Today's photo challenge: Photographer's Choice

Yellow headed blackbirds decorating the reeds

Birding At Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge With Melinda

Melinda drove to Utah with Mom for a very short family visit. I met her in Logan and we took off birding. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge http://www.fws.gov/bearriver/ has a stunning array of birds. I kept saying, what species I expected to see and lo and behold it would show up. The best was as we were leaving, I mourned the loss of spotting a curlew and one immediately flew by. It was a delightful day.



We saw:
Tree swallows
Barn swallows
Bank swallows
Cliff swallows
Western kingbird
Coots
Redheads
Gadwalls
Ruddy ducks
Yellow headed blackbirds



Red winged blackbirds
Magpies
Robins
House sparrows
Starlings
Cinnamon teals
Mallards
White faced ibis
Avocets
California gulls



Western meadowlarks
Ravens
Great blue herons
Cattle egrets
Bullocks oriole
Horned larks
Franklin's gulls
Western grebes
Vesper sparrows
Snowy plovers



Killdeer
Double crested cormorants
Canada geese
Grasshopper sparrows
Snowy egrets
Black necked stilts
Wilsons phalaropes
Northern shovelers
American White Pelicans
Brown headed cowbirds



Clarks grebes
Marsh wrens
Forster's terns
Black crowned night herons
Pied billed grebes
Common terns
Brewers blackbirds
Greater yellow legs
Eastern kingbird
Northern harrier



Great egret
Long billed curlew
Willet
American Kestrel

and a Muskrat

We had a really late lunch at a Mexican restaurant who's name escapes me. The interior looks like a Mexican street market. Then back to Dave's where I had to say bye. *sniff*

Photo's from Bear Lake 2009
(Written Dec 2010)

Birding around San Antonio

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Thursday March 25th

This was a very busy day. We started birding in the parking lots of the hotel and adjacent McDonalds.

It continued from there as we used the Great Texas Birding Trail maps to find lots of great places. We got a day use pass for a couple of private lakes.

Black vultures on the wing

Tree full of Great-tailed grackles

There were more fields of flowers to be seen too...

After lunch at Appleby's, we walked around the Mission Espada grounds.

And after much driving about found the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. We saw a great number of birds this day. Many of them new to me. The flock of black vultures on the dumpster at one of the private lakes was awesome in every sense of the word. And the grackles displaying for mates were amusing.

Bird list:
1. House sparrow
2. Common grackle
3. Great tailed grackle
4. Rock doves
5. Starlings
6. Cliff swallows
7. Mocking birds
8. Black vultures
9. Mourning doves
10. Cattle egrets
11. Scissor tailed flycatcher
12. Crows
13. Kildeer
14. Crested caracara
15. Turkey vultures
16. Barn swallows
17. Coots
18. Savannah sparrows
19. Great egret
20. Pied billed grebe
21. Mallards
22. Double crested cormorants
23. Common moorhen
24. Blue winged teals
25. Neotropic cormorants
26. Osprey
27. Glossy ibis
28. Spotted sandpiper
29. Song sparrow
30. Red tailed hawk
31. Red winged blackbird
32. Gadwall
33. Great blue heron
34. Eastern meadowlark
35. White winged doves
36. House finches
37. Cardinals
38. Cliff swallows
39. Kestrels
40. Northern shovelers
41. Blue gray gnatcatcher
42. Swamp sparrow
43. Loggerhead shrike
44. Common yellowthroat - Jenny only cause she was searching the reeds with her binocs

And finally a fixed wing cargo bird that kept psyching us out.

I found the book 'Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays' by Candace Savage at the Refuge and read it to Nick and Melinda while we drove home. The family went to the new Chinese place in Italy for dinner. Surprisingly it was really good. Later a very tired group of us played Scrabble.

For photos see:
Birding day 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157624106750920/
Mission Espada - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157623982568747/

Birding our way South to San Antonio

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Wednesday March 24th

Melinda's Car & Nick's Coffee

Nick, Melinda and I took off for San Antonio. The plan was to meet up with Nanette for lunch somewhere along the way. The plan worked. We birded and met them just north of Austin for lunch at Wendy's.

Black-bellied whistling ducks

Then they took off to go to a cave and we continued our birding adventure. By now, Nick had figured out that Melinda and I don't sit for hours looking at a bird. Instead we drive around looking at cool stuff. We get out and hike down interesting trails in the middle of nowhere and generally go and see what's out and about.

