Announcing my new blog: Kathie's Birds!

Hello Everyone!

What a trip it has been and there is still so much to do!  I have now moved over to my new blog,

Kathie's Birds

Come visit me there and read about my further adventures in birding all across the USA!

Where've You Been

Male Gambel's Quail on Fence in Sycamore Canyon 3-2-09 by Kathiesbirds

As I sit here writing this post today a male Gambel’s quail is watching me as I watch him out my den window. The sun is shining brightly and I have the windows open to the warmth of the day. Our current temperature is running 20 degrees above normal. If it hits 91 today, we will break another record. The title for today’s post comes from a song I vaguely remember from my youth. I went searching on the internet and found the lyrics, but could only find it sung by Kathy Mattea. Does anyone out there know who sang it originally?

It’s been two years since Gus started at his new job down here in Tucson. He came about 3 weeks ahead of me as I stayed behind to help sell the house. With all the excitement of moving to a new place there is also the frustration of finding new doctors, dentists, and hairdressers. Gus and I put off this task for as long as possible, but finally we succumbed and started our search. For me, the dentist is always an anxiety ridden search. Having grown up poor during the 1960’s, my experience with dentists has been unpleasant to say the least. Most of my memories of dental work from my youth involve drills and lots of pain coupled with a distinct memory of being slapped in the face by a dentist. That would never happen now, but it did happen back then. As an adult I have had much better experiences with dentist and slowly my fear and anxiety have subsided. I loved my Utah dentist, and learned to trust him with my teeth. However, since moving to Tucson, the search for a new dentist has been a bit difficult and after trying one, I deiced to try another that Gus had gone to and liked.

On February 12th I went in for the replacement of 3 crowns. I knew it would be a long day, but I was looking forward to getting all the work over and done with in one visit. This dentist has a new procedure where they make Cerec crowns on premise with no temporary crown or return visits required. Sounded good to me! (Note: The dentist mentioned in the link is not the dentist I went to and had nothing to do with my experience!) However, my ordeal quickly degraded into a nightmare. The dentist who worked on me was just training on how to make these computer generated crowns. He, like most dentists, did not understand how quickly the Lidocaine wears off of me. Plus, he had another dentist training him on how to make these new fangled crowns. This so called “expert” was the one who jammed the new crown up into my exposed tooth pulp causing me such intense pain. After he left, my dentist continued to work on my other teeth. The end result was that I spent 8 ½ hours in the dentist chair in intense pain. By the end of the day my mouth was so sore I felt like I had spent 8 hours in a boxing match. I would have walked out, but they had 3 of my teeth out and I could only wait for them to be replaced. I left the dentist that day vowing to never go to another dentist in my life! Since then I have been in constant pain for over 2 ½ weeks. Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to take drugs of any sort, but I have not been able to get through a day without Advil. I did not know where to turn for help, but finally spoke with a friend whose husband is a dentist. He told me that in spite of my anger and fear, I needed to let this dentist repair the damage he had done. So, I swallowed my pride and fear and called them up and made an appointment. I took Gus with me as my advocate. The dentist readjusted my bite and wrote me a prescription for Ibuprofen. After being on that medication for 3 days I finally woke up feeling better yesterday. Though I am not pain free without the medication yet, I finally have hope that I will be soon. My new crowns look beautiful, but I paid for them with the most intense pain I have ever felt in my life.

My grandson, Xavier 10 months old 2-21-09 by Kathiesbirds

The last 2 weeks have been a blur of pain and other activities. I did babysit my new grandson for two days, during which we had long walks and lots of cuddles, but I couldn’t get anything done. Now I am playing catch up on house work and other necessary activities. The warm weather makes me want to garden. And the birds are starting to migrate. I saw my first Turkey Vulture of the year here in Sycamore Canyon yesterday, which means it just missed making it to my February yard count. It may have been here the day before, but I was not as Gus and I have spent the last 3 days of February running errands. My final count for the month was only 17 bird species, but I must say I was a bit distracted towards the end.

Gus points to the new light he installed 3-1-09 by Kathiesbirds

After living in this house for two years, we are finally making a few fixes that we wanted to. In the last two weeks Gus installed a new Ceiling fan in the den, and on Saturday evening he and I installed a new light over the dining room table. My next big project is to start landscaping the backyard and possibly the front yard. I hope this will provide more cover for the birds when the hawks come hunting. I hope to add plant species that will attract the birds and perhaps even entice a few to nest in my yard.

