New Blog address

We did not realize that we would continue to write a blog after the first year...  we have been changing the blog address each fall.  We are changing the blog one more time and that will be it!  No more address changes... We will continue to keep our "diary" on line, it helps us remember what we did, when we did it an if we liked it!  better and more accurate than trying to use our memory.



http://moralesjulson.blogspot.com

Chequamegon Bay Birding & Nature Festival

After being home for 6 weeks it was time to get back on the road for a few days.  We headed north to Ashland Wisconsin, well really Washburn Wi is where we parked the RV.  It so beautiful on the big lake (Superior).  We have always picked the same spot for our RV but this year we decide to take a new spot!  closer to the water and a much better view of the lake.  After setting up we went for a walk on the lake shore.  Seen a few birds, not new to us but new this year. 

Blackburnian Warbler

 

 

Buffleheads

  

Bonaparte's Gulls

Palm Warbler

Thursday May 15:  We had to get up early to meet the gang at 7:00 am.  there was about 12 of us at the Fish Hatchery.  We ended up birding at 5 different places.  We did see two new birds. It was a very cold day and windy too. We met some very nice people and in spite of only getting two new birds we had a wonderful time.

We headed into Ashland for dinner at The Platter:

White fish and a BBQ platter.  the best BBQ Brisket since Texas!

also the Best Brandy old Fashioned Sweet since we got back to Wisconsin!

Friday we met our group at 7:00 am, seen 3 new birds!  getting better, the weather was a bit warmer with less wind and  a bit more sun.  But because of the below average temps the birds have not shown up here and must be hanging south until it gets warm here!  

We headed up to Bayfield after our morning tour to check out a few places by ourselves. No new birds but we did take a hike to Houghton Waterfalls

Female Long Tailed Duck

Ice still on Lake Superior

the waterfalls

another beautiful day enjoying nature!

Saturday: Beautiful morning with sunshine and a very light breeze.  We went to 7 different places with two different leaders.

They do keep us moving but we have to go where the birds are hiding!  

Piping Plover on the beach of Lake Superior!

 

Sunday:  time to go home!  we ended up seeing 127 different species with 13 new to us!  I was hoping for at least 20 new ones but the weather has not been our friend!  But we had a really good time and hope to come back next year.

Rare Bird sighting

We went to Crex Meadows in Grantsburg today for a bird tour.  Little did we know that there was a very rare bird in the area.  We did not see the Garganey on our tour. 

A rare duck has birders in the Midwest flocking to Grantsburg, Wis.

The garganey, a Eurasian species rarely found in North America, was first spotted at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area on April 25 and still could be seen there Monday, said Kim Wheeler, a natural resource educator for the wildlife area.

"This bird has never been seen in Wisconsin before, and it's not very often (seen) in the Midwest," Wheeler said. "Birders from all over the Midwest are coming to see it because they may not ever see it again in their entire life."

Birds from Eurasia seldom find their way to a far-inland state like Wisconsin, said Ryan Brady with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, adding that even for the lower 48 states as a whole, a garganey sighting is a rarity.

A garganey plies the water at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, Wis., on Saturday, May 3, 2014. The bird, a Eurasian species, is rare for North America and is being officially sighted in Wisconsin for the first time. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)

After our tour we went to the spot where they said we might see it.   There were a few people standing around with large scopes etc.  we walked about 100 yards down the road and what did we see but the Garganey!  we tried to get the other peoples attention but had to walk back to get it.  They were so excited.  One couple had driven up from Oklahoma to see and and was getting ready to leave when they stopped to swap stories..  One guy had been there for two days ( it was cold and rainy yesterday).  he was almost in tears!  they made phone calls and all of a sudden all these cars pulled up!  People were shaking Eric's hand, patting him on the back etc..  We did not know at the time how rare this sighting was and was a bit perplexed at the way they were all acting and talking.  Once home we found the above article!  Unfortunately I had my camera in the car and not around my neck.  we were very close and I could have gotten some very nice pictures!  

This Wednesday we head to Ashland Wi for the birding fest.  don't think we will see anything quite like the Garganey!

Home Snow Home

Well we made it home without incident.  Lots of snow on the ground, it will take awhile for it to melt. 

made a trail to the sauna

can’t get to the fire pit but can get to the grills

the side garage got some damage from the snow falling off the roof and the snow plow shoving the snow.

It is good to be home. especially since I got a terrible head cold on the way home. much better place to lay around.

we put the bird food out but no takers yet. looking forward to seeing all of our friends and get this spring moving!

