29 November 2016 - Abandoned Barns

What is it that is so special about abandoned buildings? Especially old barns and houses. They hold so many questions but have no answers. They can be historical relics from the early pioneers or nostalgic reminders of simpler times but mostly they invoke curiosity about their demise.  Who lived there? Where did they go? Why have they allowed these buildings to fall into disrepair?  How can anyone pass an abandoned old barn or house and not wonder about it and its inhabitants?  I know I do!

13 November 2016 - Nature Girl Strikes Again

I'm sure you think that birding has taken over my life. In some respects that is true, but it so often coincides with many other interests. For example, my grandparents were rock hounds. They used to take us all over the state to dig up crystals, find geodes, petrified wood, dinosaur bones--you name it. While I'm not what you would consider a rock hound, it is that question, what am I looking at? that drives me in so many ways. 

Last week, four of us went down to Fish Springs to see what had migrated in. It was a fourteen hour day, but so much fun. Our fearless leader, Bryant, is a true naturalist and makes these trips so much more than just looking at birds. Our first stop was at Topaz Mountain. All kinds of memories came flooding back about being here with my sibs and grandparents and digging for topaz. The ground still sparkles with Apache Tears and tiny bits of topaz. 

Ant hills are a really good place to look for topaz crystals. You just need to be careful not to stir up the ants. They get very protective of their hills. 


Bryant took us on a hike to the top of a hill where we could look down into old bertrandite mines. Bertrandite is a gorgeous purple color. We found some tailing piles that looked as though they had been painted. 

From the top of that hill we could see that the next hill over was covered with huge machines strip mining for bertrandite. The rock is taken to a mill and crushed then shipped out to another plant that uses it to make beryllium. 

Here is what bertrandite looks like  in the mine. Barb climbed down into the opening to get a better look. 

Those of us on top tried to become petroglyphs. 

We all gathered specimens of rhyolite, adamite, bertrandite, topaz and apache tears. You can also find garnets and opal in this area. 

Next, we were able to get really good looks at antelope squirrels. They are quite small, about seven inches long. I had not even heard of antelope squirrels and here I was staring one right in the face. 

Turns out they do not hibernate so they are a very important food source for hawks and eagles. 

We also found a spring with Least Chub. This tiny little fish, which is often less than two inches long, is very close to being put on the endangered species list. 

It was originally a native of Lake Bonneville and is only found in Utah. they rather look like minnows.  

And of course, one of my favorites, dragonflies. They were very busy over the chub spring. 

During this time of year, hunting season, I'm always looking to bag a trophy buck--with my camera that is. Sometimes you get lucky and find a buck and a goat. 

On our way back, we took a different way than we came, driving through Nevada to Wendover then home on I-80. Coming up on Nevada, the sun was setting and the Belt of Venus was visible. The dark color just above the earth is actually the earth's shadow. The pink above the shadow is the Belt of Venus. Out in the west desert we had a really good view of both.

While I love the birding, I find the journey to be just as compelling. What you see and learn along the way is as wondrous as the birds at the end of the road. Our world is rich in scenery, flora and fauna. It's the discovery that I love. 

30 October 2016 - Golden Eagles and Wildlife

I had some major fun yesterday. I was out birding and happened to see two golden eagles flying over the ridge. Naturally, I pulled over and grabbed my binoculars.  To my amazement I found myself watching a bonding display. Golden eagles tend to mate for life, but they have bonding rituals which include nest building. During the fall, in their territory they will build as many as three nests high in the cliffs.  At the start of the nest building, the male will fly in with a stick, the female will fly with him and check it out. 

Then he will drop the stick and execute a straight down dive to catch it. It is spectacular to watch.  Here you can see he has just let go of the stick. The  dive was just too fast for me to capture.

Then he gets serious and starts hauling really large sticks into the nesting site.  

Meanwhile she is arranging the sticks to her liking. 

 

While autumn is gorgeous around here, the falling temperatures bring wildlife in closer.  Nothing like taking a hike and running into moose--especially during the rutting season when the males are feisty. Just back away...slowly. 

Coyotes are easier to spot as the grass dies back.

  Occasionally you can come across the big bucks.

Hikes in the upper elevations reveal pikas on the rocks. At this time of year they are guarding their haystacks--their winter food supply that is drying in the sun before they haul it into their den. These cuties are not much larger than a big hamster. 

