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

Home again Home again

On the way to the airport we diverted off to White Rock Lake in Dallas. I finally got to see the infamous Monk Parakeets!!!! I don't care how sick I was, that was very cool.

The plane ride home was mostly uneventful. I didn't get stopped for having an expired driver's license. I only had a couple hour delay at one airport. Jessica and Doug picked me up in SLC and drove me to my car at Rebecca's house. I drove home in a very calm state of mind, reminiscing about all the birds and the lovely family I have in Texas.

Note to self: Don't go to Texas in the Springtime when all the flowers are in bloom. They are lovely to look at but you are really allergic to them.

Birding, Birding, Birding

Mom, Melinda (driver), Nanette and I went birding all over today. We were in Italy, Hillsboro, Waco and the back of beyond. We saw field after field of gorgeous wildflowers. The weather was gorgeous and it was lovely. I don't care how sick I was feeling. Thanks Melinda!!!

1. Mocking birds
2. Barn Swallows
3. Eurasian Collared Doves
4. Starlings
5. Lark Sparrows
6. House Sparrows
7. White Winged Dove
8. Eastern Phoebe (Wood St. Italy Tx)
   
9. Scissor Tailed Fly Catchers
10. Turkey Vultures
11. Black Vultures
12. Dicksissel
13. Cardinals
14. Mourning Doves
15. Great Blue Heron
16. Eastern Meadowlark
17. American Crow
18. Brown Thrasher (new)
19. Painted Buntings
20. Bob White
21. Red Tailed Hawk
22. Western Kingbird
23. Cowbirds
24. House Finch
25. Inca Dove (new) (Waco)
    
26. Common Grackles
27. Great Tailed Grackles
28. Rock Doves
29. Golden Fronted Woodpecker (new) (Cameron Park Zoo)
    
30. Pileated Yellow-Striped Flat-Billed Sparrow Eagle

Wild Grapes
American Gourd Flowers
Water Lilies
Basket flowers
Indian blanket
Sunflowers
and more...

Airplanes, Errands and Doctors

Take Erika to airport
Shopping (or rather quick pickup of Tshirt) in Hillsboro
Lunch at the Lone Star Diner
Doctor's office (cause I've gotten dreadfully sick)
Purple martin in Italy with dad!!
Day After Tomorrow movie

Not feeling well

Hang out, sleep in, read,
Mom went shopping

Probably the laziest day I had on vacation.

I didn't go birdwatching today

I did get to sit in the living room and watch the wind, clouds and pond.

Workout!

Working out with Mom at her gym. First time I've been swimming in awhile. It was sooo much fun!

Ice cream, pre-workout (gotta have fuel, HONEST) I'm really glad we don't have as many ice cream stores at home.

Grocery shopping
Stop at Kay Jones'

Supervolcano

I know I saw birds, but none were new. Still I'm getting better with Eurasian collared doves, and Scissor tailed flycatchers are sooooooo cute!

Out and About with Jeff, Randi and Melinda

Melinda and I drove up to Dallas to the Arboretum. Melinda has seen all kinds of birds there in the past and I was really looking forward to seeing the common blue jay again. We just don't see those birds out here in the west. Stellars jays, Scrub jays, Gray jays but no plain beautiful Blue jays.

On the way there we saw:
House sparrows
Scissor-tailed flycatchers
Great tailed grackles
Common grackles
Chimney Swifts
Eurasian Collard Doves
Mourning Doves
Rock Doves
Turkey Vultures
Red Tailed Hawk
Great Egrets

We arrived a little early so we grabbed some breakfast from the local shop and sat at one on the outdoor tables to watch and wait. Right away we were greeted by a Baltimore Oriole and some Mockingbirds.

Jeff and Randi go there. They look so good, happy, healthy. I miss having them in Idaho! Anyway we went strolling through the gardens. It was just GORGEOUS! We didn't see a lot of birds but I did get to see some new ones and some old favorites. I just can't get enough of the Cardinals. We don't have them in Idaho either.

Baltimore Oriole
Mockingbirds
Blue Jays
House Wren
Eastern Phoebe
Starlings
Cardinals

Cottontail bunny

Plants of interest:
Red Yucca
Hibiscus Syriacus
Tanzania (native shrub)
Vitex Agnus-Castus

Leucophyllum frutescens
Chilopsis linearis
Citronella
Hydranga
Angel Lace (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Lavendula
St. Oechas

After wandering we decided to drive out to their house in Plano so I could see it. It's a beautiful ranch style home in a nice neighborhood. For lunch we went to a nearby Mexican place and made more plans

It began to rain a little, but not too bad

We thought we'd go back out to White Rock Lake (by the Arboretum) and see if we couldn't find the Monk Parakeets that nest there.

