Happy Hallow-daze!

Never let it be said that I'm never available for the big holidays! After spending most the day with my sister, I joined Nephew Kirk for some Trick or Treating with my nephew/niecelette and their even tiny buddy Patrick. Here they are at the start of the festivities.

Left to Right, Patrick is Batman, James is a Ninja
Knight and Sidney is Minny Mouse
There were loads of Halloween characters out. I was amused to see Winnie the Pooh, who apparently had nothing to do with a tiny honey bee that was working the other side of the street with Daddy.

Character assault on the candy bag; Sydney's on the far right
Yumm... someone left out a bag of candy
on the honor system
And on to the next conquest
A kindly Hot Dog dishes out the treats

I had fun Trick or Treating with the niece/nephew tonight! I also enjoyed seeing all the costumes, as always an intriguing mix of store-bought & home made costumes. My favorite for the night? This costume below:

This guy said he is a 'Classic Nerd'
He is the classic Nerd all right; I particularly like his pen/pencil jammed pocket, complete with plastic ruler because we all know how difficult it is to drum up a slide rule these days.

Bwah ha ha ha! Nice haul o' Treats for one night's work

Birdin' Baltimore

Time out for some birding this week, hosted by my Nephew Kirk. He did his birding homework and found some hopeful places to take me around the Baltimore area. We started out at North Point State Park. Although the shoreline was depressingly bereft of birds. The autumn color filled woods were full of hyper Hermit Thrushes, flashy Northern Cardinals, and loads of Dark-eyed (Slaty) Juncos and still-exotic-to-me White-throated Sparrows.

I thought I was done for the morning when surprise, an adult Bald Eagle hoovered over the trees, as I stared from the parking lot. By the time I called Kirk over to see it, the bird had floated out of view. Happily, a short walk toward the eagle's position revealed a juvenile eagle. Kirk got a nice look at the Baldie baby, probably hatched out earlier this year. Kirk told me he chose the park because he'd heard a pair of eagles nested at North Point.


I managed a few shots of the soaring adult Baldie
There was a remaining treat in store for me though. As we walked back from the baby Baldie viewing I spotted something skulking along in low lying shrubbery. At first, lost glance I assumed it might be a House Wren - then the bird popped into view - a WINTER WREN! I got my lifer Winter Wren! I'd hoped for one when I visited Baltimore last year but gave up on the idea. Figures - when you quit fretting, things happen. I'm at 3 lifers for 2011.


Winter Wren photo by Christian Artuso
Our second stop was a year overdue. Last year we couldn't find the park entrance but this year it just popped up: Robert E. Lee Park. As it turns out, even had we found the park last year it was closed. Recently it reopened, and as we drove in, the first thing we saw was a waterfall.


Jones Falls, your first sight in Robert E. Lee Park  
Lovely birding spot. Birds were everywhere; Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker that disappeared into a hole in a huge snag and a Red-tailed Hawk, overseeing everyone else's activities.

We had fun following the peregrinations of this little guy. You find the bird in this photo I took with my mini-digital?


It's just to the left of center... see it?

He's here but he's tiny.
It was fun watching this chuffy little Golden-crowned Kinglet.
One fun little sighting at Robert E. Lee was what I at first quick glimpse in flight, thought was a chickadee. The bird landed quite close and was an as yet undetermined species of Sparrow with a snowy white head, and pale-ish belly; a partial albino. Kirk and I were agog at the weird little flutterby. I was chagrined that what ought to have been a great shot of the bird was thrown by the reflectiveness of its white head. The bird managed to hold on to most of the coloring of its crown. What species? I'm guessing a White-throated Sparrow, but here's its photo, you tell me!
Partially albino sparrow
Hum... maybe the Leyba family has been infected with the birding bug?

Spooky Time!

Jack o' Lanterns at Colorado's Stanley Hotel
Now I ask you to put down your Halloween nog and ask yourself, what's October week without me carrying on, & posting any spooky shite of the past year? Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

The only truly, very nearly spooky shite I've personally experienced this past year took place in my home. I was crawling into bed one night and suddenly I could detect the strong aroma of a flower. Now, there were no flowers in my bedroom, the windows were closed, and even if the window was open, there were no flowers outside. I have a spray bottle of lavender by my bed, but that wasn't it... What I smelled was super fresh, and not lavender. I couldn't quite recall the fragrance. What the...? I dismissed the incidence from my mind.

Some weeks later, I was again in bed, and I suddenly got a strong whiff of a fresh flower. This time the scent rang the right bell in my noggin; plumeria, my mother's favorite fragrance. Where did it come from? It was so fresh, like a bouquet at my nose and it completely disappeared after about 30 seconds or so. Ma? I swear, I wonder if that scent was just my mother saying hello. Yeah, you're right. I'm nuts.

In other spooky shite this year I visited loads of spooky places the most renowned of which was the Stanley Hotel.

Come on, nothing spooky looking about the Stanley, right?
The Stanley Hotel is mostly famous for spooking the king of the horror genre, Stephan King and inspiring him to write his horror classic; The Shining. Without admitting their hotel contains any spooks, the Stanley hotel tips its hat to its spirits by playing The Shining on its televisions, all day, every day.


The telly in our room, played The Shining, 24/7 - really!
Can't say we didn't stay there solely because it is reportedly haunted. The place is also a beautiful facility that is steeped in local and American history. Who wouldn't want to stay at a hotel that once hosted the Unsinkable Molly Brown, the Emperor of Japan and the fore mentioned Stephan King?


Room 217, was Stephan King's room, where he
ultimately wrote about Jack, the mad boy

The elegant Georgian style hotel has an elegant set of stairs.

