Another Birding Trip

Another birding trip? Didn't you just go on one? 

Yes. Yes, we did. But we've got a challenge to finish. We did not get a "Road Trip!" picture on this one, though, because every time we thought about it, we forgot about it when we could have done it.

When we went to Daggett County and Uintah County in May, we were only able to get so many birds in Duchesne County on the way back. Sooo... we made a special trip the morning of Saturday, October 24, to get those missing birds.

First of all we stopped at the Bridal Veil Falls Overlook so I could jump out quickly to 1) see the falls with the Fall colors and 2) get a look at where the rock slide happened the day before. 

I couldn't see the trail from my vantage point but I wondered if some of the rocks I was looking at on the hill were more fresh, if that makes sense. There is evidence of many rock slides over the years. There is a reason the trail is closed during avalanche season from November 1-May 1.

Anyway, moving on.

We've decided there are better places to bird in Duchesne County than where we planned to go that day. Parts of Mirror Lake Highway. The area around Hanna. We didn't know how it would be going into those areas with how late in the year it is and we had already planned a Duchesne trip with certain stops before thinking of those other locations. 

Anyway, we stopped at a viewpoint just past the county line which was pretty but didn't get any new birds for the county, although I think I saw a belted kingfisher flying but can't be 100% sure so I didn't count it. I needed less birds than the rest of the challenge seekers so I figured I'd get my birds anyway, even without a kingfisher.

I did find out later that a friend saw a kingfisher that day (somewhere else) for the first time. She had been searching for them for years. Yay. 

We stopped at Pinion Ridge rest area because that's a spot that's good for birds because of the trails behind the building. No luck until after a bathroom break and we were sitting inside the building when Jeremy spotted a bird through the window. We went outside and in quick succession got three birds for our list- mountain chickadee, brown creeper, and juniper titmouse. Hurray.

Juniper titmouse

We kept driving and to make a long story short, we ended up getting the last of our birds (and then some) on the other side of Duchesne city near Lake Boreham (aka Midview Reservoir). 

Mountain bluebird (female)

 

The highlight of the trip was a field full of sandhill cranes. So many. It was wonderful. 

click on that second picture to see a good amount (but not all) of the cranes in the field

It was early afternoon by that point so we drove home and I took a nap while Jeremy made us Hungarian food for National Food Day (October 24). I love my husband. He's so nice.

It was also World Kangaroo Day but we didn't spot any of those during our birding trip.

We had cucumber salad with cucumbers from our garden and Rakott Krumpli (layered potatoes). We threw in some homemade wheat bread and had Fanta (which is popular in Hungary). I do like Hungarian food. I love my husband even more. 

  

I will mention that the day before, October 23, was Mole Day. Jeremy was sitting on a chair in the kitchen and I couldn't easily get past him so I made a joke about burrowing under him like a mole to get out. Yeah. I'm cute.  

Other October Holidays

October 24 was National Food Day. We ate leftovers. It was also World Kangaroo Day. Jet and I hopped like kangaroos.

October 25 was Greasy Food Day. It was also World Pasta Day. We ate kind of greasy pasta.

October 26 was Mother-in-Law Day. I wished several people Happy Mother-in-Law Day including my mother-in-law. I love her. It was also National Pumpkin Day. I know several people who carved pumpkins that day.

October 27 was National Black Cat Day. I often see black cats running around our neighborhood. Murphy's Law says on Black Cat Day, I wouldn't see one. At the end of the day, Jeremy reminded me that the neighbors had a glow in the dark black cat skeleton decoration. That worked for celebrating.

October 28 was the Anniversary of when the Statue of Liberty was dedicated and it was also Matt Smith's birthday so I really wanted to watch The Angels Take Manhattan (which has both the Statue of Liberty and Matt Smith) while working on a Halloween costume but that's an episode of Doctor Who we don't have. So I watched Daleks in Manhattan which also has the Statue of Liberty in it. For dinner we had fish sticks and vanilla pudding in honor of Matt Smith's Doctor. We didn't have enough fish sticks so I pulled some curry chicken from the freezer and cooked up some rice. #shelfcooking

It was also National Chocolate Day so Lucky made woo-woo for us. 

 

Kangaroos and Greasy Foods

October 24 was National Kangaroo Day. I hopped like a kangaroo in the morning when I went to wake the boys. Jet and I watched The Rescuers Down Under that night.

It was also National Food Day. For dinner, I was going to do Chicken Tikka Masala and Garlic Parmesan Broccoli from A Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 4. Rice would be good to go with those. I thought I could easily do another Indian food to go along so I made chana. Then I realized we had plain yogurt left from the tikka masala marinade, and I had a cucumber left over from when I made cucumber sandwiches, plus other ingredients to make a yogurt sauce to combat the heat of the food. I didn't have time to make a flatbread, though.

That Garlic Parmesan Broccoli was so good and I was able to make it from frozen broccoli. Thank you, Jordan Page and The Page Company. Yummy meal.

 

October 25 was... are you ready for this?... Pablo Picasso's Birthday, World Pasta Day, Greasy Food Day, and National Breadstick Day. We celebrated with abstract art made from Spooky Spaghetti & Meatballs (from the same cookbook) and Focaccia Breadsticks (from Shelf Cooking 101). It was also Frankenstein Friday so anything spooky counts for that.