I will be writing my new MY World post right after this and hopefully I will be around to visit all my favorite blogs in between loads of laundry, washing the floor, and doing dishes! Oh, and I am also watching that Big Snow Storm on the East Coast and being grateful that I am wearing shorts and a tank top instead of snow boots and a parka today!

Questions?

House Finches 2-6-09 by Kathiesbirds

I have a question to ask of you, my fellow bloggers and I would really like some input. I have been reading a lot about some online programs like Copyscape and MyFreeCopyright.com. What I want to know is, are these programs necessary? Do I need to register my copyright for all these blog pages I have published? I thought blogger did this for us?

Do I need to publish a copyright notice on my blog?

Tell me what you think! Please!

*February Yard Bird Update: 10. Gilded Flicker

Birds and Bugs with Doug

(Doug Taron and Kathie. Photo by Gus 7-26-08)

Click on photos to enlarge for best viewing.

I waited anxiously on Saturday afternoon for the arrival of Doug Taron from Gossamer Tapestry. Doug is in town for an insect conference and we made arrangements to meet a few weeks ago. Now the day has arrived, the house has been cleaned and Gus and I have just returned from a trip to the store to buy the pizza cheese and a few other items. I have recently started using block mozzarella and shredding it myself when I learned that pre-shredded cheese is coated with plastic to keep the pieces from sticking to each other. I am in the middle of putting away dishes when the doorbell rings. Gus and I both greet Doug and welcome him into the house. One of the first things Doug notices is Gus' Red Sox T-shirts. Gus is an avid Red Sox fan and has been since he was a child. It turns out Doug is also a Red Sox Fan, having grown up in that area, so he and Gus discuss baseball while Gus gives him a tour of the backyard and I shred cheese and whip up the pizza dough. We have been making our own homemade pizza for over 25 years and chose to serve it to Doug tonight. After the backyard tour, with the dough rising, Doug and I set off to see Sycamore Canyon Wash. I trade my sandals for my hiking shoes and don my hat and binoculars. With my camera hanging from my shoulder strap we cross the street and enter the canyon.

(Sycamore Canyon scoured by flood waters photo by Kathie 7-26-08)

This is the first time I have actually entered the canyon since the big flash flood earlier this week. I am impressed with the new landscaping created by the scouring waters of the flash flood. Parts of the cliff have been scooped out even deeper and new channels have been carved. Piles of debris are stacked here and there along the banks and wrapped around tree trunks. It is a whole new world for me, but houses and the cliffs above keep me oriented. a few clouds drift overhead on this warm day. When a few sprinkles fall from the clouds I wrap my D80 in the plastic bag I stuffed in my pocket as we headed out the door.

(American Snout butterfly photo by kathie 70-300mm lens, 7-26-08)

One of the first insects we find is this long-nosed butterfly. I'm amazed by it's silvery wings and compound eye. Their wings do have a spot of orange in them, but that photo did not come out.

While there are many birds in the wash our focus today is on the insects they dine on. Still, we couldn't ignore this Gila woodpecker that perched nearby scolding us from his perch.


Doug found these insects with piercing mouth parts that penetrate the cactus pads and fruit in order to suck out the nutritious liquid inside.


This orange beetle in a yellow flower is a bright spot in the day.

(click to enlarge)

(Long-horned beetle photo by kathie, 70-300mm lens)

I spotted some motion around the top of a mesquite tree that quickly attracted Doug's attention. A long-horned beetle hovered near the top branches back lit by the setting sun. We chased it around the tree trying to get a photo with the sun on the insect but it would not cooperate. Still, this silhouette shows how long it's antennae really are. By now I am sure the pizzas are ready and Gus must be getting hungry so we head back to the house. Sure enough, the two pizza pies wait on the counter, already to go into the oven. Gus and Doug sit down to watch the Red Sox game Gus has recorded while I quickly upload photos onto the computer to show Doug. Soon we are eating steaming hot pizza and chatting around the big screen TV.

