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	<title>Three Star Owl - Functional and Sculptural Clay Artwork with a Natural History &#187; close in</title>
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	<link>http://threestarowl.com</link>
	<description>Three Star Owl clay studio</description>
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			<item>
		<title>Not my hen</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/not-my-hen</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/not-my-hen#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:07:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hummingbirds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14677</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anna&#8217;s hummers are capable of setting clutches just about year round in warm climate states like Arizona and California.  The little males have been doing their combo territorial and courtship dives &#8212; which culminate in a loud, popping &#8220;CHEEP&#8221; sound &#8211; since December, at least in our neighborhood.  This little Hen in Tucson has gotten [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/not-my-hen/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tale of Two Tiny Tarantulas</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On our way home from our weekend getaway, E and I stopped at Montezuma Well National Monument.  It&#8217;s one of our favorite places: a compact confluence of archæology, geology, and natural history. If you haven&#8217;t been there while visiting central Arizona, I highly recommend it.
&#62;&#62; Montezuma Well and beautiful fall color (all photos in this [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Come visit the Ossuary</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/come-visit-the-ossuary</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/come-visit-the-ossuary#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:55:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artefaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14224</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Next Friday Saturday and Sunday Oct 21, 22, 23,  is the Camelback Studio Tour, and Three Star Owl will have wares available for you to peruse and perhaps purchase. Other artists&#8217; studios nearby in the neighborhood will be open as well, with more than 20 artists offering their art for pre-holiday shopping. Support local artists [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/come-visit-the-ossuary/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Face of a Sphinx</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/face-of-a-sphinx</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/face-of-a-sphinx#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:20:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doom and gloom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14068</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The morning after our latest haboob I found an expiring Sphinx moth, battered by the winds and on its last legs.  It was a big one, not as colorful as some, but marked like bark in black and white, with three orange spots on its abdomen.  It&#8217;s a fairly large animal: about three inches long, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/face-of-a-sphinx/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tiny jumper</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-jumper</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-jumper#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:18:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Doesn&#8217;t it look like a Jeep?
Those dark &#8220;headlights&#8221; are eyes, which jumping spiders, unlike most spiders, rely on to hunt.  I can count three pairs: two on the front (big and little) and one on the side (little).  See &#8216;em?  There may be more&#8230;

We photographed this tiny jumping spider before relocating it outside, since the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-jumper/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are you aware of vultures?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/are-you-aware-of-vultures</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/are-you-aware-of-vultures#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Sep 2011 03:14:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14017</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They&#8217;re aware of you!!  It&#8217;s International Vulture Awareness Day, so look alive&#8230;
&#60;&#60; Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura.  (Photo A.Shock)
Please to note the Pervious Nostril! Click here for more information.

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/are-you-aware-of-vultures/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Owl whistle necklaces</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-whistle-necklaces</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-whistle-necklaces#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:20:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13872</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Update as of Monday 22Aug: thanks for all of your enthusiastic responses!  And thanks to Kate McKinnon for posting them, and loaning me the fine box they were roosting in, too!  All the owl whistle necklaces have found new homes &#8211; the owl/owl-craver ratio was excellent, and there was only a little disappointment.  If you&#8217;d [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-whistle-necklaces/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another Potter</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-potter</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-potter#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:40:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13728</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s a slightly arty image of an un-opened Potter Wasp nest on the front wall of our house, with a drawing pencil for scale.  Click here for more info on what these tiny clay pots are, and why the wasps build them.  One of these days, I hope to be in the right place in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-potter/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Proof and everything&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/proof-and-everything</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/proof-and-everything#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:16:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13673</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;of convergent evolution.
 

(photo A.Shock)
For those like me who need facts and a story, this is a Palo Verde Root Borer Beetle (Derobrachus geminatus, adult, fully 3&#8243; long), posing for what I thought were post-mortem portraits this morning after I fished her out of the pool.  However, she was clearly heard to state &#8220;I&#8217;m not [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/proof-and-everything/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mess-o&#8217;-Owls (with a serious side-bar)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/mess-o-owls-with-a-serious-side-bar</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/mess-o-owls-with-a-serious-side-bar#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jul 2011 04:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cranky owlet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13622</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Update: if you&#8217;re looking at info on what areas are open for birding/touring in Southeastern Arizona as a result of the fires and floods, here&#8217;s a link to a useful and interesting July 19 2011 article in the Arizona Daily Star online: http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/article_ad90f282-df75-5c6e-b35b-2f80335577bc.html
&#8212;&#8211;
Last April at &#8220;Birdy Verde&#8221; (more properly known as the Verde Valley Birding [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/mess-o-owls-with-a-serious-side-bar/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A small thing the rain brought out</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-small-thing-the-rain-brought-out</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-small-thing-the-rain-brought-out#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doom and gloom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monsoon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[threadsnake]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13426</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Other parts of the Phoenix area had been rained on already in this monsoon season, but so far our part of town only had dust.  Big dust, impressive dust, haboob-style wall of silty grit in your eyes, teeth and hair dust, but no rain.  At about four this morning, however, that changed with the slow [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-small-thing-the-rain-brought-out/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>And now, some owls</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/and-now-some-owls</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/and-now-some-owls#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:04:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unnatural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/close-in/and-now-some-owls</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are some metal owls that roost on the cast iron stove in our den.

