Aerie Report, April 7, 2010

It stayed quite warm overnight with the low only being around 68 degrees. Today's high was 82 and it is still in the 70s at 10 PM. What the hell happened to spring? We seem to have gone from winter to summer with just a passing glance at the usual spring weather.

They (the usual suspects at AccuHunch and Weather.com) do say there's a chance of spring squeezing in another week starting Saturday. We'll see.

******

Got an email from my son the other day. Seems he's been bitten (or perhaps I should say "stung") by the beekeeping bug. Although he and Sandy live in apartment in Portland, Oregon, he's managed to "borrow" a friend's backyard and put in a hive. His bees arrived on Tuesday so he had to install them in their new home. He posted some pictures on Facebook but before I could view them, I had to register. (And if I didn't "have to register" it's too late for you to tell me otherwise, I'm in under my real name. I feel so exposed!)

Any way...He says things went well and that he only got stung twice. On the arms because he had only a thin flannel shirt on and the little buggers stung right through the sleeve.



******

Terry and I went to the optometrist this afternoon to have our eyes examined and see if we needed new specs. Eyes are fine. No changes in our prescriptions so we had no need for new glasses. Which is good as it saves a bundle. (Our insurance covers the exams, not the hardware.)

******

Terry finished our taxes and because of the gas lease we owe both the state and the feds some money this year. Unlike some in the county, we set aside all our lease money for the future with fully one third of it designated for tax purposes. We won't be sending all of that to The Man, but close to it. What's left over from that 1/3 will be going toward the preparations for our Alaskan Adventure. It will pay for the truck cap that's on order.

Making the arrangements for the transfer of funds at the bank today we heard that several folks didn't plan so wisely and spent all they got from the leases forgetting that the piper had to be paid eventually. They will be taking a big hit for their spendthrift ways.

PA gets its check in the mail tomorrow (Thursday). Uncle Sam will have to wait just a little longer just because.

******

Still waiting on word from the Alpin Haus as to the trailer. Could be...should be...any day now. Depends upon how long it takes to get the part they needed for the AC. I'm assuming (as I said before) that the furnace and electrical light problem were fixed as the gal that called had no news on either and, as they say, no news is good news. My overnight bag is packed and I've nothing to keep me from heading north on a moment's notice.

Hang on tight!

Wow! A whole lot of shakin' and rumblin' going on...again.

Two evenings ago it was a 7.2 mag earthquake on the southern end of the San Andres Fault right where it crosses California/Mexico border and just north of the Gulf of California.



Then this morning I saw reports that Mt. Redoubt is starting to shake like a bowl full of jelly and there's a possibility of an eruption.




And this evening there was a 7.7 mag earthquake off the northwest coast of Sumatra.

Aerie AM Report, April 6, 2010

We had a wave of showers and thunderstorms sweep trough the area this morning between 5 and 8 AM but they have now cleared our region and any other rain will be to our north so it looks like another gorgeous day is heading our way. The temperature should rise into the 70s again this afternoon as the winds come out of the southwest but we'll get back to more seasonal 50s and 60s this weekend.

I'd start planting some lettuce, spinach and the onions if it weren't for the knowledge that it's still too damn early and frosts might still be on their way. At least that four letter word that starts with an "s" has disappeared from the long range forecasts.

******

Got some good news out from Milwaukee way Sunday. Our nephew Brian finally got around to popping the question to his sweetie, Vicky, on Easter Sunday. They've been living together for several years and we all figured it was a matter of time. No word as to the size of the clue bat she had to hit him over the head with but it must have been a doozy.

With relatives all over the country this will be a "destination" wedding for nearly all regardless of where they decide to have it. His parents are in Half Moon Bay, California. Grandma is in New Jersey. Paternal aunts are in Kansas. Cousins are in Portland, Oregon, New Jersey, etc. Her parents are in Tempe, Arizona. And, of course, we are in Pennsylvania.

The two of them were impressed with the way Rick and Sandy managed their affair last spring--small and select without a large hall or band/DJ so I expect that might be in the cards. They also haven't set a date yet. We reminded them of our plans and begged that they try for something that might fit our travel itinerary.

Have trailer will travel.

Sounds like life to me!

Opening Day

Major league baseball is in full swing once again and, as happens nearly every year, fans are sure that their team will finish the year in the playoffs if not the World Series...with the possible exception of Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. Of course, half the teams lost their opening games. (Baltimore and Tampa Bay are yet to play.)

I was quite satisfied with the Red Sox come from behind 9-7 victory over the Yankees on Sunday night even though I turned the set off in the fifth inning when the Yanks were ahead 5-1.

I was even more pleased to see the Mets defeat the Marlins 7-1 on Monday afternoon. Especially since they were sans their regular first baseman, center fielder and shortstop. That David Wright hit a home run in the first inning was super sweet icing on the cake. Let's hope he has a more typical 30 home run year than last year's measly 10 HRs. The Mets have an amazing opening day record. (For example: they have now won 5 consecutive openers.) It's too bad they have to play the next 161...in the toughest division in baseball.

So, the long season is under way and it's still anybody's game.

Is there a Doctor in the multiverse?

Oh, yeah! And he's battier--and as effective--as ever.

And his companion? She's HOT!


And Theo has a post of the first episode HERE!

Go and take a look.

You won't be disappointed.

Casual Birding around the Aerie

Purple Finch on the deck stick feeder.

Purple Finch on the deck stick feeder.

Whilst hanging about the Aerie today I took mental note of the birds that happened to wander into sight and hearing. These are just casual observations made while sitting in the living room or out on the deck. I made no effort to wander about the property or seek any birds out. I certainly made no attempt to count the number of individuals.

Location: Aerie
Observation date: 4/4/10
Notes: These birds were either seen or heard from the deck of The Aerie between 7 AM and 7:30 PM today.
Number of species: 19

Canada Goose X
Wild Turkey X
Turkey Vulture X
American Woodcock X
Mourning Dove X
Barred Owl X
Downy Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Common Raven X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Purple Finch X
American Goldfinch X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Some birds, like the Canada Geese, Barred Owl, American Woodcock and Wild Turkey were only heard and not seen. Others like the Turkey Vulture, Common Raven and American Crow were strictly fly-bys. The rest came to the feeders or were seen in the yard from the deck.

I've curtailed my feeding regimen since the black bear destroyed several feeders last week, so nineteen species is quite a respectable number considering there are many more that have yet to migrate back to their home here on the hillside.

I'm still waiting on the return of the thrushes, Phoebes, Indigo Bunting, warblers and Carolina Wrens. And, surprisingly, the hawks that frequently soar along the hillside just haven't been around the last few days--or I just missed them.

What am I doin'? Nothin'!

moar funny pictures

Hope you all had a Happy Easter.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow the Major League Baseball season gets underway once more with the Boston Red Sox hosting the New York Yankees at 8:05 PM EST on ESPN. Pitching for the Sox will be Josh Beckett and for the Yanks C.C. Sabathia. I don't love either team but truly loathe the Yanks and so I may find myself parked in front of the tube to root for Beckett and the Sox.

