We had a great trip and managed to survive Desert Boy's rudimentary piloting skills...
...and bailing out of the back of the plane with his monkey when the going got rough.
I've gotten to see some more interesting birds early in the morning lately. One is the Long-billed Curlew. It definitely has a long bill. And its voice sounds sort of like cur-lew. If more birds were named like this, I think more people might get interested in bird watching. When you have names like Sprague's Pipit or King Rail, it's just hard to visualize a bird.
The long-billed curlew put up quite a ruckus when I stopped for ten minutes to document all the birds that were around me. It flew close, making me wonder how strong that long bill is. It fluttered around on the ground. It was doing a good job distracting me, which, of course, was its goal. Somewhere nearby is a little nest with eggs, and the long-billed curlew didn't want me to find it. (I didn't.)
And it wasn't just one bird, there were several. They were a noisy gang. I really enjoy watching long-billed curlews, though, and overall their population is declining due to reduced habitat. So I feel good that they are doing well out here.
With that long bill, they are even easy to recognize in flight.
On a different survey, I was walking along listening to the million and one meadowlarks when I came upon this silent bird at the water's edge. It's a Wilson's Phalarope, and it was all by its lonesome.
It likes to hunt for insects in the mud, and its longish bill helps it probe the water bottom. 
It's quite an interesting-looking bird, and it was fun seeing something out of the ordinary.
Something else out of the ordinary was the sky. The clouds moved fast overhead, and at one point I saw strange striations up above the greasewood. My imagination quickly moved to aliens...
I forced myself to go back to birds and was rewarded seeing a mother mallard and her little ducklings. Last year I saw mallard ducklings in almost the exact same place. Perhaps next year I will see some again? Although life is full of change, it's nice to have a few things stay the same.
The only thing better than being in a cave is searching for new caves. 
Here was a hole that looked promising. The only problem was that I didn't have a light.
I could illuminate part of it with the flash from my camera, but I figured that my three sources of light were a little iffy: the flash, my glow-in-the-dark watch, and a little squeeze light.
Fortunately my caver friend Bill was nearby and had the proper equipment, even kneepads. He started in, hoping it opened up into a big, well-decorated chamber.
But a few moments he was backing out. It just pinched down tighter.
The entrance was really cool, though. 
Here's a view of the hole from below. It was harder to get up to the entrance than actually move about in the cave.
The canyon we were in, and in fact the entire mountain range, is full of intriguing holes. While we didn't find anything remarkable that afternoon, the next day Bill and Tom found some good stuff. I can't wait to hear the details.
She doesn't look scared at all.
I think Kori is really ready to get out of high school!
She and some classmates sang the national anthem, which was beautifully harmonized.
Later she and her friend sang a lovely duet. She is so lucky to have such a wonderful voice and very talented to be able to perform and share it with everyone.
Soon it's time to walk up the steps and get that diploma.
And she's done it! Congratulations, Kori!
