Camping Weekend Bird Report

California Towhee
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

What a great weekend for birding! I didn't get enough of it -- of course -- but still, it was so great. We were camped at a reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The river was dammed and has backed up to fill many, many valleys and canyons with water. We were camped on the top of a hill that juts out into the water. It is oak tree country and grassy. Utterly beautiful. I took as many pictures as I could but the light was not great and my skills are not great and so many did not turn out. Mostly, they were just so that when I washed them out and zoomed in, I could see enough detail to ID the bird. I did get a bunch of life birds but I haven't entered them into eBird yet to see how many I got.

This California Towhee posed beautifully for me in this bramble at Columbia, California -- an historic Gold Country town that has become a State Historic Park while still being a real town. Very cool. And, we bought great homemade chocolate there so . . . it's well worth a stop!

Here's a brief bird list:

California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Oak Titmouse
Acorn Woodpecker
Hairy/Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Bluebird *
Northern Flicker *
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Phainopepla *
Mockingbird
Canada Geese
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Hawks of many varieties
Immature Bald Eagle

Here are a few of the photos I got that I was pleased with . . .

Northern Flickr
(taken through the window of the motorhome at 7:30am!)

Western Bluebird
They were everywhere -- so utterly beautiful!

Turkey Vulture
I could not believe how close I was to this amazing bird.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Look at that little acrobat!

So, while I could have wished for better light all weekend, I can't complain about the birds I saw. Greg heard an owl in the middle of the night but it stopped hooting as he rolled over to wake me up.

Oh, and other wildlife . . . I saw three Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) and we all saw a Bobcat (Lynx rufus)!

Camping in the rain

Camping in the rain
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We're home -- safe and sound! It was a fantastic trip. Details will follow later! Hope you all had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to getting caught up on everyone's lives!

It's raining, it's pouring . . .

Fluffed up Hermit Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Well, I don't suppose Greg would appreciate it if I finished that sentence!

It's rained all day yesterday and looks to rain right through the weekend and into next week. Finally some regular winter weather here. I went back and visited the site of my botched (and yet successful) efforts to snap the Hermit Thrush and got a nice shot of him (her?) from my car without laying on the horn. I love how fluffed up he looks -- compare it to the other shot below. Cute!

There are several local internet weather stations in Boulder Creek. I look at all of them but Boulder Creek is such an area of microclimates that the rainfall at one could be totally different from what we experience here at our house. This one usually feels about right though . . . {click}. That chart shows the current rain conditions. It's just been the steady, soaking rain that we usually get and like so much around here. It's good for everything and not dangerous to the hills and people. When it rains too much, too fast, we are at serious risk of mudslides. My senior year in high school we had a storm like that and it was devastating. We were very careful when we bought our house -- there are no hills above us that could become unstable and slide -- and we're not on one either, thank goodness. Giant trees, steep hillsides, and huge quantities of rain are not a good combination.

This rain though is so appreciated. Which isn't to say that we aren't all griping about it. Everything is just a big more difficult when it is raining constantly . . . my job requires that I walk around campus a lot gathering groups of kids and bringing them to my room for a half-hour lesson and then taking them back again. So, I make the decision to take a coat or umbrella about 47 times a morning. Usually I just risk it. Unless it's POURING which it can do here. A real Boulder Creek rain is when you have your wipers on high and you still can't see because it's raining so hard. Sometimes I can't see across my backyard because of the density of the rain coming down. We haven't had a storm like that this winter. Yet? Hard to say, it's been a weird year and those storms usually come in January when we had virtually no rain at all.

Okay, enough on the rain. Today is the last day of the week. All your weekend plans sound great! Tonight, I pack up our clothes, some food, and finish giving the motorhome a quick clean while Greg takes the kids to soccer. Tomorrow, bright and early, we'll head off on our adventurous camping trip! Still no confirmation from the two breeders I wanted to visit about seeing their dogs. Weird but what are you going to do. Maybe the fates are intervening to tell me that Ruby is the right dog for us.

