Interesting/Funny Photos from Our Trip, part 2

The tiny town of Tofino was busy with our conference, but they were also shooting a major motion picture with real movie stars.


The Canadians take their dogs very seriously, as well as their ecology. Every little park had a supply of plastic bags to encourage owners to clean up after their dogs. And there were a lot of people who had dogs.

My what big teeth you have! I think this was a gray whale, or maybe a killer whale.

No offense, but syncretism is alive and well. Or, in this case, not alive.

It's Been a 3-Cake Weekend

17 New Birds

I identified 35 bird species on our trip, 17 of which were lifers for me, and only a few of which I got decent photos. I keep track of my birding on a free website called Birdstack. Here is the link to my Birdstack Vancouver list.

Whimbrel

Steller's Jay

Semipalmated plover

Northwest crow harassing Northern Raven

Bonaparte's Gull

Interesting/Funny Photos from Our Trip, part 1

I'm in the process of posting travelogue photos on my other blog, but I thought I'd post a few photos of some things here.

Telephone booth for tree huggers

Barf bags on the tour bus--tells you what the roads are like

The underbelly of a plane that flew over our heads on its way to Victoria airport

Big Trees

One thing nice about big trees is that they make you feel little.

Bald Eagle

Yay, I've seen my first wild bald eagle. I saw them three times before I could believe it was the correct ID. They are very cool!
My husband said, "It shouldn't count since you're in Canada--it isn't their national bird!" but I didn't let him spoil my joy!

I'm on Vancouver Island for a week and adding lots of new birds to my life list. We're in a small town on the west side called Tofino for a conference. So far I've added 15 new species to my life list.

I'm not the only one here in Tofino birdwatching--Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson are here filming a birdwatching comedy called "The Big Year."

Now I Can Leave

OK, now that my two new books have arrived, I can pack for British Columbia.

Flowery Day

I had a rough week with an emergency dental problem, but I went back to work this morning. And this afternoon I felt well enough to dig in the compost pile and then plant some flowers. I've posted some photos on my family blog.

I'm not having so many birds in the back yard these days, but today I had this assortment in one lensfu;. Click on the photo to get a bigger image so you can actually read it.

An Answer to Prayer

No, not my prayer--someone else's. Two someone elses, in fact.

About 20 years ago we bought a used bunk bed set. It was Cargo furniture--very heavy and nearly indestructible. The set included a lower single bed, a loft bed, a little closet thing, a big chest of drawers, and a ladder. We used this furniture for our kids, and Gary always grumbled when he had to move it, but I insisted keeping it. You know, for grand kids. Actually, at the moment, Rachel is using the single bed at her house, so we have the futon frame as the lower bed for the bunk set, sitting at a 90 degree angle.

Well, this week it came to my attention that some friends needed a set of bunk beds for their boys. There was no handwriting on the wall nor plane writing cursive in the sky, but I just kept thinking I should donate the bunks to this family. I ran the idea past Gary, but he didn't have much to say. Finally, I decided to call them this afternoon, and they were happy to have the beds so they came over.

When the mom saw the beds she started crying and told us how her boys had specifically asked for the kind of bunks that you can put at 90 degrees to each other and, in fact, had been praying for that specific kind of bed but the boutique (aka missionary barrel) didn't have any bunk beds, let alone this kind.

After they left, Gary said to me, "Well, that explains why you gave up those beds. I never thought you would get rid of them."

Not Quite Digiscoping

If I were rich, I'd buy myself some good optics to watch birds. Like a spotting scope. And then I'd hook my camera to the scope and take bird pictures like the pros. They call it digiscoping.

In the meantime, I'm trying to take photos through one side of my binoculars. Here's the photo without the binoculars:


Here's the same photo through the binocular lens:


Of course, trees stand stiller than birds, and trying to make this technique work with a real bird is quite a bit harder! If you look hard, you'll see a chipping sparrow.

A Full Nest (but Abandoned)

I hope this post doesn't gross any of my readers out. I have a fairly strong stomach and also a strong curiosity, so I'm posting these photos of the abandoned bird nest.

You may remember that not too long ago I posted a video of two wrens madly building a nest. Shortly after that video was taken I noticed there were no birds around anymore--apparently the nest was abandoned. I wasn't too surprised, actually, because at the time it didn't seem like the best place for a nest. Yes, it was well protected, but I knew it would be very HOT inside there once the weather warmed even a little.

I still waited two weeks before I peeked, but today I opened up the cover to the gas tank. I found a huge and messy nest with 5 eggs inside.




I'm pretty sure these eggs overheated, but another problem was obvious too--there was a smell of gas when I opened it up. That can't be good for baby birds, and not good for my gas bill, either!



I looked up photos of Carolina Wren and Bewick's Wren eggs, and I'm wondering if these are Bewick's? I think both wrens are in my area, and they look pretty similar.

The babies inside were about an inch long:

Birdwatching on My Way to Chruch

There were a pair of scissor-tailed flycatchers just in the church yard this morning. First I've seen this season.

How to Fix a Toilet in Three Days

I've been at it again--fixing toilets. Why do I do these things? I guess because people ask me to!

