An Evening in Casper, Wyoming

Never, never go for a walk with out your camera. Just sayin'.

Maggie and I are here in Casper, Wyoming for a dog show Friday and Saturday. It's actually quite beautiful here if you look beyond the hills a bit.

After dinner we took a walk north of the motel and went up a lovely hill with a path and wildflowers. It looked like we were in plant covered sand dunes. The wildflowers were lovely, but understated and some were begging to be seen.

As we walked by the softball field on our way up we were taken by the crowds. This is the place to be on a Thursday night in Casper! The parking lot was full and three fields of teams playing hard.

We meandered down among them, entering true Casper culture. It was interesting to see how the people dressed, wore make-up (lots!) and really dug their uniforms.

With eyes and ears attuned to birds on the walk, I was not disappointed. A lovely male Robin sang to us as we let Winnie run back and forth, Brewer's Blackbirds chirped and chattered from the fence tops and a lone Killdeer. That was all.

We'll be showing Winnie and helping a friend show her dogs tomorrow, but I hope to have a bit of time to look more closely at birds too.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday-Gray-cheeked Thrush

Wordless Wednesday-Gray-cheeked Thrush

Gotta Get A Little Mud On The Tires

Traffic jam on the prairie.

Me, Lauren Burke (my older sister for those who aren't in the know), Lori Brummer and an unnamed special-friend-ditching-work went birding the other day. It was an interesting time with a tally of 91 species total. Crow Valley Campground, near Briggsdale, felt like mid-April and had the birds to prove it - Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned Warblers and the like. Only two Bullock's Orioles, a bunch of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows. And it was freezing cold. We were able to nab a Yellow Warbler on our way out. Time to check out the prairie.

We proceeded to head out on the Pawnee Birders Loop which proved to be an interesting and rather exciting several miles. McCown's Longspurs, Horned Larks and bunches of Lark Buntings entertained us as we slithered out way down the road. Not bad really, but when the tour goes north, we decided to keep heading west as they had a bunch of road equipment working the north section.

Some among us would say it was a bad decision. As we passed the work trucks all around the intersection, the road became very wet, very muddy & very tricky! There was no way to turn around. Stopping would've been utter folly. The next 2-3 miles were quite an adventure. My jeep liberty has the scars to prove it. Or maybe Lauren does. Ask her.

The funny thing was as we were slopping, sliding and grinding along praying we wouldn't get stuck, the gals were calling out bird names! I distinctly remember my sis yelling "AVOCET! There's an AVOCET on the bank of that puddle!" Wipers were flapping, mud and water was flying, knuckles were whitening and I was grinning. It was pretty fun, but had we gotten stuck, it would have not been fun at all. At one point the mud was 5-6 inches deep and the tracks before mine were wider so it was pretty sketchy going to keep from landing forever in a ditch. I think the skid plates underneath let us slide along the top, while the tires were bouncing in the ruts.

We had a window cleaning and life celebration party at the intersection where we got back on "improved roads" (Lori liked that term it seemed), then meandered on said roads for another hour or so looking for Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Mountain Plover - we found neither. Loggerhead Shrikes were abundant.

So we headed down to Lower Lathum & Beebe Draw and had a great time birding there. Tons of stuff around, and a very unusual Willet. This bird had an orange-buffy tail, very dark below, just strange looking. I put it out to several folks and most thought oil was a possibility. Let me know what you think of this bird!

We had 9 Whimbrels, too. Oh! We got our Chestnut-collared Longspur on CR 40, it was hanging out with the bizarre Willet. We also had great looks at a Sora - a tiny chicken like bird that lives in the marshes.

If you're not doing much this weekend, check out the eastern plains for birds, you won't be disappointed, but stay on the "improved roads!" Or if you've had an adventure similar to this, I wanna hear about it.

Gotta Get A Little Mud On The Tires

Traffic jam on the prairie.

Me, Lauren Burke (my older sister for those who aren't in the know), Lori Brummer and an unnamed special-friend-ditching-work went birding the other day. It was an interesting time with a tally of 91 species total. Crow Valley Campground, near Briggsdale, felt like mid-April and had the birds to prove it - Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned Warblers and the like. Only two Bullock's Orioles, a bunch of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows. And it was freezing cold. We were able to nab a Yellow Warbler on our way out. Time to check out the prairie.

We proceeded to head out on the Pawnee Birders Loop which proved to be an interesting and rather exciting several miles. McCown's Longspurs, Horned Larks and bunches of Lark Buntings entertained us as we slithered out way down the road. Not bad really, but when the tour goes north, we decided to keep heading west as they had a bunch of road equipment working the north section.

Some among us would say it was a bad decision. As we passed the work trucks all around the intersection, the road became very wet, very muddy & very tricky! There was no way to turn around. Stopping would've been utter folly. The next 2-3 miles were quite an adventure. My jeep liberty has the scars to prove it. Or maybe Lauren does. Ask her.

The funny thing was as we were slopping, sliding and grinding along praying we wouldn't get stuck, the gals were calling out bird names! I distinctly remember my sis yelling "AVOCET! There's an AVOCET on the bank of that puddle!" Wipers were flapping, mud and water was flying, knuckles were whitening and I was grinning. It was pretty fun, but had we gotten stuck, it would have not been fun at all. At one point the mud was 5-6 inches deep and the tracks before mine were wider so it was pretty sketchy going to keep from landing forever in a ditch. I think the skid plates underneath let us slide along the top, while the tires were bouncing in the ruts.

We had a window cleaning and life celebration party at the intersection where we got back on "improved roads" (Lori liked that term it seemed), then meandered on said roads for another hour or so looking for Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Mountain Plover - we found neither. Loggerhead Shrikes were abundant.

