pendraggin (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} pendraggin) wrote,@ 2009-02-07 20:31:00 |
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Possibly the best week ever*
*"best" being a consistent feeling of wheeeee on a per hour basis and "week" being Jan 6-13.
Day 1
It rained steadily all morning and my birds were not cooperating. Mostly they were wise enough not to mess with mad precipitation, and those out were being odd. MORW snagged a nut and flew off to stash it... then simply didn't come back to participate in the trial. (Incidentally, that was the last time I saw this 11-yr jay; I fear he's since gone to the big feeder in the sky). Any other day such behavior might be frustrating, but I did not care in the least. I had a visitor coming. ^_^ After field work I met PunNinja at the airport and introduced him to the weather... just like Ithaca + 20 deg F. I showed him around the HSU campus; it is a lovely place but very different from Cornell. There are no open sprawling greens or stone fortresses, overall HSU is more concentrated, but between all the buildings are gardens and redwood groves. The concept of food didn't come to mind until very much later in the day, at which point much curry was consumed.
Day 2
Got up decently early to the habitual squawking of my resident Steller's jays, demanding I provide breakfast. I kicked PunNinja awake so he could take pictures of the obliging subjects who swooped in. "How is the lighting? Where do you want the jay? Are you focused? *toss peanut to designated spot* After a morning of jay chasing, I returned home and kicked PunNinja awake so we could fight in the backyard. Hurrah for rapier(aka boken)! Hurrah for dagger(aka wooden cooking spoon)! Later took a walk through some neighborhoods in the hills, admiring the houses surrounded by redwoods and overlooking the canopy of the forest downslope. Real treehouses, these. Rigged up a quiche for dinner, which was supremely delicious. It's so much more fun to cook with someone else!
Day 3
Today's adventure (after the routine jay-chasing) was to the Arcata Marsh. Lots of ducks puddling about the marsh-- Green-winged Tealbutts, Cinnamon Teal (love them!), Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallards, and Coots. We saw more than 20 Black-crowned Night-herons all in a tree. And there were avocets out on the smooth wide mudflat of Arcata Bay, which shone like a mirror. Kinda weird to see mud glisten like that. Vurra yummy falafel for dinner.
Day 4
Growing bolder by the day, we had lofty ambitions to try for Samoa Dunes down at the north spit of Arcata Bay. The buses that go out there are infrequent, and of course I was cutting it close time-wise at the farthest reaches of the study site with a jay who was taking her sweet ol' time with the foraging trial. Amazingly, I met PunNinja at the bus stop in time and we were on our way... if only we knew the right place to get off. >.< But it turned out okay; we got off at the Manila Dunes Park and hung out with Marbled Godwits and a Long-billed Curlew (so very awesome). I like the big hunks of driftwood scattered across beaches around here- cool patterns in the wood and great for clambering. We had brought bikes along for the 5 mile ride down to the dunes at the north spit, but the one we borrowed for PunNinja was a bit small and junky. But it worked, and it was a flat ride. Down at the jetty we watched Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons stalk and snatch tiny fish, got some nice pictures of Red-throated Grebes, and had a pleasant picnic save for the roar of ATVs blasting through the dunes. I think I preferred Manila Dunes, but it was a good ride and a good day.
Oh how I prattle about times gone by.
*"best" being a consistent feeling of wheeeee on a per hour basis and "week" being Jan 6-13.
Day 1
It rained steadily all morning and my birds were not cooperating. Mostly they were wise enough not to mess with mad precipitation, and those out were being odd. MORW snagged a nut and flew off to stash it... then simply didn't come back to participate in the trial. (Incidentally, that was the last time I saw this 11-yr jay; I fear he's since gone to the big feeder in the sky). Any other day such behavior might be frustrating, but I did not care in the least. I had a visitor coming. ^_^ After field work I met PunNinja at the airport and introduced him to the weather... just like Ithaca + 20 deg F. I showed him around the HSU campus; it is a lovely place but very different from Cornell. There are no open sprawling greens or stone fortresses, overall HSU is more concentrated, but between all the buildings are gardens and redwood groves. The concept of food didn't come to mind until very much later in the day, at which point much curry was consumed.
Day 2
Got up decently early to the habitual squawking of my resident Steller's jays, demanding I provide breakfast. I kicked PunNinja awake so he could take pictures of the obliging subjects who swooped in. "How is the lighting? Where do you want the jay? Are you focused? *toss peanut to designated spot* After a morning of jay chasing, I returned home and kicked PunNinja awake so we could fight in the backyard. Hurrah for rapier(aka boken)! Hurrah for dagger(aka wooden cooking spoon)! Later took a walk through some neighborhoods in the hills, admiring the houses surrounded by redwoods and overlooking the canopy of the forest downslope. Real treehouses, these. Rigged up a quiche for dinner, which was supremely delicious. It's so much more fun to cook with someone else!
Day 3
Today's adventure (after the routine jay-chasing) was to the Arcata Marsh. Lots of ducks puddling about the marsh-- Green-winged Tealbutts, Cinnamon Teal (love them!), Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallards, and Coots. We saw more than 20 Black-crowned Night-herons all in a tree. And there were avocets out on the smooth wide mudflat of Arcata Bay, which shone like a mirror. Kinda weird to see mud glisten like that. Vurra yummy falafel for dinner.
Day 4
Growing bolder by the day, we had lofty ambitions to try for Samoa Dunes down at the north spit of Arcata Bay. The buses that go out there are infrequent, and of course I was cutting it close time-wise at the farthest reaches of the study site with a jay who was taking her sweet ol' time with the foraging trial. Amazingly, I met PunNinja at the bus stop in time and we were on our way... if only we knew the right place to get off. >.< But it turned out okay; we got off at the Manila Dunes Park and hung out with Marbled Godwits and a Long-billed Curlew (so very awesome). I like the big hunks of driftwood scattered across beaches around here- cool patterns in the wood and great for clambering. We had brought bikes along for the 5 mile ride down to the dunes at the north spit, but the one we borrowed for PunNinja was a bit small and junky. But it worked, and it was a flat ride. Down at the jetty we watched Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons stalk and snatch tiny fish, got some nice pictures of Red-throated Grebes, and had a pleasant picnic save for the roar of ATVs blasting through the dunes. I think I preferred Manila Dunes, but it was a good ride and a good day.
Oh how I prattle about times gone by.