Have a great weekend, folks!


ps. don't miss the videos below.

Google Video Thursday

Let the Rain Pour Down . . . the movie:




Feeder Frenzy in the Rain:



And, for my raven loving readers, Noisy Raven:

Let the rain pour down

Driving in the rain 1
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our local weather report says:

Today: rain becoming likely. Highs in the 50s to mid 60s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

If rain is just now becoming likely, I'd like to know what the previous 24 hours of non-stop rain have been . . . other than very welcome to our plants and reservoirs of ground and drinking water.

I took the above picture to show you what rain is like in the mountains. And, then I took this one just to scare you with what driving in rain is like in the mountains.

Actually I took a bunch of pictures and some video (which I haven't had time to make into a movie yet) to share the whole experience. Guess we've been missing the rain, huh?

The birds were somewhat less than impressed with the rain. There was a general air of irritation and nervousness around the feeder today. I put out a lot of seed to soothe them . . . it didn't work. But I did enjoy watching them flit about irritatedly.

In that last photo, you can see the water beading up on her feathers -- click on it to see the detail. Have I mentioned lately that I love my camera? Kamerageliebterblogunpfaffers! These pictures were taken at low res because I was taking some shots for stuff to sell on eBay and I forgot to change it back . . . they are still great shots and show a lot of detail when you look at the larger sizes. I've started reading the manual to my camera -- it's overwhelming but I think it will encourage me to play a little bit with the settings.

In other news, I'm still not feeling great. But I'll live and I doubt I'll get much sicker, thank goodness! I'm trying to contact the other two breeders that we want to visit this weekend and it's not proving easy to manage that. I am leaning more and more towards Ruby but would really like to see some of the larger Ratties before I make a decision. We're getting ready for our camping trip and I'm excited about that but I wish that it would be a drier trip. I went shopping for food last night and bought a big box of hot chocolate. We haven't camped in the winter since before we had kids so it should be different. Long damp walks, card games, books, -- it'll be fun though. We're excited!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Bird Photography Rules

Hermit Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Gentle Readers,

I am going to share with you my #1 rule for Bird Photography. Yes, I know, someone of my abilities sharing her hard-won knowledge . . . it's truly an inspiration but, Gentle Readers, that's the kind of person I am.

Bird Photography is the perfect balance of art and craft, inspiration and desperation, luck and heartache. Rule #1 addresses these dichotomies.

Rule #1 states that when attempting to photograph birds whilst using one's car as cover, one should not inadvertently lay on the horn. Sudden, loud noises -- as it turns out -- frighten the birds and they fly away leaving you with pictures of where they were not what they are. Pictures of "where they were" are not interesting to anyone.

As is so often the case, however, rules were made to be broken. The picture above was taken directly after I learned Rule #1. A lovely bird, sitting in a tree, startled by the sudden blast of a car horn as I adjusted myself to get the right shot disappears rapidly. But, I am not easily swayed. I saw that the next bush over had started to bud out and the lovely bright pink flowers would make a nice shot. So, I got out of the car and walked over to take a shot of the flowers and noticed that the bird in question, a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttus) of the Pacific variety, had not gone far and was in fact hiding in said flowering bush and trying very hard to pretend I wasn't there. I couldn't delay there were a lot of people coming up the hill (going to pick their children up from school too) so I used burst mode, shot about 15 pictures and got one that was usable (not good, mind you, but usable).

So, as in all things, Gentle Reader, when life gives you lemons, by all means, make lemonade but if life gives you limes . . . make margaritas! And, those, my friends, are words to live by.

Cheerio -- The Mad Bird Lady of Boulder Creek

ps. These rules were inspired by the efforts of Lillian Stokes and Bill of the Birds who take the sharing of their rules more (or less) seriously!

Oh, that's just perfect!