The sky grows darker while the guys watch the game, then Doug inquires if I would like to try black lighting in the wash. Heck yeah! We pack up his gear and I change my shoes once again before heading out the front door and across the street. We walk back down toward the barbed wire opening trying to decide where we might find two trees to string a rope across and hang the sheet from. Then Doug decides that barbed wire fence might just do the trick for us.

We hang the white sheet across this bit of barbed wire fence that is used to discourage Off Road Vehicles from entering the wash. Doug says the wash acts like a super highway for the insects providing an uncluttered flyway as they go about their nighttime business. I watch as Doug gets out the rest of the gear to set up the black light and attach it to its power source, a portable but heavy battery pack he carries around with him. We have a bit of a brief shower that temporarily slows things down, and I have to stow my camera in Doug's backpack to protect it from moisture, but once it is over it isn't long before the insects start to arrive. A few beetles and smaller moths come first, but then the larger insects start to show up.

(Close-up of a White-lined Sphinx Moth hyles lineata. Doug says they are as common as Dandelions but I am excited to see them anyway. )

The moths and other insects collect on the white sheet that hangs over the barbed wire. You can just see the black light shining through from the other side. The moths would get so frantic that some of them beat themselves against the ground, or worse, against my ankles! Yuk. I'm sorry but I jumped like a girl. Unknown insect wings in the dark are a little hard to take, but it was worth it. Almost all the larger moths seen here are white lined Sphinx moths, the only name I can remember.

(Rustic Sphinx manduca rustica photo by Kathie 18-70mm lens 7-26-08)

This big beautiful guy was the prize of the night. I wanted to take its picture but was afraid it would fly away before Doug could collect it. Doug assured me it would be alright and it was. I was so excited by the whole process. I snapped a few photos and then into the jar it went. Finally jet lag got to Doug and we decided to call it a night. I'm afraid I could have stayed out there for hours enjoying the mysteries of the night. Who knew there was all this activity happening while I sleep soundly nearby in my (mostly) bug free house! We shut off the black light, shook out the sheet and headed back to my house with Doug's head lamp lighting the way for us until we reached the sidewalk again.

When we returned to the indoor lights we discovered this hitchhiker riding on Doug's shirt. You can see how big it is compared to his shoulder. I have never seen any moth other than a Luna moth that was this big.

(Colorado River Toad photo by Kathie 7-26-08)

As Doug stepped out the front door to leave, look who was waiting there in the corner catching insects that were drawn to the light. "Wow! they're bigger than they appear on your blog," Doug exclaimed. Yep. Pretty darn big. Perhaps I should put a shoe outside and turn on the light, just so I can take a photo that will put the size of these poison Colorado River Toads , bufo alvarius, also known as Sonoran Desert Toads, in scale for you. They are very big: 7 inches from nose to rump and that does not include their legs! What a way to say good-bye. I chased the toad across the front of the garage trying to get another good picture. Later, after Doug left, Gus went to take Blossom out the front door for her last good-night stroll of the evening. Mr. Toad was sitting there waiting for insects again, so Gus let blossom out the backdoor instead. We also found tow other White-lined sphinx moths that somehow got loose in the house. I captured them carefully and released them out the backdoor into the mysterious night.

The Birth of a Blog

( Rock Wren photo by Gus Jan 5, 2008)

A year ago on July 3rd, in the midst of chaos, Sycamore Canyon was born. I was in Connecticut at the time visiting my family. My mom had invited my brothers and sister and all resulting children and grandchildren over to the house for a good-bye celebration. Amidst the jumble of babies and bodies my youngest brother, Chris and his partner, T accompanied me to my mother’s room where her computer stood in a dark corner between her dresser and her bed. A dim yellow light cast a warm glow on the slanted ceiling that cramped the space even more. Chris and T had been telling me for months that I needed to start a Blog. Now T sat at the computer, logged onto Blogger, and started the process. I stood behind him, dazed and confused.

(Costa's Hummingbird photo by Gus Jan 3, 2008)

We named the Blog Sycamore Canyon, but when we tried to get that name as our URL it was already taken. In the rush of everyone wanting to leave and me in my ignorance and under pressure of time, I chose coronadetucson, figuring no one would have that URL. I was right and Sycamore Canyon was born. The info was emailed to my home email address, Chris and T left with the rest of the family, and the next morning I drove to the airport at 4 a.m. and was home to Tucson by 10. It was the morning of the 4th of July.