But Monday! Aaaah, Monday we have the Mets and Johan Santana hosting the Marlins and Josh Johnson in the new CITI Field at 1:10 PM.

National League, baby! No stupid DH rule. Managers have to make real decisions! And (even though they are all too often automatic outs) pitchers have to hit!
(Where, I ask you, would Babe Ruth have been if he did not have to hit as well as pitch?--Okay, he played the outfield between starts for Boston too. BECAUSE HE WAS A HELL OF A HITTER!---And, even if he had never hit a home run he probably would have still made the Hall of Fame because of his pitching. He was, indeed, THAT good!)

I have no idea how my Mets will play this year. Their pitching is a question mark beyond Santana and closer Fernandez--and even Santana is a cipher because of off season surgery. They start the year without their star shortstop. (Reyes was physically able until a thyroid problem laid him low. He's okay now and should be back in the game in a week or so.) Their star center fielder is still recovering from surgery to his knees. Carlos Beltran was originally said to return around June 1 but it now seems he may be back a few weeks sooner. Their starting first baseman injured his knee last week and will start the season on the IR.

In short, they may be further out of first place by the first week in July than I will be from either the Aerie or the Bolt Hole. (Alaska trip, remember?)

Still, I'll root for them and follow their progress (or lack thereof) throughout the season. Oh, I'll bitch and moan and complain too. That's what being a fan is all about.

And it all starts tomorrow.

A day birding is never wasted.

It was too nice a day to stay indoors and the appearance of a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds in the company of a male Red-winged Blackbird on the deck feeder this morning made me antsy, so I went and made the rounds of birding spots on Route 287. None of the spots produced the huge numbers of new (at least for this year) species I was hoping for. Obviously the birds clock is more connected to daylight than temperature for it got up to the mid 70s this afternoon.

My first stop was at the lookout over the Tioga-Hammond Lakes connector where I hoped to find some Bald Eagles soaring overhead. No such luck but there were lots of Turkey Vultures and Tree Swallows taking advantage of the updrafts. Plus I got to see my first Northern Flicker and Eastern Phoebe of the year.
Turkey Vulture
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle

Tree Swallow rests on the fence at the Tioga-Hammond Lake overlook.

From the overlook, I drove to the other end of Hammond Lake to Ive's Run and took the Rail Road Grade Trail that parallels Crooked Creek west. On the way to Ive's Run an Osprey flew over the road carrying a 7-8" fish in its talons. It would be the first of seven Ospreys I would spot. The others were all paired up on the nesting platforms probably discussing how to arrange the furniture.

I birded the length of the Rail Road Grade Trail from my truck and it was pretty slow. Neither numbers of species nor of individuals were very high.
Wild Turkey
Osprey
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle

Pair of Ospreys on nest pole near the Ive's Run Offices

After completing the slow drive along Crooked Creek, I went back to Ive's Run and the Day Use Area across from the camp store (closed). Still pretty slow and only the half dozen Double-crested Cormorants perched on some exposed logs w-a-y o-u-t there made the short trip worthwhile. Not an Eagle to be seen. I did talk to a couple of fishermen who were working the shoreline from their boat, however. They were having slow day, too.
Canada Goose
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey
Ring-billed Gull
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Song Sparrow

I then went down to The Muck to see if there were any waterfowl on the open water. Except for the one pair of Blue-winged Teal and a number of Canada Geese, that would be a "No." As in no Wood Duck--yet, no herons visible, no Kingfisher--yet. Like I said a very slow day.
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
American Crow
Tree Swallow
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird

Canada Goose stand atop a nest in the reeds.

Canada Goose swimming at The Muck.

Aerie Report, April 2, 2010

Hey! Those of you who were praying for warmer weather a couple weeks back can stop now. Please. It hit 83.3 degrees here at the Aerie this afternoon. It reached 86 in Elmira, NY and even 90 in some spots amongst the Finger Lakes. (I thought it was supposed to get cooler as you went north?)

What happened to Spring? Good question. But AccuHunch says it will be back. Next week. We'll be getting back to seasonal temperatures by the 8th or 9th of the month.

AccuHunch also pointed out some interesting stuff dealing with the snow fall during the last month. If you were along the I-95 corridor--the same place that got hammered in February and set all sorts of new snowfall records for that month--if you were along I-95 from Boston to Baltimore you didn't saw--at best--a trace of snow during March. Even Rochester, NY on the shores of Lake Ontario saw no snow in March; which is just plain weird.

******

We went to bed last night with the windows open and the sound of the wind chimes, spring peepers and toads, and the "whoop, whoop, whoop" of the windmills filling the bedroom. (The overhead fan drowned out some of the noise but not much.) With the wind blowing from the south-south west, we seem to be getting a fair amount of dull "whoop" from each blade of the closest windmill. It's not terribly loud, but when you're going to sleep and all else is (relatively) quiet, it's noticeable. Terry said it, along with the wind chimes, kept waking her up but I didn't notice it until I'd had five or six hours of solid sleep. I imagine that when the trees finally produce some leaves, the rustling of the leaves as well as their muffling properties for sound will mean easier sleeping.

And this morning, just around cat-alarm 6 AM, there was a chorus of turkey gobbles and clucks out in the field. Far enough away that I knew they weren't in the yard, but frequent enough that I thought they might eventually find there way to the spilled bird seed. They didn't. At least they didn't--today. They've got a whole month to play their silly head games on me. Opening day for spring turkey is May 1st this year.

******

Terry and I continue to do our part to help the struggling US economy. Today we were up in Elmira, NY and purchased a LEER cap for the Tundra from Curren RV Center. I got the Model 180.

I've been wanting to get a cap for several reasons ever since we bought the Tundra two years ago. I like the idea of having a dry place to store/haul things. The short bed (6'6") of the truck will not allow me to haul long boards or even a sheet of plywood without lowering the tailgate, so late last summer I bought a utility trailer for that purpose. Having that UT, I can pretty much haul the log splitter and brushhog as well as the ATV and any large pieces of furniture without putting them in the bed of the truck. And, with our planned trip to Alaska later this summer, a cap on the truck means even more lockable storage space for foodstuffs, clothing, etc. Add the 2-4 miles per gallon increase you can expect from altering the airflow around the cab, bed of the truck, and towed trailer, the cap on the truck makes sense in the long haul.

******

While we were in Elmira, we drove down Pennsylvania Avenue and crossed Route 14 to go to The Maine Catch an excellent fresh seafood store. He doesn't carry a super large selection but what he has is very fresh and priced right. We picked up half a pound of bay scallops, a pound of crab salad and two large, meaty crab cakes. (Oh, we also got four thick cedar planks for when Terry starts doing planked fish on the grill again.) The crab salad was our lunch when we got home, and the scallops and crab cakes (sauteed with butter and garlic) and served with french fries and cole slaw (Wal-Mart's is as good as KFC) were our dinner. MMMMMMMM!