From the bridge we could see kinglets. Frisky kinglets flicking wings and darting about. Unfortunately they didn't stay still long enough to identify the top of their heads. So we have no idea if they are ruby or golden...

This was a lovely deserted stretch of park. Notice the big spiny prickly pear cactus on the left.

Nick had to investigate it...

That day we saw 43 bird species including:
1. Eastern phoebe
2. Northern cardinals
3. Great blue heron
4. American crows
5. Great tailed grackles
6. Common grackle
7. Black vultures
8. European starlings
9. Carolina chickadee
10. Mourning doves
11. Osprey
12. Kildeer
13. American coots
14. Double crested cormorants
15. Forsters tern
16. Red wing blackbird
17. Roadrunner
18. Mocking birds
19. Pied billed grebe -- We saw this on a pond beside the road, it was bobbing along and then Nick shouted "THAT DUCK JUST SANK!" it was awesome.
20. Orange crowned warblers
21. Barn swallows
22. Chipping sparrows
23. Black bellied whistling ducks
24. Ring necked ducks
25. Mallards
26. Lesser scaup
27. Turkey vulture
28. Cedar waxwings
29. Lapland longspurs
30. Lark sparrows
31. Eurasian collared doves
32. Eastern bluebird
33. Kinglets
34. Eastern meadowlarks
35. Vesper sparrows
36. Bank swallows
37. Cliff swallows
38. Rock doves
39. Kestrels
40. Red tailed hawk
41. White wing doves
42. House sparrows
43. Great egret

Additionally gray squirrels and cottontail bunnies

On the trip I got notes to look up Ogilvy's book "Ogilvy on Advertising"

I also needed to look up the history of 'cast aspersions'

From the OED:
6. A damaging report; a charge that tarnishes the reputation; a calumny, slander, false insinuation. Esp. in the phr. to cast aspersions upon.
1596 Spenser View State Ireland Pref. 2 Which may seeme to lay‥any particular aspersion upon some families.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Bristol 37 As false is the Aspersion of his being a great Usurer.
1692 King James II Let. 2 Apr. (BL Stowe 158 f. 61) , Even that precatuion [having witnesses at the prince's birth] was not enough to hinder Us from the malicious Aspersions of such as were resolved to deprive Us of Our Royal Right.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. vii. 155, I defy all the World to cast a just Aspersion on my Character.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. v. 113 Vindicating myself from the aspersions.

It was a LOT of fun. We crisscrossed around birding in Waco and Austin and San Antonio environs. The spring wildflowers were out in force this weekend and they were gorgeous. Fields of blue and red and orange and yellow were all delightful. We ended in Southeast SA at a Best Western. The desk clerk gave us directions to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants EVER. It was filled with locals and for good reason.

For more photos see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157624106750920/

Day in Dallas

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Tuesday March 23rd


We arranged to meet Jeff & Randi at the Aquarium. They were late, not just a little late, but really late. We sat in the parking lot, then we sat in the building, finally we started wandering a bit. Thank heavens for cell phones.

The Aquarium is outstanding with lots and lots of birds and plants and of course fish. After the Aquarium we went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for lunch and then over to the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibits had changed since I had last visited and it was fun to wander around and look. We had a great time with Jeff & Randi. I miss them.

When we got back did a little birding around town with Melinda and Mom. We saw, not this Jaguar which was at the aquarium, but:
Northern shovelers
Ring necked duck
Blue winged teal
Red tailed hawk
Starlings
House sparrows
Eastern phoebe
Barn swallows
Kildeer
Wilsons snipes
Eastern meadowlark
Mourning doves
Kestrel
Great tailed grackles
Common grackles
Savannah sparrows
Great blue heron
Harris sparrows

For more Day in Dallas photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157623916716030/


Nor did we see this penguin in Italy TX, it is another denizen of the aquarium.

Monday, Out and About

Today, it was very cold, and then not so cold, and then kinda cold. The morning wind blew snow off the ground and at us. Min and I walked over to the Snow City Cafe to meet Arlene for breakfast.

