I haven't been posting much lately.  I don't seem to have the time.  Sorry about that.

Labor Day --South Fork

For Labor Day we went up to Perception Park in South Fork for a picnic lunch . We brought dogs. Gertie came with my parents, Junie B came with me and Stephanie brought Hoops - the Chihuahua.  We had sandwiches, played in the river, enjoyed the scenery.... you know, picnicy stuff. Jen and Tim don't have a dog so they took turns with everyone else's animals, including my kids.  We had fun, took pictures, found Water Hemlock....

Junie B. having adventures

Gertie peeking through the forest

Sandhill Cranes flying overhead

Sandhill Cranes out in the field

Shane Fishing.

Teasel

Fishing

Shane taught Merrin and Kohl some fishing basics.  I don't have a fishing license so I just watched and released some birds from WRCNU.

This is a young Barn Swallow that I released at the bridge into the loop of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. We released a Willet as well.

Kohl's Channel Catfish.

Merrin spotted this little Leopard Frog on the river bank.

Blue Damselflys were all over the place. The color on them looks unnatural.  My grandma used to say that if you told a lie a dragonfly would come and sew your lips shut.

This is Merrin's Black Bullhead Catfish.  We did catch and release because I don't actually want to eat catfish, but they were fun to catch.  Shane brought worms and shrimp for bait.  Worms worked the best - Shane wanted to fish with chicken liver but all the stores were sold out.  We brought Junie B. along - but she's not much for fishing and ended up resting in the car (she's peeking out the window).

Kohl peeing in the forest

Kohl is a dork. He needed to pee while we were taking an owl up for release so we told him to go behind the bushes. He decided to stand in front of the bushes----in full view of the road, so I took his picture. The look on his face is priceless.

I'm feeling burnt.

I know....waaaaaaah. Somebody call a waaambulance.

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.