A Short Fall Hike

 I could see that the leaves were changing up high on the mountain, one of my favorite sights. So we set off on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, where the clouds were making a scenic landscape.

The kids and I  agreed that the quarter-mile nature trail would be sufficient to observe the beautiful fall colors.

Soon we got sidetracked by the stream, where I enjoyed the reflections.

Desert Girl graciously posed by one of my favorite trees. As you can see by her attire, it was cold outside!

We heard some tapping and discovered a woodpecker.

Before long we were back in the car and enjoying more colors. Despite the grey day, the colors were still really vibrant.

Someone once told me that aspens look like candles on the mountain.

As we descended, clouds moved in.

Out in the distance, the mountains looked like they continued forever.

We got into sunshine as we went lower, but the clouds still made interesting appearances.

Another sign of fall: turkey vultures hanging out in the trees, drying their wings. This is such a beautiful time of year!

Hope you are finding some fun fall activities to enjoy.

April Happenings

 As I went through my April photos, I realized I had a lot of odds and ends that I hadn't blogged about but wanted to include for when I print out my blog book for the year. April was a fairly busy month, with a train ride, t-ball, lots of bike riding (including Desert Girl without training wheels), cave rescue class, junior cave scientists, and lots of bird sightings. We also had wonderful clouds, although most of them didn't produce much in the way of precipitation.

Fortunately we had clear skies for the lunar eclipse. Generally I only take Milky Way photos during the new moon, but with the eclipse, it was dark enough I could get the galaxy (plus some light pollution from Las Vegas) plus the eclipsed moon all in one shot).

The moon turned so red during the eclipse. It was really beautiful, and I was glad I had gotten up to witness it. (If you didn't, there's another lunar eclipse in September!)

The photograph-the-full-moon challenge is going well, although I feel like in some ways I've reached the limitations of my equipment. But I will try to keep getting full moon photos in interesting locations. The next full moon is coming soon!

The kids were so excited Easter morning. We had a little Easter egg hunt in the house.

Then we got all dressed up to go to church. The kids sure clean up well!

And since we don't get enough of these, we did a family photo.

Later Desert Girl got a haircut because she was having trouble taking care of her longer hair and I was no longer willing to battle. She got a super cute haircut from Chandra. She has been taking really good care of it. And then last night she cut her own bangs quite noticeably. Sigh. Actually I laughed, which didn't make Desert Girl happy. I'll post a photo soon.

I have about four hours of EMT training every month to keep up my continuing education hours. This was one of the trainings, about pediatric emergencies taught by a pediatric nurse. It was really good training.

In the same location not much later we had a fun baby shower. It's so great to be welcoming a new baby into our community!

One of our frequent destinations is the post office parking lot, where we ride bikes, run around, and play on wagons. This photo must have been taken during spirit week, on pajama day.

The kids and I take various adventure walks. They love climbing trees, jumping over the creek, and building forts. And Desert Boy is very much into guns. I try not to roll my eyes too much.

The great horned owls are frequently in the yard. We welcome them. They are much preferable mousers than the mama skunk with her four young I saw last night.

Although we had such a dry winter, we did get a little extra snow in April, worrying us because all the fruit trees had blossomed so early. The snow looked pretty on the willows.

It's hard to believe May is almost over now. Maybe I'll catch up with it a little sooner than April!

Recent Birds

 I can't help but notice the birds wherever I go.  I figure the time I put into learning birds will serve me my whole life--even if I become sedentary when I'm old, I will still be able to look out the window and see what birds come by and imagine where they've come from. Above are some sandhill cranes in a meadow on the ranch. The reddish coloring comes from food they've eaten in iron-rich mud. Makes me wonder where they've been eating!

The kestrels are back in the yard this year. Last year they raised several young in one of our trees. Here's hoping they will again.

 While on our patio one morning, Desert Girl and I saw several new birds. First came this bird, which at first glance I thought was a vireo. After consulting the birding book, now I think it's a ruby-crowned kinglet. They spend their summers high up the mountain in the forests, so I was quite surprised to see it. But it is migration season, which is the season of surprises!

I heard this bird's chatter before I saw it: a Bullock's oriole. We have at least one nesting pair in the yard. They make a lot of noise and have really cool nests that hang from the branches and incorporate bailing twine, something we have a lot of around here. I love their flashes of bright color.

This is another common denizen of the yard--the yellow-rumped warbler. I think they probably have a nest in one of our trees, but I haven't found it yet.

If I want to see some water birds, I drive a few miles to a reservoir. On this particular day, a large flock of American white pelicans was hanging out.

With them was a group of gulls (California gulls?).

The contrast of the mountains and the desert and the water made for a nice photo.

Some mallards flew by.

A double-crested cormorant, another migratory bird, hung out on some rocks next to the water.