Spent a chunk of the day driving around to parks and other areas where we could watch ravens or scenery or get out and hike around a bit. What we found were lots and lots of ravens playing on the wind. A few magpies tried to play on the wind like the ravens, but they just didn't have the stamina for the prolonged soaring and swooping bouts. A single bald eagle flew across our path as we watched the ravens. The hiking only occured after the wind had stopped and the temp had gone up a bit.

We got a great tour of the public library's special collections area.

People watching and talking at a local coffee shop

Went in to Title Wave Books which carries both used and new books and was overwhelmed by the number of titles I wanted to leave with. :) good thing it was a short visit.

Another short stop was at the Iditerod's official hotel and it's gift shop.

Dinner at Beartooth with it's fantastic fish & chips (fresh halibut & garlic/cilantro fries). Page met us there so we had a lovely time talking and laughing. By the time we left the wait to get in was over an hour.

Back to the hotel early to begin packing and readying for tomorrow. Tomorrow is Tuesday, we check out of the hotel at 3:00 p.m. and catch our planes at midnight. It's going to be a surreal day.

As for today, it was lovely. Arlene is a fabulous guide, she's funny, she's knowledgeable about the area's history and people, and she's endlessly willing to go and try things out.

Final Conference Day - Out and About

Woke up 20 minutes before the session I wanted to attend started, so I slapped on some clothes and pulled my hair back and headed out.

The first session 'Sabbaticals Near and Far: What You Need to Know by Daria Carle, Judy Green, Kate Gordon, and Diane Ruess' was about sabbaticals that have been taken by three of the UAA librarians. I now know a lot more about Fulbright monies. The sabbaticals they did were all fascinating. They provided a list of books and links that would be interesting to have for my own library.

Program Abstract: Sabbaticals are fairly common in academia, but more recently, job exchanges and work abroad opportunities have opened up for librarians of all types. Public and private entities benefit when employees take a break from their regular jobs. Join us in a panel discussion with several members of the University of Alaska faculty who have recently been awarded sabbaticals or Fulbrights. The panelists will discuss how they came up with their ideas, and how they went about translating their ideas into sabbatical projects. Hear about their experiences, including where they went and why, and what they accomplished. Find out about the process of applying for leave, and learn some tips to help you think outside of the box to create a sabbatical project.

The next (and final for me) session was 'Adding Google Gadgets to Your OPAC by John Wohlers.' The title really should have been about creating Google gadgets that bring your OPAC, Federated Search and other resources to iGoogle. It was a tech and jargon heavy session that could be very useful.

Program Abstract: John Wohlers will demonstrate how libraries can create Google Gadgets that make it possible to integrate the library catalog into patrons’ iGoogle pages. He will demonstrate other gadget possibilities, including the real time display of a patron’s account via SIP2.

Headed out to the great outdoors on this gorgeous sunny day. It was cold and clear and stunning. Arlene drove us out on the Seward Highway to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (http://www.alaskawildlife.org/). On the way we saw bald eagles and ravens. At the park I discovered a new kind of bison... Wood Bison. I didn't realize there were more than one kinds. I now need to go through all those sabbatical wildlife photos to find out if I have some of them on film. Weird.

There was a fence between me and this Elk


"Wood or Plains Bison?

The Plains bison is only slightly smaller than the more northern Wood bison, which are the largest terrestrial animal in North America They are dark brown with "humped" shoulders, shaggy manes and beards. Both the male (bull) and female (cow) have short, sharply-pointed horns. Commonly called "buffalo" by most people, although it is not a true buffalo.

There are several characteristics that distinguish Wood bison and Plains bison. Wood bison are slightly heavier, taller, have a higher and squarer hump, and have little or no chap hair on their forelegs. Wood bison also have long, straighter hair on their head and a smaller chin beard." -- http://www.alaskawildlife.org/bison.html

Then we headed out for Whittier. In order to get there you have to pass through a 2.5 mile tunnel. This tunnel is only wide enough for one way traffic. So, every 1/2 hour the tunnel switches directions, unless there is a train. The trains use the same tunnel and have the right of way. We got to the other side and found Northwestern Crows, Pacific Loons, Red Breasted Mergansers, Fork Tailed Storm Petrels, Greater Scaups, Goldeneys, Magpies and a pair of sea otters in the water. It was fabulous.

