<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Three Star Owl - Functional and Sculptural Clay Artwork with a Natural History &#187; natural history</title>
	<atom:link href="http://threestarowl.com/category/natural-history/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://threestarowl.com</link>
	<description>Three Star Owl clay studio</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:21:19 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>More Mightier Pink</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The last post, on Roseate Spoonbills, was mighty pink. But I have to admit Flamingos are pretty dang pink, pinker even than Roseates. This is because they are bigger, and their entire neck and head are flaming salmon.  And these two are American Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber), who are among the pinker of the world&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Roseate spoonbill</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:25:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10084</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#8217;s all.  Just&#8230; Roseate spoonbill.
Platalelea ajaja is a fairly large hot pink wading bird with knobby gray knees and a spoon-ended sifting bill which it swings side to side in the water while feeding.  They tend to be gregarious, and seeing a bunch feeding together on mudflats is a fine pinksome sight.
&#60;&#60; This solitary one [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>More prehistoric wildlife of the back porch</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-prehistoric-wildlife-of-the-back-porch</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-prehistoric-wildlife-of-the-back-porch#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:52:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9850</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A centipede, a solifuge, now a dinosaur: all have recently made an appearance on our back porch.
Just now, I was sitting in the den with the sliding door open, when suddenly a winged dinosaur landed on the bricks right outside and ran up to the screen-door, its tail held high behind it like a velociraptor.
Greater [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-prehistoric-wildlife-of-the-back-porch/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another excellent tropical owl</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:29:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(This post newly updated with better link to owl sound)

Here&#8217;s a Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), staring hard at us from its perch in the tropical lowlands of Sarapiquí in Costa Rica.  What could be more delightful than a cinnamon-and-cholcolate owl with white &#8220;spectacles?&#8221; 
I have the answer: one that makes a strange, rapidly pulsating noise [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Pulsatrix-perspicillata-1.mp3" length="102817" type="audio/mpeg" />
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Words cannot describe the excitement&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/words-cannot-describe-the-excitement</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/words-cannot-describe-the-excitement#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:01:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9028</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;of finding a spadefoot in the yard!
A few minutes ago &#8212; just before one a.m. &#8212; I was awakened by a sound I haven&#8217;t heard in our yard or in our neighborhood for years: a loud bleating croak, with the slightly rising tone and resonance I can only describe as being like the noise a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/words-cannot-describe-the-excitement/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://www.reptilesofaz.org/Audio/SCACOU.mp3" length="529280" type="audio/mpeg" />
		</item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<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[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>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8230;yes, more Great Potoo&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like most enthusiasts, birders can get excited about seemingly unexciting things.  As proof, first there was the Maroon-chested ground-dove, a seriously exciting species that most of my non-birding friends think looks like a &#8220;boring&#8221; Mourning dove, but was easily one of the most thrilling sightings of the entire Costa Rica trip, which was full [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Great Potoo</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#8217;s almost all there is to say, except: here&#8217;s a picture of one, trying its best to look like a tree trunk, and doing an expert job of it:
I&#8217;ve always longed to see a Potoo, and when we got to Finca La Selva OTS (known to most North American birders as La Selva Research Station) [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tiny owlets toot in trees</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:15:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To say that pygmy owls are sparrow-like isn&#8217;t entirely true.  But it&#8217;s almost true.
To start with, there&#8217;s their size: they are Very Very Small (the technical term).  Almost sparrow-sized.  Perched in a conifer, they look like a tiny pinecone. Also, like sparrows, they&#8217;re largely diurnal, and can frequently be found glaring down from a high [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Life under the volcano</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8202</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three Star Owl blogging resumes after a hiatus of two weeks in Costa Rica&#8230;

Volcán Turrialba at dawn, from Rancho Naturalista (photo A.Shock).
