Six inches across, serves eight, never lasts long.

This beautiful feather fell to earth. I hope the hawk who lost it is OK.

So grateful the coastal weather has stayed (somewhat) normal in May and June. Kind of dreading July tbh, but we'll see.

I just love their velvety little faces.

This happened so fast I didn't know until we got home that the photo came out OK. It was amazing, the hawk flying precision patterns on a morning food run.

Throwback Thursday: The southern perimeter of Bluffs Park on October 4, 2016.

It's taken close to three years but California quail are returning to Solstice Canyon. Ground-dwelling birds, they were all but wiped out in the fires of 2018. We first started hearing them a few months ago, an occasional call so high up in the hills you could easily believe you'd imagined it. And then last week, a covey down in the flats.

It's not much of a photo, shot from afar while wrangling two dogs. But oh the sight of their sweetly goofy bodies, topknots bobbing, was maybe the best thing that happened all week.

It's wild bunny season in the Santa Monica mountains. We're seeing them everywhere we go. And here at Casa de LOUD!, the bunnies come to us. This is one of two daily visitors. Their appetites -- they don't care for lavender, salvia, or impatiens -- have had a direct influence on the evolution of the flower beds in the rear courtyard. I've also found that if we put down a few trimmings from the backyard tree, even the violas and petunias and coleus are left in peace.

Jacaranda season. Pure magic.

There was a day last week when we were the only ones in Solstice Canyon.

It's not all coyotes and dolphins and wild parrots around here. A few days back this handsome rooster strolled by. He chatted a bit, checked out the neighborhood and, clearly in no great hurry, moved on.

Thank you for the emails asking if everything is OK. It was the longest-ever break on this little blog and there's not even a good reason for it. The weight of a terrible year, I guess, and the unexpected complexities of re-entering a wider world. And of course the wild puppy, who came home from her training with a new set of manners, calmer and more confident and eager to say hello to strangers. Such a turnaround.

Meanwhile, for Throwback Thursday, here's some rain.

Throwback Thursday: Rain on PCH just south of Mugu Rock on January 5, 2016.