We then drove back to Anchorage and went to the Native Arts Craft show in the local mall. They had tons of things in fur, fur hats, fur gloves, fur mittens, fur coats, fur slippers, fur earings, art ringed with fur, and the list goes on. It was all fascinating and gorgeous and I wanted lots of it. I was good up until the turquoise bead necklace with the carved abalone bear. It had to be mine.

I'm very tired, but I sure saw a lot today.

Birding American Falls - again

On our way to Burley for ILA Cheryl and I did a little birding around American Falls.  We spotted:

Common loon
American white pelicans
Red tailed hawks
Flickers
Canada geese
Double crested cormorants
Rough legged hawk
House sparrows
Crows
Magpies

The conference was fun, we presented on Evaluating Databases and Decoding Salesspeak. We also got to watch an episode of Project Runway together.

Crystal Park Montana

Check out my web page for the outting if you want the technical/directional details. http://www.isu.edu/~semejenn/adventures/crystalpark.html

Usually we go in the off season of September after Labor Day weekend. We've never gone in July before. Now I clearly understand the reason and won't do it again. Ever. First it is hotter in July. It may only be 75 degrees at the top of the mountain (approx 8,000 feet up) but that is too hot when digging and the sun is relentless. Second, mosquitoes. We've never had the serious, severe, and irritating swarms in September. Third, hot pools are just too hot after a hot day in the sun. They are so much more enjoyable when it is cold outside. I overheated, then got in a hot pool and really overheated. I should not have done that. It took me a couple days to recover. Fourth, people, there were more people though most seem to have realized that digging in the midday sun wasn't a good idea. My guess is that they are camping or staying in the cabins and only come out in the morning and or evening.

Still, we got some really nice crystals and had a fun time hanging out with friends. It was great to be outside and in the mountains.

The radios worked very well! I love being able to talk between the cars. Coordinating stops is much easier. Also Heather was able to tell us about the flowers on the side of the road and I was able to point out a few of the birds. Most were on the wing and I knew that wouldn't work, but a Golden Eagle posed for us just outside of Dell. And the Red-tailed hawks were very obliging. Antelope and elk were both spotted, though not everyone saw both.

Other birds I saw were: House sparrows, Rock doves, American crows, Swainson's hawks, Brewer's blackbirds, Kestrels, Magpies, Eastern kingbirds, Barn swallows, Double-crested cormorants, Western meadowlarks, Red-winged blackbirds, White-faced ibis flying in a flock, Lots of common ravens, Canada geese, American white pelicans, Black capped chickadees, Dark eyed juncos and a gorgeous Gray jay at our dig site. One of the most fun sightings for me was the Rough-legged hawk who misjudged his soar in our cars direction and made a sudden turn right over the windshield.

Yellowstone, a Day Trip

DSC08404
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

We left for Yellowstone around 8:00 a.m. on a cloudy and overcast day. The clouds thinned as we headed north and by the time we arrived in the park it was gorgeous! The sun was shining and the grass was green and the flowers were abundant.

Last weekend Nick and I went to a bunch of garage sales. We found 4 radios with an alleged broadcast radius of 5 miles.

On my trip with the Great Salt Lake birders I discovered how useful such radios can be. They used them between the cars to point out birds to each other. So no one was stopped, stuck and wondering what everyone else was seeing.

So back to the story, we found these radios and the guy selling them told us the batteries didn't work. Nick did some research and we can get new rechargeable ones pretty reasonably, but not in time for the Yellowstone trip. So we just put in regular double A batteries and voila, functioning communications devices.

These are much better than cell phones. Everyone in the car can hear what is being said, and in the park, there just isn't good cell coverage anyway.
Though John grew up in Idaho he had never been to Yellowstone, so our traditional West Entrance to Old Faithful was the route to go. This year that route was amazing. Again the flowers were all in bloom. Heather, in the other car has a great memory for wildflowers so as we were driving she was able to tell us what we were seeing.

We saw mega fauna: Mule deer, Elk, Bison, and Antelope (between Yellowstone and Island Park)

We also saw mini fauna: Yellow-bellied marmots, and Golden-mantled ground squirrels.

