Please Consider

I don't generally put up requests on my blog. But I think this is a great and very important message that needs to be heard. Please watch and consider donating.

http://farbetweenmovie.com/donate/fundraiser/

Thanks.

Nature is Amazing!

This really speaks for itself. Sit back and enjoy. You won't regret it.

The Beauty of Pollination

Just Musing

I don't have any pictures or fun stuff like that to post today. I'm just here on my couch, listening to the birds outside, watching the rain fall, grateful that it's watering my lawn for me.

We have a covey of quail in my neighborhood, and they are slowing making their way to my street. I love to hear them calling out "Chi-ca-go, chi-ca-go". Kim thinks I'm nuts. But I also hear the Robins saying, "Cheerily cheer-up cheerio" and the chickadees saying, "Hi sweetie".

I haven't planted my garden yet. I was going to wait until after Mother's Day - now I need to wait until it stops raining and the ground isn't a big mud field. But I look forward to it. I've expanded my garden plot from last year. Now the question is what so I plant that will be enjoyed and consumed by my family? They aren't big veggie eaters. 

My job has changed locations. My position is being transferred to Antelope Island as of July 1. There is a park house out on the Island I will be moving into in order to reduce my commute and save hundreds of dollars on gas. Out there my neighbors will consist of bison, antelope, coyotes, hundreds of birds and lots of other wildlife. I'll see what I can do about introducing you all to them.

::Head bouncing::

I'm too tired to be productive any more today. So I'm going to stop trying.

That's all.

Oh, and I saw cute little squirrel tracks today.

Happy New Year

Ah, the end of one year, the beginning of another. It seems to me that every year at this time I can't believe the year is over. It seems years are flying by much faster than they used to. I mean, really? December is over?

I don't generally make New Year's resolutions. Not because I don't keep them, I just generally feel things are going pretty well, and in fact, I probably would forget about them. But this year, just because that's how life is taking me, I have made some resolutions...well, maybe they are more like goals, but whatever.

This year, I resolve:

1) To finish painting my garage.
2) To expand the size of my garden.
3) To begin composting (already started, actually).
4) To keep my bird feeders full (for the most part).
5) To eat more fruits and veggies and those other things I mentioned in another post.

That's good.

I really should resolve to bike more. But I'm afraid I might flop in that goal. So I'll just keep it in the back of my mind as something I'd like to do, and then feel good when I do it.

Do you have any resolution/goal type things for the new year?

Yard Day Postponed

I have a kitty on my lap as I type this. He is so warm and fuzzy, but it does make it tricky to type with his head resting on my hands and arms. I'm sure I'll make due; I wouldn't want it any other way. :)

I had high hopes of getting out and mowing the overgrown lawn, pulling some out of control weeds, and just cleaning up the yard overall. However, it is snowing right now. Big, fluffy, wet snowflakes. So instead I am sitting here on the couch with my warm kitty.

I had hoped that the snow would be all done falling a few weeks ago. But it seems the seasons are shifting on us. I keep saying that before too long, it will be sunny and warm in December and full on winter conditions in July.

So what to do today instead of yard work? I'll be heading to the gym with my mom in a few minutes, then off to take a load of donations to the local thrift store. It will be a day of laundry, reading, cleaning, guitar, and maybe a little TV. Or maybe I'll just bundle up and head out to look for brave, albeit confused birds along the Jordan River. That sounds more enjoyable.

Summertime

So if anyone is still following this rather inactive blog, I apologize for my lack of posting. It's funny to me how very slack I get in the summer with keeping up my musings on nature. Summer is when there is so much to do, and see. So much going on. Maybe that's why I'm a Summer slacker.

I generally do really well with blogging in the winter. And I guess I just have more time, and less going on at work and in my mind.

But I don't like that pattern. There is so much going on in the summer.

For example, I was outside this morning fiddling with a sprinkler and came face to toe with a lovely garter snake. It slithered away. I watched it. But in a few minutes, there it was again. It had come back for another look I guess. It was fun to watch for a minute or two.