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/and-now-some-owls/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cucumbers don&#8217;t usually have scales</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/cucumbers-dont-usually-have-scales</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/cucumbers-dont-usually-have-scales#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:07:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13265</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#60;&#60; Here are my next-door neighbor&#8217;s cucumber plants, with a snake napping amidst them.  The neighbor noticed it when he was rummaging around in these leaves looking for cukes for dinner.  I happened to be in our backyard, and saw him and his wife standing just on the other side of our shared [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/cucumbers-dont-usually-have-scales/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The young spiny lizard&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-young-spiny-lizard</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-young-spiny-lizard#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 May 2011 22:05:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13113</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;contemplates you.  Click to enlarge, twice if you can, for good spiny detail.  (Photo A.Shock, Devil&#8217;s Canyon)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-young-spiny-lizard/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Don&#8217;t worry, this post is NOT titled&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/dont-worry-this-post-is-not-titled</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/dont-worry-this-post-is-not-titled#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 May 2011 02:27:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13022</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; &#8220;Don&#8217;t take this frog for granite&#8221;
I never can resist posting Canyon treefrogs (Hyla arenicolor), those most toadly of frogs.
 This one was sunning itself on a rock this morning, looking quite like its substrate, the granite of Devil&#8217;s Canyon.  As we canvassed birds along Queen Creek for North American Migratory Bird Count, we [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/dont-worry-this-post-is-not-titled/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>It was all fun and games till the alligator showed up&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2011 15:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, not actually an alligator, but a beautiful spiny lizard.   As we were packing up, we found him snoozing in a sheltered nook under my table foot at Birdy Verde.  The event is in a huge tent set up in a field, and they put a carpet down over the dirt &#8212; this [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>New out of the box</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-out-of-the-box</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-out-of-the-box#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:21:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12874</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Though the lady bug life cycle has been covered here before, I can&#8217;t resist posting this photo of a brand new Lady Bird Beetle and its recently exited pupal casing.
>> the bug and the box it came in.  Click to enlarge, it&#8217;s a nice big file (photo A.Shock).

Just a couple of days ago, I&#8217;d [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-out-of-the-box/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Hidden Egg</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hidden-egg</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hidden-egg#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:43:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doom and gloom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This time of year the world is pregnant with nests full of eggs, tiny cottontails hopping and hiding in the yard, fledgling birds following their parents food-begging insistently, new yellow-green leaves and catkins on the mesquite trees, and glorious cactus blooms.
&#60;&#60; Praying mantis egg-case on a Palo Verde twig (photo E.Shock).  &#62;&#62; close-up of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hidden-egg/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Owl? What owl?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-what-owl</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-what-owl#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:07:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12533</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday an MLO (Medium Large Owl) emerged fresh from the kiln, all mute greens and golds, looking wind-blown and content.  I&#8217;d built this owl outside on the back porch, in a plein-air studio annex location during our in-between-not-too-hot-not-too-cold season, and I put it back outside to save indoor shelf space. Anything on the porch is [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/owl-what-owl/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Heretofore missing eggs</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/heretofore-missing-eggs</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/heretofore-missing-eggs#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:32:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12430</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last fall our herb garden hosted a successful crop of parsley, cilantro, and Lady bird beetles (AKA Lady bugs).  But we only noticed the bounty of bugs when we found roving hordes of hungry beetle larvæ voraciously devouring hapless aphids.  Pictures of the process of larval metamorphosis were captured  and posted here, but all the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/heretofore-missing-eggs/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Just a reminder from Three Star Owl</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/just-a-reminder-from-three-star-owl</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/just-a-reminder-from-three-star-owl#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:24:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artefaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unnatural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11478</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ I wrote the following promo last month and then promptly forgot all about it in my Wordpress &#8220;drafts&#8221;.  So, here it is, to be used as a reminder that the exhibition is almost over:

   Allison Shock/Three Star Owl is pleased to debut the new piece &#8220;Assemblage: Owl Hives&#8221; at the Arizona [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/just-a-reminder-from-three-star-owl/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Little the worse for wear</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-little-the-worse-for-wear</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-little-the-worse-for-wear#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:59:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doom and gloom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hummingbirds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12164</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They don&#8217;t all make it.  E found a dead fledgling hummingbird in the path across the wash, under the palo verde tree. It was dried, mummified, an inoffensive inanimate thing, not even worth the ants picking over.  We buried it under a nearby chuparosa, a favored food of hummers.  (Photos E.Shock)
Top: detail of foot, with [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-little-the-worse-for-wear/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hen Triumphant!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hen-triumphant</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hen-triumphant#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:56:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hummingbirds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11709</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve been watching a hummingbird Hen &#8212; we think she&#8217;s an Anna&#8217;s (Calypte anna) &#8212; on a nest since the middle of February.  Lots of people have passed close to her chosen spot, which was fairly low in a crooked Aleppo pine in our backyard, right over a gravel path through the side of the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hen-triumphant/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>There will be owls&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/there-will-be-owls</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/there-will-be-owls#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:53:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11365</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;among other things.
Tomorrow, Friday, is the first day of Three Star Owl&#8217;s Open Studio, part of the Camelback Studio Tour.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful, but the meteorologists have less lovely predictions for Saturday and Sunday.  We&#8217;ll see.  Rain or shine, wind or calm, I&#8217;ll be here from 10 &#8211; 5 waiting for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/there-will-be-owls/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>I know where the Hen she sits&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/i-know-where-the-hen-she-sits</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/i-know-where-the-hen-she-sits#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:30:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hummingbirds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11292</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and also why it&#8217;s called &#8220;Broad-billed&#8221;.
Although those two statements concern two different birds.
