The Great Dinosaur Adventure

Last Saturday I wanted to get out of the house, and I knew bad weather was coming, so it was now or never. There was a place at the southern end of the mountain range known for having plants not found anywhere else in the area, so that was our destination. I loaded up the kids, told my husband where we were going so if we broke down he'd come find us, and off we went. We didn't see any people the entire day, but we did see some sheep.

 The southern mountains were beautiful, and colorful flowers dotted the benches (slopes coming down from the mountains).

 We stopped near some rocks to go "rock climbing." Desert Boy decided after a quick try that it wasn't quite right for him. Desert Girl tried out her newly acquired bush-whacking skills. She did quite well.
Then we had a picnic lunch. That always makes every trip fun. Afterwards Desert Boy wanted to climb the hill on the other side. I wasn't too enthused, but he really wanted to go, so up we went.

 I did find a couple interesting flowers on the way up, and the views were really nice.

 At the top, Desert Boy found a couple bones. He was delighted.

 We wandered over the flat top and looked down at the wash on the other side. The bottom was bright green with round circles.

 It was so quiet, and it felt so desolate! One of the things I like best about the desert is the sound of it.

 But then little cries irrupted the silence. Desert Girl had found what made all those circles down below--harvester ant mounds. She had been intrigued by one and wandered close enough that the ants started crawling on her. One bit her, and she was none too happy. We hiked back to the truck and continued on our trip.

 The next road we traveled was nearly a tunnel through the sagebrush. These are some of the tallest sagebrush, and densest, that I have ever seen. The kids napped while we bumped along on two-track roads. There are very few signs out there, so it's a really good idea to have a map.

When Desert Boy woke up, he wanted to go home. I told him we weren't quite done with our adventure. He wasn't happy, but when I told him we would look for more bones, he perked up.

 Then we found LOTS more bones, and he was so happy! I wouldn't let him take anything that still had hair or blood on it. I guess I'm a mean mom.

 We went farther and he found even more bones. I found flowers. Desert Girl found more ants (but observed them from a distance). So we were all happy.

 It was getting cloudier and windier, so it was time to head home.

The next day when we woke up, we were in for quite a surprise:

 Back to winter! It was a great day for relaxing. And for Desert Boy and his daddy to work on their project: putting the bones together. Because these weren't just any bones, they were dinosaur bones. And they were both very determined to recreate the dinosaur.

This is what they came up with:

It's a very dangerous dinosaur, even though it's small.

This dinosaur skeleton now holds a place of honor in our house.

It may take us a while to top The Great Dinosaur Adventure.

The Great Frog Search

We were waiting for my husband to do a task that was taking longer than expected out in the desert, so I decided we had time to go on a frog search. We headed to the nearby "swamp" and proceeded to look for frogs. We found tons!

These are Columbia spotted frogs. It wasn't that long ago that the Division of Wildlife folks were counting egg masses. Now little frogs are hanging out all around. We managed to catch one, but not for long. They are really good at getting away.

I was very worried that Emma would fall into the water, but she seemed to listen to directions to stay out.

Desert Boy became a good frog spotter after he had seen a couple.

Then it was time to take a walk. And of course when you're in the "swamp," you don't take nice, tidy little walks. Desert Boy found a good muddy spot right off the bat and sunk up to his knee in the mud.

He kept looking for frogs, though. We only spotted one in this grassier section.

Meanwhile, Desert Girl got in on the action and plopped her tush down in the mud. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but she quickly figured out that the mud was fun and not too cold.

Desert Boy continued his trek. He was fearless as we tramped through the wilds.

Still looking...

Meanwhile, up on the drier bank, I found this dragonfly--or is it a damselfly? I don't know much about the Order Odonata.

Where's Emma?

Sitting in the mud again!

We sure enjoyed the beautiful spring day. I'm glad we got out, as it's going to be cold and rainy the next few days.

Turkey Vultures

Although I've been having troubles photographing the little birds, the turkey vultures are coming to our yard frequently, especially in the late afternoon and evening.

Look alive! Or they might think you're carrion and come down for a nip. I guess it would help if you smelled really bad, too.

I don't think this vulture is appreciative of me taking photos of him.

The trees are starting to leaf out (at least the poplars and ashes; the catalpas are always the latest to get their leaves). The greenery will be a welcome sight, but they do make it harder to see the birds. Time to remember what all their songs are!

My Backyard Birds-Part 1

So what birds have seen in your backyard?

I hope you're keeping a list, because this is just the beginning of some fun bird watching, and over the next couple of months our lists are going to grow considerably (hence the Part 1 of this blog post title).