I have come to discover that yellow-bellied marmots are everywhere. This guy looks so happy soaking up some sun on his hot rock. 

Speaking of rocks, while it isn't wildlife, it is wild! Here is an entire boulder covered with fossils. It is all by itself, a single boulder somehow thrust out of the earth. Quite beautiful. The largest fossils are about an inch long. The boulder is probably eight feet across and four feet high. 

Life is a smorgasborg and you never know what will be served up next. 

10 October 2016 - Utah Gold

Autumn in Utah is all about the gold. The most prolific trees are aspen, cottonwood and poplars which have leaves that turn into glorious shades of yellow and gold. Yes, we have reds and oranges to punctuate the golden glow, but nothing like the blazing hardwood trees you would see back east. 

In addition to the trees turning our world to molten gold, in late September the rabbitbrush starts blooming. Its flowers are also a deep yellow that herald the coming of fall. 

So here is a quick color tour of the golden raiment beautifully modeled by the mountains on some of my recent travels.

 

It isn't only the changing color of the leaves that sets my heart to fluttering. I love how the grasses and fields transform from green to many different hues from pale straw to rich oranges.  

So much beauty! My advice? Get out there and look!

7 October 2016 - I love my neighbors!

I live in a great neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. I find it so interesting how kids who grew up here years ago are moving back or never left. 

I am living in the house where I grew up and still have some of the same neighbors. Becky, who grew up across the street from me, lives in her own house next door to her parents' home. Both her parents have passed, but her daughter's family now lives in the family home. Down the street, Leah still lives in her original home and she is now a great-grandmother. Her kids, my sibs and I, and Becky were all friends from elementary school on up. At the bottom of the street are Monty and Ruth, whose children also ran with our pack. Their son lives next door to them. Kitty-corner from me on both sides are the homes of two sisters. They make me think how wonderful it would be to that close to family. Newcomers are on either side of me. They have blended in seamlessly and it is almost like I have known them for a long time. Every one of them are wonderful, welcoming and very interesting people. But it is also intriguing to see how some families stay close together. 

In today's world people tend to live fairly insular lives. Many mothers become car moms--busy taking kids to music, dance, soccer, swimming...you name it. Even though this is the same in my neighborhood, there is a fairly solid group of nine neighbors that you can count on if you need help. In the last year and a half these families have come together for ice cream socials, meet-the-neighbors potlucks, and tonight Stephanie and David hosted yet another potluck for this group. 

I'm here to tell you how much fun it was. 17 adults and 11 kids showed up. The food was incredible, conversation was lively and the group was great fun. The kids swirled in, out and around. It was happy, loud and boisterous with a bit of mayhem. 

There are seventeen kids connected with these families and they spend a lot of time running up and down the street between houses. It is fun to watch how well they all get along together. 

There is a girls' posse-- here are five of the seven that were part of the group tonight.

The boys rarely stand still long enough for photos. And the entire group--boys and girls--run like crazy in odd games I've never heard of. It is exhausting to watch, but reminds me of how all the kids ran together when I was young. Our yards had no fences, and we used them all. We played endless games of kick soccer, sardines at dusk, and continuing episodes of Robin Hood, where Gordie, the oldest, always got to be the Sheriff of Nottingham. We would wrap small stones in tin foil, our silver, to hide from the Sheriff. 

My neighborhood kids don't play Robin Hood. They play Quidditch with hula hoops set up for the balls, and they run around on broomsticks. Different generation, different heroes. Where we had the original skateboards that used metal roller skate wheels, these kids have motorized scooters. Oh yeah, I'm jealous! 

I am enjoying being part of all of this. In the summer when the windows are open I get to hear most of kids practicing an instrument and they are good enough that is worth stopping to listen. 

In addition, quite a few of girls in the posse like to bake. I am the recipient of cookies, big pieces of cake, beautifully decorated cupcakes--all on a hit and run basis. My doorbell rings. I answer to find no one there, but on the doormat is a plate of goodies. Sometimes I hear giggles from a hiding place. It is kind of a reverse trick-or-treat, except home made treats beat store candy any day!

I have wonderful neighbors and I'm grateful to be part of this wildly varied group.