Oh yeah, Terry baked a beautiful Babka for our Easter dinner. If it lasts that long!

******

I got a call from Alpin Haus today about the trailer. They had found what they think was wrong with the AC unit and wanted to know if it was OK to order the $24.95 part that it needed. The gal making the courtesy call said they would call back as soon as they had a confirmed price from the warehouse and knew how much labor would be for making the repair so I could give them permission to go ahead. I told her to listen carefully, "You have my permission to make the repair as soon as you have the part in hand." She had no information on the heating system, but I can't imagine they would pass on stuff one piece at a time. At least, I hope that "no news, is good news" in this case and that their diagnostic turned up something stupid like a mouse nest or a chewed wire that they could fix blindfolded.

She did apologize because it was Good Friday and they couldn't get the part shipped earlier than Monday and would I mind terribly if they had to hold on to the trailer for a couple days next week? Again I explained that they could have it as long as it took to make the repairs and if they had been holding out on her and stuff needed to be done to the heating system--well, have fun! I had no plans to travel anywhere until May but wanted the HVAC system working when I did. Seemed to make her day!

******

While Terry boiled up some eggs to dye, I went out to the Tundra and installed the CB radio. I had waited until I go her help in placing the mounting bracket because it is on the passenger side of the console and that's her territory. Time-wise, the 12-minutes to hard boil the eggs was probably equal to the time it took me to mount the radio. I had checked the CB out on my way home on Wednesday and it received just fine. Not having anything to say, I was reluctant to "reach out and touch someone," even for a radio check. I've got two hand-held CB radios that Mark had laying around that can be plugged into a car's cigarette lighter so I'll be able to check out both sending and receiving using the Jeep or Terry's little yellow Aveo.

New Element Discovered!

It came over the transom this afternoon:

P 311 a dangerous new element.

Discovery Announcement ~ The densest element in the known Universe has been found!

Pelosium:
A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named Pelosium.

Pelosium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311.

These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
The symbol of Pelosium is PU.

Pelosium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons within the Pelosium molecule, leading to the formation of isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientist to believe that Pelosium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass.

When catalyzed with money, Pelosium activates CNNadnausium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons as Pelosium.

Aerie Report, April 1, 2010

What a glorious day we have for April 1st! The sun is shining and there's a slight, and welcome, breeze as the temperature has reached the 80 degree mark at the Aerie for the first time in 2010 79.3 degrees at the Aerie.

Terry and I took advantage of this beautiful weather to wash all the windows (except for those solid panes (also "pains") way up high, and brush off and install all the screens. Kept the cats busier than ever as they chased us from window to window and room to room! We're now enjoying the late afternoon while the house is airing out.

I certainly hope that this is not an April Fool's joke being played by Mother Nature, the Goddess Gaia, or the Great Spirit. After the winter we had (albeit not a great amount of snow but continuously lousy weather) I'm definitely ready for spring.

More please!

******

A few of the crocuses I planted on the hillside have popped up in the last few days. That color, small as it is, is a welcome relief from the drabness of the winter woods. Still waiting for the daffodils to make an appearance.

******

Driving home yesterday from the Bolt Hole, I got a phone call from Terry (just as I hit the one construction zone on the NYS Thruway, natch!). She had a call from the Good Sam people about our planned Alaskan Caraventure. Seems they had not gotten a large enough response to the second planned outing--the one we had signed up for--and they were going to have to cancel that trip. Would we be interested in going with the first group--the one that starts two weeks earlier? You betcha!

Sure, we could probably plot out a course and make the trip on our own, but there's safety in having a group with a guide. I mean, what happens if there's a breakdown or an accident? God to have someone along who's been there and done that before. Plus there are lots of special events planned and booked by the Good Sam Club that we might not A) know about or B) be able to get seats for.

So, we're still going to head to BC, the Yukon and Alaska with GSC, we'll just have to move our departure time from the Aerie up a couple of weeks. Glad I brought the trailer into the shop earlier this week! Now if they can only make the repairs ASAP, I'll be able to sleep better.

Winter 2009-2010 in a word: Yuck!

If you thought the 2009-2010 winter weather in the northeast/mid-Atlantic was a little wonky and that the northeast got more than its usual number of demoralizing--if not down right destructive--storms, you are probably correct.

Paul Kedrosky of Infectious Greed has a compilation of the radar maps from AccuWeather from December 1 through March 29 that shows the unending march of storm systems up the Appalachians. Watching the 22(!) Northeast Storms

Sheesh!

(h/t to TigerHawk)

Bolt Hole Report, March 30, PM Edition

Took the trailer to the shop today to get it thoroughly inspected and get the wheel bearings greased up. No problem getting there as it hadn't started raining here. In fact, it was 29 degrees when I left so frost on the windshield and mirrors was more of a problem. Going down the road from the Bolt Hole was also not a big problem even if I had to do it at around 20 miles per hour since the road is terribly frost heaved. Once on the main roads and thruway things went very well and I was able to maintain the speed limit or just slightly to either side.

Got to the Aspin Haus about 20 minutes early and parked the rig off to the side while I went in to let them know I had arrived. Since it had started raining by then, I chose to stay in the lounge to read and do crossword puzzles until they finished their work. Which took nearly five hours.

Upon completion, I learned that A) the furnace did not light B) the AC did not work and C) when they turned on one or more of the interior lights it blew a fuse--over and over.

I immediately asked that they set an appointment to make the necessary repairs. Their earliest opening was for this Friday. I asked--and was granted permission--to leave the trailer int heir yard so I would not have to haul it back and forth and so I could return to PA for a couple of days.

So, the Wilderness trailer is in the shop for at least a week. Maybe more if they have to order parts. They will call with any developments.

Having made arrangements to get the trailer repaired, I headed back to the Bolt Hole in what can be described as a monsoon. Heavy, heavy rains have been falling since about 11 AM without a let up. Flood warnings/watches have been given and creeks and rivers are fast rising. All except the Mohawk, Having opened the sluice gates located at all the locks for the Erie Canal, the river is very, very low. The flow is probably scouring the channel deeper and that means better sailing once the gates are closed and the locks open next month. Just mind the buoys! For the channel may be deep, but the shoreline has many, many shallow sand and gravel bars which are currently highly visible if not dry.

I'm heading back to the Aerie where Terry says it's two degrees colder than my 36 degrees and where it is snowing. At least the propane feeding the furnace in the Aerie keeps things a little more even temperature-wise than the wood stoves of the Bolt Hole. In the last 24 hours I've had an indoor high of 71 and low of 51 degrees. The latter being what I found when I got back and after the fires had burned out much earlier.

If the weather forecasts are to be believed (remember--block of salt!), it will be sunny and high 70s from tomorrow noon through Easter Sunday. Great birding weather! Unlike the rainy, raw, mid 30's I've had here since Sunday.

Bolt Hole Report, March 29, AM Edition

He's baaaack!

