The replacement solar panel came, and we installed it...here you see it balanced on top of an overturned feed black plastic tub. To the left are the two "lower pond" tubs, with the ugly white siphon between them. The pump is in the nearer, round one, and the return line runs back up to the "spring."
This picture shows how the "spring" is currently assembled, before the decorative (and concealing) bits are added. There's a framework of concrete blocks, over which the liner was laid; these support the two steel T-posts that support the rocks. The present top rock isn't the final one (the final one is a much bigger rock, and will extend forward to shade the actual flow-over rock and further conceal the T-posts. But already it looked like a seep or spring coming out from a crack in the rocks...to me, anyway. The water comes off the flow-over rock and drips into a basin (a preformed tub with a spout.)	Here you can see how naturally water trickles over the edge of the rock. It actually runs over the lip and back underneath...I'll control that with a bead of transparent silicon caulk set back about two inches from the lip, in the final assembly. But this drip will, I hope, make it possible to get maidenhair fern to grow as a "beard" under the edge of the "spring."
This is a juvenile painted bunting, using the same approach pattern as the adults to the feeder...sneaking in from behind a cedar tree. Juveniles are grayer than the females (which are solid green.)	On the ground, in better light, you can see tht there's a faint green cast to the back of this juvenile bunting as it comes toward the seeds on the ground.
These four juvenile painted buntings come in to feed together, and are almost certainly from the same nest. They look much like the juveniles I saw last year at Fox Pavilion.
I haven't tried to key out this skipper butterfly yet, but in the sun, flittting around, it was almost the color of a sulfur butterfly...I was surprised, when it landed, to see that it was a skipper.
The clouds we had today kept it a tiny bit cooler, and made a gorgeous sunset, but did not bring any of the rain we needed so badly.

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