Favorite Memories From 2012

I was reading one of my favorite garden bloggers, and saw she had reviewed her year with favorite pictures. Another blogger is suggesting that we all do the same thing and then link back to his blog. This is another reason I love to write a blog and read other people's blogs.  They really both expand my views and energize me. But anyway, I decided to do the same. 

This past year has been the  most exciting year of my life. ( At least except for the year I got married or had my first child.)  I got to work and explore California and Eastern Oregon and got on vacations in Idaho, North and South Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota, New Mexico, and Utah.  I've also had some great times in Texas and Louisiana since I've returned south. I've had more adventures this year than most people have had in a decade.

 I spent the first two months of the year at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, for a total of four months there. I got to live with three young guys in the bunkhouse, which was a new experience, and had four of my friends visit me for a week. We also had a famous visitor, the falcated duck, who stayed for nine weeks and attracted around 10,000 visitors. Wintering ducks and wading birds were our big attraction there. The flyout every evening was magnificent and awesome. We also had raptors, including bald and golden eagles. And I enjoyed the people I met there, including people that came for the tours I led or for the children's photography workshop I facilitated.  We even had an eagle sit low enough in a tree that all the children could get a good picture of it on their little cameras.

 A few of the birds of Sacramento  Complex Refuges

 While there I did a lot of traveling and  especially loved meeting  the chickens of Yuba city. And I was totally blown away by the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. It was fabulous, even in January.

A few of the feral chickens of Yuba City

A few of the fantastic gardens and plants at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden.

 At  the end of February, I made two trips to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about four hundred fifty miles away, to get all my stuff transferred. On the second trip, I took a break and visited the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, which crosses the Sacramento River in the heart of Redding, California. I was stopped by  big-horned sheep in Oregon on my way to Malheur.

The Sundial Bridge at dawn

These are iconic pictures for me. I love the California quail, was amazed by the big-horn sheep encounter,and my picture of the Blitzen River was a finalist in the National Wildlife Refuge Association Photography contest.

The two big icons of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are Malheur Lake and Steens Mountain.  Steens Mountain is visible from most places on the refuge. Malheur Lake is too big to photograph from the ground.

A view of Steens Mountain in early spring

 I was told to be SURE and visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I ended up visiting it twice, the second time to show it to my friend, Lucy.  The fantastic colors in the Painted Hills were the most amazing parts of the monument to me.

A view in the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds

 I fell in immediate love with Malheur  - both the refuge and the staff.  I begged to stay all summer. But there wasn't room for me in August so I started inviting my friends to take a vacation with me. Several of them did, and I also had my own vacations in between. I ended up having to spend two months on various vacations in New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota. It was definitely NOT a tough life.

One of the beautiful mushrooms I found in the Boundary Waters

The pool called Morning Glory in Yellowstone National Park

Crystal Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellowstone Buffalo

  I worked back at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in October, finishing up my bee pinning and bee display.  I'll write a blog on it as soon as I get the finished files for the posters my boss was making, using my pictures. She is also going to send pictures of the finished display.  I just left dried plants with bees and butterflies glued to them and several boxes of pinned bees.

My  friend, Lucy, stopped by to see me on her way from Alaska, where she worked all summer, to Texas. She hung around so long, I suggested she just ride home with me. We managed to cram in lots of good places including, Craters of the Moon National Monument,  Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Petrified Forest National Monument.

A few hoodoos

View on the Emerald Falls Trails in Zion

 I enjoyed getting to spend time with one of my oldest friends, Hulin, and also visiting the huge camillia research garden in his town.

I finished out the year by visiting old friends and getting in some more paddling. I also did a lot of cooking and gardening. The end of the year found me back in Louisiana at Lake Fosse Point State Park camping and paddling.It's going to be hard to top last year. But I'll definitely make the effort to do so.

Paddling a little canal with Bill and Bob in the Atachfalaya Basin

One of the features of Natalie's yard is a huge satsuma tree. It gives the neighbors and us fruit from late November until February. One neighbor trades us deer sausage for the fruit.  A very good exchange!

Steen Mountain, Closed for the Winter

I really wanted to show Lucy Steen Mountain.  I tried to get her to go by herself but she was busy looking at stuff closer.  Then on my first weekend with her, we went to John Day Fossil Day Fossil Beds.  The next week, she took my car and drove off to see some of western Oregon and visit her cousin who lives in Corvalis, OR.  Then, right after she got back, it snowed, about a half inch one day, and four inches the next. Since the top of Steen is at almost 10,000 feet, I was pretty sure we were not going to make it to the top.  

We stopped at Buena Vista to check out the view.  All the ponds are gone and there are only a few sparrows around. 