That's the report form Terry at the Aerie. She had a late night visitor in the form of Brer Bear. Our Bruin friend came in tot he bird feeders around 11 PM and pulled them all down before coming up on the deck to see if there was anything left up there t eat. While it may have destroyed the feeders on the side of the yard, Terry had brought the stick feeders that hang on the front deck into the house before dark so they were saved. The shepherds hooks are a different story as they are seriously bent.

Dang bear always shows up when I'm elsewhere.

Guess the area's windmills have little affect upon the neighborhood bear.

What it doesn't realize is that it just wiped out the goose that laid the golden eggs. No more feeders for awhile.

******

Spring weather. Who can understand it? It was raining/sleeting at the Bolt Hole at sundown with a temperature of 33 degrees. It continues to rain/mist but the southeast winds caused the temperature to rise to around 40 degrees at 7 AM and it's now 43 degrees at 10:45 AM.

I'll be hitching up the trailer after lunch so it'll be ready early tomorrow for its trip to the shop. I just hope the rain/mist slacks off while I'm doing so.

******

Slept with the sliding door in the bedroom cracked open last night. It's on the north side of the cabin so the rain would not have blown in unless the wind shifted--which it didn't. As a result, I woke up to the sound of a woodcock doing his thing in the early twilight. Several "peents" and the whirring of wings repeated several times as he advertised for a mate. Still the only migrant to start singing (except for robins). In a couple of weeks the song sparrows, chipping sparrows, white-throated sparrows, Phoebes, and several warblers will add their voices to the morning alarm call.

Bolt Hole Report, March 27, 2010 PM Edition

Today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Sure, it started cold (10.9 degrees at 7 AM) but it did warm up to 39.9 degrees late this afternoon under the bright sun. And with little wind, it was a pleasure to walk about outside. Early in the day, while it was still cold, the little snow that remained was frozen solid enough and crusty enough to walk on top and not get that wet stuff in the low boots I had on. There are a few limbs and treetops blown down or broken off from the weight of snow, but the main trails seemed open. And there were deer tracks in the snow from the other day; their edges still sharp and crisp.

******

Mark is here and we had a lengthy chat...well, he chatted, while I listened which is about normal. He says he saw a half dozen deer in my yard two evenings ago just around sunset. I must have been away from the windows at the time. He's still looking for work and trying to make ends meet with the occasional day jobs.

******

I went out to the barn to check the battery again and, while the charger's light hadn't come on to indicate a full charge, the battery itself was hissing and bubbling to indicate it might, in fact, be over charged. I went into the trailer and found there were still no lights on the DC circuit and, if the battery was charged, they should have come on. I then checked the circuit breakers and the fuse box but everything was in order.

Finally, Mark came over with a battery tester and we checked to see if the darn thing was indeed charged. Yep. A ful 12 volts registered on the meter. We checked the wires leading under the trailer and they were A-OK. We double checked the electric board and he confirmed that the breakers and fuses were good. Then we disconnected the battery and checked it again. Still reading 12 volts--a full charge. We reconnected the battery and stepped inside the trailer.... Lo and behold! The system was working! Although there was no corrosion visible on the battery's poles, there must have been something interfering with a tight connection when I hooked it up the first time. Our disconnecting and reconnecting the wires made that connection good.

This is a big deal not just because I didn't want to pay for a new battery, but the electronic brakes on the trailer run off that battery. Without a functioning battery, the emergency brakes on the trailer do not work. Should the trailer break free from the Tundra for any reason, the trailer would not come to a stop until it had plowed a nice big furrow in the highway...if then. Nothing worse than having your trailer pass you on the NYS Thruway!

We hitched the trailer up and pulled it out of the barn onto the lawn so it can get a bit of an air bath before it goes to the doctor for a checkup on Tuesday. I checked the tire pressure all around and found that all four were between 46 and 48 PSI. Since the temperature was still around 34 degrees at the time and the tires are rated for 50 PSI max, we decided not to put any additional air in them for now. I'll check again on Monday when I hitch it up for its little trip and, if need be, put a couple of pounds in each tire.

The interior is almost as clean as when Terry and I vacuumed out the mouse droppings and cleaned out the drawers last fall. I could find only one little collection of droppings on the couch which were easy enough to sweep up. All the stuff in the drawers and closets are still clean and there's no old magazines or valuables in there to worry about.

Once the exam is over and any repairs made, I'll be putting it back in the barn until late May/early June. Then I'll take it down to PA and rent a campground spot at the Hills Creek or Ive's Run for a couple of weeks. That will make it easier for Terry and I to pack for our trip to Alaska and points west. At least that's the plan. (Shhhh. I think I hear God laughing.)

Bolt Hole report, March 27, 2010

A very chilly 11 degrees at the Bolt Hole this morning at 7 AM. The winds have abated, however, so what you see is what you get. And the sun, shining brightly with out a cloud to block its rays, will have things warmed up in no time...right? Well, weather.com says it will get near 40 today which is a huge improvement over the high of just 32 I had yesterday.

It's not much better down at the Aerie where Terry says it was 13 degrees this AM. The snow, which was only above 1800 feet is almost all gone. She''l see the high around 50 or so today.

The long range forecast calls for temperatures to warm ever so slightly and some rain/snow showers on Monday into Tuesday. Figures. Tuesday's the day I have to haul the trailer over to Amsterdam for service.

******

I've had the trailer's battery on charge for two days and it doesn't seem to want to take. Three years of storage have not been kind. If that's all that needs replacing I'll count myself lucky.

The inside has little to be cleaned up. Terry and I did a little when we had it down to the Aerie last September and there doesn't seem to have been any mouse infestation or other critters inside. Come to think of it, there aren't any signs of mice in the cabin either. Perhaps the presence of the fisher cat, red fox and others in the area have put a dent in the population of mice and red squirrels? Only sign of the red squirrels is the remains of pine cones in the woodshed and basement.

******

When I finish my (second) cup of coffee, I'll take a walk into the woods and see what sort of winter damage there may have been. Driving down the road I see lots of blowdowns and snapped trees I hadn't noticed when I was here last.

Summer Classes for Men

I decently received ths in an email from a former colleague. She sent it to several people so I don't beleive I was being singled out or that any personal message was being send.

Summer Classes for Men
at

THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Saturday, May 22, 2010
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays
Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at7:00 PM.


Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.


Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?
Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.


Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor
Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.


Class 5
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
at 7:00 PM


Class 6
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday& nbsp;7:00 PM


Class 7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.


Class 8
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health.
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.


Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost--Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined


Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.


Class 11
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM , location to be determined


Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at7:00 PM.



Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.


Class 14
The Stove/Oven--What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.