On Day 0, my coworker described a puddle of water behind her toilet which sounded like a little thing to fix.

On Day 1 I went to her house to examine the situation. It didn't take long to realize that at least two things were wrong with her toilet. I removed two faulty parts and headed for Home Depot. This is trip number one, if you're counting.

At Home Depot I let that cute young salesman talk me into buying the whole repair kit. Which really was the right thing to do, but it wasn't my original plan. "Oh, it's easy!" he said. This video claimed the same thing. Yeah. Right.

On Day 2 I took the tank off the toilet. From past experience, I expected this to be difficult, but the nuts weren't actually rusted onto the bolts, so it came apart pretty easily. The perishing rubber parts assured me that the entire guts DID need to be replaced. I followed the instructions carefully, as best as I could. I hit a small snag when one of the new bolts was too big to go thru the premade hole in the bottom of the porcelain tank--odd that one went through but the other wouldn't. That meant I had to reuse one of the old bolts and hope that the old washer had enough life in it to do the job.

I got to the point to hook the water supply back up and discovered that I had broken the plastic coupler the day before when I removed it. I removed the faulty part and headed to Home Depot. This is trip number two, if you're counting.

I must have looked like a true oaf, standing there with my faded kerchief and ragged jeans, there in the toilet parts aisle, because some other customer took pity and "helped" me decide which braided pipe was the right one. I smiled charmingly and said, "OK, if this is the wrong one, I'm going to blame you."

On Day 3 I installed the braided pipe to the inlet using that white tape stuff. Took all my muscles (and two pipe wrenches) to attach it firmly, but I finally got it. Then I went to attach it to the toilet flush valve, and, of course, it didn't fit. It was the wrong size. I removed the non-fitting part and headed to Home Depot. This is trip number three, if you're counting.

This time I found the one that said "For Toilets." Now why didn't I see that sign the first time??

I managed to get through all 27 number instructions and turned the water back on. Yes, there was a leak. Of course there was. I tightened the braided inlet hose even tighter, and it quit leaking. At least I think it did. I made a few more adjustments and left.

My friend will have to use this toilet for a few days and let me know if it leaks or if it doesn't flush well. Then, I'll start over again. Or, I'll call a plumber.

Fail. Or is it Epic Fail?

I'm an oaf. Here is a list of my recent failures:

1. I tried to file our income tax form tonight using the Free Fillable Forms process. Not only was it too much work, one of the forms didn't work right and stalled the process. I sent an email to IRS. Yeah, like they're going to read it.

2. Speaking of the government, I can't believe I put the WRONG AGE for both myself AND my spouse on the recent census form. (I did put the correct DOB.) Besides my failing memory due to this extra large number, I blame this on the fact that I use my age as part of one of my miserable passwords (ihatepasswords) and when the website forced me to update my password, in response to my griping my HELPFUL friends told me to just add one to the number. So I did, and then after months of using this new password, I just assumed X was my age, instead of X + 1. AAAAAARRRRRGGG!

3. My Easter dinner. I decided to be cool and buy goat to roast for Easter dinner. You know, just like the Israelites at Passover. It turned out the texture of kid leather! Impossible to chew. Only good thing--I DIDN'T invite anyone over for dinner! After dinner I boiled it for 3 hours, and then at least the meat was soft enough to remove from the bones.

Let's see. Is that all? Well, it is enough for now.

Ducks and Turtles

I made a quick trip to Lakeside Park today on my way to the Mexican grocery store. The weather was perfect for a little stroll around the lake.

Missing

Some day, near the end of time, some mother is going to find all those unmated socks, missing pen tops, and single earrings.

Building a Nest

This is the world's greatest video, but it was fun watching these two Carolina wrens start a nest inside my propane tank. I hope the truck doesn't come until after the birds have fledged. And I hope it doesn't get too hot inside there.

Sandwiches

Once a month our an elderly gentleman in our church drives the many dozen sandwiches that church folks make to a homeless shelter in Dallas. I hope none of the recipients is allergic to peanut butter.

Knowing vs. Believing

Those of us who think sometimes think about thinking too much. We want to know. We crave to know. Trouble is, knowing isn't what God asks of us. He asks us to believe, and believing implies not knowing everything. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane

Chorus
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God's own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

Chorus

So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well

Spring

My Christmas gift from Maureen is blooming again--gorgeous!



We had a nice picnic last evening (see my family blog). I took Christian birdwatching, which turned out to be bird chasing, and I realized why I didn't take up birdwatching until my own nest was empty. :-) He enjoyed looking through my binoculars and discovered the red on a red-winged blackbird.

Beautiful Day for Birding

I'm off to bed soon, but I should mention that today was a beautiful clear and warm spring day. I spent about three hours slowly wandering around Joe Pool lake and watching birds. At one point I looked up and this bird was watching me! Of course, it doesn't look like I was very close since I only have a cheap camera, but I did get a good look at this bird thru the binoculars.

Need Help with Bird ID

Our son, Andrew, who lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sent me this bird photo. He couldn't find it in his bird book. Anybody have any ideas? You can get an idea of the general size of the bird as it is standing on the ground near their garden hose.

