Merry Christmas

Hope you have a wonderful day full of good cheer, good company, and plenty of good food!

Christmas Fun

Every year the local schools put on a Christmas program, and two nights ago was the special occasion. Desert Boy was calmest when we sat right up front so he could see all the action. He wanted to go up on stage, but fortunately he didn't quite make it. He also spent some time between acts wandering around and visiting people. One of the nice things about living in such a small community is we didn't have to worry about him--we knew just about everyone there, and they knew him.

First were the musical numbers--the school band, beginning strings, and intermediate strings. Then it was time for the children's choir, which is a combination of the pre-school, grades K-2, and some home-schooled kids. Here's a video of the end of one of their songs:

After that, the K-2 class put on a really cute play, Christmas at Old McDonald's Farm. Each student was an animal and had a few lines, including getting to make their animal's sound. Everyone enjoyed it. Then it was time for the play from grades 3-6. The play started with the magical appearance of Elfis at the back of the hall.

Before long Elfis was rocking up on stage with Mrs. Claus, some reindeer, and elves.

The kids really got into the music--just look at their expressions. They didn't seem to be at all shy to be performing in front of 200 people. I think because they perform every year from the time they're kindergartners, they just take it for granted. Hopefully they'll keep that skill of being able to talk in front of a crowd for the rest of their lives!

The costumes and choreography were great.

The play helped us all get into the Christmas mood. When the lights came back on, refreshments were served in the back of the hall. And then another special guest arrived: Santa Claus!

Here's my nephew, Tractor Buddy, up on Santa's lap. He wanted some big things for Christmas.

Even Elvis took a turn, sideburns and all.

I was hoping Desert Boy would pose for a picture on Santa's lap, but it had gotten a little too late for him, and he dove into my arms. Maybe next year. The kids were so excited to tell Santa what they wanted---and they were probably eager to get their bag with candy cane and orange, too! 

Have a Merry Christmas!

How to Entertain Yourself in the Desert

The evenings are long in December, and we have to look for ways to entertain ourselves. It helps with college break. My nephew brought home Rock Band, a game where a drummer, singer, and two guitars try to mimic a song that is played on the TV. It turns out it is really, really addictive. Even if you're bad. Really bad. After we kicked the kids off it, we spent a couple hours and were glad when we could get 43 percent of a song finished. 

Here's my husband and his sister rockin' out.

I had to give it a try, and it is fun. I'm standing with the guitar on the left in the blue shirt, while my sister-in-law is on the other guitar and my brother-in-law is on the drums. Desert Boy couldn't resist helping us out. He's quite a crooner. 

I'm glad they didn't have this game when I was in college, it might have been hard to get my homework done. Now if I can only sneak over to my sister-in-law's house and get some practice time in, maybe I can get to 63 percent.

Desert Destination: Walking to the Cows

Desert Boy decided to take a trip. Only he headed out without me or his Daddy. Fortunately he had his faithful sidekick Henry with him. Where did Desert Boy want to go? To the cows. Where else?

As I zoomed in on Desert Boy, I noticed he was carrying something in each hand--a white shoe in his left hand a pencil in his right hand. Useful things to have when you head out for a hike through the pasture.

I think Desert Boy would have kept going, but I called him back. He took a few more steps...

...but eventually turned around and started coming back.

He still had the pencil and shoe in his hand. This grass is dry so it isn't exactly soft. He didn't seem to care.

In the meantime, the cows kept grazing in the background. They didn't even know that a little guy wanted to visit them.

Fun with Water

We've been having fun with the icy stream near our house. Desert Boy will throw rocks into it until his hands turn into frozen icicles (he won't wear mittens).


And Henry likes to chase ice.

It's kind of funny when it's someone else's kid misbehaving, isn't it? We have some work to do!

Survival of the Fittest

One of the best parts of winter is that it's easier to keep track of where animals are. When there's no snow on the ground, the signs of wild animals can be few: scat, bedded areas, munched vegetation. But in the winter, when snow covers the landscape, it becomes apparent that animals are criss-crossing the terrain. What are the large tracks seen in the snow in the above photo? We'll get to that!

Another sign that can occasionally be seen is a blood trail. An animal has been dragged across the grass and gravel.

It's dragged even further down the road, leaving a distinct trail.

The animal is dragged over a bunch of downed logs. What is being dragged? And what is dragging it? We don't have bears or wolves out in this area; the top of the food chain is the mountain lion (Puma concolor). Mountain lions are also called pumas, cougars, or simply lions. They are most active at dawn and dusk or during the night.