This beautiful lobby piano is said to surreptitiously play itself

One of Freelan O. Stanley's Steamers
What's spooky about the Stanley Hotel? The forth floor, which has elegant gables, was where servants, nannies and their little charges stayed. People staying on the forth floor are said to sometimes report that children are running up & down the 4th floor halls - and of course, there are never any kids up there at the time.


The gables of the 4th floor haunted by
the sound of romping ghostly children
There are other haunts about, including a maid that is said to approve or disapprove of people in a certain room. If she likes you she might unload your suitcase for you, but meet her disapproval and she will cast your things to the floor.

Barbara and I were booked in the Mansion House, next door to the main hotel. Haunted? We weren't certain, but I hoped we would find out. I could have taken part in an overnight Ghost Hunt at the Stanley but frankly... I didn't have the energy.


The Manor House, where we stayed
Shortly after checking in a did a quick tour of the Manor House, which looks like it'd be a fantastic place to film a horror movie.


A gloomy-ish room in the rejuvenated Manor House
So is the Manor house haunted? I sure didn't think so. I was in a tiny roll away bed and was sleepy enough to not care. Well into the wee hours of the night I woke to an eerie sound.... a long whiney call, that echoed through the halls and into our room. WHAT THE...! I mean, I was prepared for something unusual, but this was so loud, so haunting so... stupid. It was a fire alarm. The damned thing whined on and flashed lights for about an hour before the local fire fighters showed up to turn it off. Ghostly? Uh... no, just incredibly annoying.


Me scared? Heck no. I was just admiring the view

Well, at least someone seems to have
enjoyed her stay at the Stanley...

Cape May Lewes Ferry

Hurrah! There are many birding 'Hot Spots' in the U.S. today I got to visit a new one today. The day started bidding my Baltimore family a fond farewell, then driving from Baltimore to my first visit ever to the tiny state of Delaware.

The cute streets of Delaware

I drove straight on over to the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. One of my shortest refuge visits e-vah.

Rear side of Birdie Totem
at Visitor Center

I took a short stroll through a small orchard at the Refuge Visitor Center. The trees were all fruited and small birds darted in and out. Sampling the berries were Chipping Sparrows, a preponderance of Yellow-rumped Warbers, American Robins and the like. I also spent a fair time staring at the tall marsh grasses hoping for some interesting birds to pop up, but if they were there, they weren't in the mood for popping up so I could see them. Bother!


After my brief refuge visit I drove a bit south to Lewes Delaware - "First State, First Town" was the motto strewn about the quaint little area. I happened by a beach and took note of some gull types for my annual birding list.

Laughing Gull refusing to crack a smile

Royal Terns

Getting closer!

Arriving at the Cape May Lewes Ferry, I parked, had a little lunch on a nice outdoor patio, and bought my ferry ticket.

The Ferry Terminal building

Boarding the afternoon ferry

This was a good opportunity to stretch my lazy legs and enjoy the ride. 

There were many places to stroll and/or sit

Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse

 Yay! Cape May, New Jersey, dead ahead.

Huzzah! Arriving at Cape May, it was time for a bird search. 

Follow up on yesterday's Chicken Chat

Bed time... I mean, time to roost!
Hurrah! Barbara sent these photos; the new Black Copper Maran pullets on the coop perch with Babette and Adele. Awww... I can't wait to get them back up here. Adele, on the far right, has her feathers so puffed up you can't even see her eyes.

Sleep tight my little feathered girlies.

So... these little black chick things... we don't
have to sit on them or anything, do we?

Change of Pullets Plan

So... my poor girlies have been in Monterey at their Auntie Barbara's house since mid August. All alone, they have to be separated from Barbara's flock whose hobby it is to beat the $%*# out of my girls, Babette & Adele. Oh well, I guess even chickens are entitled to hobbies, right?

My poor girls think they they are serving '20 to life' in Sing-sing

Anyway, mid August Barbara and I got new chicks, of which I was going to take 2 'Easter Eggers', which Barbara was raising for me. Easter Eggers lay either blue or green eggs and I do like a lovely palette with my morning egg.












You might remember that Ms. Pink, Barbara's buff (in all senses) hen, the dozen new chicks, and my 2 girls were all in a pen together. Ms. Pink's hobby was beating the daylights out of Babette & Adele.




So, Ms. Pink had to be kept out of the pen where my girls were boarded, and of course, Ms. Pink took her foster chicks with her. End results: Ms. Pink and her chicks ran free range and that means Ms. Pink's babies grew to be tough, buff and pugilistic pullets.

In other words, both Barbara and I feared - quite literally - for the lives of my 2 Faverolle hens if they had to live together with the 2 young Easter Egger pullets at my home. Ever heard of pecked to death by ducks? Well, pecked to death by chickens is a real deal.




Well, HAPPY DAY! Barbara got an idea. She found a local chicken person who is raising a type of chicken I have had my eye on breed wise, the breed being Black Copper Marans. Now, Marans lay deep chocolate brown eggs, as such...



Cool, heh? So, long story short - and you know I could make this post, a zillion pages longer if I felt like it , so count your lucky stars - below you can see my new little Black Copper Maran girlies, Barbara picked up this afternoon for me. They're now penned up with Babette and Adele, and as they are smaller than my Faverolle hens, the idea is they'll all get used to each other, thus avoiding a chicken blood bath of Friday the 13th intensity.

Now I'm even more excited about bringing my girlies home. And what am I going to name my new Black Copper Maran pullets? Penny and Onyx? Oh well. No worries. Probably won't be able to tell them apart anyway.


So, where's the wall-to-wall
carpeting we were promised?