Upon completion of any of the above courses,
diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Bolt Hole Report, March 26, 2010

The temperature at the Bolt Hole was 20 degrees at dawn today and Terry reports the same at the Aerie. Weather.com had said it would get to the mid to low teens but, apparently, the steady rains that started yesterday around 4 PM and the cloud cover associated with them kept the temp from dropping. I didn't get more than a few flakes of snow after midnight (I was up reading Heinlein's Methuselah's Children--thanks Rev. Paul), but Terry says she had 2" of the white stuff on the ground. Today promises to be a bright sunny day with winds out of the north between 10 and 15 mph keeping the temperatures down. Could get those low teens tonight as there will be no clouds.

I'm going to try to install a new CB radio in the Tundra today. With the center console forming a solid barrier between the driver's side and the passenger side, and the fuse box stuck up under the driver's dash, the location of the unit will be a bit tricky. I hate having to screw into a perfectly good and solid chunk of plastic molded console. I'm always afraid of what might be on the other side.

******

There's been some reports of violence and threats in the media against Congressmen because of their votes on Obamacare. However, if this report form Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit are any indication of the media fact checkers I believe we need to take many of these with a block of salt (not grain a block!):

AN IMPLAUSIBLE REPORT IN THE SEATTLE TIMES: “A rock was thrown through the window of Driehaus’ Cincinnati office Sunday.”

Justin Binik-Thomas emails from Cincinnati that Rep. Driehaus’ office “is on the 30th floor of a skyscraper downtown.” He also says that he spoke to Driehaus’ office today and they said this never happened. Which is too bad, in a way, as the Reds could use a guy with an arm like that . . . .

But remember that the media journalists have all those layers of fact checkers so their reports are always accurate.

The Seattle Times should run a correction.

Ya think?

Look what went "missing"

From AOL News:
Rising Sea Swallows Contested Island

March 25) -- For more than 35 years, India and Bangladesh have been locked in a bitter territorial dispute over New Moore Island, an uninhabited sliver of sludge in the muddy Bay of Bengal. Now that argument has been settled by a higher power: climate change.

According to Sugata Hazra, director of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, the low-lying isle has disappeared under the rising seas. "There's no trace of the island anymore. After studying satellite images, I confirmed this from fishermen," he told reporters. "Climate change has obliterated the source of dispute." The 81-square-mile island is now classed as a submerged landmass.

Of course, they blame the rising seas on Global Warming/Climate Change, but anyone who reads Terry Pratchett knows what really happened!*

I'm sure that compaction of the sediments as well as erosive force of waves had nothing to do with the disappearance of New Moore Island. After all, it's never happened before to coastal islands. Long Beach Island of New Jersey would have slipped back into the sea long ago if not for the replenishment of its sand by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Idiots. The sea brought it into existence and the sea--and natural forces--took it away.

*You get bonus points if you can name the book.

I didn't say it was a warm spring...

It dropped to 23 degrees overnight. As might be expected, there's a pretty heavy frost on all outdoor surfaces and the windows of the bedroom had condensation on the inside. (Yeah, I exhale that nasty greenhouse gas water vapor as well as CO2. Sue me.)

There were robins in the trees bitching about the cold. Just proves the early bird sometimes gets the frozen entree instead of a juicy worm.

The woodburners kept the house comfortable overnight.Inside it only dropped to 60 degrees in the kitchen. (Down from 70 when I went to bed.)

The four sunny days previously promised by weather.com seem to have been as lasting as a politicians promise. They now say today will have increasing cloudiness with a chance of late day showers. Tonight those showers may become snow with a low in the teens. *sigh*

Bolt Hole Report, March 24, 2010

I left the Aerie this morning around 9:30 AM heading northeast, then north and finally northwest. Terry went almost due north to a sit-and-stitch in Horseheads, NY. I traveled through Maryland, Florida, Amsterdam, Danube, Russia, Poland, Norway, Utica, and Ohio. In case you can't guess, those are all names of New York towns and villages. (The village of Poland is in the town of Russia. Mmmmm?)

Just outside of Amsterdam, I stopped at the Alpin Haus Camping World and made arrangements to have the travel trailer inspected. The earliest they could fit me in is Tuesday so I'll be here at he Bolt Hole all week--maybe longer if there's a problem that needs fixing. The Tuesday date gives me ample time to do a little house cleaning, charge up the trailer's battery, check the tire pressure, etc.

Virtually no snow on the ground except in the shaded woods or where it got piled higher from plowing or falling off roofs. Even so, it was 43 degrees inside the cabin and 45 degrees outside when I arrived at 3:30 PM. Needless to say, I cranked the fires up in both wood burning stoves and it's quite comfortable now. With 32 degrees outside and 70 degrees inside it may even be too warm inside. (Beats the heck out of the minus 18 degree low outside that occurred sometime since my last visit. The lowest it got inside was minus 12 degrees.)

There was a woodcock peenting his love call from the field behind the garage (that's the Phase One apple orchard recovery area) when I got back from making a trip down to Wally-World for a few staples. A good sign that all is well in the world. (Except having to use dial-up! Grrrrr!)

Yeah, I've had days like that.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Funny you should ask

Shelley (Who is spoiling her Scout like crazy! Poor Marvin! AND Greg too!) wrote: (Previous posts comments) P.S. How are those kitties of yours?

Funny you should ask.

Yesterday, Julie made a break for it. Terry swears Julie was all the way across the room when she slid the door open to step out on the deck when swish! a lightening quick streak of orange and brown went shooting out the door and down the steps on to the grass. Luckily, there were no critters around and Julie is a grass junkie. Terry was able to get close enough to her on the third or fourth attempt to corral the scamp and tote her back inside the house. Julie didn't even try to bite or scratch as she sometimes does when she hasn't had her fill of the wild outdoors.

And last night, Chester got himself shut in the hall closet when he snuck in while Terry was getting a replacement light bulb for her bedside lamp. We never noticed he was missing until this morning. Shadow woke us as usual and Terry was putting three food bowls down when she noticed only two cats and off in the distance a faint "meow!"

Other than that they are cats: One aloof (Shadow); One regal and (sometimes) demanding attention and table scraps--especially venison! (Julie); and one plump, royal lover who's purr sounds like a (slightly) muffled chainsaw (Chester)

And they are all shedding as the days get longer. A great deal.

Aerie Report, March 23, 2010My Turn

I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow morning. I need to see if any snow remains in the yard and if I can get the trailer out of the barn. If the answers are "none" and "yes" then I'll drive over to Alpin Camping World (I think that's it's name) in Amsterdam to see if I can bring the trailer in for a checkup and a lube job. I know the water system needs to be flushed, the heating and AC units checked out, and a few other things done before our Big Trip. Hopefully the tires are in good enough shape--they've only been to Colorado Spring (twice) and Atlanta (once) since I bought the trailer. I'll need to price a spare tire and rim for the trailer anyway.

If the answer turns out to be "too much" and "no" then I'll just have to clean the inside of the trailer as best I can and get it ready for its run to the shop. From the latest pictures that Mark sent, however, I do not think that will be a problem.