Only one problem with this plan. Rain. Lots of Rain. I've never seen a gullywasher before, but now I truly know what it means. We did not see any Monk Parakeets and Melinda is one of the best and bravest drivers I know.

We canceled our plans to go out to the zoo and drove back out to Plano and dropped Jeff and Randi off. It really was nice to see them.

I had every intention of getting together with them again. But that was not meant to be.

In any case, Melinda and I headed for home. Through rush hour traffic. We changed our mind and got off the wet, crowded freeway at this very Tony and upscale mall. We went into a Nordstroms the likes of which I had never seen. The necklaces on sale on the aisle filling tables were marked down to the low, low price of $247.00. The really cheap ones were around $78.00. EEEEEEEEEE

We went and looked at all of the gorgeous dishes. There were plain ones, and fancy ones; classy ones, and whimsical ones. There were dishes for every occasion and recipe. It was a wonderland of dishes!

It was a great day. I can't thank Melinda enough for coming and especially for driving.

Church, Birds and Chaos

I haven't been to church in a very long time. I wasn't sure this morning if I wanted to go, but I got up and got ready. I was rewarded by seeing a Eurasian Collard Dove on our way to the car. The drive to the church included more birds. The service itself was nice. Kinda fun to watch Dad officiate.

The best part was on our way home we saw two strange birds in a field. Mom and I both guessed common and wrong birds. Melinda turned the car around and was right there were two Crested Caracaras. WOW! (see list below for full birding info)

I made dinner (with assistance from Nan and company) and Mike, Tessa and their 4 kids came over. Chaos ensued. It's a good kind of chaos that only 5 small children (Mikey, Sydney, Katy, Evie & Frankie) can make. Of course it didn't help that Nanette the instigator was egging them on to louder and funnier antics. I have the cutest nieces and nephews.

After later
Jenny

Eurasian Collared Dove (new)
Dicksissel
Cardinals
Painted Bunting
Barn Swallows
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Doves
Mockingbirds
Common Grackles
Great Grackles
Eastern Meadowlarks
House Sparrows
Scissor Tailed Flycatdcher
Western Kingbird
Crested Caracara (new)
Green Heron
Starlings
Cliff Swallows
Red Bellied Woodpecker (new)
Red Tailed Hawks
Black Vultures
Snowy Egret
Great Egret

Birding

Melinda, Mom and I went birding today. It was marvelous!! I saw lots of new species.
Our total list includes:

1. Downy Woodpecker
2. Cardinals
3. Great Tailed Grackles
4. Common Grackles
5. Mourning Doves
6. Mockingbirds
7. Black Vultures
8. Turkey Vultures
9. Barn Swallows
10. Carolina Wren (new bird)
    
11. House Finch
12. Caroline Chickadee (new bird)
    
13. White Winged Doves (new bird)
    
14. House Sparrows
15. Starlings
16. Yellow Billed Cuckoos!!! (new bird)
    
17. American Crow
18. Scissor Tailed Flycatcher
    
19. Killdeer
20. Chimney Swifts
21. Cowbird
22. Song Sparrow
23. Mallards
24. Muscovy Domestic Ducks
25. Eastern Meadowlark
26. Dicksissel
27. Eastern Kingbird
28. Snowy Egret
29. Common Night Hawk
30. Great Crested Flycatchers (new bird)
    
31. Pileated Woodpecker (new bird)
    
32. Western Kingbird
33. Black Throated Blue Warbler (new bird)
    
34. Lark Sparrows
35. Guinea Hens (domesticated)
    

7 new birds out of a total of 35. That's an amazing number of birds!
Jenny

Sleep and the big dinner

Spent most of the day hanging out, catching up on sleep, and talking. For dinner we went up to Waxahachie to a place called Fire Mountain with all of the family. In attendance were:
Mike & Tessa + their kids: Mikey, Katie, Evie, and Frankie
Nanette + her kids: Sydney and Erika
Mom & Dad
Melinda, Myself, Andrew, and the guy from Bulgaria who's visiting to talk about Domes
I'm pretty sure the Bulgarian hadn't seen an american all-you-can-eat place before. I hadn't seen anything like this either. It was PACKED! And they had a huge variety of food. So Mikey could have pizza and Frankie could have pudding and all the rest of us could eat whatever we wanted.