Their favorite prey is deer, although they will also eat elk, porcupine, rabbits, and small mammals. One study found that mountain lions generally consume 48 large and 58 small animals a year. It takes a mountain lion a few hours to eat a small mammal, but several days to eat a large animal. On average, a mountain lion kills about one deer a week. 

Thinking about this top predator, which weighs 100-150 pounds, makes seeing its tracks extra exciting. Mountain lion tracks are fairly large and well spaced, with about twelve inches between each footprint.

Mountain lions have four toes, and although they have claws, they usually retract them when walking (although I have seen claw marks in deep snow on steep hills, probably for better traction). The top of the pad has two lobes, which is different from a dog, which only has one lobe. Another big difference between cats and dogs is the position of the toes--cats are straighter across.

Because of their solitary nature and proclivity to be out and about during the dark hours, mountain lions are seldom seen. But with the aid of deer cameras, which are attached to trees and take pictures when the infrared beam is intersected, it's possible to get a better look at these creatures.

Here's a picture of a mountain lion heading towards its cached deer. After a lion takes down a deer, usually with a bite to the neck, it drags it up to 100 yards to its eating place. Then it usually makes an opening in the rib cage and eats the liver, heart, and lungs. Next it removes the rumen and intestines and buries them. The lion eats what it can;  covers up part of the carcass with pine needles, pinecones, dirt, leaves, or snow; and waits nearby until the next night so it can eat some more.

The lion doesn't seem to like the flash of the camera. The timestamp on the photo indicates the picture was taken at 8:04 p.m.

Here you can see the powerful muscles of the mountain lion. It's rare to see more than one lion at a time, unless it's a mother with her kittens. Mountain lions give birth year round, although April to September is the most common time, following a three-month gestation. If you want to see more pictures taken with these remote wildlife cameras, check out this website.

Earlier this week I mentioned in the comments of the Christmas Bird Count post that one of the observers saw an amazing sight: a freshly killed bull elk. She was coming down the trail when she heard a crashing in the woods. She went a little further and saw this elk off the side of the trail. She didn't stay, but kept on heading down the trail towards her car.

A couple days ago I went out to take a look at the elk. It was massive, with a six-point rack. It appeared that two lions had made the kill--one larger, and one smaller, so probably a mom and her kitten. About a month ago the same tracks were seen near a cow elk a few miles away. What makes this find so exciting is that no elk kills have been seen in this area for the last few years. Elk were reintroduced about a decade ago and their numbers are growing. Despite their huge size (cows average about 500 pounds, bulls about 800 pounds), it is apparent that the mountain lions have figured out a way to take them down.

Here's a closer view of the elk, with the eyes eaten out and a gaping hole in its neck. I sure wonder how the kill went down. Mountain lions generally kill by waiting in ambush, so the elk was most likely surprised.

A couple people went with me to look at the elk, including the lady who first found it. A remote camera was installed on the tree and has been taking pictures at night, so in a week or so we may be able to see more amazing photos of who's been feeding on the elk. 

Full Moon

When the last full moon came up over the mountains, I ran outside and tried to capture its majesty. This was apparently a rather large full moon, 30 percent larger than normal due to its closer distance to the earth.

I enjoy the extra light of full moons which brighten up the landscape. I couldn't resist photographing this stream, with the moonlight so strong it cast shadows on the water.

The full moon brings out the coyotes, and as they howl the world seems just a little wilder. Tomorrow I'll highlight some of the other wildlife that's out at night--I have some incredible pictures, so be sure to check back!

Trouble

Desert Boy has been having fun lately. He can skedaddle under a fence faster than you can say skedaddle, and if he sees Henry go somewhere, he wants to go, too. Never mind if it's into a horse corral full of big horse turds. Or through a cold, muddy puddle. They're buddies, and Desert Boy is ready to explore.

Sometimes Desert Boy has to be inside, but he still finds ways to have fun. Like grabbing a permanent marker and drawing all over his face. When I saw him, I inwardly groaned and laughed at the same time. And then I grabbed my camera.

Here's a better view of Desert Boy's artwork. I hope he doesn't decide he needs lots of tattoos later in life--especially on his face.

Eating is always an adventure, and one day the pudding was just too much fun. Desert Boy quickly tired of using a spoon and tossed it on the floor. Then he grabbed the container and started slurping away, with the expected results. He was happy to pose for pictures with his new look.