In the view above only a small plume of steam and gas is visible from the most active of the three summit craters of the nearly 11,000 foot stratovolcano.  Its last major eruption was [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mono birds and tufa</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8154</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of our destinations during the recent eastern California trip was the dramatic and amazing Mono Lake and its crumbly, gradually ephemeral tufa groves.  Tufa towers are mineral formations deposited underwater when calcium-rich spring water pours up into carbonate-rich lakewater.  The resulting mixture precipitates calcium-carbonate which builds upward into the lake water, sort of like [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rocks sticking up out of the ground in that way they do</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:56:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unexpected]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unnatural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7975</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are the Famous Fish Rocks, kept fresh with white paint by unknown artists in Trona, California.  I admit to disappointment when I found out they were not meant to represent T-rexes rising out of the earth to once again dominate the landscape, but, even if they&#8217;re just fish&#8230; really big fish&#8230; they&#8217;re excellent.  Each [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<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>2</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>2</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>0</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>Hoover at Sea</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoover-at-sea</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoover-at-sea#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 May 2010 15:21:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7790</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hoover the feral African collared dove has solved the problem of how to drink from the swimming pool: board the chlorine float.  The health ramifications of this (for the bird) may be dubious, but watching him neatly land on a floating, bobbing object with a smallish deck area is a thing to behold.  He fastidiously [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoover-at-sea/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another Spot the Bird, sort of</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-spot-the-bird-sort-of</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-spot-the-bird-sort-of#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:52:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s a swell photo of a Sora we saw at Tavasci Marsh last weekend.  I&#8217;ve categorized this as a Spot the Bird, but your eye will probably go right to it, since it&#8217;s out in the open.  The little rail had whinnied a couple of times &#8212; Sora make a sound very much like those [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-spot-the-bird-sort-of/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</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>2</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>Spot the bird answers</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-answers</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-answers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:15:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s time to post the Spot the Bird answers from the Twofer Spot the Bird a couple days ago &#8212; thanks to everyone who got back to Three Star Owl with your observations.  Finding the birds seemed to be fairly easy; ID&#8217;ing only a little less so. These two key photos are click-onable to embiggen, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-answers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</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>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Twofer Spot the Bird</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/twofer-spot-the-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/twofer-spot-the-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:56:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7545</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are two new Spot the Bird photos.  The visual puzzle is the same in each: huge background, tiny bird.  No camouflage involved, none at all; just hiding against a big landscape.
The first photo of an enormous oaktree (?) in Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior Arizona, east of Phoenix, is a photo I took because [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/twofer-spot-the-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Nudging clay horned lizards along</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/nudging-clay-horned-lizards-along</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/nudging-clay-horned-lizards-along#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:33:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></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=7492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while back, I posted about my process for making horned lizard bowls (affectionately known as Horny toads) from clay.  Here are the next few steps, all shown in one photo, below.
To the right is a now completely assembled and textured horned lizard, in the leather hard stage, drying.  In the center is a bone [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/nudging-clay-horned-lizards-along/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yep, goats in trees</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7479</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes when you say &#8220;Goats in Trees,&#8221; people say, &#8220;No way.&#8221;
Way.
Here are goats in trees.
(Photo by E.Shock; Oman, 2010)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Aerial talon-show over Papago Park</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7437</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Had a nice morning walk in Papago Park (Phoenix AZ) this morning &#8212; the spring air was breezy and clear, and the high skies brought out a number of aerial show-offs.  The main attraction was a Peregrine falcon, spiraling and soaring between the two largest buttes in the Park and the Army National Guard reservation, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park/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>3</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>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rio Salado in early spring</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I actually got outdoors to breathe air, soak up sunbeams, and take a look at what&#8217;s up, and what&#8217;s in the air.  It&#8217;d been awhile, and I thought I&#8217;d celebrate by passing along some of what&#8217;s happening along the Salt River, smack in the middle of the City of Phoenix, AZ.
