A Typical October - A Fighting Grandson, Zombies and a Crazy Bird

Another catch up post.  If I don't document it I am not sure it all happened!

Early in October I was sitting in the bedroom one morning at Rainbow and heard a hooting call out the back near the river.  Looked out several times and didn't see anything.  Suddenly the noise seemed to come from just under my window.  What is it grandchildren? This is the mystery critter for this post.  Ten bucks to the first to guess the bird's name.

 

 



On a beautiful Saturday morning our very tough grandson Jacob Van competed in his very first Martial Arts meet.  Kid was really amazing.









Finally, its not a Halloween party, but our crazy niece Heather, mother of 4 and serious fitness guru, sponsored a "fun" run called the Zombie run. People actually paid upwards of $30 each to run in the mud, wearing goofy costumes, and being chased by military looking goofballs.  Some of the costumes were pretty outlandish.







Yup, that's a diaper!



It really was a family affair.

Cousin Spencer's wife Jasmine looking hot in her Momma Camo!



While Spencer and his Bro's are scaring the kids.



Heather with her partner and some happy guests.



The "chase" crew.



And Jake Vial with Alicia.  One of the great stories that came out of this day was Jake carrying a runner up the hill who had been stung and was going into shock.  By the time he got her up to the paramedics, she wasn't breathing and just got a shot in time.  Best part of the story, Jake took her on a date the other night and said she was really cool!



Just a typical Vial October?

San Diego in September - 3 Life Birds and a Blackout

Sometimes it's good to remember the good weather when it's not so nice outside.  Last September there was a conference in San Diego that we were participating in.  I met several of the lawyers from Salt Lake as well as brother Mikey to attend.  On the 7th, I got out for a few hours, and then very early again on the 8th.

On the 7th in the afternoon, I got some time to go to "Bird Rock".  This is a famous place just north of the city that has a particular rock on which the Brown Pelican and Cormorant numbers are pretty high.  All I had was the D7000 with the Sigma 50-500, but I with the good light, I got some ok shots.















Later that afternoon, I spent about 4 hours at the San Diego Zoo.  Many amazing birds.  Great place to practice shooting in understory light.  Later I plan a post just on the zoo, but this  White-Crowned Robin-Chat is just one example.  It is a Middle Eastern/Northern African bird. 



That evening, while talking with some of the other conference attendee's, I met Greg Baker, a forensic engineer also from Portland.  He talked a bit about birds, and we decided to go birding the next morning.  Greg turned out to be a serious (really serious) birder and the next morning took us to a location north of town where I got 3 lifers!!!

Lifer 1 is the California Thrasher.







Lifer 2 is the Clapper Rail.  I had looked for this bird a couple of times before, especially up in the Bay Area, but got a good close look here.







Lifer number 3 is the California Towhee.  Like the other two, very local and fairly rare.



Anna's Hummingbird was also around.  This female was pretty cooperative.



And it is always fun to get a close look at a House Wren.



We also saw a number of Ring-Billed Gulls.



So here is the weirdest part of the whole trip.  We were sitting in a very large conference room at the Marriott Hotel next to the bay.  About 3 in the afternoon, the lights went out.  We thought that it was just local, but  it turned out that some guy had messed up clear over by Arizona, and all of the southern border of California, including all of San Diego, and clear down into Mexico on the Baha Pennisula was completely without electricity.  No elevators, traffic lights, or any other power anywhere!!!!   As downtown tried to clear out, it just clogged up and ground to a halt.  And talk about really weird, walking around without any street lights, shop lights or anything except car lights was outright scary.  Had to open the window of my hotel to keep from roasting to death, but literally no lights.  Amazing to see the stars from downtown San Diego.  Sure made me think a bit about how to prep for that kind of emergency.

Birding Argentina 2011 - Final Post

Short and sweet.  Argentina was amazing.  Buenos Aries was very fun.  Paula and Michelle went to a Tango show on our last night and had a blast.  Brig and I slept!

Our hotel was near the park where we started this birding trip.  Brig and I went out before our plane departed and spent some time in that park.  First thing I noticed was that the Troupial didn't look like it had a couple of weeks earlier.  Tough light but here is what we saw this last day. 





Notice that the bird has a nearly full black head.  Note that the one in the earlier post has just a black mask.  Turns out the bird that is rare to this area has more than one cousin here! 

Otherwise it was fun to see right here in the city birds like the Spectacled Tyrant





Our friend the Guira Cuckoo



The Black Hooded Parakeet



Walking along the waterfront it was fun to see some really progressive architecture and a vibrant society.





In the background in this next shot is the bridge behind Brig, Chelle and Paula. 



This beautiful bridge known as the Women's Bridge was donated by a local businessman.



Click on this one.



Really a fun trip.