View to Steen Mountain From Buena Vista Overlook

A Closer Look at First Snow of Fall on Steen Mountain

 We did a quick stop at P-Ranch to see the long barn and other structures and to take a short walk along Blitzen River. It is the most beautiful along this stretch where it has been improved to a better spawning area for fish.

The cattle wheel, used to hang cattle to butcher

This lifted loose hay on and off the hay wagon

The long barn

Hand made hinges

Lucy walking where the horses roamed

Blitzen River

 But I was really surprised to find snow on the Steen Loop Road at 5000 feet.  We turned around, before seeing much of anything, and went back through Frenchglen and then tried the southern end of the loop.  This time we barely got past the gate to the upper portion before we had to turn around. We did get pretty close to one of the gorges and got to see a few wild horses.

One of several gorges on Steen Mountain

A few wild horses

We had planned to explore Riddle Ranch but found the gate was closed and we would have to hike six miles round trip on a muddy road.  We decided we didn't have enough time or inclination for that long of a hike. 

On the work front, I’ve finished my part of the bee display.  I have several different wildflowers that I dried, then arranged.  Then I glued some bees and butterflies I’d collected on the flowers. And Carla, the staff member who does most of the displays here, has almost finished the posters.  For some of them, she is using my pictures and adding facts I’ve researched about the flowers I dried and also the bees found here. She is going to give me the files for all the posters so I can share them with others. I’ll put up a post of them that will come out after I’ve gone. 

I started writing this over the weekend but we were without Internet until today, Monday afternoon. The staff gave me a going away luncheon and both a sweat shirt and a jacket with the Volunteer logo on them. Then I took back all the materials that belonged somewhere else, build a rack to carry three bags on top of the car, finished packing and cleaned the house up, all with Lucy's help.  We cleaned out our refrigerator and gave almost two coolers of food, staples, and condiments to the two interns. 

Tomorrow,  starting about 5:00 A.M.  we are going to Boise,  Idaho for a little shopping and to get my car checked. I’m afraid my starter may be going out since the car will barely start some mornings, but the battery checks out fine. Then we’ll sleep – if the car gets fixed – near Crater of the Moon National Park. We’ll spend two nights and a day there before going to Bryce NP, then Zion NP, Santa Fe, a state park in North Texas, and before arriving  in Houston on November seventh or eighth. 

I’ll probably not have time to edit pictures or put up any blogs until I get to Galveston where I’ll be pet-sitting at my friend, Natalie’s house. I think she has some painting jobs waiting for me as well.  But I’ll catch you up on my adventures after November 10. 

Tule Boats

The last day I was at Malheur NWR,  my boss, Carla organized the annual tule boat-building day. Some of the Paiute Indians, with help from the YCC kids built a couple of tule boats.  Tule, a bulrush of the genus Schoenoplectus, grows in many of the wetlands of the west. It is full of pith and works like Styrofoam to help float things.

Boat building started with the gathering of the materials, the tules and cattails.

Carla hauling in tule

Braiding cattails into cords for tying the tules

The tules are first tied into bundles about 6 inches in diameter, using the cattail braid

Then the tule bundles are tied into a boat shape

This boat will be on display at the county fair

This boatbuilding is something the Paiute do with refuge personnel to help maintain their culture. 

Memories of Malheur

While looking for a photograph, I kept getting distracted by memories of Malheur NWR, gathered from last March.  I thought you might enjoy a look back with me.

This tower is identical to the one at Sacramento NWR, my last assignment, so was a welcome first sight of Malheur NWR. And it has been  the scene from the kitchen window of Coyote Hollow, and from the living room window of Carp Haven. And when we spot it on the way back from Crane Hot Springs - our Tuesday night out place this summer - we know we are only a few miles from the refuge and bed.

Several species of animals were always entertaining  us all over the refuge headquarters. The Belding grouond squirrels have gone back into hibernation after their grass dried up.  They spend up to nine months hibernating but have been out most of the time since I arrived. One squirrel trained me to leave bird seed near his burrow by coming towards me and whistling every time I brought the seeds around to fill the feeders. And another would climb my yard willow tree to eat oranges and peanut butter. 

The California quail are also always present and usually cheering for Chi-ca-go. They often distracted me from my computer work.  I had to stop work to take this picture out my window. Now most of their children are full grown but I saw one pair with little babies a few days ago.

The Donner and Blitzen  River brings the refuge the water it needs to maintain the wetlands before filling up Malheur, Mud, and Harney Lakes. This part of the river has been rehabilitated to make it a better habitat for the local redband trout. This view of the river from near P-Ranch, is my favorite river view.

Owls played a huge role in my bird life at the refuge. The late afternoons and evenings were enhanced by the flight of short-eared owls over the golden fields. A burrowing owl family raised a family of five, only a few yards from the highway  to Burns. I stopped to look for them almost every time I went by. And a snowy owl passed through our area in early April and I got to get a life look at it.