Go me, for having small portions and no seconds. :) :) I gotta say I'm proud of myself.

After Later
Jenny

Bridge over the Mississippi

Bridge over the Mississippi
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

This was an amazing bridge. I love crossing the Mississippi. There were riverboats and huge ocean going vessels in the water under this bridge. -- Jenny

To Baton Rouge

To Baton Rouge
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

The really, really, Really long bridge crosses the Atchafalaya River. It was gorgeous. -- Jenny

Baton Rouge

I got up really early this morning (4:30 am) so we could be on the road by 5:00. Dad needed/wanted company on the drive to Baton Rouge Louisina. It was a great drive. We talked and drove and looked at the trees lining the road. And then we talked some more and continued to drive and look at the trees lining the road. I've now driven crosswise (or diagonally) across Louisiana and what I know for certain is that they have trees and roads. Oh, and lest we forget, Cattle Egrets. Those birds were everywhere. In breeding plumage with the butterscotch feathers they were gorgeous.

Eventually we drove across the longest bridge imaginable. I've been across the Key's 7 mile bridge. I think this one is longer. It crosses mushy land, swamp, creeks, and a river. After 7 hours of driving (yes we did take breaks) we arrived at our destination in Baton Rouge.

Dad was meeting with the Pastor, her husband and assistant to talk about building a church. She was the brightest spark I've met in quite awhile. I'd love to add her to my collection of friends, but it seems unlikely since I can't seem to remember her name. So they talked, and I listened for 2.5 hours.

And then, guess what we did... Wait for it... Eyup, we DROVE, back to Texas. Wheeeeeeee. So I crossed the Mississippi River twice, and the Atchafalaya River twice (at least) and the crosswise of Louisiana twice, and.... I've seen Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge, from the road. :)

It was fun talking with dad. And I'm particularly greatfull that Nick gave me his MP3 player. Very useful when Dad needed to sleep and I got to drive.


After Later
Jenny

The Key to Shopping...

Today Mom and I went to Hillsboro to do some shopping. I'm in desperate need of jeans. They have a Lane Bryant outlet and I succeeded in finding Jeans, and even a Navy tshirt. After the marvelously garrulous lady rang up our purchases we discovered that Mom had locked the keys in the car.

She had handed me her small wallet to add to my purse, then carefully tucked the car keys into her purse and tucked it under the car seat. We proceeded to lock the car doors and go in. If any one reading this remembers my many key misadventures, well, here's another one. Mom never does this. So the only answer is that I was due for another "locked out" moment.

Luckily they had another key up at the office, so 30 minutes later we had it and were on our way, to more shopping.

I've never been to a Dress Barn store before. The outlet was amazing! Better still was the saleswoman who brought me over every top in my size that was $10 and of the right hue (orange, yellow, green, blue). WOW! I couldn't believe how well things fit. I'm definitely going to go back AND I'm going to look at their online store.

I won't detail the list of purchases. Let's just say I got some real LOOT. :)

After Later
Jenny

Arrival day birding

Melinda, Mom and I went out birding in the evening. We saw an amazing number of birds including Painted Buntings!!

We saw:

1. Green Heron
2. Mourning Dove
3. Scissor Tailed Fly Catcher (new bird)
4. Lark Sparrows (new bird)
5. Mockingbirds
6. Eastern Meadowlark
7. Barn Swallows
8. Broad Winged Hawk (new bird)
9. American Crow
10. Great Blue Heron
11. Great Egrets
12. Great Tailed Grackle
13. Common Grackle
14. Dicksissel (new bird)
15. Chimney Swift (new bird)
16. Starlings
17. Cardinals
18. House Sparrows
19. Western Kingbird
20. Kildeer
21. Common Nighthawks
22. Painted Buntings (new bird!!!)
23. Bob Whites (new bird)
24. Skunk
25. Jack Rabbit
26. Cottontail Rabbits

Whoo Hoo 23 birds, 6 new birds, and 3 mammals
Jenny

I'm flying on a jet plane, part 2

So I finally made it onto the plane. I had read my ticket and it said two stops. But I didn't have to change planes. I had no idea that two stops didn't mean Salt Lake City and Dallas, but Salt Lake City (where I began), Phoenix, Oklahoma City, AND THEN Dallas.