And of course, birds and more birds:

Crows
House finches
House sparrows
Starlings
Rock doves
Red-tailed hawks
American kestrels
Western grebes
Magpies
Red-winged blackbirds
Cinnamon teals
Yellow-headed blackbirds
Flickers
Turkey vultures
Redheads
Canada geese
Yellow-rumped warblers
Chipping sparrow
Tree swallows
Bank swallows
Northern rough-winged swallows

Most spectacular were the numerous, bright, Mountain bluebirds and the ever entertaining Ravens.

The clouds caught up with us at Firehole Lake drive, adding atmosphere to the already picturesque location.

Rain caught us at the Midway geyser basin and we (or at least I) scurried off to the car.

I needed a break so everyone else braved the rain to go shop at the Old Faithful stop. I took a 10 minute nap, read the free paper, changed shoes and then felt so much better I headed into the lodge myself, about 5 minutes before the geyser was supposed to go off. This meant, I had the restroom to myself. Oh, and the rain had stopped so there was no need to dash anywhere. I spotted the Ice Cream vendor and picked up a cone. I haven't had an ice cream cone in forever.

The Old Faithful geyser began spouting while I'm getting my ice cream. There really is a good view from the lodge. I walked out and radio in hand got a hold of Nick. I asked him if he had picked up any ice cream and he said they didn't have any in the building. I replied, then how am I eating this? Needless to say, we all went back in and everyone else got treats.

A last stop at the Black Sand geyser basin was cut short by rain. We stopped at the diner in West Yellowstone and then headed home.

As we were driving through Island Park a gorgeous bald eagle jumped out in front of the car and swooped up and out away from us. It was so close and so amazing!

Home by 10:00 p.m. and in bed shortly thereafter. I had a new number on my pedometer. I've never seen it read 40,000 steps before. Close to 12 miles of walking/fidgeting. My normal number is 10,000 and I have to work to get that.

Lovely day.

Last day of GSL Bird Festival

Bummer the picture is blurry, I've got a problem taking pictures while on a horse. Still you can see the coyote looking at us on the far edge of the shadow of the tree.

Last but certainly not least fun was our "Birds & Spurs" bird tour. Sunday morning 8:00 a.m. at the ranch on Antelope Island. Good thing we always try to be early for things. We made it just on time because of our, okay my desire to look at birds. We saw more birds going in to the ranch than we saw on the tour. That just doesn't matter though. We got to spend two hours riding around the environs on horses.

I signed up for this even back at the beginning of April. I hadn't been on a horse in ages. So for the subsequent 6 weeks I did strength training 4 days a week and rode horses a couple of times with the outdoors program. It worked! I was able to 1: Get on the horse. 2: Ride the horse without pain for 2 hours. 3: Dismount the horse with a modicum of grace. 4: Walk away from the horse without acting like a cripple. 5: Be able to walk the next day. I was very happy to have achieved all of those goals.

Our bird list included:
Ring-necked pheasant, California quail, Chuckar
Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Brewers blackbirds
Magpies, Robins, Ravens
Horned larks, various unidentifiable warblers and flycatchers
Grasshopper sparrows, White-crowned sparrows, House sparrows, House finches
Cliff and Barn swallows
Wilson's snipe, Willets
Burrowing owl!!!

And then we also saw Mega-fauna
Pronghorn
Bison
Mule deer
Coyotes
and the skeleton of a bighorn sheep

Twas very, very cool and I hope to go again next year!

Great Salt Lake Bird Festival May 15-17

Ah, the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival that was something else! I began Friday by driving up to BYU Idaho. I was the closing speaker for their Library Week festivities. I was able to take 1.5 hours for my Notes from a Wandering Librarian and that was a relief. I'm normally talking so fast it's a little obnoxious. It was interesting to visit the old Ricks campus, so familiar and yet so foreign now. The library used to take one wing of the building with administration in the other wing. Now the library occupies both wings. Lunch with librarians and then back to Pocatello to repack for my next trip.

On the drive down to Farmington on Friday evening I called Krista and sure enough she and Terrial were available for dinner. We met up at Applebees and had a great visit. It seems impromptu works well for both of us. We stayed at a nearby Day's Inn. It was important to drive down Friday cause I had signed us up for a 7:00 a.m. bird tour.

The tour "Glover Ponds at Sunrise" was very fascinating, not just for the birds, but for the birders. I'm so used to going with family and being silly that the seriousness of the group was a bit intimidating. I am not going to let that put me off. Next year I'm going again, only maybe I'll wear clown shoes and a nose. They seemed so afraid of getting it wrong. Pity.