Update: as of Friday morning, &#8220;Bill&#8221;, the Broad-billed hummingbird, is still reporting in to our backyard feeders, passing the 72-hour mark (I first observed him on Monday afternoon).  We guess he&#8217;ll be here until he&#8217;s not!
Breeding season for Anna&#8217;s hummers is in full [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/i-know-where-the-hen-she-sits/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lousy pix but exciting bird!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-pix-but-exciting-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-pix-but-exciting-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:38:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another update: going onto day three of &#8220;Bill&#8221; at the feeder.
Update: as of Tuesday late afternoon, the BBLH is still at our feeder, defending it against the local Anna&#8217;s hummers, happily zipping about under the pine and between our yard and the neighbor&#8217;s.
A series of rapid, smacking clicks and a rich chip caught my ear [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-pix-but-exciting-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Beastly Details</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-beastly-details</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-beastly-details#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:30:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Beasties are coming!
Here is a close-up of the finished surfaces of the same Beastie Pitchers shown in raw clay a couple of posts ago.  They, and other functional and sculptural ware, will be offered for sale at the upcoming Three Star Owl Open Studio, coming toward the end of this month!  Stay tuned for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-beastly-details/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Year&#8217;s First New Bird</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:44:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last post was the New Year&#8217;s first bird &#8212; a frosty Costa&#8217;s hummingbird &#8212; but this one is the Year&#8217;s First New Bird, and it&#8217;s a hummer, too.
We just returned from Baja California, and in the mission village of San Javier on the dramatic east side of the Sierra de la Giganta in Baja California [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>New Year&#8217;s first bird</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-years-first-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-years-first-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#62;&#62; A durable little male Costa&#8217;s hummingbird, perched two feet off the ground on an aloe-tip, in the gray light of a below-freezing desert dawn, the first morning of the year also the coldest of the season so far.  (All photos A.Shock &#8212; click to enlarge!)
Moustachios a-flarin&#8217; &#62;&#62;
Above: slurping at the feeder:
It&#8217;s surprising how [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-years-first-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yule mule deer</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/yule-mule-deer</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/yule-mule-deer#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:28:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11047</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not a reindeer, and it doesn&#8217;t have a red nose.  But, a yule mule deer licking its nose with a pink tongue is as close as I could get&#8230;
 
Here&#8217;s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas anyhow!

 
(Muledeer in Hualapai Mountains, AZ; photo by E.Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/yule-mule-deer/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Killdeer overshadows rock</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/killdeer-overshadows-rock</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/killdeer-overshadows-rock#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:26:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11020</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
A looming Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) casts a long shadow in the late afternoon sun, standing on a bermed farm road east of Phoenix (photo A.Shock).  Despite its scientific name, it was being silent, and not vociferus at all.  And despite its common name, ungulates don&#8217;t have to worry, but you invertebrates? &#8212; quake in your [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/killdeer-overshadows-rock/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>El Guajolote Supremo wishes everyone&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:35:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10919</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;a Happy Thanksgiving!
As fabulous a bird as our North American Wild Turkey undoubtedly is, there is a turkey more wonderful still: the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) of tropical Central America.&#62;&#62;
On this Turkey Day feast your eyes on the glory that is the iridescent El Guajolote Supremo &#8212; eaten nearly to extinction because it apparantly tastes [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Falconeye</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/falconeye</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/falconeye#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:49:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10897</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As long ago as the Old Kingdom (the middle of the third millenium BCE), the Egyptians used the eye of the Falcon &#8212; the eye of Horus, the falcon-headed deity &#8212; as an apotropaic, or protective symbol, wearing the still-popular faience amulets as personal ornament, or tucking them into the wrappings of mummies.
The Left Eye [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/falconeye/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The &#8220;Hot Sword of Shock&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hot-sword-of-shock</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hot-sword-of-shock#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:51:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[E]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10868</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some readers know that the E who appears occasionally in this space is my husband, Everett Shock. Some readers also know that he&#8217;s a geochemist on the faculty of the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the department of Chemistry at Arizona State University.  But up until now, no one knew that an organism [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-hot-sword-of-shock/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Query, possibly &#8212; or possibly not &#8212; political:</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/query-possibly-or-possibly-not-political</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/query-possibly-or-possibly-not-political#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:33:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10863</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Which feels worse, the hollowed out jalapeño or the worm what done it?
Go ahead; click on it just to make yourself miserable.
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/query-possibly-or-possibly-not-political/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Happy yet Spooky&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/happy-yet-spooky</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/happy-yet-spooky#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:43:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10851</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ &#8230;Halloween Greetings from Three Star Owl.
(Photo, Detail of &#8220;Mother of Owls&#8221;, Allison Shock, smoke-fired terracotta, 2001)

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/happy-yet-spooky/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The unfinished hive</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/the-unfinished-hive</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/the-unfinished-hive#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:41:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artefaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unnatural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What if you had to raise large numbers of owls, herds of owls, swarms of tiny owls, all at once?  What if that was your job?  What would you need?  You might need an Owl Hive.  Or a cluster of Owl Hives. What would an owl hive be like?  Each [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/the-unfinished-hive/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Three small pictures of four small things&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/three-small-pictures-of-four-small-things</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/three-small-pictures-of-four-small-things#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:33:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10751</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; I missed at first, when outside friday morning shooting passionflowers.