&#60;&#60; green Goodding&#8217;s willows, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</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>New!  Spot the Bird!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-spot-the-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-spot-the-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7180</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A recent post, Spot the Pipit, inadvertently marked the inauguration of a series of themed posts in this webjournal: Spot the Bird. 
After posting Spot the Pipit, it occurred to me that in the Three Star Owl photo files were other pix which showed birds that were more or less hard to see, but which [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/new-spot-the-bird/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>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Colorado indeed</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:38:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6994</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been an unusually wet gray week in the desert, and this has brought water to my mind in general, and some of its more colorful properties from wishful thinking.  So, here are some photos of brightly colored waters.  One is tinted by reflections on its surface, another by what&#8217;s under its surface, one by [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Winter in the Anchas</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:06:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6961</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[E and I went uphill today, to see what last week&#8217;s winter storms had brought to the higher terrain: a proper Sunday Drive.  We drove up into the Sierra Anchas, a rugged wilderness area east of Phoenix, east of Lake Roosevelt, a place we seem never to explore frequently enough.  In a surprisingly short distance, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas/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>1</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>Raise up your arms&#8230;.</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/raise-your-arms</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/raise-your-arms#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:41:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6713</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;like saguaros in the snow!

This photo of saguaros dusted with the white stuff near Lake Roosevelt has been trotted out from my photo archives: our current desert skies are clear and cold, at least for now, and all the snow is up above the Rim, apparently in good quantities this year.  The hummers are swarming [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/raise-your-arms/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Four calling owls, three quail hens, two Inca doves&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6634</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and a Phainopepla in a Palo Verde tree.
As around the turn of every new year, Christmas Bird Counts are happening across America.  Under the auspices of the Audubon Society winter bird distribution and population information is compiled, collected by volunteers, most of whom are not ornithologists but people with a non-professional &#8212;  although sometimes [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves/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>0</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>A first year Cooper&#8217;s hawk&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:44:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6373</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;is bent on both mayhem and mischief.
She was lurking at the north entrance to Papago Park early Saturday morning, in the low spot where the White-crowned sparrows, House finches, and Mourning doves are usually found in great numbers on chilly winter mornings.  She even swooped over our heads on her way up to the top [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</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>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Coati moment, or two</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:48:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An excellent working weekend in Tucson had an unexpected furry, long-tailed highlight: on a hike up Sabino Canyon with Kate McKinnon and the other participants of her metal clay workshop, we ran into a pair of Coatis! I&#8217;d forgotten my camera, but fortunately others had theirs, and the younger coati obliged us by being visible [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</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>Mesquite meal fest</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mesquite-meal-fest</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mesquite-meal-fest#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:14:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6203</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve been trying to Green Up around here.  In addition to starting up a composting system for garden waste and kitchen scraps, as well as having plans for an herb and chile garden to use the compost on, we recently went to a mesquite-pod milling event.
Left: dried mesquite pods
Mesquite pods and seeds are really hard.  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mesquite-meal-fest/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is this the offending foam?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:11:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On last weekend&#8217;s trip to the Oregon coast, E and I noticed the beaches were festooned with unsupported sea-foam, churned up by the waves.  This might have been the slimy foam that&#8217;s currently causing major problems for sea birds along the Oregon coast.  The foam, a result of an off-shore algal bloom, coats the bird&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam/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>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<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>2</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>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>1</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>Who needs vultures?  Everybody needs vultures!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/who-needs-vultures-everybody-needs-vultures</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/who-needs-vultures-everybody-needs-vultures#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:01:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[International Vulture Awareness day is Sept. 5
Vultures and condors are really useful in your niche or ecosystem.  What to do with that pesky roadkill, thawed winterkill, shot-winged quarry, victims of natural disaster, contagion, or warfare, or any other squishy, odiferous and past-its-prime meaty object?  Just leave it to vultures &#8212; it&#8217;s easy, quick, FREE, and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/who-needs-vultures-everybody-needs-vultures/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Watch your step!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:13:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5888</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As kids growing up in coastal southern California, we loved to warn each other authoritatively &#8220;Shuffle your feet!&#8221;, having been scared by older cousins and uncles about the dangers of stingrays in the warm shallow waters of some of the bays we swam in.  Older cousins and uncles may like to terrify little girls for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step/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>1</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[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>Howdy from Sierra Vista, Arizona</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5553</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gaze upon Sierra Vista, in south eastern Arizona, where the beautiful Huachuca Mountains beetle over the fast food restaurants and motels of the busy town.  Not visible in this shot, but also beetling, is the everpresent and mysterious white surveillance blimp.  One day, I will find out about the white blimp.  Maybe today.