We saw lots of bird species and many, many, adorable chicks (as in baby birds).

Western kingbirds, Yellow-rumped warblers, Marsh wrens

Brewers, Red-winged, and Yellow-headed blackbirds

Great blue herons, Snowy egrets, American avocets +chicks, Black-necked stilts, Kildeer, Snowy plovers, White-faced ibises, Sandhill cranes +chicks, Double-crested cormorants

Pied billed grebes, Western grebes

Canada geese, Northern shovelers, Redheads, Cinnamon teals, Ruddy ducks, Gadwalls, Mallards, Coots

Forsters terns

Tree, Barn, Cliff and Bank swallows

Red-tailed hawks

Ravens, Crows, Magpies, Starlings

The program advertised the Glover Ponds tour as:
"These ponds bring YOU into nature, with an enriching experience, as you come in contact with this marsh habitat. The Nature Center deck and surrounding wetlands at the edge of Great Salt Lake, enhances your opportunity for close-up observation. A nearby Great Blue Heron rookery will be active and Avocets will be building nests. Other possible species include: Cinnamon Teal, four species of grebes, Snowy Egrets, Ruddy Ducks, American Pelicans, plus other shorebirds, and other wildlife."

--------------------------------------------------------

I attended a couple of workshops on Saturday. (Including the Raptor one).

The "Nature Photography" class was interesting and I learned a lot of basics on how to take better pictures.

The "Ruling by Obfuscation: Tyrant Flycatchers of Utah" was great and I have a marvelous cheat sheet that I need to make copies of and affix to my bird books. I'm not sure if I am more confused or less confused but I'm sure I learned something. The blurb for the workshop was marvelous:

"Are you confused about flycatchers? Losing sleep over the Empidonax group? Do you lash out at family and friends when they bring up lower mandible coloration? You should consider an experimental new treatment: Flycatcher Stress Reduction Therapy. The treatment is free and you can be seen on a walk-in basis. So don’t let flycatcher confusion rule your life any longer. Come and learn the truth about flycatcher identification. Plumage characteristics are not always enough, but you can use other distinguishing features like song, habitat, and even behavior to help surmount your fear of misidentification. You can go from “Oh no, it’s a flycatcher, let’s go the other way” to ”OH LOOK! It’s a flycatcher, let’s figure out which
one!”

I got a little turned around on our way back to the festival after lunch. This meant we wandered into a neighborhood with a fantastic yard sale. We've now officially replaced our ice cream maker with one that seems much more sturdy.

There were a lot of activities geared for kids at the festival and the workshops were all free. I'd highly recommend this as an activity for families!

April in American Falls

DSC07650
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

April to me is about springtime. Birds start returning, trees begin to bud. This April I spent a lot of time in Utah. On one of the few weekends I was home I went out to American Falls. Here I found many birds and much water.

Birds included:
Robins, Pelicans, Magpies, R. doves, M. doves, N. flickers, A-w Pelicans, Common mergansers, DC cormorants, Ring neck ducks, Great blue herons, Northern harriers, A. crows, White-crowned sparrow, Common loon, Coots, Mallards, California gulls, Swainson's hawk, R-t Hawk, House sparrows, Red winged blackbirds, and Red-breasted mergansers...

I loved finding an osprey near the fish hatchery. I know it was trying to find a way past the protective netting.

Best of all was surprising two bald eagles in the trees in the cemetary. The American Falls cemetary is set on a cliff above the river and the trees were on the cliff side. I'm sure those two birds were hunting/fishing. I was probably more surprised than they were. I did not expect them to be there.

Sisters & Birds

I left work a few minutes early and headed home. I was still not certain if I would drive down to Salt Lake City that evening or the next morning. As I started packing and getting things together I got more into the idea of getting there Friday night and NOT trying get up at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday. With the car loaded I took off, arriving at Rebecca's downtown apartment at 8:00 p.m. She met me downstairs and we headed for Sawadee Thai Food.

Sawadee has amazing food. For the first time I really, REALLY enjoyed the tofu parts of my pad thai. Rebecca says the trick is to drain the tofu, chop it up in cubes, and let it sit for awhile to finish draining (approx 1hr). You then fry it and add to whatever you want.