(Male Lesser Goldfinch by Gus, January 3, 2008 Nikon D80)

It took until July 27 for me to get brave enough to get online and try to figure the whole thing out. I was a babe in the waters, not knowing anything about how a blog works. T had said he couldn’t wait until he saw a long blog roll in my side bar. I didn’t know what he was talking about. I stumbled and fumbled my way through, reading Blogger Help articles and clicking on this and that, always fearful that I would do permanent damage to something and I wouldn’t know how to fix it.

(Gilded Flicker phot0 by Kathie May 2007 Nikon D80 70-300mm lens)

My early attempts at blogging were mostly the written word. I love to write and I only knew I wanted to write about birds, nature and wildlife and my experiences of living here in Sycamore Canyon. Then I learned how to add pictures. I remember the first day someone commented in on my blog, and the first day someone other than a family member or friend did. I was ecstatic and I think I cried with joy. Now, a year later, I know how to upload photos, format and, just 2 days ago, I finally figured out how to create a scheduled post! Woo Hoo!

(Burrowing owl photo by Kathie February 5, 2008 Nikon D80 70-300mm lens)

Today I’m leaving on a jet plane for CT and Maine. While there I hope to be able to get on my mother’s new computer, which is still in a dark corner of her bedroom, and post to my Blog from there. However, if you don’t hear from me within the next 2 weeks, I’ll have lots of stories to tell when I return.

(Roadrunner photo by Gus, January 20, 2008 Nikon D80 70-300mm lens)

The blogging baby is growing up! I might be considered a blogging teenager now!

(Sycamore Canyon photo by Kathie March 18, 2008 Nikon D80 70-300mm lens)

If you want to read my very first post, which tells how we came to Sycamore Canyon click on the Introduction.

(Cactus Wren Photo by Kathie March 18, 2008, Nikon D80 70-300mm Lens)

Formatting Frustrations and Triumphs. Email woes.

First, a note about my email. If you email me I will answer you. If you don't hear from me it's because my email box dumped you into junk mail and deleted you before I remebered to check my junk mail. Sorry. Please email me again.

As for fomatting. I am a total novice with this blogging thing. I stumble my way through the formatting. I have figured out a few things, though, and Troy of Ramblings Around Texas has been a great help to me. Thanks Troy.

I have noticed that when I move photos around in compose mode that often they loose the ablility to open up to a larger size when you click on them. I still haven't worked this problem out but I did figure out how to fix one problem on Friday and I was so proud of myself.

Often when I publish a post I want to have a space between lines near the bottom. On my Skywatch Friday post when I published it originally it wouldn't leave a space between the 3 bottom lines, no matter how many "hard returns" I made at the end of the line.

I know NOTHING about HTML but, I looked at it anyway and discovered that all the html info was seperate from the words I typed. So, on a chance, I just made a space in the HTML after one of those > symbols. When I republished my blog there was a space! Hallelujah! You don't know how happy I was and how proud of myself for figuring this out. I know how I want my blog to look and it frustrates the heck out of me when I cannot accomplish that.

I also noticed that the HTML code for the top photo that enlarges was different than the HTML code for the 2 lower photos that don't. I work in the compose mode because I don't know HTML and I'm afraid to really mess things up and not be able to fix it. But, I may try a couple of things now. It's all about learning, right?

Note: I just found this in Blogger Known Issues:

In Internet Explorer 6.0 and in Compose mode, if you upload an image and then drag it to another location in your post, you might be unable to click through to the full size version of the image once the post is published. To avoid this problem,you can either use a different web browser or switch to Edit HTML mode to move the image code manually.— latest update on Thursday, August 09, 2007

June 30 Update: I tried this with today's post and it worked! yeah!

But, now I just noticed that some of my formatting buttons are missing from my post editor. GRRRRRRRRR.....!!!!! They have a new spellchecker that doesn't work. (6-30-08 The old spell checker is still there. This is operator error as the spell checker changed when I clicked into HTML mode. Once I clicked back into compose mode it worked like I expected it to and the other formatting buttons re-appeared.)

If any of you have any helpful suggestions, it would be much appreciated. I do go to Blogger's help articles but since I don't know the lingo I don't understand what they mean when they talk about certain things. They should publish a glossary of terms. That would help.