Maple Leaf with fungus
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

This morning when I went out to go to work, there was a big poop on the hood of my car. I couldn't believe it. Honestly, I also can't believe that I didn't take a picture . . . Julie might have identified it for me. I'm guessing raccoon. I can't see a skunk climbing up on the car. I've cleaned too many cat boxes to think it was cat. So, what on earth was it thinking? Oh well, Gage loved it -- he got to tell me how disgusting it was all the way to school and I got to think, "I know exactly how disgusting it was . . . I cleaned it up!"

Tomorrow it's going to start raining. (Oh, I know, I know . . . we need the rain. Rain is good!). It's supposed to rain all weekend (also good!).

I'm getting sick. Cough. Snorfle.

We're going camping this weekend. (Did I mention its going to rain all weekend?)

So, I feel a bit like that fungus in the picture. I've seen better days.

Oh well, I'm resting today and hoping to fight off this stupid bug. I'd hate to ruin all our plans! (Especially getting to see more Rat Terriers!!!)

A quiet moment

Dark-Eyed Junco (Oregon)
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I took a quiet moment this afternoon and went out in the waning light. This junco knew that I was there and he wasn't happy about it but he did come out several times to forage.

It was wonderful to go outside with my camera and get absorbed in taking pictures. I took 139 pictures and 5 of them made me happy. I'm getting so picky now! Used to be if you could tell what bird it was, I figured it was a success!

The neighborhood was active but no one noticed me. My husband was hard at work and didn't miss me. My kids were playing a game together and didn't miss me. What a blessing to escape responsibilities and not be missed!

Enough of that. Just time for a quick dinner and then off to a Parent Club meeting. Oh Joy!

Sunday Blog Roll

I start each day by reading blogs and sipping my morning mochas. My blogging friends are amazing and diverse. Here are a few of the highlights today . . .

The Dharma Bums are thinking thoughts on the value of saving an individual bird. GardenPath shares a view of her kitchen window from her home in Maine. Julie Zickefoose uses the power of the blog to help save an awesome dog named Boomer -- by finding him a good home. (If you are near Ohio and want an awesome dog -- and don't have any cats!!! -- check it out!) Mary sneeks a peek at birds who are innocently bathing away, blithely unaware of the bird paparazzi posting their pictures on the internet. Outside In writes about the Big Weather they had in Florida this weekend. Somewhere in NJ writes about a very quiet day at Sandy Hook, NJ and shares some history with us -- scroll down and read an earlier post about the eagles she saw the day before! Susan Gets Native shares sketches of her week -- and displays her wacky sense of humor as well as a heretofore unknown artistic talent! More drawings, Susan! Rainbow Family of Four -- an online friend for more than 8 years -- shares a science experiment you too can do when the weather gets so cold that the schools close in Madison! And, What's That You Said -- an online friend for about 15 years -- shares more on her ongoing to efforts to learn American Sign Language and get in touch with Deaf culture. My Whim is Law -- also a friend for 8 years -- discusses what makes a great SuperBowl to her.

So that's what is going on in my little corner of the Blogosphere.

PS. Just surfing and looking at my Technorati results and found that people I don't even know are quoting me . . . look {here} and {here} and {here} and {here}. That is a little startling but okay! I think I'll have to visit back to some of these as well.

A Day of Dogs and RVs

On our way to visit Ruby, we stopped at our friend, Brett's house to see his Rat Terrier, Jay-Jay. We is a standard-size -- around 15". Very sweet -- as nice as I had remembered. I love this picture. Gage is not a dog person but he loves these Ratties -- they are such a nice breed of dog. The kids played with Jay-Jay for ages!


We went out to visit Wild Oak Ranch today in San Jose -- home of horses, chickens, a big white cat, and a whole passel of Rat Terriers. In the picture above, they are checking out a gopher hole. But best of all, they had a litter of puppies -- adorable, sweet Rat Terrier puppies. Is there anything cuter than kids and puppies?



So, what about Ruby? Well, we are thinking about her . . . a lot. First of all, she is very, very sweet. She's smaller than we'd hoped -- maybe 13" tall (at the shoulders) and delicate. But, she is also only 8 mos old so she has a bit more growing to do. I like the picture below because it shows her puppy-ness quite well.


