markings and unmistakable underbody plumage of a Peregrine Falcon. -GD Distinctive underbody Cruising by Lovely lady (and mom again) Proud papa
  23. Awesome cache critter. This little guy gets the "cutest ever" award. -GD
  24. Statistics from most recent issue of IEEE Spectrum (3 Feb 2011), which rated Social Networking #2 in its list of Top 11 Technologies of the Decade (Smart Phones were #1) "Facebook has 540 million users who spend about 700 billion minutes on the site every month; if it were a country, it'd be the third most populous in the world." By resisting the temptations of Facebook, Harmon has an extra 43 minutes each day he can devote to other pastimes ... -GD
  25. Sunday, 1/2/2010 Male Osprey hovering while hunting over San Diego River channel. Morning lighting. Here he is emerging from the water shortly after diving and missing his intended prey. The action was so close to me - between 20 and 30 yards - that I could not track his dive quickly enough with my telephoto. What a sight, though. Later on I visited Travelita's pair on the far side of Mission Bay. This pair's behavior suggests they are less mature than the Robb Field expert pair. It would be fantastic if both nests are productive this year. -GD
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