The Big Sit

It has been years since I participated in The Big Sit. The Big Sit is where a group of birders gather together in a 17 foot circle and see what birds can be seen from that circle in a 24 hour period- usually birders don't stick around that long, it's usually dawn to dusk (because that's when you can see the birds). It also doesn't have to be the same birders all day, just the same circle. This year for Utah County Birders it was at the end of the Provo River Delta. Nichole and I went in the morning and stayed for a few hours. First bird of the day we saw cross the road in front of us while we were driving- skunk. Okay, not a real bird but it was fun to see. We saw plenty of real birds, the highlight was a peregrine falcon that flew by. No longer my "nemesis bird." I've seen a few in the wild since then.

The Big Sit is done all over at least the United States. I'm not sure about other countries. Lots of groups do it. The bird count (species and how many of each species) is put on an ebird record and that's how the information is logged for the annual event.

Nichole and I enjoyed ourselves. There was plenty of birdwatching as well as socializing. You know I like both. It's always good to catch up with other birders.

Our birding friend who helped us jump our van in St. George was there and of course he brought some things that someone else forgot. Always to the rescue, always the hero.

Nichole and I stayed until almost noon when I got stung by a bee so we decided it was time to go home even if we would have stayed a few more minutes. It had climbed on my shirt and I didn't think it climbed up my shirt sleeve so I was patting my arm hard "just to make sure." I felt the sting and felt really bad for it because it was my fault and it was an actual bee and not a yellow jacket. I would have felt worse for me if it was a yellow jacket. One of the other birders used her long fingernails to get the stinger out of my arm. See? Birders are helpful people. So, it was too bad that that happened but other than that it was a good day. I love sharing things like this with my daughter especially since October 11 was International Day of the Girl Child.

I did not have my camera to take pictures because it was in South Carolina with Jeremy. I would rather it be with him there. Binoculars were plenty good for me.

 

A few days before The Big Sit, Nichole and I went to the Bean Museum at BYU for the monthly UCB meeting. Jeremy joined from South Carolina on Zoom because two hours ahead, he was done with his balloon building for the day. 

I don't have a picture but the day after The Big Sit was International Moment of Frustration Scream Day on October 12. I didn't feel like screaming again this year (I'm fine with that), but I had one child almost scream when I tried to wake him for church.

I actually had a good day. I got to teach Relief Society. After church I got a long nap. It was a pretty good day. 

 

Our Vacation, Thy Creations, and Our Relations- Part 11

July 10 was Don't Step on a Bee Day and National Kitten Day. Creativity took over.

Jeremy's sister came to visit that day. It was nice to catch up with her.

Jet uncovered some slugs in grandparents' backyard. They weren't banana slugs but one was a leopard slug.

 

July 11 was Blueberry Muffin Day.

Road Trip!

When we went to Mount Rainier we saw where the Nisqually River came from the glacier. We wanted to see where the Nisqually River emptied into the Puget Sound so... Nichole, Jeremy, and I headed to Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. We love Nisqually Wildlife Refuge anyway. It's one of the places we always try to visit when we're in Washington.

 

Some highlights of this trip:

Bald eagle hanging out in what people told us was its usual spot, where we could walk right up to it... or right under it.

From its spot, we could look out and see seals sunning themselves on a sandbank. They were so fun to see. Adults and youngsters.

We also saw seals swimming in the water. There was a mama and baby swimming together that were so cute. Baby kept climbing on mama's back.

There were so many great blue herons out that day, both adults and juveniles. So many.

We went all the way to the end of the boardwalk, about a mile. 

From there we looked back at Mount Rainier which we had visited just two days before. So we went from where the Nisqually River started one day to where it ended another day. 78 miles.

As we were walking back through the forested area of the refuge, we stopped at a pond to see if we could find a frog. We found a frog then another then another. There were so many. I loved it.

We found out while we were there that this year was the 50th anniversary of the refuge so we just had to get a souvenir mug as it is one of our favorite places to visit in Washington.

I'll share more of our wonderful vacation later.

Not So Impromptu Date

We needed to get the windshield on our van replaced so Jeremy and I planned to go birding while it was getting done. Last time we went to get vehicle maintenance done we had a spontaneous date. This one was planned.

It was a beautiful morning. There was some rain so we had to hide the camera from time to time but we enjoyed ourselves.

West Mountain was looking pretty in the morning light. 

I thought it would be fun to get a picture of the two of us with it in the background. My phone didn't want to cooperate so I turned it around but then couldn't line it up because I couldn't see us. Who remembers taking selfies with cameras back when they weren't even called selfies and you just took what you could get because there was no screen showing what the camera was seeing? I also remember doing that with film cameras so we didn't even see how they turned out until the pictures were developed.

Speaking of cameras, I realized I could turn the screen around on our camera camera but I got the angle wrong so I didn't even get West Mountain in the picture, just the Saratoga Springs area across the lake. Ha.

Neverthless we did enjoy ourselves, even if there were a lot of mosquitoes out. That made for happy warblers, though, for us to watch.

At one point, I started getting all excited and checked my picture of my calendar on my phone. I was able to let Jeremy know we were celebrating because that day, August 20, was World Mosquito Day. I wondered what was so good about mosquitoes and Jeremy let me know they are pollinators. Oh. Well, there are pollinators I prefer, like honey bees. It was World Honey Bee Day as well. Interestingly, I don't think we got any mosquito bites even though we left the bug spray in the car. Heh.

Since we were by the lake, there were plenty of pelicans flying around. I love pelicans. At one point we watched a snowy egret land and managed to get a picture of the egret, a great blue heron, and some pelicans all in the same picture. That was fun.

Once the van was done, I dropped Jeremy off to pick it up then headed home to pick Nichole up to go to a Relief Society/Young Women combined activity. We had brunch and got to make some little flower arrangements to take home.

I didn't get a picture but later that day to celebrate World Honey Bee Day, we had honey glazed carrots with our dinner. 

It was a busy day.

"Les Miseranimals"

July 10 was Teddy Bear Picnic Day. We took teddy bears for a walk in a park (and we didn't step on any bees for Don't Step on a Bee Day) but it was too hot to picnic there so we picnicked in the living room at home instead while watching "Les Miseranimals" on Animaniacs. Then we ate meat pies because it was National Kitten Day. If you're familiar with that episode of Animaniacs, you'll get why it's funny and sad at the same time.