A week or so ago I went camping with some friends. There was so much cotton in the air it was almost magical. We saw snakes, slugs, birds, plants a plenty, spider's webs, rivers, rocks. We enjoyed the pitter-patter of rain on the tent. We enjoyed beautiful hot coals after a nice campfire.

The abundance of rain we've been getting has made this normally dry, hot area very green and lush. It's just now starting to get up into the 80's and low 90's. But we're still having thunder storms, and enjoying the moisture, the thunder and lightening, and that wonderful after-rain smell.

Summer really is a wonderful time. So, to keep myself from missing it completely with everything else going on, I am going make a goal for myself, and share it all with you. I will be posting at least one picture a day through July - beginning today of course. And since I missed yesterday, I'll post two today.

If I miss a day, please give me a hard time about it. Thanks. :)

Nice shot! This just makes me laugh. I wonder how long the golfer looked for this ball. It wasn't even within sight of the golf course. ::chuckle, chuckle::

This little one was hanging around the same area as the golf ball. He had found something tasty to much on and so was still long enough for my first good non-feeder picture of a chickadee.

I can't wait to see what I post tomorrow!

Happy Memorial Day

It's a national holiday today to remember those who have given their lives in defense of our country, as well as those of our friends and relatives who have passed away.

It also ends up being a day to work in the yard, go on hikes, have BBQs, spend time with friends and family, etc.

It's a beautiful day, and I've spent a good portion of it outside pulling weeds. I love how the yard looks after a weed pulling adventure. Of course it's never ending.

Now I'll either go on a hike with family, or go to a movie with friends. Both very tempting possibilities.

What ever you do, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Hard Decisions

I have been quite absent from Blogger land lately. But I have good reasons.

My heart and mind have been pre-occupied with other things. And ultimately the final decision was made, and though I feel good about it, and know it was right for me, there is still a sense of loss in having come to that decision. Not regret. Just a little heart-loss.

I applied for a new job, that would have been a huge, positive change professionally. A pay raise, new opportunities, new vistas, great co-workers, on-the-park housing. But as big of a professional change as it would have been, personally it would have been even bigger, but not positive. It would have caused me to relocate four hours away, leave my house, my family, my great neighborhood - things that maybe to some seem small, or manageable. But ultimately, my heart told me what was right.

And so on the day of the interview- today - I called and withdrew it. It did feel right. But still there is loss.

So I just had to put it out there, get it out, and now move on.

Spring

Next week, March 20, is the first day of Spring. I am looking forward to the warmer weather. As it is, we still have snow here at the park, but it's melting pretty quickly.

Yesterday I followed some mouse tracks as it tried to find a way back under the thin layer of snow. It meandered for quite a while across the snow, when the tracks suddenly came to an end at a place where a bird's body mark intercepted it. Then just a few feet away, a small blood spot with marks from a bird's wings told the end of that mouse's story.

Today as I arrived to work, there were sounds of spring everywhere. Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Collared Doves and more, were singing out, hurrying spring along.

I have what I think will be my last snowshoe tour this morning. We'll have to go up the canyon a few miles to get some good snow. When I took a group up that way last week, we came across a well scavenged deer carcass with coyote tracks coming into it from all directions.

Life. Death. Nature in Balance. It's a good thing.

Comet Lulin

I went out last night about 9pm to see if I could find the "smudgball" that is Comet Lulin. With my little birding bins, I did find it, and was able to point it out to a friend as well. It was a cold night, but it was perfectly clear and made for great viewing.

In areas with a lot of light pollution you may not see it (Come on people, turn those lights off, or point them to the ground where we really want them). But in relatively dark, or very dark areas, you will see this lovely little comet near Leo the Lion in the east/south east. The link above is a good one for showing and explaining where to look over the next few nights. The further it gets from Leo, the harder it will be to see, because of the lack of a reference point.

It is pretty dim (at least from my viewing area), and all I saw was the smudge and no tail. I would have needed something a bit more powerful than my bins, but it was still fun to see.