So, pros and cons. Pro -- she was very sweet, very pretty, and very eager to please. She's a puppy and I'm sure she'll adapt to our life quite easily. She's not at all dominant - her mother is quite dominant, however. Cons -- she was a little concerned about the kids -- but all the dogs were at first. It seemed to mostly have to do with being protective of the puppies and they got over it nicely when Nancy told them to knock it off. She's smaller than we'd pick in an ideal world.

So, what are we thinking about? Well, we have had Labradors for the last 20 years and Greg had labs before that and I had a Golden and a Samoyed. We are used to big, exuberant dogs. Ratties are small and a trifle aloof with strangers. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we want a different personality type. We have always picked the dogs that sat up and said, "Pick me! Pick me!" and sometimes we've had a hard time living with that personality for the next 10 years. I'll have to share some stories about some of my past dogs. One of my BEST dogs was a rescue lab who wouldn't make eye contact with me for days. She was the epitome of aloof at first and then grew comfortable with us. She's been gone for 6 years and I miss her still. But that personality is not what we would normally pick -- but it's kind of what we want. So, we need to think about that a bit and wrap our heads around it.

I'm going to contact the local Rat Terrier breeder and talk to her this week and maybe go see her dogs if I can. And, then we'll decide.

Ruby clearly got over her aloofness with Greg and she did come up to the kids -- not that they could see anything but the puppies. Both kids talked about the puppies several times today. They just adored them.

So, more thinking. More research. I don't know if we found our dog or not. I know she would work for us but I want to make sure we aren't rushing in where angels fear to tread . . . if you know what I mean.

So, my dear peanut gallery, what are YOUR thoughts? Is Ruby to be or not to be?

PS. Oh yea, we went to the RV show too. Interesting but we've done that for the next several years. Tiring but we say some interesting ideas. Not sure any will help us with our big project of fixing up the FMC slowly and surely. Still, I'm glad we went!

PPS. Saw about 23 hawks today and about 50 Turkey Vultures. Before we left town this morning, we saw a Sharpie drop from a power pole down to the ground by the road RIGHT next to us. Amazing. I didn't see that he'd gotten anything but it was so cool.

End of the week

Gage Rocks Out!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Friday is soccer night for the kids. We do indoor soccer in the winter as it rains so much here although this year I think we could have done outdoor without too much trouble . . . although it would have gotten too cold and too dark!

Soccer is from 5 to 6pm and when we're done the kids are starving! They work hard -- it's a weekly soccer clinic rather than a team. They are learning good skills and I suppose we'll have to put them to use in the future by having them play on a team at some point. I really hate the ugly side of team sports though so I'm not eager!

Often we decide to go next door and get pizza for dinner. We did so tonight. Greg let Gage listen to his iPod while we were waiting for the pizza. Here, Gage is rocking out to Crocodile Rock (oddly enough it was the Beach Boys version and not Elton John's . . . not sure what's up with that as we are way more EJ fans than BB fans).

Ruthie had a turn as well. Her favorite song, of late, is 1985 -- that song about a woman slightly younger than me reminiscing about her lost youth. Hilarious for an 8 year old with no clue to rock out to it . . . she doesn't know the bands and just says what she thinks they are. My favorite messed-up lyric is Matona for Madonna!

We had a good dinner and then came home to baths and relaxation.

Tomorrow we go see Ruby. Fingers are still crossed! I'll let you all know how it goes!

Shhhh! Come closer!

Don't tell anyone! Seriously! Shhhhh!

We're going to look at a dog on Saturday.

Ruby the Rat Terrier

It's a Rat Terrier. She's really a cutie -- about 7 months old. Her breeder can't use her in her breeding program so they are looking for a good home. Her name is Ruby. She's smaller than we were looking for but well . . .

here's the deal . . . I had to make a deal with the devil -- err -- my husband. He wants a mastiff. I want a smaller dog so . . . masters of compromise that we are . . . we are going to do both. The small dog comes first but we are going to start the process of searching for a mastiff puppy.