It really irked me to not have my own photo of a Gulf Fritillary to post yesterday, so once the sun was higher, I went out to fetch one, if possible (a photo, that is, not a flutterby).  I ended up encountering not only [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/three-small-pictures-of-four-small-things/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Purple in the herbs</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/purple-in-the-herbs</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/purple-in-the-herbs#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:30:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growing things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our vegetable garden, like most vegetable gardens, requires continual effort.  For the majority of these domesticated types of plants, the desert is not a &#8220;shove it in the ground and it will grow&#8221; environment. Rabbits and diggy-beaked birds are constantly helping themselves, peak summer heat (now thankfully past) and dryness make frequent watering necessary.  So, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/purple-in-the-herbs/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Week in Review: the last monsoon event?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-week-in-review-the-last-monsoon-event</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-week-in-review-the-last-monsoon-event#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:57:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10700</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Earlier in the week we had a storm &#8212; technically outside the officially designated monsoon season &#8212; and it was a colorful one.  Our microcosm of Phoenix received about a half inch of technicolor rain in a very short time, without the wind and hail that the same towering clouds dropped on neighbors less than [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-week-in-review-the-last-monsoon-event/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>And it goes on&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-it-goes-on</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-it-goes-on#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:16:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10648</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It always makes me happy to see infant animals in the yard; it means the world is rolling along, as it should, species replenishing themselves and the natural systems functioning.  This is why people love seeing babies &#8212; it gives the same satisfaction: that the world is carrying on as usual, despite everything, and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-it-goes-on/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Spot the bird: Lesser goldfinch fressing</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-lesser-goldfinch-fressing</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-lesser-goldfinch-fressing#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:21:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growing things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10358</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We planted sunflowers in the garden for the goldfinch; it seems to have worked.
Now that the flower heads are mature and seedful on the stalks, the bushes are crowded with Lesser goldfinch. There are lots more flowers in bloom, which will keep the hungry finches supplied into the fall or even early winter.  The [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-lesser-goldfinch-fressing/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>We interrupt this flamingo&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/we-interrupt-this-flamingo</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/we-interrupt-this-flamingo#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:25:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cranky owlet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10158</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;to bring you a tiny owlet.  From Pink to Dink, with hardly a blink.
Friday morning, I came home from delivering E to campus, and blissfully opened the back door to let in the first blast of coolish late summer air.  Instead of the usual morning quiet, the back yard was chattering with angry bird sounds: [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/we-interrupt-this-flamingo/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>We call it &#8220;The Rock Lobster&#8221;&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-call-it-the-rock-lobster</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-call-it-the-rock-lobster#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10041</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;but it&#8217;s not from the bottom of the sea.  If you had a hard time with the centipede or the solpugid, you may wish to look away.  Or not&#8230;
This is one of my favorite desert arthropods ever, in kind of an oscillating horrified/fascinated can&#8217;t look away from photos of the train wreck kind of way.
It&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-call-it-the-rock-lobster/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>It&#8217;s like living with cats:</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-like-living-with-cats</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-like-living-with-cats#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9793</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;I assure you,&#8221; the solpugid says, &#8220;it&#8217;s good you are bigger than me.  Otherwise&#8230; well, I couldn&#8217;t account for my actions.&#8221;
(Photos A.Shock)
Here&#8217;s the whole creature, my hand for scale:
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-like-living-with-cats/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Passing on the shnorr-gene</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/passing-on-the-shnorr-gene</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/passing-on-the-shnorr-gene#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:13:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9614</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hoover, the semi-tame African Collared Dove who hangs out in our neighborhood, has been a bachelor for a while.  But earlier this summer, we observed him in the company of a female dove who appeared to be a smallish Eurasian Collared Dove, a naturalized old world species that has become very numerous across the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/passing-on-the-shnorr-gene/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>The night of the enormous centipede</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-night-of-the-enormous-centipede</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-night-of-the-enormous-centipede#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:07:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last big monsoon event brought rain and a spadefoot to our Phoenix area yard.  Tuesday night&#8217;s big monsoon event brought even more rain and a centipede.
This guy is a Scolopendra polymorphus, a Sonoran centipede, sometimes called a tiger centipede.  This one is about 4 inches long (they can grow up to about 7 [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-night-of-the-enormous-centipede/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Further fun with spadefoot</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-fun-with-spadefoot</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-fun-with-spadefoot#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:39:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9056</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Saturday night in our yard, a Couch&#8217;s spadefoot emerged after a substantial monsoon event, and used our swimming pool as his stage to advertise his availability to females, and sovereignty to other male spadefoots.  (See previous post.)

&#60;&#60; Spadefoot in the pool net, after exciting dawnzerlylight rescue orchestrated with dramatic Great horned owl background music (photo [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-fun-with-spadefoot/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Good owls come in strange places</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:16:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I tell my non-birding friends that we saw quite a few owls in Costa Rica, many of them are surprised.  The common perception is that owls are indeed woodland creatures, but that&#8217;s &#8220;normal&#8221; woods &#8212;  not, you know, the &#8220;jungle.&#8221;  I suspect this monolithic concept of owls &#8212; where &#8220;owl&#8221; pretty much equals [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>in which I reveal my graphic petticoats along with an Orange-billed sparrow</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/in-which-i-reveal-my-graphic-petticoats-along-with-an-orange-billed-sparrow</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/in-which-i-reveal-my-graphic-petticoats-along-with-an-orange-billed-sparrow#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8555</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; or, saving shots by going artsy&#8230;
Not all photos are created equal, especially if you&#8217;re an amateur photog like me who asks my competent but limited point-and-shoot digital camera to do things it wasn&#8217;t meant to do, like capture images of cryptic birds high in trees with too many leaves against the light on an [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/in-which-i-reveal-my-graphic-petticoats-along-with-an-orange-billed-sparrow/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Break from the tropics</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:44:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, you guessed it, this is not a photo from the recent Costa Rica trip.  I thought a frosty retreat from the steamy tropics was in order, and decided to insert this flashback of a favorite photo and sighting from a 2004 trip to the Antarctica Peninsula: a Gentoo penguin parent about to feed [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Hordes of hummers</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:21:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Living in Arizona there&#8217;s no room for complaint about the quantity and loveliness of the hummers which visit our yard feeders.  In the Phoenix area we have Costa&#8217;s and Anna&#8217;s year round, Black-chinned in summer, with Broad-tailed and Rufous making migratory appearances. I&#8217;ve seen a brilliant Broad-billed just two miles from here at the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Boss in her office: &#8220;checking for lard&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:52:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8101</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[This is a Spot the Bird, although it's less of a quiz than a photo series. All photos A or E Shock.  Click to enlarge.]