If you want to go to Sawadee it is located at:
754 East South Temple
Salt Lake City UT
http://www.sawadee1.com/

Hung out with Rebecca and her daughter + friend for awhile before going to sleep.

Woke up early, had too. Really wanted to go birding with the Great Salt Lake

Audubon group http://www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org/ on their Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve (Kennecott Mitigation Property) field trip. It was really amazing the area is HUGE and normally off limits to people. I didn't count, but it seemed like hundreds of Avocets were present, along with the trifecta of teals and more:

American Avocets
Cinnamon Teals
Blue Winged Teals
Green Winged Teals
Great Blue Herons
Western Meadowlarks
Sage Thrashers
Northern Harriers
Northern Shovelers
Coots
Willets
Savannah Sparrow
Yellow Headed Blackbirds
Red Winged Blackbirds
Canada Geese (surprisingly few)
Eared Grebes
LEsser Scaups
Long Billed Curlews
Logger Head Shrike
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Golden Eagle

And best of all a new species for me: Barn Owl!!

Outside of the field trip I also saw:
American Robins
Red Tailed Hawks
Starlings
Rock Doves
California Gulls
House Sparrows
Trumpeter Swans

And the cutest Wood Duck.

For Mammals, there were Pronghorns on the reserve and dozens of Mule Deer along I15.

I met some great people and ended up carpooling with a Yvonne from the Utah County Audubon group http://www.utahbirds.org/. She was very congenial and interesting. She has a spotting scope and so I got more information about them from her. The best surprise was the fact that there are Bird Festivals where there are field trips and classes and vendors and I gotta go to one!!

After birding I cleaned up and headed for Jessica's.

Jessica is very pregnant right now. She's having a girl and the little baby Rachel is expected to make her debut within the next few weeks. Thank heavens for Rebecca, she let me pay for half of a great present. She found a gorgeous sterling silver necklace with coin like monogram charms for each member of Jessica's family.

It was one of the best baby showers I have ever attended. Jessica's friends had set it up as an open house so people could come and go. There were presents and cake and veggies and it was only friends and family. I wish I coulda stayed longer.

More later...
Jenny

Birding - March - Camas, Market Lake, Mud Lake...

Two days of birding, Camas Wildlife Refuge, Mud Lake, Market Lake, the Snake River North of Idaho Falls, and my house. I was able to find the Long Tailed Duck on the Snake River, though it took two days of hunting. It was very nifty!! I was also able to plot a path outside of I15 from IF to Market Lake to Mud Lake to Camas. I ended up seeing so many more birds because of this change of path. I really liked the fields filled with ducks (northern pintail mostly...)

Golden eagle	Rough legged hawks
Swainsons hawks	American kestrels
Red tailed hawks	Northern harriers
Red winged blackbirds	Yellow headed blackbirds
American robins	Dark eyed juncos
Western meadowlarks	California gulls
Ring billed gulls	Northern flicker
Horned larks	American crows
Rock doves	Mourning doves
House sparrows	House finches
Lesser goldfinches	Pine siskins
Red breasted nuthatch	Magpies
Canada geese	Snow geese
Starlings	Red naped sapsuckers
Trumpeter swans	Tundra swans
Common goldeneyes	Gadwall
American wigeons	Northern pintails
Coots	Ring necked ducks
Long tailed ducks	Blue winged teal
Mallards	Lesser scaups
Cinnamon teals	Red breasted mergansers
Red headed ducks	Kildeer
Sandhill cranes	Great blue heron
Chinese pheasants	Great horned owls
Bohemian waxwings	Cedar waxwings
Porcupines	Captive bison

Birding around American Falls

3/20/09

I had planned on going to Mud Lake, Camas, and Market Lake, but slept in and missed the timing. Instead I headed for American Falls. There are many great birding spots around this reservoir and the Snake River. Of particular interest is the birding trail that the Audubon society has marked near the fish hatchery.

At my house:
1. House sparrows
2. House Finches
3. Pine siskins

On the road:
4. Rock doves
5. Magpies
6. Western Meadowlark
7. Red tailed hawk

By the marina:
8. Song sparrow
9. Mallards
10. Crows
11. California gulls
12. Ring billed gulls
13. Robins
14. Starlings
15. Tree swallows
16. Goldfinch
17. Kestrels
18. Norther 'red shafted' flickers playing mating games

By the dam:
19. Northern pintail

By the fish hatchery:
20. Red breasted mergansers
21. Yellow rumped warblers
22. Norther shovelers
23. Common mergansers
24. Common goldeneys
25. Barrows godleneyes
26. Dark eyed juncos
27. Canada geese

It was a gorgeous sunny day and lots of fun to be out and about.