What an adorable little thing who will end up this size . . .

Yikes. Holy guacamole.

But don't tell anyone . . . I don't want to jinx it. Fingers crossed that it all works out.

But seriously, this is what it's going to look like when we walk our dogs . . .

Okay, so I'm off to visit In The Company of Dogs because I don't have anything for a little dog . . . oh, and do you think its a good sign or a bad sign that I already have the picture of Ruby as my desktop pattern on my computer? Oh, I hope she likes the kids and all goes well.

Life in the Rainforest

Redwoods on the golf course across from my house.

I love living in a temperate rainforest. We live at the southern tip of the west coast's temperate rainforest. Temperate Rainforests are less well known than their tropical counterparts!Our dominant trees are Coastal Redwoods. We normally get around 60 inches of rain a year -- the highest year I've lived through was 111 but people died from the rain that year and we'd rather not do that again, thank you! (Mudslides are not our friends!) This year, to date, we have had 12.5 inches (our rainfall year starts in October). This is upsettingly low for the end of January which is usually one of our wettest months.

{Interesting historical record of Boulder Creek rainfall totals}

So, bottom line as pleased as we were to get a couple of days of rain, it's not enough. We need days on end of rain. Usually by this time of year, we are complaining about the mold on the windows and counting the mushrooms growing in the yard, not worrying about dry skin and wondering if we should turn the sprinklers back on. It's a wild year, alright.

In other news, we got our game table yesterday. It's wonderful. Of course, now we have to move lamps, make cushions for the chairs, figure out what this means for the rest of the living room but it's all good.

Look, Gage is dealing us up a hand of Crazy Eights!

Murky depths

Still Water
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Water is everything in a redwood forest. Without it, we won't have redwoods. We live in a rain forest but it only rains during the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall, we get very little rain. Instead, we get fog. The redwood trees suck moisture out of the very air and drip it down on their roots. But, in the winter, it rains and rains and rains.

Not this winter, however. We have had almost no rain. I'm sure the redwoods were suffering. My hands and feet and skin were dry and parched. There wasn't enough lotion in the house to keep my skin from cracking and hurting.

And, then the rain came. Like a long cool drink of water on a hot day. Like a breath of fresh, soft air. Moisture found its way back into our pores. Mine and those on the redwood trees. You could almost hear the forest heave a sigh of relief.

Or was that just me?

A Day at the Dog Show

The nicest Irish ever! What a love!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

What fun! We got up early. Very early. Greg told Ruth last night that if she woke up and it was after 6am and we weren't up yet to wake us up. So, guess how long she made it? 6:04 am! So, we got an early start but I did still get my two cups of mocha in, thank goodness.

We went to this show to research dog breeds, let the kids and Greg interact with some breeds I was familiar with that they weren't and to have a fun day.

Fun? Mission accomplished. We all had a blast. The kids really enjoyed the dogs quite a lot. Gage isn't the biggest dog fan in the world and he really enjoyed it a lot. He even let a dog wash his hand. Aren't Norfolk Terriers adorable?

But, totally not the right breed for us. I adore them and their little Norwich Terrier relatives but they are too terrier for us, thank you!

Ruthie had fun too but she prefers the dogs that dive right in and wash your face for you. Here she is getting a bath from a Viszla . . .

Our criteria are . . .

Me: temperament, temperament, temperament. I want something sweet, patient, and not particularly yappy. I also don't want a hugely shedding dog. (Labs shed a bit too much for me so anything with a fluffy coat is out . . . no corgis, no malamutes, no samoyeds). I'd also prefer smaller than a lab -- we want this dog fully integrated into our lives which includes going camping with us.

Greg: Mastiff. Protective but not aggressive. No shedding, please.

Gage: a dog that won't like me in the face and jump on me

Ruth: playful, cuddly, sweet, loving, will sleep with me

No problem, right?