Life is never boring with a toddler around!

109th Christmas Bird Count

Yesterday I participated in the Christmas Bird Count for our area. It was the thirteenth year it's been held here, but the Christmas Bird Count as a whole has been going 109 years, starting in 1900. Back in those days, there weren't many bird watchers, but there were a lot of bird hunters. In an effort to stop the annihilation of hundreds (or thousands) of birds every year just for sport, Frank Chapman of the American Museum of Natural History proposed an idea. Instead of the "side hunt," where people took sides and saw which side could shoot more birds at Christmas, people would count birds instead.

The idea took hold, and the Audubon Society took over the Christmas Bird Count. Today it is held in 22 countries in the Western Hemisphere.  The count is conducted within a 15-mile radius circle on one day between December 14 and January 5. 

We didn't have a big turnout for our Christmas Bird Count, so I had a large area to cover.  Some years we have quite a few people turn out, both experienced birders and those new to birding. Those that are new are paired with someone more experienced, so they end up learning a lot about birds. I know I was a bit cautious the first year I did my first Christmas Bird Count. My thoughts went somewhere along the lines of:

A whole day looking at birds? 

It's winter, I don't see birds. 

It's going to be really boring.

But I was pleasantly surprised. When you concentrate on birds, you end up seeing them in more places than you would expect. And the day has gone by surprisingly fast every year. 

Some of the birds can be obvious, like the raptor perched on the power pole above. The white speckled V on the scapulars (shoulder feathers) helps to identify this as a red-tailed hawk, the most common roadside buteo. Other raptors I saw included a second red-tailed hawk, a rough-legged hawk, a golden eagle, and a merlin.

Some of the birds are quite small, not much bigger than this sunflower seed head. The gold head along with the black and white wing feathers make this bird easy to distinguish as an American goldfinch. A flock darted along ahead of me as I went along the edge of a field. I enjoyed seeing the flash of their golden heads.

Here's the goldfinch eating the sunflower seed head. Other birds that were common in the fields and feed lots were ravens, blackbirds, white-crowned sparrows, and European starlings.

Later, as I stopped next to the road to look at a marshy area, I saw a flash of blue in a tree. The blue made me think of pinyon jays, because we have a lot of those. But when I got out the binoculars and looked closer, I saw it wasn't a pinyon jay.

Instead, the bird was a bit smaller. The male was brighter blue and the female (on the left) was greyer. This blue bird turned out to be a mountain bluebird.

Yesterday was a really cold day. In the morning it was only 14 deg F, and the highest it got was 31 deg F. As a result, most bodies of water were frozen over, including this big lake. That meant the lake, which is usually a great birding spot, was not too exciting. Nevertheless, I managed to find a loggerhead shrike and a black-billed magpie near it.

Not too far away I found this open water. Why isn't it frozen over? The water emerges from a deep spring, and the water is warm enough that it stays unfrozen for a long distance. Out on the water I could see little blobs, mostly brown, but in the center one white blob.

With more magnification, I found my most exciting find of the day: a bird that wasn't on our list--a tundra swan. It might not look very swanlike here because it has its head tucked into its back. Fourteen green-winged teals, about a dozen mallards, and a few northern pintails were also present. At another open-water area I spotted a belted kingfisher and a great blue heron. It amazes me how much variety exists even in the desert.

After I had searched the valley bottom, I headed up a couple of the canyons. In one I found a flock of wild turkeys. They ran across in front of me and up the canyon side. Dark-eyed juncos were all fluffed out and chirping quietly as they tried to stay warm in leafless bushes.

As I got up higher in the mountains, it started snowing. I didn't see many birds, but finally something flew across the road. I got out and started walking.

A flock of mountain chickadees was darting around the pinyon pines, with a couple red-breasted nuthatches hanging out with them. A little later I found a Townsend's solitaire. During the winter it often makes a piercing whistle call that is unmistakable.

Wintertime is when huge flocks of birds gather near the roadsides. They fly up in front of vehicles and it's difficult to see what they are. Here I captured them alongside the road, and it's possible to see the yellow chin and dark mask and chest band, although the "horns" that give the horned lark their name aren't really distinguishable.

Hopefully these photos and descriptions have whetted your appetite for birds! If you'd like to learn more, and possibly participate in a Christmas Bird Count near you house (remember, the counts are held until January 5), check out the Christmas Bird Count website! Happy birding!