Family of Western Grebe

We saw this awesome family at the Refuge. My pictures are chronologically backwards - We first saw mom Grebe and two babies, then dad Grebe approached with dinner in his beak, he shared with the family and they all hung out together for awhile.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

We (Dave and I) released a goose and three cliff swallows at the refuge and went for a drive around the 12 mile loop. We saw all kinds of fantastic birds.... I'm a total bird nerd. Top picture is a family of Eastern Kingbirds near the bank of the Bear River--I've never seen one of them before so I was pretty excited to see them.

Second is a Garter Snake crossing the river - they look really cool when they swim.

Third is a gorgeous little Cliff Swallow - there were colonies of them at all the bridges - seriously hundreds of them were lining the railings.

Fourth is a Sandhill Crane - there were a couple of them but they were just far enough apart from each other to make the photo look clutzy so I cropped it.

Fifth and lastly is a Great Blue Heron being chased off by a little American Avocet. The Heron probably didn't even notice the Avocet's nest, but the Avocets weren't going to take chances.

Are you sick and tired of flower pictures, yet?

Too bad.

I did it!

My friend gave me a voucher for the feral fix program, so I caught Matt and took him into the vet to be neutered this morning. I'm sure I'm more excited about it than he is---but I don't need him and his manly catness peeing all over the place and fighting all the time. He was easier to catch than I thought he would be---but he griped a lot. He had to stay in a crate all day yesterday because I was worried I wouldn't be able to find him before his appointment (plus he wasn't allowed to eat after midnight). Brookside Animal Hospital is sending him home with some dewormer, too - Yay! No more roundworm.

Helping me

While taking pictures of the flowers I was joined by helpful backyard followers. Fatty Lumpkin plopped down by the pond, Junie followed close by my feet, and Toad was just curious.

Flowering in the garden

I enjoy photography - but I've never had any formal training. I went out in the backyard and took more pictures of blooming flowers. Tim Jacobsen (my brother-in-law) showed me a little bit of how to use pre-editing software in Photoshop on my raw images, it's excellent - I would recommend it. Up on top are some lovely day-lilies, followed by Echinacea (Purple Coneflower), some pretty melon colored day-lilies, and lastly - some German Chamomile (at least I think it is) that I transplanted from my Mother-in-Law's flower garden.

Inevitable

When you have a little poodle it's a requirement that you put her in frilly clothes. The girls helped their grandma sew this darling little ensemble today while I was teaching a class. It's awesome that Junie even knows how to smile for the camera.

Turkey Vulture at WRCNU

We have a Turkey Vulture in Rehab now - we are thinking it has some soft tissue damage in one of its wings because it can't fly. Vultures are my absolute favorite wild bird---they are fascinating to me.

Taking Pictures

I got some fun pictures the other day----spent some time playing with photoshop.

Gertie and Desi

Gertie is my mom's new puppy - She's a really bizarre looking mix between a Golden Retriever, and a white Standard Poodle. She's got an absolutely fantastic personality - but for as big as she is, she's petrified of straw hats and bikes/scooters.

My mom's been taking care of Desi while my Grandma is in rehabilitation for her new knee. Desi's fast friends with Gertie, they play non-stop.

That'll teach me.....

Remind me not to mention what kind of animal I don't have. I now have a sweet little toy poodle. She scratched her eye somehow - so her right eye looks a little bit squinty - but I think it will heal up quickly. We are still working on the name---she was named Tootsie, but that might change.

---Update---

Her name has changed to June Bug, or Junie. She went and got shots and we bought her toys and things. Her eye is already feeling better.

A few cats I know...

These are a couple of Shane and Steph's cats. I know he has others but they eluded me and my camera.

The pretty green-eyed tuxedo cat is Peeps - Shane rescued her from a bog where he found her swimming.

Mo (or Moses) is the guy in the grass. He acts senile. Nobody knows his actual age - but he has very bad halitosis.

And the cat with the horrible red-eye is Bear - he's about a year old. He's got a bit of flame-tip Siamese in him and a great personality to boot. Shane's got another flame-tip Siamese (Homer, not pictured) that insists on taking a crap on the tile next to the litter box -he'll even take time from his outdoor exploring to come in and poop on the floor. That's thoughtful of him.

My brother has dogs

I went over and took pictures of Stephanie and Shane's dogs (and a few cats that I'll post later). I really like dogs.....I just don't want one. I'm glad they have them and let me play with them on occasion.

Hoops is a tiny Chihuahua - he got stung by a bee over at my parents' house once and his whole foot swelled. He thinks he's a tough guy - but the only thing killer about him is his breath.

Billy is a big, stupid, fawn colored female Pitbull with the attention span of a gnat. I gently flipped her on the nose once and she ran and hid from me for a month or two afterward. That's the longest she's ever remembered anything.

Sue is a black Lab and the oldest of the bunch. She has terrible hip problems and can't walk very well anymore - especially down stairs. She is a total sweetheart.

Lulu is a Pitbull mutt. She's always treated as the low dog on the totem pole by the other dogs. She has a really fun loving personality and seems fairly smart. I really enjoy her.

Last is Skip - He's a big brindle Pitbull. His head reminds me of a pumpkin.....with teeth. He would like to express his opinion that he could kick my ass in a fight (I don't disagree with him, I just hope he never does it). Something about my voice makes him act weird toward me - he thinks he should climb/jump on me and pee on my feet--I make him very excited. He's a big dorky meat-head. He enjoys going in between people's legs and stopping so they can scratch his rump.

Mammals

I have three huge mammals. They eat a lot. ;)

Yellow-bellied Marmots

Currently at WRCNU we have a trio of Yellow-bellied Marmots - They've been lovingly named 'Stop, Drop, and Roll'. Don't ask me to tell which is which but they are incredibly adorable. I took some photos of them this morning while they were waiting for breakfast and got a hilarious shot of one of them barking. The marmots are a strange breed of creature - they sort of seem like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver..... a squeaver! These three were raised by people and aren't likely to be releasable, they really enjoy being scratched and loved. We'll probably find them a nice zoo to go to.

Fish Aquarium

Yeah - I have a big fish tank - 80 gallons. Fish aren't very exciting. They are kinda pretty, though. My tank started out devoted to African Cichlids but is now home to a bunch of goldfish and a giant plecostomus and only a few hybrid cichlids. We used to have a bunch more pretty cichlids but the heaters went wacko and cooked almost all of them..... That was a crappy day. This is a photo that the girls took before the cichlids cooked and the goldfish were added to the mix.

Jack

Jack is the newest birdy addition to the family - and what a sweetheart! He loves to ride around on our shoulders and share whatever we might be eating. He's a bit more soft spoken than Buddy but he can really whistle! He sings beautiful tunes of his own creation complete with vibrato. His all time favorite foods are grapes and scrambled eggs - he's such a good boy.

Buddy

African Grey's are so smart! Buddy's vocabulary is amazing - he can percolate and pour a cup of coffee, he opens and closes doors, he has several ring tones and he knows the right verbiage for disciplining the kids :). His favorite foods are peanuts, tomatoes, spaghetti with sauce, and sunflower seeds.

He's an amazing bird!