April Potpourri

It's so easy for me to get behind on photos! Here are some from April. We went for a drive and saw a pronghorn. I love watching these animals, the fastest land animals in North America. They are also unusual in that they don't jump over fences, but go under them.

On this particular drive we were heading to a wet meadow area, but due to the dry winter, it looked kind of brown.

This fence post caught my eye. And in the background you can see that there isn't much snow on the mountains.

This is one of my favorite trees. Sometime I hope to go down and take a night sky photo with its silhouette.

Back at home, the kestrels have moved in and make a lot of noise.

One day I found the kestrel was excited about its catch--a lizard.

Our dog, Maggie, jumped out of the back of the truck and broke her femur. So she had surgery and was on a lot of confinement. Fortunately she's been recovering well.

We have a lot of playdates. I loved that one incorporated some music practice. These two will be performing in the spring concert next week. They will have a duet, as they're the only brass players in their school.

A couple coworkers and I led the elementary school on a wild cave trip. The kids had a great time and were delighted to have an opportunity to crawl and get muddy. One of the chaperones was surprised how we incorporated how much science into it--programming bat equipment, checking climate data, reading maps, showing geologic features. It's easy in caves, there are just so many cool scientific areas to study!

Our currant bushes bloomed, and that brought lots of pollinators, including these cool sphinx/hummingbird moths. They are not easy to photograph! They move around really fast.

I thought it was cool to see how the proboscis is curled up while it's flying.

Then it extends it to take a drink.

The flowers help provide a bullseye.

Desert Girl did a session of dog training for a friend. They were so cute! One of Desert Girl's ambitions is to become a dog trainer, so it's good to start young.

Caving friends came via a small airplane, and they let the kids sit in the cockpit. They immediately started dreaming up their adventure.

These ladies are awesome, I will have to do a whole post more about their geologic work in Lehman Caves soon.

We squeezed in some trail work on the local Sagebrush Discovery Trail. The flowers along it have been great in May (also another post!). There are still so many more rocks to move, but we're slowly making a difference. And it's always great to socialize!

One of the school events was a Young Author's Fair. Guest speaker Glenn Terry came in to do some cowboy poetry. Then the kids read each other's book that they had written for the event and did some activities. Parents and friends also get to read the kids' books, which are very entertaining.

We had a few EMS and fire calls for the month, including this vehicle fire. It had stalled, so the driver pulled it over to the side of the road, and then it caught on fire. She was able to get out safely, but the car was totally engulfed. Fortunately minimal brush caught on fire, as you can see there was some wind.

We got good practice with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs). There are so many toxic fumes from a car fire that you don't want to breathe even a little of that smoke.

One last tidbit was a school field trip to the Aquarium in Draper, Utah. It's a 3.5 hour bus ride--each way--but it was worth it. Everyone had a great time and we certainly got to see things that we don't usually see in the remote desert!

Hope you had a good April and are enjoying May!

Yellow-bellied Marmots Are Out

 The kids and I went up Baker Creek Road in Great Basin National Park one day after school to see if the yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) were out. And lucky for us, they were easy to spot.

We traded in the van for an SUV that has a moonroof, and the kids had fun checking the marmots out through it.

Oh my, these are cute animals! Marmots are burrowing rodents. They also spend a lot of time out sunning themselves.

They weigh between 3.5 and 11 pounds, generally the lightest in early spring and the heaviest in late summer or early fall. Males weigh more than females.

Is this one doing yoga?

The marmots will live in colonies of up to 20 animals, with a dominant male. They eat a variety of plants, and occasionally insects and bird eggs. Coyotes are their major predator. Marmots seem to really like to dig into the road base, so they are frequently found on the Baker Creek road. They don't like to move, which makes it easier to take photos of them.

But that also means they get run over. So the park installed these Marmot Crossing signs. Can you find the marmot in the photo?

Marmots can live up to 15 years. They are one of the longest hibernating animals around. At this location, they typically come out of hibernation in March and go back in July, although the young will reawaken in September to eat more.

You can learn more about marmots here. Although they're supposed to whistle in alarm, I've never heard the ones along Baker Creek road do that.

2018 Snowy Birkebeiner Race in Ely, Nevada

 Saturday was the date for the annual Birkebeiner race sponsored by the Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts. We've had a lot of fun at the race in past years and planned to go, snow or not. It was looking like it might be a trail run rather than a cross-country ski race, but Friday night the big storm finally came! We woke up to about eight inches at our house, with reports of over a foot in the mountains.

Our close-knit community reported that a plow had been over the nearest mountain pass, so we decided to see if we could make it. The nearby roads had not been plowed at all, so I was glad we had four-wheel drive. When we got out to US Highway 6 & 50, and it had one lane plowed. Good enough. There wasn't any other traffic. At the pass, the road was plowed both directions. Here's the view at the top of the pass:

The roads were slick and snow was still falling, so even though we left early, we got to the race a little late. Fortunately they started it a little late because others were also having difficulties.

I signed up for the long course, 6.6 km (about 4 miles). Six of us braved the trail. The BLM was going to groom the trail that morning, but because of the government shutdown, didn't. So we took turns breaking trail.

When the front person in our group (one guy went way ahead and stayed ahead the rest of the race), got tired, they moved to the side and everyone continued on.

I was so winded from my turn I got pretty far behind the group. Here they are disappearing into the snow.

But it was fun having the trail all to myself for awhile. it was so beautiful with all the fresh snow. And I wasn't alone. I heard Clark's nutcrackers and mountain chickadees.

I even took a selfie. (I obviously wasn't too concerned about winning the race!)