******

It was a foggy, foggy day today at the Aerie. Cloud ceiling was somewhere below 2000 feet and the winds were nonexistent, so we were in the clouds almost all day. Occasionally we would get rain but it was mostly drizzle and mist, mist and drizzle all day long right up to 5:30 PM when the northern wind kicked it up a notch or two and blew the clouds up the hillside and high into the air. It's still not clear, but the clouds are now above us where they belong.

It IS supposed to be getting clear and sunny for the next three or four days both here and up at the Bolt Hole. While it will be comfortable during the day (40s and 50s) it might get down right chilly at night up north with a low on Thursday night in the mid to low teens predicted.

******

Fishing season is right around the corner. In NYS it starts on April 1 regardless of what the weatherman says. Often it's during a snow storm. Might be this year too. Snow is predicted for the 30th and 31st of March. Only an inch or two but still...

In PA the trout season starts on April 17th in the Northern Tier. (There's a split starting date that lets some southern counties open on April 3rd. Must read the regs.) Hopefully it won't be snowing then. Last year it wasn't snowing but there was some still on the ground.

I mention this because, although my tackle boxes are here at the Aerie, the poles are in the back room of the Bolt Hole. Neither is very good without the other. I do have one light backpacking pole and small pocket tackle box up north for use on the local streams and a similar set up could be cobbled together from what I have in the Aerie...but there's a lot of gear up there that should be here or visa-versa. (Must remember to bring pieces together!)

IF MY BODY WERE A CAR...

From an email Terry got this morning:

IF MY BODY WERE A CAR...

If my body were a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model. I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull ... But that's not the worst of it.

My headlights are out of focus and it's especially hard to see things up close

My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.

My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins.

It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently.

But here's the worst of it --

Almost every time I sneeze, cough or sputter, either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires!

Aerie Report, March 22, 2010

Back to more seasonal temperatures here at the Aerie. That's 40s and 50s during the day and near or just below freezing at night. That's after a 70 degree day yesterday (Sunday). Of course, yesterday was a sunny day, unlike today. Foggy, cloudy, unpredictable rain showers during much of the day with heavier, steadier rain heading into the night. It's supposed to rain much of tomorrow as well. So much for going out to photograph more birds and plants.

******

I did have a new lens for the Sony Alpha 350 delivered today. It's an 18-55mm zoom that, coupled with a 10x macro, should allow me to get great photos of flowers and bugs about the size of a rice grain. By itself, it gives me a nice overlapping set of lenses when combined with the Tamron 28-80mm and the Tamron 75-300mm lenses. All three are auto focus lenses which cuts time between shots of moving objects considerable. A relatively inexpensive manual focus Opteka 500mm reflecting mirror lens I also purchased works fine in bright light but is a little iffy in the twilight. Now I'll need to get a bigger, padded bag to carry them in when I'm out in the field.

(HA! That will teach Terry to go gallivanting around with her stitching groups! I can't wait until the conventions start again in September! I've been eying a new hunting bow, or maybe its time for a new handgun...or two.)

******

Now that the Iditarod is officially over, I've been spending some time planning our own trip to Alaska. Terry and I will be going with the Good Sam Club on a guided 43-day Caraventure that starts in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, loops through interior Alaska as far a Denali, Anchorage, Homer, Seward and Fairbanks before ending at Prince George, BC. There are lots of activities planned for participants and several interesting optional trips that we will look into. And they've built in free days in the largest of the tourist towns along the way.

I figure the distance to be around 4800 miles. We'll be towing our 27-foot Fleetwood Wilderness behind the Tundra. Of course, we have to get to Dawson Creek on our own and will be on our own again once the party breaks up in Prince George. So I look at this as a three stage trip: 1) To Dawson Creek, BC; 2) On the Caraventure up the Alcan around Alaska and back to Prince George, BC; Getting there will be a 2800 mile task in itself even taking a pretty direct route. Coming home will be even longer because we'll head down to Portland, Oregon first so as to visit with our son and his wife. (Rough estimate of 3500 miles for that.) So--a little traveling music if you will--about 11,100 miles or more over a ten week period. By far the most ambitious trip we will have undertaken.

I've got a thousand-and-one things that have to be done before we set out. Everything from having the truck and trailer serviced, getting a cap for the back of the truck and a spare tire for the trailer, and so on. All the food planning I'll leave up to Terry. Since I'll be doing all the driving, it's only fair she do the cooking when it's needed. Anyway, like in war, the best laid plans often go to the wayside as soon as the first shot is fired. Still, it's comforting to have a plan of attack before you start out.

Heh.

I light of yesterday's happenings I remind you all"

Illegitimi non carborundum (Don't let the bastards wear you down.)

and

Nil Desperandum (Never despair)

At The Muck

Another stop on Saturday was The Muck and IBA (Important Bird Area) along Route 287. The Muck is a marsh in every sense of the word. The area I visited is overgrown with cattails and various other marsh reeds. It's home to muskrat and beaver who are constantly altering the water levels to meet their needs. Several species of rails, herons and ducks make the area their home while trying to avoid the ubiquitous and contentious Canada Geese!

Since birds were at a premium on Saturday, I looked around for other things to photograph. The muskrat I saw was too quick to duck under the reeds and the turtles were not out sunning themselves. That left the plants.

Along the side of the boardwalk heading out to the blind, there are several patches of alders. Line the pines, they produce a small cone--if the beaver lets them live long enough.

Alder cones.

There are also thick patches of wild roses (Multiflora Rosa). Surprisingly there were still some rose hips on the ends of the canes. Normally, these are eaten by the birds. I've seen flocks of grackles, robins and starlings strip the plants bare in an hour or two. I've also seen turkeys leaping into the air to snatch the last few hips on the tippy-top canes. Like most rose hips they are chock full of vitamin-C, but these are too small for me to go nibbling on. Only the size of a raisin, there's only a thin skin of "meat" surrounding a large, hard seed.

Wild Rose hips.

And, being a marsh, there are Cattails. These are a little further gone than the ones I photographed up at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge earlier in the week. Perhaps, the birds have started to shred them fro nesting materials. They are also a bit plumper.
Cattails at The Muck

White Pine

Birds were not my only subjects on my day out and about.

Colton Point is nestled amidst the Tioga State Forest and has lots of oak, hickory, mountain laurel, white pine and hemlock.

There are many White Pines along the western rim and they produce an abundance of cones. White Pine cones are not my favorite. In fact they are far from the top of my list. First, they are very loosely arranged. That is, their scales are widely spaced and hardly the tight spirals of most pine cones and they are hardly symmetrical usually forming a small arc. Second, they are very, very resinous. Pick a few up off the ground and you'll be all afternoon trying to get the gummy resin off your hands unless you've ready access to lacquer thinner, rubbing alcohol and/or gasoline or kerosene. You do NOT want to park your car beneath a White Pine tree! That resin drips when it gets warm.

White Pine Cone with resin on the tips of the scales.

Third, the White Pine produces a prodigious number of cones, often in huge clusters.

Clusters of White Pine Cones on branches.