Here are some feral date palms, growing wild at a substantial oasis in Death Valley, CA.  The date palm is Phoenix dactylifera (&#8220;finger-bearing&#8221;), but in this case we could call it [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>An interim Spot the Bird&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/an-interim-spot-the-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/an-interim-spot-the-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:47:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;without a bird.  Not that there isn&#8217;t something to spot. And it is spotted.  Also, toes are pretty much always a giveaway. (Photo A.Shock; click to enlarge for easy viewing)
This is an &#8220;interim&#8221; Spot the Bird because about a third of our photos from our Mojave camping trip are locked onto a recalcitrant memory card.  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/an-interim-spot-the-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Rock-watching in the wind</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 May 2010 20:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7917</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
A few days ago, we drove far out into sage-covered lava rocks to check out some hot springs on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.  After walking to the top of the hill, walking around the next hill and between two other hills, seeing what birds were around and about, and while E [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Mohave patch-nosed snake&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 02:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;was a &#8220;life snake&#8221; for us, meaning we&#8217;d never seen one before we stopped to photo this graceful specimen crossing the road on the way to Titus Canyon on the east side of Death Valley.
The Mohave patch-nosed snake (Salvadora hexalepis mojavensis) is a diurnal generalist, with good eyesight and quick reflexes; this one was sunning [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The lady and the pear</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 May 2010 02:12:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recent posts have been about lady bugs, and prickly pears.  Here&#8217;s one about both: a lady bug on an Opuntia blossom in the Mojave desert.  (Both photos A.Shock)

You can&#8217;t tell, but this particular prickly pear lives in a little piece of Nevada jammed between Arizona and California.  Its chief attraction is that it&#8217;s also stuffed [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ladybug heaven was&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/ladybug-heaven-was</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/ladybug-heaven-was#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 May 2010 22:44:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7851</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;our aphid-infested herb garden.
Last week, we found a lady bug (AKA lady beetle, lady bird beetle) wandering around on the ground; we scooped her up and put her on a cilantro plant badly infested with aphids.  A few days later, the flower stalks of the plant were alive with the black-and-orange alligator-like larvae of the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/ladybug-heaven-was/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lichen with legs</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 May 2010 15:28:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday was a rich day; with all sensory input oddly and schizophrenically split between very early and very late.  The day ended after midnight with a fun and funky evening at the CD drop party for the Groove Noodles, a friend&#8217;s band.  But it started before dawn in the outdoors, on Queen Creek and in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Two too-hot pear</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/two-too-hot-pear</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/two-too-hot-pear#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 21:31:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growing things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7803</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Says me: few plants are more gratifying than prickly pear cactus, Opuntia spp.  At least, if you live in the desert, or any reasonably dry place.
Actually, even in not so dry places: we saw some naturalized in Aoteraroa (New Zealand), which seemed frankly bizarre, knowing how much rain that island gets (see the photo [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/two-too-hot-pear/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>And, speaking of owls&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-speaking-of-owls</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-speaking-of-owls#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:37:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; and we were &#8212; always &#8212; this Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) was giving us the eye from our big backyard pine tree, right at sunset tonight.  The Gila woodpeckers, doves, and local hummers &#8212; both Anna&#8217;s and Black-chinned &#8212; were really ticked off at the eminence tigre, and zoomed and hovered threateningly.  I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/and-speaking-of-owls/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another Bird Spots You</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-bird-spots-you</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-bird-spots-you#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:14:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7691</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re not familiar with Gilded flickers (Colaptes chrysoides), they are large desert woodpeckers, closely associated with Saguaros.  They excavate their nest cavities in the trunks of the giant cactus.  They&#8217;re closely related to Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted flickers who inhabit the western and eastern U.S., respectively.  Flickers are flashy in coloration, being spotted and barred, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-bird-spots-you/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bendire&#8217;s thrasher in Papago Park</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:35:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7660</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some things always amaze me.  One of them is why there are so many different Thrasher species in the arid Southwestern U.S.
Most of us who live in the Low Desert are used to two of the more common thrashers: the ubiquitous Northern mockingbird, its slender gray-and-white profile often seen  on high perches, singing its [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Equal time: the Bird Spots YOU</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/equal-time-the-bird-spots-you</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/equal-time-the-bird-spots-you#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:21:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7598</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just to even things up, here&#8217;s what it feels like to be BIRD-WATCHED:
(Photo E.Shock)
This is &#8220;Hoover&#8221; the semi-tame wild African collared dove who inhabits our neighborhood, wondering why we don&#8217;t have a handful of peanuts NOW.
