Thursday. Rain, cold, gray blanket sky. Breezy wind is teasing, reminding us she will grow to gale-force soon. Roaring fireplace, hot coffee, soft old comforter. This is early for the first “fireplace fire” of the year. I wonder, will winter come early? We had such extreme weather last year, including big September and May snow…
I packed up and moved about 130 miles, back into my home state of Wyoming. Photos of my new digs tomorrow. I am in Keyhole State Park, and I found a huge site overlooking a lagoon. First thing I did after “popping up” was open all the windows. Ahhhhh. Then, I connected the solar panel…
I have changed my sabbatical camping trip route many times, but I think this is it! If you would like to see where I am headed on July 14, please click on route. The whole trip is about 2,000 miles. I bought a Kindle book called Montana’s Birding Trails, and have used that to plan the entire route. I…
Last night while washing dishes, I saw a momma sparrow and two fledglings on my finch feeder. The mom was pulling out seeds and feeding the young ones, who perched on the shepherds crook shown below. When finches or unrelated sparrows came by, the mom knocked them away. This morning, the two fledglings perched on…
This morning, Tango and I visited our favorite spot for a hike–Grayrocks Reservoir. Our corner of the world is greening up finally, even though the photos below do not look green compared to lush landscapes. We saw some interesting sights. First, I found bird prints nearly as big as my size 9 foot. I do not know…
After I heard that the camper part takes 3 weeks to arrive at the dealer, I reorganized the van and set out like the old days! Tango and I went out for one night and came home this afternoon. We head out again tomorrow afternoon to camp for about 4 nights, in the van. I…
On my last day in California we went to the Yolo Bypass Bird Sanctuary. Hit the jackpot! I saw 7 new birds for my life list and a number of others. The photos are not great that I took, but I included some of the clearest ones below. Short-eared owl Northern Harrier Black Phoebe White-Faced…
The variables lined up for a winter camping adventure: sunny 40 degree days, nights around freezing, and low wind speeds. The winds while driving were actually much higher than expected–35 mph gusts on I-25. However, I did not know that when we took off, so I learned what those wind speeds are like when pulling…
Late this afternoon, when the sun was sinking behind the mountains, Tango and I headed out in the van for a walk and nest hunt. When the trees are in leaf, the nests are invisible. Eagles are supposed to nest in this area, so I wonder if any of the nests were theirs this past…
We have Eurasian Doves throughout town, and a few pairs live in my yard all year. They especially enjoy perching on the church roof and bell tower. Doves adorning the church seems so appropriate, so biblical. I throw bird seed on the ground near the bell tower since the doves rarely access a bird feeder.…