The natural beauty [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Green relief for the hot desert eye</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:35:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4736</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s some eye refreshment for those of us in the hot desert to contemplate: a view of a moist, mossy and cool rainforest from Aotearoa (New Zealand).  Here there be Kiwi birds, and Kakariki, and Mohua.

It always amazes me how effective a bit of shade is for cooling, visually and physically, even in the most [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lord of the Fly(catchers)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:24:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Late each spring, later than most other neotropical migrants, the Brown-crested flycatchers (Myiarchus tyrannulus) return to our neighborhood (and other places in southern Arizona) from their wintering grounds in Mexico.
They are relatively large tyrant flycatchers, about the size of the more familiar Cardinal, but unlike Cardinals they&#8217;re not usually seen on or even terribly close [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers/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>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Have a Javelina, or two</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/have-a-javelina-or-two</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/have-a-javelina-or-two#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:53:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5188</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Days are getting short until Three Star Owl&#8217;s third appearance at Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival, and I&#8217;m in a groove, making pieces for the event.  As posted, I&#8217;ve been making mugs, and also owls.  Lots of owls.  Even more owls than usual.
So recently I turned to the hairy side of Sonoran fauna, and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/have-a-javelina-or-two/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Further adventures with the Hairhen</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-adventures-with-the-hairhen</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-adventures-with-the-hairhen#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:11:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5169</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Early Monday morning I nearly stepped on a raccoon kit.  We both came around a wall at the same time, from opposite directions.  Fortunately, no contact was made: the kits are well-grown now.  Also, the Hairhen is very watchful, so we were all very careful to not create an incident.  She and all four kits [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/further-adventures-with-the-hairhen/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[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[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>Meet the Hair Hen&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/meet-the-hair-hen</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/meet-the-hair-hen#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:05:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the Hair Hen.  Actually, there are two; we call them both the Hair Hen because we used to not be able to tell them apart.  Now we can: one has two kits, the other has three.
This is a picture of the three-kit Hair Hen.  She lives under the Mexican Fan Palm in the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/meet-the-hair-hen/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[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>
		<item>
		<title>Springtime do-over in Sedona (with Bonus Wild Hen nidification)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4859</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We missed some of Spring in the desert this year, so last weekend we went in search of it under the Mogollon Rim: Sunday found us hiking along the West Fork of Oak Creek in Sedona.  It&#8217;s one of the more popular trails in that popular area, and at times it&#8217;s mobbed by clusters of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>One of the best things we DIDN&#8217;T see in New Zealand&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:02:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;was a Ruru, or Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).