To indulge in a moment of natural history, notice how the eye is set in a slightly pinched or narrow [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/equal-time-the-bird-spots-you/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>It&#8217;s the most bunnerful time of the year</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-the-most-bunnerful-time-of-the-year</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-the-most-bunnerful-time-of-the-year#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:17:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7421</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#60;&#60;  Two of these equals these. ↓
Desert cottontails abound in the yard right now.  The desert is green from the late winter rains, so there&#8217;s lots to eat.  Adult frolicking leads to tiny bunlets.  The two in the photo above on the right were stashed by mom in a shallow scrape right out in the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/its-the-most-bunnerful-time-of-the-year/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wild mantid-loaf: imagine another surprise!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-mantid-loaf-imagine-another-surprise</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-mantid-loaf-imagine-another-surprise#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:01:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7369</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A praying mantis egg-case is not something you can easily find if you&#8217;re looking for one.  So, imagine our surprise &#8212; again! &#8212; when E  looked up at a random, leafy, and low branch of the big backyard mesquite, and said, &#8220;Hey, look!&#8221;  There was a tiny brown-loaf-looking mantid egg case, stuck to a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-mantid-loaf-imagine-another-surprise/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lil mantids, or: imagine our surprise</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lil-mantids-or-imagine-our-surprise</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lil-mantids-or-imagine-our-surprise#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:11:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We grow succulents at our house in containers, and some of them can&#8217;t take the heat of the low desert summers, while others can&#8217;t take the hardest frosts of winter. This results in a constant migration of plants inward and outward between the house and yard, depending on the season.  The indoor space the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lil-mantids-or-imagine-our-surprise/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>President&#8217;s Day: Hoover himself shows up</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/presidents-day-hoover-himself-shows-up</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/presidents-day-hoover-himself-shows-up#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:09:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7281</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Hoover&#8221; the semi-tame  African Collared Dove who inhabits our neighborhood came around for a handout of sunflower hearts and peanuts on Valentine&#8217;s Day.  It&#8217;s a bit of a sad story, in that he used to have a female companion, but no longer.  So far this spring he&#8217;s spent much of the day in plaintive calling [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/presidents-day-hoover-himself-shows-up/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spot the Pipit! plus: gallery of international pipits (a bird with a view)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7012</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a small bird in this photo of lakeside rocks.  Can you spot the pipit?
Sunday E and I watched an American pipit (Anthus rubescens; photo E.Shock) working its way along water&#8217;s edge at Burnt Corral on Apache Lake east of Phoenix, darting after flies. beetles, larvae and other yummies around the cobbles in the shallow [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Winging over to Willcox</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6909</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three Star Owl is spending this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Willcox, AZ, for the annual Wings Over Willcox festival.  If you&#8217;re in the area, stop by the Willcox Community Center, and see what&#8217;s up.
(Detail of an oval vessel with a Sandhill Crane repoussé and carved in low relief, 10.5&#8243;, stoneware, A.Shock 2009)

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bonus beetles</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bonus-beetles</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bonus-beetles#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:46:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6878</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are some boffo blue beetles.
I don&#8217;t know anything about them. We found them last year just below a cloud forest in southern Veracruz, Mexico, on the side of a road that crossed a re-grown lava flow. There were hundreds of them, congregating for reasons possible to guess at, but known only to themselves, in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bonus-beetles/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Picture of purples past</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/picture-of-purples-past</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/picture-of-purples-past#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:56:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the very week many Costa&#8217;s hummingbirds leave our yard.  I know this because I&#8217;m keeping track,  not out of obsessiveness, or possessiveness (well, maybe a little&#8230;), but because each winter I participate in the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology&#8217;s Project Feeder Watch.  Like Christmas bird counts, it&#8217;s a way for science to harness [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/picture-of-purples-past/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Got Gila Monster?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/got-gila-monster</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/got-gila-monster#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:47:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6769</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) are large stumpy lizards with bright handsome markings that are both cryptic and aposematic simultaneously, and whose hands look like neoprene wetsuit gloves with claws.  They are remarkable for being one of only two venomous lizard species in the world.  They live in the Sonoran and southern Great Basin Deserts and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/got-gila-monster/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>We hear that 2010&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-hear-that-2010</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-hear-that-2010#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:16:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6756</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;will be a great ear.
Happy New Year!

 
(Photo of snoozing Fennec at Phoenix Zoo by E.Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/we-hear-that-2010/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A close brush with a hunter</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-close-brush-with-a-hunter</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-close-brush-with-a-hunter#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:57:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6533</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Weeks out of &#8220;swim-season&#8221;, our pool is a bit dishevelled right now: a recent windstorm, a bit of a chemical imbalance, a bit of neglect, made it time to brush the pool.  It&#8217;s a task that in itself isn&#8217;t huge fun in cold weather &#8212; cold wet aluminum chills the paws fast! &#8212; but does [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-close-brush-with-a-hunter/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Contemplate the young desert spiny lizard&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/contemplate-the-young-desert-spiny-lizard</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/contemplate-the-young-desert-spiny-lizard#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:59:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6520</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;as it basks in the late autumn sun at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. 