Well, I can't get Greg to take Mastiff off the list. Gage likes the Mastiffs too but only because I haven't told him about the drooling issue. That's my biggest problem with a mastiff. But, Greg adores them and pictures like this don't help . . .

CH Lamar's In It To Win It -- Jimmy J
Gorgeous Mastiff. His coloring is reverse brindle. I absolutely adored him.

For the shedding issue as well as addressing both my size issues and Greg's size issues (ie. I want smaller and he wants larger), I have proposed a Standard Poodle. Greg hates their hair cuts so we really wanted to find one in a not-for-showing-cut. Mission accomplished and we liked it.

Greg, Ruthie, and Gage meet a Standard Poodle.

Last on our list (and least in one way) is the Rat Terrier. We have a good friend with one and we adore JJ. He is mellow, patient, smallish but not tiny, loving, quiet, etc. Ratters come in mini (under 13 inches) and standard (over 13 inches) as well as the Decker Giants which go up to about 18 inches. We would want a larger one. This sweet one, Viggo, is not larger but he was so sweet.

GRCH Turn Hidalgo at Wild Oak -- "Viggo"
What a sweetie-pie. He's a little small for us but very handsome!

So, where are we? What breed are we getting? Have we narrowed it down to size even? Nope. Not even close. I don't see us getting a Mastiff -- no matter how much Greg wants one. And, if I had to put money on it, I'd say that a Ratter is in our future but I'm not positive.

Stay tuned.

Oh, saw a really lovely Snowy Egret today on the drive over. Also took an amazing sunrise shot which will appear in next week's Good Planets Are Hard To Find carnival.

A day of women!

My family's version of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is our own "club" called Crafty Chix. We get together every other month and do crafts of one sort or another. Sometimes its an old favorite and other times it's something new and exciting! The group includes me, my sister, my mother, my sister-in-law, and my mother-in-law. That's it. Someday Ruth will get to come and she's counting the seconds!

We also celebrate one of our birthday's each time. This month it was my mother-in-law, Jerryne's birthday. She turned 75 years old last week. Amazing, huh? She is as beautiful inside as she is outside. I am the luckiest daughter-in-law in the world! She doesn't look or act anywhere near 75 years old.

One of our newer traditions each year is to do a field trip. Sometimes it's a crafty related field trip. Other times, not so much. This time, we went to Goodwill in Scotts Valley for a little thrifting. I found a very cute sweater. :) Next door to Goodwill, however, is a furniture consignment shop. They have very nice things and their prices are reasonable. My mom and I had been in there on Thursday. They had a gorgeous leather gametable of exactly the type we'd like in our living room. We have four beautiful old chairs that look like leather but aren't that belonged to my husband's grandparents. We went back today and looked at the table. It's still gorgeous. They all talked me in to buying it and so I called Greg to get his blessing - he hadn't seen it!!! He said to measure it and then go for it. The measurements worked and I bought it. It was pouring rain so Greg didn't come down in the truck to get it. We'll pick it up on Tuesday! So excited. Here it is. The white on the surface is the "sold" sign!

I can't wait to get it in my house! It is going to be so lovely with the green chairs!

Oh, and for more on the crafts we crafty chix did today, well, that would be covered on my CraftyPoodle blog!

Oh, and I saw a cute little Oak Titmouse today -- actually a pair of them are nesting in my sister-in-law's deck in a birdhouse my nephew built. They are adorable little birds who mate for life. They live in the Oak trees of California and are, therefore, on the Audobon Watch List.

Sunday, we are off to the dog show. This is a huge "benched" show in San Francisco. A benched show means that the dogs are on exhibit all day as well as being entered and shown in the show. It's a great chance for us to go look at lots of different breeds and get a feel for what type of breed we are interested in for our next dog as well as connecting with some responsible breeders. This is something that I know a lot about -- I used to breed, train, and show Labrador Retrievers. I used to go to this show every year and show my own dogs. It will be chaotic and loud and I know I'll have a headache when we leave. But, oooooooh, it's gonna be fun.