It&#8217;s NZ&#8217;s only remaining native owl (the Laughing owl was last recorded in 1914), and is fairly common in many habitats, even parks and gardens, but is especially numerous in tracts of native bush.  We heard them several places, mostly in the Kauri Forest while on a night walk [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gamboling Gambel&#8217;s Quailets</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/gamboling-gambels-quailets</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/gamboling-gambels-quailets#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 04:09:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In our area, the first Gambel&#8217;s quail chicks of the year usually start showing up in early May,  clustered around their parents under the mesquite trees in the yard, pecking expertly at the ground like the precocial youngsters they are.  This year, since we weren&#8217;t around then, we missed the &#8220;nebula phase&#8221; of their [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/gamboling-gambels-quailets/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Postcards from the Bottom Edge</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 16:37:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4696</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With a couple of exceptions, I haven&#8217;t really posted much about something that&#8217;s very plentiful in Aotearoa/NZ: amazing landscapes.  Although there&#8217;s lots and lots of pasture land, crammed with sheep and cattle and non-native trees and grasses, the islands have a plentiful supply of charming vistas, rugged and awesome terrain, and outright wilderness.  All of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Harakeke rules!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:26:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Living in Southern California as a kid, I was familiar with the massive, blade-leafed clumping plant widely used in landscaping called Flax, or New Zealand Flax.  So I shouldn&#8217;t have been surprised to see it growing everywhere in New Zealand, right?  Still, my first dim thought was, &#8220;Oh, they landscape with it here, too, just [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>So what about the Hen?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/so-what-about-the-hen</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/so-what-about-the-hen#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 19:37:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></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=4544</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You may be wondering about the much-posted Hen, a female Anna&#8217;s hummingbird, and her two nestlings, who were busy growing up in an Aleppo Pine in our back yard.
As far as we know, the Hen fledged her young successfully while we were in New Zealand. We&#8217;ll never know for sure, but the evidence supports a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/so-what-about-the-hen/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tubenoses, Albatross Elbows and Muttonbirds</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 03:00:35 +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[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One thing the Southern Hemisphere does well is sea birds.  Albatrosses, gannets, penguins, prions, storm petrels, diving petrels, gadfly petrels, giant petrels, shearwaters, skuas, mollymawks, and more occur in baffling numbers of species (and nomenclature).  Normally, many of these birds are found well out to sea, over the deepwater pelagic zones.  But in tectonically active [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Evidence of life in the tree tops: Rosella and Kereru</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 09:31:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4332</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Left: Eastern Rosella feather (Platycercus eximius) with Kauri cone.  Rosellas are long-tailed, rainbow-colored Australian parrots who now live in NZ, too.

Below: Kereru feather (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, New Zealand Pigeon) on leaf.
The Kereru is a very large pigeon, much bigger than Rock Pigeons, whose striking white, iridescent green-maroon plumage and bright red feet and bill blend surprisingly [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Shaking Islands: colorful hot waters</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 09:19:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s not all about birds: NZ&#8217;s hot waters are as unique as its birdlife. The islands are tectonically active, and strange fuming waters seep gently and sometimes violently blow to the surface.  We saw lots of these places; here&#8217;s a sample from Wai-O-Tapu, in the volcanic plateau near Rotorua.

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Alpine Parrots&#8230;no, really, parrots at tree-line.</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:58:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4279</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you were a parrot, would you live in this chilly realm?
Yes, if you&#8217;re a Kea.  A large, endemic NZ parrot, the bronze-green Kea (Nestor notabilis) spends most of its time in high alpine areas and steep rocky valleys of the mountains of New Zealand&#8217;s South Island.
Kea can be easy to photograph because of some [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Serendipity: Fernbirds, penguins, and hogget in between</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:48:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4261</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This day was full of serendipity: we happened upon the lady with fernbirds in her yard; we went to Curio Bay for fossils, but happened upon Yellow-eyed penguins; and in between?  Hogget: it&#8217;s an age category of sheep meat between lamb and mutton, which we happened upon in the Invercargill Pack-n-Save butchery.
What a day!
Here is [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When is a Wood Hen a Beach Bunny?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:27:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4249</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it&#8217;s a Weka (pronounced &#8220;wehkkah&#8221;, Gallirallus australis), a biggish flightless endemic NZ rail.
If you&#8217;ve ever tried to see a rail in the US, you know it can be an exercise in frustration, since our rails are furtive and well-camouflaged wetlands birds.  Designed to slip secretly through reeds and sedges (as in &#8220;thin as a&#8230;&#8221;), [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