(Photo A.Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/contemplate-the-young-desert-spiny-lizard/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>This is not albino dog poop&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/this-is-not-albino-dog-poop</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/this-is-not-albino-dog-poop#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:35:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growing things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6509</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;it&#8217;s a coil of tube-slush that blurped out of the hose this morning &#8212; yes, ICE!  So, the frost-cloth and styrofoam cups are stratigically positioned, ready to be placed over newly-planted herbs, and on tender cactus-tips late this afternoon: tonight is supposed to be the first frost of winter.  The hummers are hitting the nectar [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/this-is-not-albino-dog-poop/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>More coati moments</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/more-coati-moments</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/more-coati-moments#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:16:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Spotting coatis in Sabino canyon was fortunate in many ways.  Not only is it always amazing to see a coati, but it was artistically inspiring, too.  Before the Tucson visit I had already begun a small coati effigy bowl, so on returning home I was all fired up to finish it and start another bigger [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/more-coati-moments/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Still Lousy: Costa contra Costa</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/still-lousy-costa-contra-costa</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/still-lousy-costa-contra-costa#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The post-breeding influx of Costa&#8217;s hummingbirds in our Phoenix-area yard continues.  This tough little desert hummer is present at the feeders year round, but the population goes up noticeably between about June and December.  Most of the birds we see are males, some in fully developed adult plumage, some with scraggly purple moustaches just growing in.  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/still-lousy-costa-contra-costa/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hey, it&#8217;s a Wrentit!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:27:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6272</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Can&#8217;t resist posting this swell picture by E of a Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata), a veritable Dinky Dude not of the Desert, but of West Coast scrub and inland chaparral.
(left, Wrentit, photo E. Shock)
It may have subdued plumage, but how can anyone not like a skulking, big-headed, tiny bird with white eyes, who is the only [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Redcaps and Redthroats: &#8217;shrooms and loons&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:07:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6153</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;on the northwest Oregon coast.
It&#8217;s not very much like the Sonoran Desert here. Everything&#8217;s either wet or damp, and when it rains it&#8217;s not a pounding monsoonal deluge that ends quickly, but a steady long-term soaking, which might last hours, days, or the rest of the year.  Things that live here are water-loving organisms, like [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Autumn newbies making the most of the gentle season</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/autumn-newbies-making-the-most-of-the-gentle-season</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/autumn-newbies-making-the-most-of-the-gentle-season#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:04:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently a neighbor came across the street to tell me in a concerned way that she had &#8220;had to&#8221; kill not just one but two non-venomous coachwhips in her yard out of fear for the safety of her pet, a feisty little terrier whom no self-respecting coachwhip would allow near enough for trouble.  So it [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/autumn-newbies-making-the-most-of-the-gentle-season/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Late Night Arthropod: Vaejovis aglow</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/late-night-arthropod-vaejovis-aglow</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/late-night-arthropod-vaejovis-aglow#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:15:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6075</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Scorpions are not a thing at our house.  We don&#8217;t see them frequently, and as previously posted, they&#8217;re more likely to be encountered outside as victims of the swimming pool than inside the house.  But last night E liberated one from the front bathroom, and temporarily incarcerated it in a pint glass.
In the morning, I [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/late-night-arthropod-vaejovis-aglow/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Seriously Cereus</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/seriously-cereus</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/seriously-cereus#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:42:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6036</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The weather has cooled a bit, and even the succulents in the yard are perking up a little.  Here&#8217;s a shot of a luncheon-plate sized flower of a nocturnal, non-native Cereus aethiops columnar cactus, taken at dawn before it faded in the rays of the sun.
(Photo of Cereus aethiops blossom by A.Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/seriously-cereus/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why it&#8217;s called a Ring-necked duck</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/why-its-called-a-ring-necked-duck</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/why-its-called-a-ring-necked-duck#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6014</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Although the days are still hot here in the Phoenix area, there are signs that summer is sliding into fall: migrating Red-tailed hawks soaring over the park this morning, and over Papago Buttes a couple of accipiters (probably Cooper&#8217;s hawks) swirling through a cloud of White-throated swifts, hoping for a quick fistful of breakfast on [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/why-its-called-a-ring-necked-duck/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The rare Scottsdale Aquatic scorpion?  afraid not&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/the-rare-scottsdale-aquatic-scorpion-afraid-not</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/the-rare-scottsdale-aquatic-scorpion-afraid-not#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:58:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6000</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This was weird, and sad for sure.
In previous posts, I&#8217;ve mentioned the unfortunate similarity of our swimming pool to the LaBrea Tarpits.  Especially in the summer months when there are lots of inexperienced young animals out and about, we often have to carry out water rescues.  Since my studio is at home and looks onto [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/close-in/the-rare-scottsdale-aquatic-scorpion-afraid-not/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Living with Pests, plus bonus barrel blossoms</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/living-with-pests-plus-bonus-barrel-blossoms</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/living-with-pests-plus-bonus-barrel-blossoms#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:52:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5969</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After our latest monsoon event, the yard was freshly rinsed and all dampy.  Everything was making the most of the moist: the succulents were sucking up water, the trees were drinking and dripping, and the whole world was washed in that most deserty perfume of creosote.
Also, the Cactus Longhorn Beetle came out.  Here is its [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/living-with-pests-plus-bonus-barrel-blossoms/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The pulchritude of vulturitude, or&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:25:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5922</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;things are more colorful in the tropics.

Let&#8217;s unofficially extend International Vulture Awareness &#8220;Day&#8221; to &#8220;Weekend&#8221;, just so we can examine the glorious elegance that is the facial skin of the Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture, a cousin of the widely distributed Turkey vulture that most of us Norte Americaños are familiar with.
