On Thanksgiving day we took a walk down the slope behind my friend’s house in Groveland. We needed to build up our appetites for our feast, and also take a nice look at nature.

As always I had my eye out for interesting things to take pictures of.

This first picture is of a nice little collage of nature. We have a nice leaf with patterns of insect bites, a nice tuft of moss and also a little pinecone.

I was also watching out for birds. I could see some birds in the distance, some Blue Jays were flying around chasing each other and I could also see some smaller song birds that I couldn’t identify from where I was. Finally I found one close up.

I found a little Dark Eyed Junco hiding in a tree. I had to zoom in, but was at least able to get this picture.

I really liked seeing moss growing on different things. Moss on rocks, stumps, sticks, trunks, etc.

The picture above was one of my favorite moss pictures. I really like the way that the green moss contrasts with the trunks of these trees.

We also decided to explore down this trail that is no longer used for vehicle traffic. I like the way that the sun filters through the trees above the trail.

As we we were out for our walk we ran across some new gopher diggings. With the winter rains they are now active again expanding their tunnel systems. After the walk we returned with the required tools to capture the little critters.

So far we have not had success. They have moved on to new tunnels.

After the walk we enjoys a nice Thanksgiving feast and then watched To Kill a Mockingbird. this evening we are watching My Fair Lady.

A nice holiday. Good food, beautiful setting and some classic movies.

Steven