24 Birds in 24 hours

I have been trying since December to observe 20 bird species in one day in my backyard. I keep a checklist on the frig, and tick them off as I see them each day. Many times I've seen 17 or 18 per day, and more than once I've seen 20 in a weekend. But today I saw 24 different species in the backyard! Of course, it is migration season, so that's why I'm seeing so many different ones. The only ID I was a bit uncertain of was the Bewick's Wren. I also saw a Carolina Wren, but I'm not sure if I know the difference between Bewick's Wren and House Wren. Here's my list (which I'm keeping on Birdstack):

1. Chipping Sparrow
2. Bewick's Wren
3. Brewer's Blackbird
4. Common Starling
5. Common Grackle
6. House Sparrow
7. Brown-headed Cowbird
8. American Robin
9. American Goldfinch
10. Cedar Waxwing
11. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
12. Carolina Wren
13. Carolina Chickadee
14. Blue Jay
15. Downy Woodpecker
16. Tufted Titmouse
17. Field Sparrow
18. Red-bellied Woodpecker
19. Dark-eyed Junco
20. Yellow-rumped Warbler
21. Mourning Dove
22. House Finch
23. Northern Cardinal
24. American Crow

Apparently I have not enough to do. And spend too much money on bird seed!

Birdstack: +1

I identified a new bird yesterday on the way home from a pleasant 24-hour stay in Granbury. It was a ring-necked duck, though I did not see a ring around its neck. (I guess the same guy who named the red-bellied woodpecker named this bird too.:-) Not a rare bird, but a new one for my life list. There was another duck species in this particular pond, but I was unable to ID it.

This morning I saw an Inca Dove in my back yard. I bet that is a sign that spring is coming. I keep hoping to get up to 20 species in my back yard in a single day. Many times I've hit 17 or 18, and a few combined weekend totals were up to 20, but I'm trying for 20 in one day.

Remove Grease Stains from your Favorite Tee Shirt

New Bird? and Broken Marina

One afternoon this week was warm and sunny so I took an hour out of my busy schedule and ran over to Cedar Hill State Park. Wow, the water level was super high, and you can see the damage that last week's snowstorm did to the marina. I imagine several boats were damaged.

I saw quite of few birds, including this song sparrow:

I spent quite a bit of time looking a the gulls that were sitting on the breakwater. There were hundreds of ring-billed gulls, two double-crested cormornats, and one gull that looked different than all the others. It was noticably larger, had a black or mostly black bill, and a soft buffy mottled coloring, with the tail pretty much the same color. I looked hard in my bird book but the only bird that looked like that lives way north in Canada, so I doubt that was the correct ID. Herring gulls are in this area, so I guess it must be one of those, even if the photo didn't really look like that.

My backyard was a bird heaven today--lots of birds and for the first time we've had a large flock of yellow-rumped warblers. Usually I just see the odd one or two in the tree but today they were swarming the feeders and especially the suet. Stocking up to head north, I guess. Gary also put up a birdhouse for me today. I bought it at our church's Christmas bazaar, and I have no idea if any bird will like it.

A Little Bit More about the Opera

By popular demand (yeah, right), I'm going to say a bit more about the opera.

If you read my family blog, you'll have seen my post and photos about going to the opera last Sunday, Valentine's Day. This outing was pay-back: After making Gary go to a U2 concert with me, he said I had to go to an opera with him. The tickets were actually a Christmas gift from Andrew and Laura--I guess Andrew was in cahoots with Gary to make me go.

I did my homework ahead of time to make sure I got the most out of the outing. I read the Wikipedia page about Cosi Fan Tutte, and we listened to an audio explanation about it from the Opera House's website.

So here are my observations:

• The building was impressive, worth seeing even if you don't go to an opera.
• Most of the patrons were older than me.
• Most of the patrons were dressed better than me, even though I actually bought a new dress for the occasion and wore heels. I had the wrong coat, dontcha know? I left my mink at home.
• The seats weren't that great. I didn't mind being up high, but we were on the leg of the U shaped seating, so we had to lean over the wall to see the stage, and couldn't see left stage at all. I'm very glad I brought my bird-watching binoculars!
  
• I was surprised that the costumes were not from the period like I was expecting. Instead, the costumes were maybe 1930s style. Nice costumes, but not what I was expecting.
• I really don't like high, high sopranos. These are obviously talented women, but those high notes make me shutter.
• I really do enjoy musical theater, which is really what opera is, but not having it in the language of the common people prevents easy understanding. Continuing with that thought, I guess we can thank John Wycliffe and his successors for the Bible in the vernacular. :-)
• I guess I was a bit surprised at how "ungodly" the actual message of the opera was. Its big idea was "reason and balance wins out in all things, including relationships. Don't expect too much goodness from your spouse/intended, because they won't have it, just like you won't. Be reasonable, and don't expect too much." Somehow, I thought that something written 250 years ago would have been less cynical. Silly me.

All in all, it was a very nice outing, but I'm not likely to go again. Unless Gary forces me to :-)