Oh, and White Pines also shed enormous amounts of needles--almost a third of their full compliment a year--that carpet the forest floor directly beneath them. Virtually nothing can grow where those needles accumulate. Call it chemical warfare, if you will.

If the pine cones do not give away the identity of the White Pine, here's a simple key to identification: The White Pine is the only pine having its needles bundled in clusters of 5. Five needles joined together at their base spells out W_H_I_T_E Pine.

Grand Canyon of PennsylvaniaViewed from Colton Point State Park

I mentioned one of my stops yesterday was at Colton Point State Park on the west side of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. While there is no real park headquarters, there are several picnic areas and overlooks as well as the West Rim Trail and the trail head of Turkey Path which leads down to Pine Creek far below. When the water is low enough, you can wade to get to the other side and climb the Path back up to Leonard Harris State Park. I'm not yet that adventuresome. It's one very steep climb.

Still, the views from the rim are spectacular; especially in the fall when the trees are in full color. Even now, before the leaves appear, they are quite nice.

View upstream from one of the Colton Point lookouts.

(I admit to cheating a bit with the blue sky. A little Photoshop enhanced the blue.)

Tales of the Sea (sorta)

Dudley posted a story today about his son Frank's harrowing experience on a river camping trip that barely lasted one night because of high winds and rising waters. I recommend that any who wish to venture out in iffy weather go and read the whole thing.

It was this line: "Franks said for every three feet they moved forward, the wind and current would push them back two and one half feet." that reminded me of an outing of my own back in New Jersey that provided its own scary moments.

I went solo canoe fishing at Round Valley Reservoir on what appeared to be a nice enough day but turned out to be anything but. Now, Round Valley is a pump/storage reservoir built on the top of a hill in otherwise pretty flat farm country in western New Jersey just south of I-78. It is nearly circular and about 1 mile in diameter. There's a nice public beach and a fine boat launch facility on the northwest side of the water.

It was there that I launched borrowed 17-foot fiberglass canoe to do a little bass and bluegill fishing along the shoreline. Being a careful boater I donned my life vest and lashed a spare paddle to the thwarts of the canoe...just in case. I made my way slowly along the northern shore of the lake catching a few fish in the weed beds as I drifted. Then I came to the dam and cut across the 100-150 yard expanse of open water trolling in hopes of catching one of the large trout in the deeper waters. No luck. Back in the shallows, I continued to drift along with the aid of a very slight breeze until I was on the side of the lake opposite the boat launch where there's a state run campground.

Suddenly, as it often does at Round Valley*, the wind really picked up and I was being blown into shore. I stowed my gear and, deciding to attempt to get back to my car at the boat launch, started paddling for all I was worth--right into the wind.

Have you ever sat in the stern of a 17-foot canoe when there's no one in the bow? First, the bow rises out of the water and the keel (if your canoe has one) may not even rest in the water. Second, that bow acts as an uncontrollable sail to pick up any wind and thrust the front of the canoe to the left and right. Third, if you're heavy enough, you can not see where the hell you are going.

With the wind blowing in my face, I got down on my knees closer to the center of the canoe so as to cut the amount my body was exposed to the wind and to bring the bow down. And then I paddled and paddled and paddled some more. As hard as I could, I shoved that paddle into the water and pulled for all I was worth. Like Frank and his buddy, every time I lifted the paddle to reach forward the wind drove me back. Still, I attempted to move against the wind, staying close to the shore--just in case--until I got to the dam where I had no choice but to hit the open water. The yards...twenty yards...I was almost half way--fifty yards--across that stretch of open water when the canoe paddle snapped just above the blade leaving me with nothing but the useless handle.

In the time it took me to unlash the spare, the wind had blown me back across the open water and up on the shore. if I had been on the west side of the dam, I could have easily walked the one-half to three-quarters of a mile to the car and carried the damn canoe, but, alas, the wind had put me on the east side of the dam.

What to do? Should I attempt to battle the wind and perhaps break the second paddle? Or was there any other option?

There was another option. I would let the wind blow me to the campground and hope that there was someone there who could help me out. So, I turned the canoe around and made my way back to the point furthest from my car using the spare canoe paddle to keep the wind driven canoe going in the right direction.

Luck finally worked in my favor as, upon pulling up to the campground I found a Samaritan willing to give me a lift back to my car at the launch site. It was a three mile drive to get there. I was able to retrieve my car and then the canoe.

I never again went out on Round Valley Reservoir in a canoe alone. But I always 1) had a spare paddle and 2) if on my own, either a big rock or a 5-gallon bucket of water sitting in the bow of my canoe.

*Round Valley Reservoir is known for its sudden changes in weather and conditions. Being isolated as it is with no hills to its west or north for many miles, the winds can kick up boiling thunderstorms a squalls that have sunk boats and drowned fishermen. In at least one instance divers have spent days searching the depths to retrieve the bodies of two men who's boat was found overturned and blown up on the shore. The Wiki entry has more on Round Valley Reservoir.

Iditarod: Fini!

Celeste Davis crossed the finish line minutes after 8 PM AKDT becoming the 55th and final musher to do so this year. She and she alone gets to extinguish the Red Lantern which remains lit until the final musher is in.

One heck of a race.
Fifty-five finishers out of 71 at the start.
Second fastest victory.
Fourth consecutive for Lance Mackey.
NO doggie fatalities.
Fastest Red Lantern ever.
And everyone gets to attend the awards banquet tomorrow!

One heck of a race!!

Iditarod Report, March 20, 2010 10:40 PM EDT

Well, Jane Faulkner has crossed the finish line in Nome leaving just Scott White and Celeste Davis out on the trail and they should be in Nome in an hour or two.

White had all sorts of difficulty getting his 7 dogs to head out of Safety for the final 22 miles. He finally had to walk them out after spending over 12 hours at the checkpoint. They followed his lead and finally realized it wasn't that bad an idea to head for Nome and the end of the trail.

Davis is now some three miles behind White and both are on the final approach. If it were night time, they could see the lights of Nome ahead. Even during the day, they can probably see the town in the distance.

This is on course to be the fastest Red Lantern in Iditarod history. The previous fastest Red Lantern was 14 days 5hr & 38 min.

Tioga County Birding: Other (usually) Hot Spots

My second stop was at Darling Run at the northern end of the Pine Creek Gorge. There has been an active Bald Eagle nest across the creek from the parking area and I was hoping to find someone home. No such luck. They had two nests in a pine tree (always with the renovations!) but two winters ago one had been destroyed by high winds and ice. Last year a mated pair of eagles fledged three young out of the remaining nest. But this year, it didn't look like they were back again.

Worse, there were no birds along the creek either. No geese, no mergansers, no ducks. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Time to move on again.

******

The next stop was at The Muck along Route 287. The Tiadaghton Audubon Society has built and maintained a boardwalk and blind on the south end of The Muck for several years. Usually it's a good place to see lots of Wood Duck, Mallards, Egrets, Herons, Kingfishers and Rails. Usually. Today: three or four Red-winged Blackbirds, an Eastern Bluebird, one Great Blue Heron, and several pairs of Canada Geese.