Kansas to Minnesota April 2014

We left New Mexico, passed through Texas, then through Oklahoma and landed in Kansas.  We went through Liberal KS but did not find the yellow brick road.  maybe next time.
we stayed at


It was a very nice park, we did not get to really enjoy it too much as we were there just for the night.
Next stop in Emporia KS at a RV park right off of I35.  It was clean but no TV! they are selling the place and canceled the cable… oh well it was just one more night without news and weather.  We did go for dinner at

The food was OK, nothing special.
Saturday April 5: we left Kansas, drove through Missouri, then landed in southern Iowa at the Lakeside Casino and RV park.  of course we got there early and by 5:00pm it was full!  $20 for full hookup and cable.
Sunday April 6: We got to Albert Lea Mn.  Almost home! we are at Big Island State Park. No water but electricity.  We will be home tomorrow so no worries with the water situation.  The lake is frozen!  We began seeing frozen water by the time we got to Northern Iowa, also a little snow.

not happy about the snow and frozen lake but happy we are so close to home. it seems like we left a long time ago!
We so enjoyed our winter escape this year. We met some wonderful people, seen some great places, ate some fantastic food and had a very good experience working at the refuge.

The Big Well

the biggest hand dug well in the USA if not the World..




The Big Well in Greensburg Kansas was hand dug!  109 feet deep at 50 cents a day!

 


 

new computer

had to get a new computer yesterday so blogging will continue  once I get it all figured out.

Saturday April 5: we are in Kansas, heading to Iowa.  

Heading home: Tucumcari, New Mexico

Wednesday April 2: we left Bluewater State Park at about 6:30 this morning and made record time to Tucumcari NM in 5.5 hours!  Eric is really anxious to get home. We only made a few pit stops, no sight seeing this trip..  The wind was not too bad when we left but picked up to about 30 mph by the time we set up camp at a KOA.  We did luck out as the wind was mostly at our back while driving, we got over 13mpg!   We have never stayed at a KOA before.  It seems to be OK.  right off of the freeway with clean restrooms.

Since we ran off quickly this morning and did not make any food stops we were pretty hungry so we headed to

it was a lot like a whopper.  not bad, not good but filling.

Since it was way to windy to walk or bird we drove around.  We found this Cheese Factory.  Being from Wisconsin we really like our cheese! 

we stopped in, well not quite, it was a factory without a retail store!  We just walked in, when Eric seen the hair nets and clean coats he knew something was wrong, I was just reading the sign to go 4 blocks to find the outlet store.  we did find where they sell their cheese locally but they were sold out of the cheese. this place also  boast that they serve a  good donut but were out of them too!  The owner said to come back after 3:00 to pick up some donuts!

she was still glazing them when Eric walked in…

we did find a local grocery store that had the cheese so of course we got a few chunks.

most of these towns rely on memories of Route 66 to keep them alive, they have wonderful murals, old cars etc..

dinner was good, not great but good

I did wake up with a bit of a sore throat this morning.  It is still there, hoping a good nights rest will cure it, if not maybe those donuts will do the trick in the morning.

April 1

Tuesday April 1, woke up to cool temps and high winds.  We took off at about 8:00 am.  the wind was very strong on our side but then came from behind so it was not too bad. We stopped a few times, back to Winslow to get better pictures of the Trail of the Giants and:

 

to pick up a piece of Petrified Wood.  It took us about 5 hours to go 230 miles. 

we spent the night at

in New Mexico.  It was terribly windy but we went for a hike in the canyon and it was not too bad.  Beautiful place to hike.

we started at the top

it only took about 15 minutes to get down

we walked both ways as far as we could.  on the one side we ran into the dam.

we assume these are from very large Elk

can you see the quarter?

too bad we won’t stay here a few days to explore but Eric is anxious to get home.

tomorrow we head out early to try and beat some of the wind.  Our goal is Tucumcari New Mexico, about 300 miles.

Flagstaff AZ March 31, 2014

Monday: woke up to temps in the 20’s!  we are use to the 60’s!  What the heck.. Since we only have 40 miles to go today it was a lazy start to the day.  We were heading to the KOA in Flagstaff but stopped short and ended up at Black Barts RV park and steakhouse.

 

we went into to town for lunch then off to the Lowell’s Observatory

we got to look through the solar telescope

the Clarks Telescope is being renovated so was not in the building

this is the telescope that found Pluto

we had a very good tour guide and although a bit windy it was a beautiful day

of course we had to do a bit of birding seen a Lewis’ Woodpecker (new) and some snipes

we went back to Lowell’s Obs. about 8:00pm to see the night sky. Although it was a bit cold and very windy there were a lot of people there standing in line to look through the telescopes.  We got to see the Orion nebulous, Jupiter and 3 moons and Mars.  great place to spend the day and night.

The Whirlpool Galaxy

I suspect we could spend a few days here but…..