Slumber Party

At 31 years old I had a slumber party with my 3 year old niece and my 2 year old nephew at my sister's house. We ate homemade pad thai (my favorite!) for dinner, followed by popcorn and ice cream while watching "Elf." Possibly one of the most fun nights I've had in a while. We woke up to fresh coffee cake (for the vegans) and crepes (for the non-vegans). My niece told her mom "Hey, you're supposed to be gone" when she saw my sister in the kitchen. When it came time for me to leave my niece and nephew were so disappointed that I wasn't staying with them another night. I'm sure my brother-in-law thought it was silly, but I'm quite thankful for the adventures.

Mountains

I went into the mountains today, to find trees for decorating the houses of my parents and each of my sisters. Five dogs and four kids later I feel full of joy. The dogs were good (mine even listened the whole time!) and the kids full of laughter. We talked about trees and rocks and lichen and moss. We often talk about birds too, but I'm certain the altitude and the ruckus kept any birds in the area at bay. The lack of snow did not dampen spirits, though sledding is certainly more fun than playing in the dirt. Perhaps the snows will come soon enough for a family outing before Winter Term starts again. Being an auntie is one of the greatest joys in my life. Sharing my love for birds and nature the icing on the cake.

Snowy Owl Adventure

What a wonderful birding adventure I embarked upon yesterday. People have been seeing a snowy owl in Albany and a mountain plover near Corvallis, for several days now. I am generally not a "seeker" of birds. I see what I see wherever I am and am happy with that. But...I have always wanted to see a snowy. Over the summer I decided that I would go to their "normal" Oregon winter hangouts. Then, it turns out it is an irruption year for snowies, with larger numbers of them coming further south than in a typical year. Albany is about four hours from Ashland, but I didn't care. My post Fall Term of Graduate School celebration would be going to find the Albany Snowy Owl. A friend from the cohort came along and we met my birding compatriot in Eugene. After some delicious baked goods at Sweet Life we headed west/northwest on hwy 99W, toward Corvallis. The mountain plover was off of a road near one of my favorite wildlife refuges, Finley Wildlife Refuge, in a large field. Once we selected the right field it took mere minutes to spot the plover, but it was not alone. A winter plumed black-bellied plover was hanging out with it. Not my first black-bellied, but a wonderful surprise either way! We then headed to find the snowy in Albany. It was amazing how easy the snowy was to spot, in the large green field it was hanging out in. Particularly compared to finding the mountain plover (brown in a brown field). I know that snowies are big, but nothing I've read, no photos that I've seen, prepared me for how big and how wonderful snowies are in person. The bird was clearly a female, based on the amount of black barring on its chest. We watched him for quite a while, moving slowly away from us in short bouts of gliding. After a bit we drove to a road that took us closer to the snowy. The highlight of watching the snowy was having it fly toward us, land, look to the north, glide up, gracefully drop to the ground and bounce back up into the air with a large rodent in its talons. Of course, watching the owl swallow the rodent whole was even more delightful! Pizza Research Institute pizza after birding rounded out the delightful adventure. Happy birding.