Final Thoughts on Elkhorn Slough

It wasn't until I did my eBird update tonight that I realized that I had 10 lifebirds at Elkhorn Slough. I'm sure they were mostly birds I'd seen before in my life but not ones that I'd ever counted before. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's the final count . . .

Location: Elkhorn Slough
Observation date: 1/26/07
Number of species: 22

Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos X
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola 6
Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis 2
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret - Ardea alba 2
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 1
White-tailed Kite - Elanus leucurus 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 1
American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 4
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus X
Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus 5
Willet - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus X
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus X
Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa 2
Acorn Woodpecker - Melanerpes formicivorus 1
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 1
Black Phoebe - Sayornis nigricans 1
Hutton's Vireo - Vireo huttoni 1
Western Scrub-Jay - Aphelocoma californica 3
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) - Junco hyemalis oreganus X
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org)

A Day at the Slough

The Adventure Begins!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Well, an afternoon at the slough. Our school district gave us a semester break today -- and we took full advantage of it. We headed off on the hour drive to Moss Landing around 9:30 yesterday morning. All was well. Mom and I were chatting. The kids were playing with their Littlest Pet Shop Digital toys and happy as clams.

Until we got right between Aptos and Watsonville and hit a wall of traffic. "Oh, an accident," we said brightly. "Or roadwork." And we inched along. Past the last possible hope exit. Just as we got where we couldn't really get to it, I thought, "hmmm, wonder if I should have gotten off and taken that exit."

An hour later, we finally made it to where the road crew had been working about 1/2 mile beyond us over a big hill. Only they were done now. Unbelievable. As we got there, the traffic opened up and we flew on our way again. Trying to resist the urge to go 90 mph. After all, I suspect that "making up lost time" isn't a good argument in court!

So, we couldn't stop at the huge pottery place and price big urns for the backyard. Nor could we poke around in any of the antique stores in Moss Landing either. Sigh.

But, we did get to eat at Phil's Fish Market and Eatery. YUM! Utterly delish! I ordered their squid and chips. Both kids asked to try my squid which was amazing. I was pretty sure that Gage would try it but Ruthie did too -- her love of anything fried won the day, I'm sure. They both also tasted my mom's scallops. Also delish! But, I preferred my squid. I've been craving it since that horrible shoe leather (or overcooked shoe leather that tasted a bit off as my husband put it) I had in Monterey after we went to the aquarium. This was better!

And, then we were off to the Slough. Beautiful day for it -- overcast but not cold. Sweatshirts and light jackets were fine. We headed off in high spirits. The first bird we saw was singing away in a bush ahead of us on the trail. We stopped and looked through the bins and my camera. Couldn't tell what it was -- it was an unusual song though. Then Mom noticed it was blue through the bins. Hmmmm. We got closer -- brave bird, not concerned about us. The kids are being really quiet and good -- walking, not yelling. We get close enough and realize that it's a Western-Scrub Jay. Not even remotely rare or interesting. Nothing like a new bird for us. A common, everyday, rather annoying yard bird! Hilarious! Set us off on our adventures in good spirits!

We stopped at the overlook. Elkhorn Slough is a nature reserve that is being reclaimed. It was once a dairy and they have left the barns up. You see evidence of it's former life as you walk the trails. The Slough itself is where the fresh water drains down from the hills and collects and mixes with the seawater coming inland. Take a look at this map to see why this is such a special area:

Overview of Elkhorn Slough. The white rectangle in the middle is the barn where the barn owls live. The very regular inlets are part of the restoration effort. They are put in to give shorebirds a place to forage and rest while the slough is recovering from years of dredging. We walked across that causeway above the barn and around the south marsh there and back to the barns and then up to the visitor's center in the lower right corner.

Here is an overview photo I took:

Overview of the Slough from the lookout area. The barns are below us and you can see part of the South Marsh.