Okay, So I'm totally blonde. I'm really looking forward to the return trip where I have two stops and a change of planes in Dallas. I had movies with me, and headphones. I thought that would make the trip easier. And it would have if I had been able to hear anything. On a plane, noise canceling headphones would be very helpful. Definitely a thing to buy on my big shopping list.

So I landed and then took the long way to the baggage claim where Min and Nan met me. Getting my bags off the baggage carousel I ripped the leg off of one of my suitcases. This is the same suitcase with the rip in the canvas. I guess I'll be buying a suitcase while I'm here.

Interestingly, during the last hop from Oklahoma City to Dallas one of my seat mates was an employee for a major gas and oil exploration company. He's a specialized computer dude. He said that if someone wants to do exploration geology they either are graduates from the 5 year bachelors program from the Colorado School of Mines, or they have a masters degree...

After later
-- Jenny

I'm flying on a jet plane

Well, that was interesting. Rebecca and I left her house at 4:30 am. She dropped me at the airport and I started the standing in line process. I had baggied my liquids and was ready. I got to the head of the line and hand the lady my boarding pass and driver's license. She looks at me and says, 'driver's license expired'. I didn't know this so I look at the license and sure enough it was expired. YEEEKS. Well, she asks if I have another ID. But NO in order to save space I left my ISU ID card at home. So she sent me to the 'special line'.

In the 'special line' I got to put all my stuff in bright red bins. I got to be escorted to a glass booth where they puff air at you. Kinda like an all body glaucoma test. I got to walk through the metal detector a couple of time, not that I beeped. And THEN, the poor lady had to look through my purse and computer bag and swab every piece of electronic device. I had a cell phone, an mp3 player, a digital camera, a computer and a palm pilot. Lucky for her I left my Nintendo DS at home. :)

Eventually, they handed back all my stuff and I got to get on the plane. Shanna is sending me my ISU ID by second day air. I hope that will get me on the return trip plane without the 'special line' services.

More about my exciting trip to Texas in a moment. -- Jenny

SLC and Jessica

Goodbyes are hard. I drove to SLC to catch a plane for Texas. Nick is leaving for field camp on the morrow. Beautiful lazy drive, arrived at Rebecca's and went to visit Jessica. She has such a cute house and a great husband and it was wonderful to see them. The three of us went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Something I haven't done since visiting Jen B. in Denver almost 10 years ago.
I spent the night at Rebecca's she dropped me off at the airport at an unreasonable morning hour.

Nick is keeping a blog at http://geoscirockhunter.blogspot.com/ and he'll be available by email. We're just tooo cheap to get a second cell phone.

First (and last) boating trip of the spring

Nick is leaving for field camp soon and will be gone till July. I'm heading out for a vacation in Texas for two weeks. We had to go out on the river at least once this spring. I just love the grebes.

We loaded Barkley in the car and drove to Massacre Rocks. How come I never remember Arlo Guthrie's pickle song exists? We listened to Guthrie on the way out. Alice's Restaurant being one of my all time favorites from riding the school bus to school in Shelley.

Barks was very excited about the whole trip thing. He was very good on the boat. He is a linear thinker. The world is flat and solid to him. He'd be watching the grebes and then suddenly they'd vanish and he'd cock his head to one side then the other. You could see him trying to figure out where and how the bird went. It was just soooo funny! He liked the pelicans too.

Didn't see that many birds other than the grebes and pelicans.

Birds:
Redwinged blackbirds
Starlings
Mallards
Kingfishers
American White Pelicans
California Gulls
Western Grebes
Robins
Osprey
Crows
Magpies
House sparrows
Rock doves

Birding with Melinda, Nanette, and Erika

We went birding at Market Lake, and Camas Wildlife Refuge. We had a ton of fun and saw:

1. Rock Doves
2. Starlings
3. Magpies
4. Canada Geese
5. Red Winged Black Bird
6. California Gulls
7. House Sparrows
8. Mallards
9. Pied Billed Grebes
10. American Robins
11. Northern Roughwinged Swallows
12. Northern Harriers
13. Coots
14. Sand Hills Cranes
15. Western Meadowlark
16. Song Sparrows
17. Red Headed Duck
18. American Wigeon
19. Mourning Doves
20. Canvasbacks
21. Trump Swan
22. Gray Partridge (new bird)
23. Red Tailed Hawk
24. Common Raven
25. Kestrel
26. American Crow

1. Moose
2. Squirrel

No we weren't watching cartoons.