You could argue that the King [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pleistocene megafauna revisited, and a couple of varieties of festoonage</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:17:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5862</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In an earlier post, I recalled an uncomfortable encounter with a bison on Catalina Island.  For the past few days, we were in Yellowstone (no internet anywhere in the Park!), and our interactions with large mammals were definitely calmer and thankfully more removed.  Here is one, placidly grazing by a park roadside.  He&#8217;s been head-butting [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quite a Toadly Frog</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/quite-a-toadly-frog</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/quite-a-toadly-frog#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5817</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It looks a lot like a toad, with a stumpy physique and warty skin, but it&#8217;s a Canyon Tree Frog (Hyla arenicolor).  How to tell it&#8217;s a frog? One way: no parotoid glands &#8212; instead you can see the round flat areas of its tympani (hearing structures) behind and slightly below the eye. Also, this [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/quite-a-toadly-frog/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tweaking Tiny Tins: making mini watercolor kits from mint boxes</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/tweaking-tiny-tins-making-mini-watercolor-kits-from-mint-boxes</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/tweaking-tiny-tins-making-mini-watercolor-kits-from-mint-boxes#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:24:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5026</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everybody in the world has posted their version of the Miniature Watercolor Box, usually ingeniously created from any flat metal tin, often Altoids, sometimes Velamints, or others (see here, here, and here, just for a few examples of many).  These projects are all well-described and illustrated. I hereby add my version, but will only add [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/tweaking-tiny-tins-making-mini-watercolor-kits-from-mint-boxes/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cnemie-philia</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/cnemie-philia</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/cnemie-philia#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:09:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5645</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, that&#8217;s &#8220;Cnemie-philia&#8221; &#8212; the love of lizards in the genus Cnemidophorus, now more properly called by their current genus name, Aspidoscelis, or Whiptails.  Our locals are Sonoran tiger whiptails (Aspidoscelis tigris punctilinealis), and they&#8217;re the most commonly seen lizard in our Phoenix area yard.  They like it hot and are out and about during [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/cnemie-philia/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Screen-gecko-eat-moth</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/screen-gecko-eat-moth</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/screen-gecko-eat-moth#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:38:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5631</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Working nocturnally in the studio gives observation opportunities not available during the sunny daylight hours.  Geckos (the non-native Euro-variety) march up and down the raccoon-ravaged screens stalking moths larger than their heads.  Here&#8217;s a picture of the ventral surface of one with a successful catch, all swallowed but for the wings, the reflection of my [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/screen-gecko-eat-moth/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lousy with Costa&#8217;s</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-with-costas</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-with-costas#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:46:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5275</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When the Gophersnake made its appearance, I was about to post on Costa&#8217;s hummingbirds, because &#8220;informal censusing&#8221; (= what we see in the yard) indicates that this is the season when the Costa&#8217;s hummer population is highest in our Phoenix area yard: we are lousy with Costa&#8217;s right now.
I would guess it has something to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lousy-with-costas/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>A favorite slinky neighbor&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-favorite-slinky-neighbor</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-favorite-slinky-neighbor#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:40:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5235</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;was patrolling our yard yesterday, an overcast Thursday morning.
I was working in the studio and noticed yard birds scolding harshly.  But my brain was busy with clay, and it only spared enough attention to ID the calls &#8212; cactus wren, verdin, curve-billed thrasher &#8212; and forgot to be curious about what was setting them off.  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-favorite-slinky-neighbor/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>A new batch of &#8220;Songbird&#8221; mugs is underway</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/a-new-batch-of-songbird-mugs-is-underway</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/a-new-batch-of-songbird-mugs-is-underway#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:40:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4554</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m now in heavy production mode for the upcoming Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival in southeastern Arizona (see Events for details).  Some of the objects I&#8217;m making in small batches are smooth-surfaced mugs for glazing bird portraits on.  Flat-bottomed, hand-built (as opposed to wheel-thrown), and intended for daily use, these mugs have proven popular [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/a-new-batch-of-songbird-mugs-is-underway/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Desert Dove-o-rama: White-winged doves</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/desert-dove-o-rama-white-winged-doves</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/desert-dove-o-rama-white-winged-doves#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5098</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Arriving in the spring, they lurk like vultures for weeks on the crowns of blooming saguaros, waiting for the flowers to swell into fat green fruits.  When they do, the White winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) rip them open with their strong fruit-ripping beaks, exposing the sweet red fruit and feasting greedily.  Sometimes several doves will [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/desert-dove-o-rama-white-winged-doves/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Festival of Desert Doves: the Other Collared Dove</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-the-other-collared-dove</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-the-other-collared-dove#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:08:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) has an agenda well-befitting a Columbid: &#8220;Must Colonize New World.&#8221; 
Actually, it started before that, and a lot farther east: a native of central Asia, the Collared Dove had populated Europe as far west as Great Britain by the 1950s.  By the early &#8217;80s, a population had taken hold [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-the-other-collared-dove/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Hoodia Stinketh</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/my-hoodia-stinketh</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/my-hoodia-stinketh#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:02:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4970</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For a few days I&#8217;ve been whiffing a whiff, which has caused me to search for the dead mouse in my studio.
Then, I noticed the Hoodia is blooming.  It sits on the shelves right outside the work tables.  That window is always open, being the draw-source for the swamp cooler air.  So the stinkitude of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/my-hoodia-stinketh/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Festival of Desert Doves: African Collared Dove</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-african-collared-dove</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-african-collared-dove#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:47:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4953</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The desert suburbs of Phoenix are Columbid-rich, that is, there are many species of doves and pigeons.  Yesterday I was putting out seed in a neighbor&#8217;s gravel drive just before sunset.  The area is quite open, and at that time of day it fills with fat, free-loading doves and pigeons who are used to being [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/festival-of-desert-doves-african-collared-dove/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
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