The first REAL bird we saw was tough to id -- largely because I forgot my field guide. Sigh. Anyway, we looked at it, saw field marks, and took pictures. When we got home and looked at them with the guides, we decided it was probably a red-shouldered hawk. Beautiful flying around kind of below us as we were still up high at the lookout area. And, off we went. We stopped at the barn where the Barn Owls nest but didn't see any signs of life -- other than about a bazillion owl pellets. We also saw about a thousand coyote poops on the trail around this area. Lots of life! (well, and, I suppose death! :)

Near the barn, we saw and heard lots of LBJs in the brush. They were adept at hiding and were probably mostly House Sparrows anyway but it would have been nice to know. Shortly after we got back on the trail, I saw this little lovely . . .

Hutton's Vireo

I believe it's Hutton's Vireo. At first I thought it was a warbler but looking at the field guides, that big eye seems more like a vireo to me. It was small but VERY close to us. Thank heavens for the burst mode on my camera.

Next, we walked out to the water and headed out on the walkway. We saw a ton of shorebirds. The tide was out so it was very different than the last time we were there. We were closer to the shorebirds which was cool though. Saw Willets, Whimbrels, and Marbled Godwits for sure and then bunch of other sandpiper-y darlings that we couldn't ID even with pictures.

Willet and Willet with wings open.

The Willets amaze me. They look like these non-describe LBJ's until they fly and then you are dazzled by this flash of black and white. The wing picture isn't good but it gives you the idea. The Marbled Godwits looked all warm and carmelly. Gorgeous.

Marbled Godwit foraging in mud and marsh plants.

We saw some buffleheads and eared grebes in the water nearby as well. And, then a very handsome bird of prey caught our attention. It was a White-tailed Kite. Amazing bird and not even remotely interested in letting us get close enough for a good picture. I snuck up on it but when I stepped out from the cover to get the shot, it was gone. I'm sure I will improve in this area but I did get this shots.

The White-tailed Kite who was camera shy.

We wound our way back from this point. It was lovely and we saw some more birds but not close up or I didn't get the shot. We saw two woodpeckers -- Acorn and Downy. The Downy was very close but the light was all wrong and we were hurrying back to the center at this point.

We got back to the center and got a couple of goodies at the gift shop. I got a little backpack sized bird guide (by the Stokes!) so I'll have SOMETHING when I go out next time and forget my good guides. And, I got a gorgeous pewter barrette with a feather on it for my hair. Next time, I'll get this one -- amazing, isn't it?

From there, we headed home, made it to soccer, had a great dinner, and crashed for the night!

Birthday Report and Catching Up

Watching the excitement unfold
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

So, poor Gage had to wait until I got home from teaching my afterschool program at around 4:30 before he could open his presents . . . torture for a 7 year old boy but he handled it with good grace!

We all gathered in the living room to watch the excitement unfold. My mother is visiting which made it extra fun! She brought her gifts along so he had three presents to open.

We got him the RC Tarantula that I saw first on Julie Zickefoose's blog. Her son, Liam, is the same age as Gage and loved it. I knew my son would too. And, he did . . .

The only disappointment was that Ushki, my Mom's corgi, was singularly unimpressed with the spider. The RC car Gage got at his party was a great doggy tormenting device however. We think the spider just didn't move fast enough. Still the main goal was that Gage loved it and he does. He's being so careful with it -- putting it up high so it doesn't get stepped on. He didn't even show it to his friend who lives next door and can be rough on toys (broke one toy immediately upon being shown it -- sigh! I'm getting good with Crazy Glue!).

I think it was a satisfying birthday for Gage and I know it was for me!

With my mom visiting, my blogging/computer time is cut WAY down. But, it's nice having her here -- she lives so far away that I don't get quality time with her. I figure having enough time to get irritated with each other is a good thing!

Today, we have no school (end of semester break). We are thinking about taking a walk at Elkhorn Slough. I'll report back on what we ACTUALLY do with pictures and details tomorrow!