When I finished, the kids had already started. Fortunately these independent kids were able to get their skis on, practice, and get themselves to the finish line. It helped that there were only three in the race. I skied on their route, waiting to see a skier. And Desert Girl was the first one I saw! She passed me, heading towards the finish line.

Then came Desert Boy. He wasn't in the best mood as his sister was in front of him.

But he persevered, grumbling.

The kids got to go down a hill at the end to the finish line.

Then it was time for awards. Desert Girl was so happy to have come in first. Desert Boy was grumpy.

But then we went and ate the lunch buffet at Twin Wok and he felt better.

It was so much fun doing the course with all the new snow! Ward Mountain Loop D should have a good ski trail on it if anyone wants a little exercise. And the other loops have fresh powder--a lot of it!

Thanks, Ely Outdoor Enthusiasts, for the great excuse to get outside!

A Watery Escape from the Desert

I really, really wanted to go someplace warm and sunny and sandy for Christmas this year, so last February I asked my parents and siblings and their families if they'd be interested in a trip to Florida. Everyone agreed. We figured out one week we could all get away and found a house that could fit all of us that was on the beach. We had months of anticipation (which is a huge part of the fun and kept me from getting my usual December dark doldrums). And then finally it was time to leave. Our family met my brother Ed in Vegas and we took a flight to Tampa and drove to the beach in the wee hours of the night. Before we went to bed, we had to peek out at the ocean waves crashing against the shore. I went to sleep smiling.

The next morning we were eager to explore. The white sand was just footsteps away from the patio door, and then the the water stretched out to the horizon. It was warm and there were birds.

I had a lot of fun watching the birds. Willets, most likely. They liked to peck into the sand and then ran when the bigger waves came. I never saw one get knocked down by a wave, even when their backs were turned.

Sea oats were one of the dominant beachside vegetation communities. The rental house had a balcony so we could look out at the beach.

We went down to the beach a lot. Dusk and dawn were the best for seeing a variety of birds. Here are a Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Sanderlings, and gulls all looking for food.

My brother Andrew was a great organizer, and he directed us to the beautiful botanical gardens to see the lights on Christmas Eve. It was a bit odd seeing Christmas lights on palm trees. And to be able to walk around with heavy coats.

Christmas Day was spent looking at more birds. :) Ha, ha, okay, we did a little more than that. But you have to admit, this Snowy Egret was gorgeous.

The kids loved taking boogie boards out into the water. The water temp was 70 degrees, which to them was warm enough. I guess swimming in a mountain creek from spring to fall toughens you up.

 When they had enough of the water, they just came back on shore and dug in the sand with their cousins.

 Then it was time to go back out again.

 The waves were gentle, no more than a couple feet. And the salty water made us all extra buoyant. The kids definitely went out the most, but even the adults spent time in the water.

Digging in the sand also turned into creative burying in the sand.

 I went running most mornings, enjoying the opportunity to run on flat land at an elevation with lots of oxygen. It was also a fun way to get to see a little more, like this pier. (And the cute sanderlings by the edge of the water.)

 As the days passed, the sand creations became more elaborate. We had a huge sand fort, but that eventually got decimated. Then it was time for the giant sand alligator. It spawned many other creatures around it.

 We saw dolphins swimming in front of us almost every day. There were also quite a few brown pelicans, and watching them dive so fast into the water was quite a sight.

On one early morning walk to look for shells, Desert Girl found a half-eaten fish on the shore. She got very excited. "Mom, can I get a shell and dissect it?"
"Sure!" How could I refuse that?

The shell didn't work so well, so we left the fish to the Herring Gull, who was happy to consume it rather than study it.

 

 Our big adventure away from the beach was taking a boat ride from Fort De Soto State Park to Egmont Key, the site of a fort built during the Spanish-American War. It's at the entrance to Tampa Bay. Keys, by the way, are islands without water sources. (At least that's what I learned, but when I just fact-checked this, the more common answer was that keys are low-elevation sandy islands atop coral reefs.)

It still has a working lighthouse.

We checked out some of the ruins.

And some of the brick-paved streets from when hundreds of people lived here. We also did a little snorkeling and saw a gopher tortoise and more dolphins. It was an interesting spot to visit.

Then we went back to our beach. Desert Boy was ready to make more sand sculptures.

Later we went down to the beach by Treasure Island and saw some huge sand sculptures. These were made in a contest in mid-November and most were still in pretty good shape.

They gave us some ideas for snow sculpting, but alas, there's not enough snow for that this year in Nevada.

As the week came to an end, we had time to reflect on the beautiful world we live in, where we can see so many great ecosystems. It sure is fun to visit other ones from time to time.

And we'll remember the gentle sounds of the ocean waves rolling onto the beach.

On our last morning, Desert Girl came with for the run.

We stopped a lot to look at shells, including these live ones.

We had an evening flight, so during the day we went to a couple county parks and got to see alligators.

This little baby alligator was right under the viewing platform (see Desert Girl's pink polka-dotted reflection?)

We also spotted a limpkin, a bird native to Florida. I was so excited that I knew the name to it, and I'm still not sure how I did.

We braved the very-crowded Florida Aquarium.

And then it was time to head back to our special part of the world. We take fond memories with us (and in the case of Desert Girl, a pile of sea shells that have a bit of an odor to them.) It was great to spend time with family and be warm--especially with the brutally cold weather some of the family was headed back to. We really enjoyed being able to spend so much time outside at Christmas, something we usually don't get to do.

Hope you all had a good Christmas! And Happy 2018!