Birding in Utah

Melinda and I went birding in Utah, around Antelope Island and the wetlands nearby.


Day 1 3/7/9

kildeer
robins
canada geese
northern shovelers
eurasian wigeon
bufflehead
northern harrier (male)
american kestral
mallards
western meadowlark
common ravens
whooping crane
red winged blackbird
american tree sparrow
long eared owls
white breasted nuthatch
crows
chuckar
magpies
mourning doves
rock doves
starlings

coyote (heard the pups too)
pronghorn

Day 2 3/8/9

european house sparrows
american kestral
robins
starlings
rock doves
magpies
red breasted nuthatches
crows
common ravens

Ogden outing

2-20-08

Birds on the Road to Ogden

• 19 Cedar Wings in my tree by the driveway, I thought it was a good omen.
• House sparrows
• Mourning dove
• Swainsons hawks
• Red tailed hawks
• Rock doves
• Crows
• Starlings
• Canada geese
• and lots and lots of Magpies

I met a fascinating guy at Starbucks. I sat down in a comfy chair across from an older gentlemen and we started talking, now in his mid 70's Tom had a truly interesting life. He is an artist, he helped to restore cars, motorcycles and other vehicles with his airbrush. He worked for Mr. Harrah (of the Harrah Casinos) in Reno, restoring everything from rollsroyces to cable cars. I got to hear about some of the challenges including the researching original art/logos in order to keep things accurate. It was a welcome break from thinking about libraries. Some of the collection can be seen at: National Automobile Museum: Reno

Later that night Krista, Terrial and I went to dinner at the Brazillian Braza Grill. My first time with Brazillian food, it was very yummy.

In the further adventures of Jenny's Keys...

I found a second key to my Echo in the bottom of my suitcase. 'Cool' I thought and reasoned that it would be more useful if I put it in my purse. After all, my purse is now so large that it cannot be hidden in the car and must come with me all the time. So I put it in my purse and continued my day.

On my way home, I stopped at the Lava exit for a break. I was desperate and encumbered, what with trying to find and get my coat on and gloves and grab my bag. I was out of the car with my hands full and the door shut, only to find that I really had locked my keys in the car. There was a moment of panic and then I realized that HEY! I put my spare key in my purse that morning. So I dashed into the quick stop and didn't worry about it.

I visited both the Weber County Main Public Library and the Weber State University Library and got lots of good ideas and stories.

Yellowstone daytrip

Me
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Nick and I went to Yellowstone (West Yellowstone to Mammoth). The drive was absolutely gorgeous. The fall reds and yellows and forest greens... breathtaking.

We saw a few birds on the trip including a new one for me. The elusive and much sought after Clark's Nutcracker!!

Other birds include:
Canad geese
Rock doves
House sparrows
Swainson's hawks (everywhere)
Brewer's blackbirds
Red winged blackbirds
Starlings
Crows
Western meadowlark
Belted kingfisher
Mountain bluebirds
Gray jays
Bald eagle
and tons of Ravens

We also spotted bison, elk and a coyote. Nick took lots more pictures than I did. It was a fabulous day.

after later

Upper Mesa Falls

Upper Mesa Falls 07
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

I took myself to Mesa Falls. The drive was gorgeous, the aspen are turning yellow and gold. The skies were clear and the birds were all over. I got to see one new bird: White Throated Swift.

I also saw:
Eastern Kingbird
Red Tailed Hawks
Turkey Vultures
American Kestrels
Brewer's Blackbirds
Red Winged Blackbirds
American Crows
Canada Geese
Mallards
House Sparrows
House Finches
Rock Doves
Mourning Doves
Common Mergansers
Red Shafted Flickers
Robins
California Gulls
Yellow Rumped Warblers
Double Crested Cormorants
Belted Kingfisher
Bald Eagle
Franklin's Gull
Barn Swallows
Bank Swallows

I scouted the Warm River campground and drove all over the place, just checking things out and enjoying the scenery.

After Later