The night sky is amazing. Grab your bins, bundle up, throw a blanket on the ground, maybe find a friend, and spend some time getting lost in the vastness of space.

SkyWatch Friday

I have a lot of family living in Idaho. Both my mom and dad have roots in Idaho. So we tend to go up quite often to visit family and for reunions. Last summer we went up for a reunion of family members I don't know well. But mom wanted to go, so to give her some company Kim and I went along.

It was a short, one day trip. But the company was nice, and the scenery was beautiful and rustic.

Lots of fields of corn, hay, and alfalfa. Old barns. Silos. Clean air. That occasional farm aroma. I had the chance to meet some great-aunts and uncles that I had never met before. And of course, a beautiful sunset through the clouds.

To see other skies, visit SkyWatch Friday. You won't be sad you did.

Bird Photography Weekly

I'm headed out to do a little BIGBY birding this morning. I mostly just need to get out into that cold sunshine, and take a walk under that beautiful blue sky. It's February, and I'm anxious to see what birds come out to play; to breathe in that crisp air; let the stresses of the week soak out into the sidewalks and pathways. For most people, the weekly stresses begin on Monday. Monday is my respite, and I'm grateful for it.

On another note, today is the beginning of another installment of Bird Photography Weekly. These photos were taken last week looking out the windows of the visitor center.

While watching the many birds at the feeder, including House Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, Pine Siskins, and Juncos, something caught my eye. I pulled out my bins, and zeroed in on one Junco in particular. There was something wrong - it's tail was way too short. Then I realized, its tail length was just fine, it was just pure white.

Partial albino Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon race)

I never did get a picture that I loved, but these will just have to do. It really was quite pretty.

To see other birds this week, click the link below.

Merry Christmas

It's snowing today, this Christmas morning. My roomies kids are all at their dad's this morning; we'll pick them up a bit later. So in the meantime, it is a very quiet morning. The animals are all fed and happy. The lights on the tree are glowing warmly. And did I mention it's snowing? How perfect is that.

My brother and sister-in-law, and thus our entire family, were blessed with an early Christmas present - a new addition to their family.

Meet Gevin - 8.2 lbs and 21 inches long. Born December 23 and home today.

Congratulations Bryce and Laura. He's beautiful!

Full Moon Nights

Have you noticed the full moon these past few nights? The big, bright full moon a couple of days ago was massive, came up just after sunset, and stayed up all night, not setting until sunrise. If you've had some nighttime projects to get done, these have been the past few nights to do them...that is if it wasn't so stinking cold!

It's still in a pretty full phase. If you haven't stopped to look at it, do it tonight.

Helpers

I have two little helpers running around my house. They help with making beds, folding laundry, reading, organizing papers and boxes of stuff, and of course setting up Christmas decorations.

T-Spoon and Phineas

Making sure everything checks out and is safe to be in the house.

My new cubicle-mate

I am in an office of cubicles. There isn't much room as it is, and because of what I do for my job, my cubicle is generally very cluttery. Bins of program materials, mounted snake skins and insects, extra binoculars for young visitors, puppets, books stuffed with leaves for pressing, books and binders and magazines, posters with fish, diagrams of the sun, and water cycles stuffed in some corner, gifts for volunteers, a spotting scope, my binoculars, and my hiking pack among a few other things.

And now I have actually, willingly, agreed to share my already crowded space with another. Luckily, she doesn't take up too much space, and sits quietly on my desk in a nicely sized plastic container.

She arrived almost two weeks ago in a state that lead me to believe she was almost dead. She stayed in a one-inch square observation collection cube the entire time I was gone on vacation. I was sure she would be very expired by the time I got back. And actually didn't think much of her when I left.

However, upon my return, I found she was still quite alive and doing her best to do what she does best, spinning a very haphazard web in the space she had. There was frass on the bottom of the container telling me her digestive system was still functioning quite well. I felt terrible that she had been left, cooped up so uncaringly, for so long.