At the south end of the reservoir I found a mixed flock of ducks, including buffleheads, northern shovelers, and ring-necked ducks.

A group of coots appeared to be waiting as the ducks arrived.

On a nearby wetland, some American avocets took flight.

We're up to 33 backyard birds, with the addition last night of a hummingbird (species not known, but likely broad-tailed). We are definitely going to surpass last year's total of 34! Desert Boy doesn't seem super interested, but Desert Girl is quite interested. They learn so fast, I wish I had their capacity!

Hope you see some cool birds today.

Distractions while Irrigating

 The main irrigator for a remote area of the ranch was injured in a car accident, so my husband has been spending a lot of time down there, including Sundays. So we've all been going down there on Sundays so we can at least spend time as a family. The kids and I tend to find the irrigating not so exciting, but there are other ways to amuse ourselves. I really like looking at the birds, and I was delighted when my husband pointed out this bird.

I had to take a better look to recognize it as a great blue heron. I'm used to seeing them on the ground or flying, but great blue herons do nest in trees, usually in huge rookeries, sometimes with hundreds of them together. This one was all by itself.

Meanwhile, the kids were finding some obstacles.

Then they decided to build a fort. They love building forts, and they usually get along well together when they do.

Eventually my husband finished the irrigating, and it was time to leave. The kids begged to stay longer to make their fort better. When we were driving away and realized our gas in the truck was low, Desert Boy suggested we could go back to the fort and hang out there, after all it was good shelter. If he ever gets lost, he'll probably do okay for himself!

Kershaw-Ryan State Park - Spring Break 2015

 We were headed home from Las Vegas, a five-hour prospect, and the sun was setting quickly. We had to make a decision: drive all the way home or spend one more night out? The plan had been to camp one more night (night five), but being so close to home, we could also feel the pull. When I thought about driving so far in the dark, though, with lots of animals along the road, I decided we would stay one more night. That way we would have time to explore a little more. And I'm all about exploration.

I started with the beautiful Joshua tree forest along Highway 93 west of Caliente. This isn't a forest like you see in the Eastern United States or in the Pacific Northwest or the Rocky Mountains. A Joshua tree forest is spectacular in its own way.

The setting sun really lit up these trees. Then I noticed two hawks talking to each other from the tops of two trees. I went a little closer to get a better look and found they were Swainson's hawks. These hawks winter in Argentina and are now back! Hello!

The flowers on the Joshua tree come in big terminal clumps.

The individual flowers themselves might not be so showy, but altogether they make for an impressive display.

We had to decide where to camp. We had several options: trailheads for the Silver State OHV trail, Kershaw-Ryan State Park, or Cathedral Gorge State Park. We ended up choosing Kershaw-Ryan, as I had never been there and it was only two miles from Caliente. We pulled into the 15-site campground and selected a site. The kids put up the tent all by themselves while I made their meal of choice: top ramen. Yep, we were living it up!

The very nice ranger stopped by and gave us a brochure and told us about the pay showers (8 minutes for 50 cents) and the firewood. We availed ourselves of both, then went to bed.

The next morning was chilly, so I started a fire and roused the kids to eat some hashbrowns. Yum!

I got just a little bit of attitude.

We wanted to get home by lunch so we could see my husband and have the afternoon to unpack, so we packed up and headed further into the park. We were amazed at what we found. A small wading pool was near the end of the road. Since it was March, it didn't have water in it, but we could imagine how much fun it would be in summer.

We also found a playground, which the kids loved.

We decided to take the Canyon overlook trail, about 1.4 miles long. But since we didn't have much time, I told the kids we were going on a trail run. They were good sports and started running.

The trail was great, with nice views.

And benches for resting and goofing around.

We kept climbing higher, getting a view of more of the park.

I wondered what was up the side canyons. Although the principal vegetation was sagebrush and everything seemed quite dry, these canyons are subject to flash floods. In fact, nearly all the park facilities were wiped out by two back-to-back flash floods in 1984, and it took a long time for the state to appropriate money to rebuild.

The canyon was originally developed in 1873 by Samuel and Hannah Kershaw, who called their ranch Meadow Valley Wash Ranch. In 1904 they sold it to rancher James Ryan, who then donated it to the state in 1926 as a park. The Civilian Conservation Corps developed facilities in 1934, and it became a state park in 1935. Although in some ways you feel like you're going back in time in the park, the frequent trains (we heard about ten during the night) remind you that progress is chugging along.

Leaves were just appearing on some of the trees.

When we finished the trail run (which the kids rocked!), they checked out the fish pond.

The ranger let them feed the fish, which they loved.

I'm looking forward to visiting again in the summer to check out all the rose bushes and for the kids to take a dip in the wading pool. This is truly an oasis, and the bird life is terrific. Kershaw-Ryan isn't far off the beaten path and definitely worth a stop. It was a wonderful way to end our fun spring break.