Is this one of the birds you've seen?
Turkey vultures are found all across the U.S., with year-round habitat in the southern part up through the Midwest, and summer habitat everywhere else. We see them in this area primarily in the spring and fall, although from time to time in the summer we also spot them. With the turbulent spring weather we've been having, they've been having a grand old time soaring in the wind. Turkey vultures might be considered good clean-up birds--they take care of those messes like road kill for us. (Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Class: Aves; Order: Falconiformes; Family: Cathartidae; Cathartes aura).

I've been hearing lots of the sweet calls of the Western Meadowlark (Animalia; Chordata; Aves; Passeriformes; Passeridae; Sturnella neglecta). They're one of the earlier birds to breed in the spring time, and they are very common around the ranch calling for a mate from fence posts and the top of sagebush. The Eastern Meadowlark is found in the eastern U.S., with hybrids in the middle of the country.

Killdeer have been hopping around. Henry really likes to chase them, but despite that, every year they return to near our yard. Killdeer (Animalia; Chordata; Aves; Charadiiformes; Charadriidae; Charadius vociferus) have an appropriate species name. Vociferus is Latin for loud, and killdeer run around and fly saying what sounds like "kill deer, kill deer." They are known for pretending to have a broken wing and dragging their wing on the ground to distract predators from their nests on the ground. They're found all over North America.

Yesterday I heard sandhill cranes. My husband calls these flying pterodactyls, as they are so big and seem so prehistoric. Sandhill cranes (Animalia; Chordata; Aves; Gruiformes; Gruidae; Grus canadensis) are found in much of North America. Sandhill cranes remind me of family visits to a game preserve to see great displays. (The link has some fantastic photos my sister-in-law took. As you can see from the lack of photos in this post, photographing birds is not my forte.)

Birds that have been around all winter that I mustn't forget include:
(If you are following the classification scheme, you know that these are all Animalia; Chordata; Aves; so I will just omit that part.)

Red-shafted flicker (Piciformes; Picidae; Colaptes auratus), that likes to make holes in trees and our house;
Black-billed magpie (Passeriformes; Corvidae; Pica pica), with its super long tail and black-and-white distinctive coloring;
Common raven (Passieriformes; Corvidae; Corvus corax), the ubiquitous bird around the ranch
European starling (Passeriformes; Sturnidae; Sturnus vulgaris), the annoying invader from Europe.
Dark-eyed junco (Passeriformes; Passeridae; Junco hyemalis), with its distinctive outer white tail feathers.

And now we have snow again, so it might be a day or two before the bird sightings pick up. I hope you're seeing some interesting birds in your yard!

Snow Geese

Forgot to mention that the Snow Goose Festival was also very well attended by the snow geese.

A Trip to the Beach

Enough of the snow and cold, let's go to the beach!

The week before Christmas we actually had the chance to do that. We drove to the San Francisco area to visit my brother who was traveling and my husband's sister and her family. The weather was a bit rainy, but it was a lot warmer than where we had come from.

One afternoon we headed out to the beach to check out the tidal pools. We had checked when the low tide would be and fortunately it worked out for us to go when it was low tide, and it was a particularly low tide. That made it extra fun to see what's out there.

It was a short walk from the parking area down to the beach. Then we went down some stairs and had the tidal area right in front of us to explore.

We took Emma in her stroller, which wasn't the best choice, but it worked out for part of the time.

I loved it that my nieces, who have grown up in California, are still fascinated by all the cool creatures that live along the shoreline.

It felt like we were on a scavenger hunt, with each find bringing oohs and ahs.

The stroller was left behind at the edge of the rocks, and Emma was toted in my husband's arms. He stopped to look at Ruby's find. I'm not sure he knew what to think.

It was a strange little creature.

My brother enjoyed the coast. And he enjoyed getting away from the office!

We continued going farther and farther out on the rocks. We descended down into the middle tidal zone and found some starfish and anemones.

Look, everyone!

This seriously wasn't a posed photo, but it sure turned out well. The overcast day made all the bright colors really stand out. The rain made the creek running through the tidal area muddy, but that didn't detract from our viewing.

Nearby we found some places where just the salt water was trapped and found some beautiful anemones.

Ruby was good at finding things! She found a crab shell and had fun posing with it.

Emma certainly didn't know what to make of all this. It was her first visit to the ocean.

After awhile, we decided it was time to play on the beach. After all, digging in sand is so much fun. For all ages!

Emma knows what to do with sand, although this sand was a bit wetter than what she's accustomed to.

Sand is for eating! At least one time. After one mouthful she decided that was enough and didn't put more in her mouth.

Sigh.

I think that's progress.

Art on the beach.

Lola was doing some serious digging.

And then it was time to play with Emma and see if she would walk. She did well taking assisted steps.

High stepping on the beach.

Emma thought walking with her aunt was terrific!

Eventually the rain started coming down hard and we decided it was time to go. It was a great excursion, and one we will remember fondly!