I quickly remedied that situation. A much larger container, covered on the bottom with potting soil, moss ledges to hide under, sticks to help with web anchoring, and a seemingly dead, but still walking around, wasp - and she was set.

It didn't take her long to whip up a rudimentary web and snare that wasp.

She worked hard and fast to bind the wings, and continued to work hard to try and bind the very active abdomen as the wasp struggled with more life than I thought was in it. The wasp's pincers were flying, and doing a great job of keeping Mrs. Widow at bay.

Look at the wasp, just flinging around, fighting back with all it had. And she was working as hard as she could to get her web wrapped around it to immobilize it in order to get a bite in. She did manage to get to the wasps abdomen once, and attempted several times to bite it. But I guess that exoskeleton was just too hard for her, and so she went for the head instead.

This wasp almost proved too much for her to handle. In her attempts to wrap it up, she got too close to those flying pincers, and lost one of her palps. You can see it there, stuck in the web just in front of her. She seemed to back off after that. And I had to call it a night myself.

However, upon my return this morning, the wasp was quite dead, and she had dislodged it from her web. I assume she won out in the end.

Southern California

By this time next week we will be in Disneyland. We have been planning this trip for over three years. In an effort to not use credit at all, we have been saving our loose change, a few tax credits, and tax refunds, and finally we've saved enough to go.

Five people, six days, four parks. Plus food, hotel room, souvenirs, and rental car (so we don't all kill each other being crammed to tightly together). It's a whole lot of money. But if we are wise and prudent, we won't have to put anything on credit. Pretty amazing really, seeing how I've never done a trip of any consequence without having to use credit. The tickets are purchased, the rental is reserved, the room is reserved, the itinerary is set.

A trip to Disneyland isn't exactly one of those relaxing vacations, where you just sit on the beach or at the pool-side the whole time (and I would love a vacation like that), but still I am looking forward to this trip for many reasons.

* Time away from work (no school groups, grants to write or manage, commuting, planning, etc. for ten days!)
* Spending time with people I love
* An adventure - It's been 10 years since I've been to Disneyland.
* New scenery (hoping to see a few new birds)
* A few choice rides I'm looking forward to experiencing
* Sea World for a day
* Universal Studios for a day
* The beach for a couple of days (maybe that's where the relaxation will come in)
* Staying in a hotel (I love staying in hotels)
* The drive (yes, even that excites me. After all, isn't it about the journey?)
* Opportunities for lots of pictures!
* Meeting up with other friends who will be there at the same time, just by coincidence.

And even though it may not be the picture perfect vacation (teenagers do tend to get a bit grumpy), it will be a grand adventure!

Rainy Morning

It was just sprinkling yesterday when I got up; gray sky, cool temperatures. I bundled up to take my roommate's son to school, came back, opened the blinds so I could see the rain outside, and then curled up on the couch. It's been a while since I've had a sleepy, rainy day. I dozed. For quite a while. My dog dozed, but she always does. She doesn't need an excuse like rain.

Finally I knew that I'd end up spending the entire day there on the couch, and I did have a lot to get done, so I needed some motivation to get up and get moving. I decided to take my dog on a walk - yep, it was still raining. Harley didn't mind. She doesn't much like water, but she loves walks, so that love overruled her dislike of being wet.

It was very invigorating. Just what I'd hoped for. Refreshing, enlivening, brisk. When we got back I was ready to take on my day.

I love a rainy day. And a walk.

SkyWatch Friday

Just as I returned home from my evening walk earlier this week clouds and fading light danced in the sky. I'm glad I was close to my camera. As I stood in my front yard taking these pictures, I noticed the neighbors kind of glancing around, wondering what had caught my attention. How often do I do that? Miss the beauty that is right in front of me.

There was a time not too long ago that I would stop along the road on my way to or from somewhere just to watch the setting sun. I often wondered if all those other people hurrying off to life's events even saw the wonder and beauty of what was going on right in front of them. I haven't done that in a while. I think maybe it's time to start up an old habit again.

Other SkyWatch photos can be found here.