Islands, Deserts, Crushes.

Hello, I am back. I'm not going to apologize or ramble about how it has been too long. That is what cowards do. I am no coward. I will proceed straight to the Crushings.

First up on the menu at Crush Cafe is an almost unbearably cute looking hairy animal. The Island Fox. These things only occur on the Channel Islands. This one is from San Clemente Island, where I have been privileged enough to join friends and other questionable characters to look at birds twice over the last few months. Generally, the birding on San Clemente is very poor, but the foxing is excellent. An avid Foxer can relentlessly Crush Island Foxes from distances as close as 1 inch. Foxers are hardcore compared to birders and are awesome.

This Double-crested Cormorant was fishing around the boat at Channel Islands Harbor, so I Crushed his face. He is both sexy and a fine fisherman.

Most people like to Crush an Eared Grebe's ears. Not me. Nope, I prefer to Crush the Eared Grebe's taint. #TaintCrushChannelIslandsHarbor

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is one of those birds that fills your heart with guilt as you Crush it. Each pounding blow of the shutter releasing on your Crusher just hammers pity into your soul for these poor little things. Notice how I chose to Crush only face and neck. Not tail or wings. Some would call this art. Crushed in Angeles National Forest.

Western Tanagers are feathers on fire. Such brightness is pleasurable to look upon when flattened into 2 dimensions. Angeles National Forest.

At Butterbredt, this Lawrence's Goldfinch was trying to apologize for being a drab, boring, hatch year Lawrence's Goldfinch. Apology not accepted. Boom. Crushed.

This is the first Crushing I have made of a Lucy's Warbler. I have many Docu-Crushes of them, which aren't actually Crushes at all. They are simply poor photographs used strictly for documentation purposes. Furnace Creek Ranch, Death Valley.

A nice non-bird for everyone who is sick of birds. Desert Spiny Lizard, Galileo Hill. It was nearly a foot long, but my Crusher is longer, so it was no biggie.

Ovenbird at Galileo borderline Crushed due to low light.

Anyone who has not yet read the latest BB&B should do so now by clicking here. It is excellent. If you haven't read the article about birding becoming cool on the Esquire magazine blog, do that first by clicking here. It's kind of a prerequisite.