National Night Out for the Shut In

I traveled far from home tonight - all the way across the street to a National Night Out barbeque. All the neighbors were there, kids, dogs, the lot.

I usually scurry in and out of my house through the garage like a light phobic mouse. So I imagine with all the chattering I did, there were probably several people at the barbeque tonight who may have thought I was channeling Whoopie Goldberg - I mean, I could not shut my mouth for more than a few seconds at a stretch. Oh well. Perhaps after 15 years in my house I am finally comfy enough with to chat with the people in my neighborhood.

The weather tonight was pleasant - cool and slightly breezy. No, I am not hallucinating. It is still AUGUST here in the Central valley. Last Saturday it was 100 plus degrees, the following day the
thermometer plummeted 27 degrees into the seventies and there it remains. Pinch me - I must be dreaming.

On to a new topic - ok, not that new. I have decided since I still have loads of pictures and stuff I want to post from last May's vacation I may as well post it, but will do so whenever I danged well feel like it - which is how post to this blog anyway. I decided to post under the not-especially-original title: Tales of the North Woods, which will be my own birdie version of a Prairie Home Companion. I think two, maybe three more vacations posts should do the trick. Anyone tired of my tales is #$&% out of luck.

This Barn Owl has nothing to do with this post other than I took its pic on Monday morning at the Fazio Wildlife Refuge and want to show it off,.. And heck, what's a Post without a Pic?

Owl Be Danged!

Shortly after sunrise this morning at the Fazio Refuge I shot myself a nice mess of owls. To put that in a more dignified manner, 'I photographed a parliament of owls'. And yes, I used the same tired medieval collective noun yesterday, but come on, when else will I be able to use parliament like that in a sentence?).

Has this Barn Owl a sweet face or what?

Most of the photos came out horrible, then it occurred to me that I am the Mistress of Digitals, and I began to finally mess about with the settings. I set the ISO to 400 - or at least I think I did. The results below came out in focus, but dark; it was shot in the same amount of light as the photo above. However, as these owls are nocturnal hunters, the dark in this unaltered digital is rather serendipitous. I mean, the final product looks like I had a clue.

Owl on Prowl - click on either pic for the BIG picture


Same as above photo, corrected for lighting; not too shabby!

Another Time Out from Vacation Posts

Bugger!

Since Monday morning I have haunted the Vic Fazio Wildlife Refuge with hopes of viewing a Eurasian vagrant bird, the Curlew Sandpiper. So far I've had crap luck at finding the bird, but that is all a matter of poor timing. The bird disappears for hours, then shows up again, right up front where the viewing is good - as soon as it knows I've left the grounds. Ok, that's a bit pessimistic, but that is how it feels from my end. Will give it another go before & after work, every day this week if necessary until I see the bird. This morning I 'opened' the refuge, arriving there at dawn, only 3 minutes before the gate was opened. Saw loads of Dowitchers, Black-necked Stilts, Yellowlegs, Dunlin and one lone Phalarope.

The big event this morning was a parliament of Barn Owls - a half dozen or more. Tried for a few photos but the slightly-past-dawn lighting was too weak, and my owls-on-the-wing skills were not quite up to the task.

Late Breaking News of the Birdie Sort: Returned to Fazio in early evening and at last saw my quarry - the cute, fluffy, hyperactive quarry. I needed loads of assistance from other birders because I had a difficult time 'finding Waldo' as it were. But eventually I had the joy of my own scope set up to watch the patch bellied little exotic, feeding, poofing up his feathers, and for a while; standing on one leg, his head tucked under his wing napping. When his five minute nap was over he leapt up to join in on a flight of Dowitchers, and the lot of them headed into the southern skies. There seemed to be an air of 'I'm outta here' to that last flight so who knows if he'll be back again. Oh well. Thank heavens I got to see the little guy.

Here a couple of photos of Curlew Sandpiper (my lifer!), as photographed by Todd Easterla who not only took these beautiful photos of this amazing bird, but who is also the sharp-eyed birder extraordinaire that spotted the winged gem in the first place. Hail to thee Mr Easterla, you RAWK!


I got these photos are courtesy of the Central Valley Birds Forum. hope posting them here doesn't break any flippin' rules