So we headed down to Lower Lathum & Beebe Draw and had a great time birding there. Tons of stuff around, and a very unusual Willet. This bird had an orange-buffy tail, very dark below, just strange looking. I put it out to several folks and most thought oil was a possibility. Let me know what you think of this bird!

We had 9 Whimbrels, too. Oh! We got our Chestnut-collared Longspur on CR 40, it was hanging out with the bizarre Willet. We also had great looks at a Sora - a tiny chicken like bird that lives in the marshes.

If you're not doing much this weekend, check out the eastern plains for birds, you won't be disappointed, but stay on the "improved roads!" Or if you've had an adventure similar to this, I wanna hear about it.

Curing Spring Fever Part 2

Now I’m ready to tackle the feeders.

In the winter I put out many more feeders than I maintain in the summer. The Common Grackles will be back soon and I don’t want to have to get a second job just so I can keep feeding the birds! (On second thought.. if I needed to..) Down come the un-caged tube feeders and I remove all but one suet feeder. I love tray feeders and I leave those out, but some will get a cage to limit a certain, shall we say, very plentiful and hungry species. I never really fill these trays mind you otherwise I would need a second job! Just a sprinkling of seed daily with a dressing of live mealworms on one is all they see. My two big split logs stay out, but get a good scrubbing and blasting with the hose. All these removed feeders find their way into the kitchen to be scrubbed and sanitized and put away until fall.

The last thing I do is bring out the vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner? Yep. I take our heavy duty Shop Vac and clean up under any feeders that have a mess of hulls piled up underneath. Just don’t answer the phone when that friend calls and wants to know what you’re up to and you say “Vacuuming the yard”.

All right, I think that’s it. Once the yard trash is hauled to the recycle center I’m done. Well not REALLY done. You see, I’ve got plans. Yep-pers. Even though my dear husband has hidden my favorite native plant catalog that I’ve nearly memorized, I’ve got plans. Look. Over there. Right. See that lovely garden bed that attracts so many lovely birds? I’m going to change it. It needs work, don’t you think? Bigger? Longer? Wider? A few more junipers over to the left and behind would look nice too I think. You agree? Oh good, thanks. So that's my springtime routine, what's yours?

Curing Spring Fever Part 2

Now I’m ready to tackle the feeders.

In the winter I put out many more feeders than I maintain in the summer. The Common Grackles will be back soon and I don’t want to have to get a second job just so I can keep feeding the birds! (On second thought.. if I needed to..) Down come the un-caged tube feeders and I remove all but one suet feeder. I love tray feeders and I leave those out, but some will get a cage to limit a certain, shall we say, very plentiful and hungry species. I never really fill these trays mind you otherwise I would need a second job! Just a sprinkling of seed daily with a dressing of live mealworms on one is all they see. My two big split logs stay out, but get a good scrubbing and blasting with the hose. All these removed feeders find their way into the kitchen to be scrubbed and sanitized and put away until fall.

The last thing I do is bring out the vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner? Yep. I take our heavy duty Shop Vac and clean up under any feeders that have a mess of hulls piled up underneath. Just don’t answer the phone when that friend calls and wants to know what you’re up to and you say “Vacuuming the yard”.

All right, I think that’s it. Once the yard trash is hauled to the recycle center I’m done. Well not REALLY done. You see, I’ve got plans. Yep-pers. Even though my dear husband has hidden my favorite native plant catalog that I’ve nearly memorized, I’ve got plans. Look. Over there. Right. See that lovely garden bed that attracts so many lovely birds? I’m going to change it. It needs work, don’t you think? Bigger? Longer? Wider? A few more junipers over to the left and behind would look nice too I think. You agree? Oh good, thanks. So that's my springtime routine, what's yours?

The Cure For Spring Fever

I can hardly wait. After a long cold, possibly dreary winter I have to get outside and DO something besides shovel snow, hack away ice and uncover buried feeders.

Early spring in the back yard has to be one of my favorite seasons. Enough of the comfy reading and dreaming in a warm house, I’m ready for some backyard action! Springtime yard activities around here start with cutting back perennials that I’ve left standing through the winter to provide protective cover. I go through each garden section and trim them down to the new growth peeking through. Wow! Things look bare now! Then comes the raking. I use both a small - about a foot wide - and regular soft yard rake to reach in and around plants and rocks cleaning out leaves and other debris. None of this has been touched since the last fall mow-in mulching. The only things I do for winter maintenance is to toss large fallen branches on the brush piles, and occasional winter watering. This could take a day or two so I try to pace myself. A quality my husband teases me about. Reaching every nook and cranny I rake up any yard trash, leaves and branches that are strewn about, which will be headed for our recycling center.The next thing I like to do, as long as the temperatures are warm enough is give my birdbaths and ponds a good thorough scrubbing and cleaning. I pull the heaters (and pumps if they have one) and go to it. The dish bath is relatively easy as it gets cleaned and replaced by a summer dish. The bird pond is another matter. I scoop all the gravel I use at the bottom into a 5-gallon bucket and flush and swish and rinse until the gravel is good and clean.Now that the gravel, pump and heater are out I scrub and flush out the bottom of the pond. This is not too difficult though a bit time consuming, and if I need every last drop out I stick the pump back in and pump the dirty water out into the yard. After replacing the pump, I cover it with screen and carefully replace the gravel, sloping it gently toward the edges giving the birds a variety of depths to bath in.
(A little note here; since I’ve added gravel to the bottom of my baths and ponds several years ago many more birds actually bathe in them. Even the tiny American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, and Chickadees enjoy the bath now, and in summer even a Wilson’s or Yellow Warbler!)What are some of the spring cleaning chores you do around your yard?
Next: Feeders