A pair of great horned owls  has lived in the fire tower for several years. I often fell asleep listening to their conversation. They raised two babies.  A few nights ago, I heard the youngsters calling for their supper and found them sitting together. The last time I found them, they still had baby grey feathers on their heads.

Willows are an important tree on the refuge. The Civil Conservation Corp planted non-native golden willows at Benson Pond. Today they provide holes for tree swallows and produce copious amounts of nectar and pollen that attract all kinds of bugs. And the native coyote willows are found along the Blitzen River and various canals. They too, support insect and bird life and are the best place to find yellow warblers, vireos, raptors, and owls.

The land here is a wonderful mix of desert, volcanic outcroppings, and wetlands. The beauty is doubled by the shallow waters when it reflects a sunset or a cloud-strewn sky.

The late afternoon sun turns the low hills to gold.

One of the reasons I wanted to be here in the late spring and early summer was to see breeding ducks and waders. This avocet built her nest only a few feet from the road.  I took this picture from my car. A few weeks later, the pond that was just behind her dried up and I never did see the avocet babies. But I have seen lots of black-necked stilt babies.

One of my big jobs here was to collect bees so we could get a baseline idea of the species that occur here. I'm also working on a display that will have dried flowers, bees, and butterflies from the refuge in it. This was probably the first bee I saw up here.

One of the birding hot spots on the Refuge is Krumbo Swamp.  It is just where the road to Krumbo Reservoir is gated.  There is a great overlook where you can set up a scope and enjoy birds for a half hour or more. And the hill above Krumbo Reservoir held the most wildflowers this spring.

The refuge has the westernmost breeding population of bobolinks.  When the males arrive in June, the immediately start singing from every shrub, post or fence available to them.  But soon they are living most of their lives down in the grasses of the wet fields.

As soon as part of the Steens Mountain Loop Road opened, I went up to Steens Mountain Campground and camped for a few lovely days. Later I got to drive the entire loop but still haven't had time to do some of the hikes I would have like to do.

A beautiful valley along the Steens Mountain Loop Road.

We are always excited when we find black-crowned night herons.  This one was near one of my transects and flew a short ways, then stoped to watch me take his picture.

Life here depends on the water from the snow melt off Steens Mountain. And the mountain dominates our landscape from much of the refuge. This was one of the first pictures I took of it and is one of my favorites.

This blog was written just before I went on a series of vacations from Arizona to the Boundary Waters. Then I came back for a few more months at this magnificent place, leaving after the first snow storm of the season. 

Hectic Times

I'm finding it hard to believe that I'll be leaving Malheur National Wildlife Refuge August 7 or 8. And I don't see how I can get all my projects finished. I'm still drying flowers and need to catch and mount butterflies and more bees for my pollinator display. And I have to put together another hour's worth of activities for the Indian kids. And I have at least twenty to thirty hours of pinning bees left to do. I'm even further behind because I spent four days barely able to walk and with a swollen, painful knee. But I'm seeing a chiropractor and am most of the the way better. 

So the blog has had to go to the back burner.  Then, while I'm traveling and playing, in August and September,  I won't have much Internet access so the blogs will be pretty spotty until October, when I return here for a final month.

The hummers are migrating and we are getting lots of them around -rufus and black-chinned

Right now, things are really quiet. Baby birds and mammals are spending more time away from their parents. Many birds have disappeared as the area gets dryer and dryer. The twin fawns are starting to graze and play away from their mother while the bucks are growing their velvet covered antlers. The days are bring and the colors of the vegetation is fading. Most of the wildflowers are finished blooming and it seems that all of nature has swung almost through summer and is pausing  before starting its swing back into fall.

Twin fawns eating their bedtime snack

One of the staff members told me that October is his favorite month and that the vegetation colors will brighten up again, while the birds begin to stop here to fuel up for flights further south.  Indeed, the fall migration of the hummers has already started and I had to put up two feeders which almost have hummers and the resident Bullock oriole family.The red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds are starting to form flocks as our our tree, barn, and cliff swallows. We have to slow down coming across the bridges on Sodhouse Lane to avoid hitting them since they love to sit on the pavement.

One of my assignments was to take Jo, the new volunteer, on a tour of the refuge.  That has taken part of three days but we finished it this morning. We saw the most ducks on Buena Vista Pond that we have seen in a while. And we got to enjoy a raccoon who was still out fishing about eight o'clock this morning.

Deer on the Upper Central Patrol Road

A raccoon was still fishing on the Blitzen River

Smartweed, an important duck food, in the morning light

 I haven't been able to post my pictures to this blog for three days. Finally I tried to post my pictures to Picassa and then import them to the blog from there.   It seems the more I have to do, the harder it is to get it done. 

Back to the third batch of bees I've done today.  I'm pinning them while watching the Olympics.