A pert little Eastern Bluebird greeted me to The Muck

The Great Blue Heron wasn't as friendly.
First he hid amongst the reeds...

...then he headed off for a more distant location.

******

One more stop before I headed back to what were sure to be some angry, hungry pussycats. Hills Creek State Park.

I knew they were having an open house at the sugar shack so, even if there were no birds around, I could visit with my friend, Ranger Patterson who is the Maple Syrup Queen of HCSP when she's not leading nature walks at Leonard Harris SP.

First thing I noticed when I drove in was the lack of ice on the lake. It was there just three days ago. And a small raft of what looked like Ring-necked Ducks were sitting just far enough out that pictures were out of the question. Same for the small number of Tundra Swans at the other end of the lake.

As for Ranger Patterson, she was giving a demonstration to a family on how to tap a maple tree and hang a sap bucket on one of the trees in the parking area near the beach. The park's little sugar bush is some 110 or so trees and she uses tubing and plastic spiles on that hillside, but for the small timer a dozen metal buckets and spiles in the trees closest to the house are easy to maintain.

We talked for a bit after the demonstration was over. The campground areas of the park are still closed and she couldn't open them on the weekend for me to go down and do some birding so I was restricted to the area I could pretty much see unless I wanted to do some hiking.

Then, just as I was about to give up and head home, I spotted an immature Bald Eagle over the northern end of the lake and though I'd walk down to the shoreline to see if it would come closer. As it turned out, there were three immature eagles circling one another and tumbling in the air. They broke up and started to gain altitude prior to slipping over the hillside. I managed to snap a few pictures before they disappeared. This one turned out the best.

Immature Bald Eagle

Tioga County Birding: The Turkey Vultures of Colton Point

So, about birding today. After feeding the cats and picking up the mail at the post office, I headed west down Route 6. The weather just drew me out of the house and into the field. (Although I could have stayed home to rake the yard and turn over one of the garden beds. Nah. No fun in that!)

I planned to head up to Colton Point State Park on the west side of the Grand Canyon of PA (aka Pine Creek Gorge). The sun hits that side of the gorge first and I was hoping to catch some Turkey Vultures soaring right in front of me. This (and Leonard Harris State Park on the opposite side of the gorge) is a great place to go birding. Later in the spring there will be hordes of warblers and other song birds making a stop here for a day or two. Get the time right and you can have a ball getting a crick in your neck! This is also a great place to look down on Turkey Vultures. Often they begin to soar right off the steep slopes of the gorge and you can watch them gain altitude until they are at eye level and then above your head.

They didn't disappoint me today. At first there didn't seem to be any activity but then the hemlock branches down the slope from the lookout point shook and two vultures launched themselves into the air. They were having a difficult time with the lack of an updraft and had to flap their wings often--something a Turkey Vulture seldom does. They even gave up at one point and landed in the trees again, but not in a spot where I could get a good photo of them.

I snapped a couple of dozen photos before they and I opted to move on. Here are some of the best:

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

There wasn't much else happening at Colton Point. Looking down toward Pine Creek I saw some Common Mergansers fly up river. Along the paved road to the point I saw American Robins, Blue Jays, Dark-eyed Juncos and White-breasted Nuthatches. But that was it. In late April or May a list of twenty species will be a disappointment. But today it would have been a God-send. So I moved on to other sites in search of birds.

Iditarod Report, March 20, 2010

I just got back from a sojourn out through the Northern Tier of Tioga County, PA. I was looking for birds--apparently in all the wrong places. I'll post more about that later. Right now I want to focus on the final hours of the Iditarod.

There was one more scratch today. Scotsman John Stewart had to pull out after nursing his team all the way to White Mountain, just 77 miles or so from Nome. He had been having bad luck with injuries to his dogs and illness amongst the team--including himself. When he arrived at White Mountain he was down to just 7 dogs. Rules say you have to have 6 in the traces so perhaps attrition finally did him in. A story in the Alaska Dispatch from a few days ago chronicled some of his difficulties: Scotsman struggles to keep dogs happy.

That leaves just 55 mushers likely to finish the race with just five remaining on the trail. The good news is that all five have left White Mountain and look to be on schedule to finish their trek well before tomorrow night's awards banquet. (One is likely to reach Nome before I get to post this. Rookie Dave Decaro is just a few miles short of the finish line as I type.)

Rookie Scott White is at Safety, the final checkpoint 22 miles from Nome. He's been there for quite some time with just 7 dogs listed as being on his team. Hopefully for him, they will be able to continue after sufficient rest.

Heading to Safety is Ross Adam, and rookies Jane Faulkner and Celeste Davis. Davis has been running with 9 dogs and has been consistently slower than her girlfriend Faulkner who now has 10 dogs in harness. Of course, Celeste is also recovering from a broken nose she suffered back in the Alaska Range in the Dazel Gorge when she got tossed face first into a tree. She was sporting a lovely pair of black eyes in a photo from one of the checkpoints.

To qualify to run the Iditarod is no easy thing. That's why there are only 70 or so mushers who manage to do so each year. To make it all the way to Nome is quite a feat. To do so without having to drop one dog out of the team of 16 that you start with is as rare as pitching a no-hitter. Yet that is what Scotsman Wattie McDonald did this year. Although he officially finished in 45th place, he managed to bring every one of his dogs to the finish line in Nome. Way to go Wattie!

And in 47th place was Newton Marshall of Jamaica. In some of the checkpoint photos from the interior where it got to minus 30 degrees F, he did not look happy. Still, he was proudly waving the Jamaican flag as he crossed the finish line.

Chalice from the Palace

This sounds like the Obamacare debate.



Makes as much sense too.

Then there is the Gibbs Press Briefing.

Aerie Report, March 19, 2010

Beautiful spring day today. We started off around 40 degrees at the Aerie (cooler down the hill, natch, since cold air sinks) and got up to almost 70 degrees under a cloudless, sunny sky with not a wisp of a breeze blowing. The only clouds that appeared during the day were the contrails of the jets passing high over head.

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Terry left this morning to go to The Jersey Shore. Not the town just down the highway, but Long Beach Island where a stitching friend has a beach home. About half a dozen ladies will be gathering to walk the boardwalk at Seaside, dine out at one of the year-round joints on the island and generally have a good time talking and stitching.

Me? I've got the cats. They will let me go to bed early and, maybe, won't wake me until 7 AM if I'm lucky. (That's an hour more than Terry gave me this morning. The alarm is on her side of the bed. It was set for 6 AM to go birding on Thursday. She forgot to turn it off, so it rang at 6 AM again today. Grrrr. Would have been okay, except once it goes off, so does Shadow...and Julie...and Chester. And they don't have a snooze button.)

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Saturday is supposed to be another glorious day so I may head out to the Grand Canyon to see if I can get some pictures of Vultures. I haven't seen a one around the Aerie so far. I'd wonder if the windmills are scaring them away, but I've only seen one as I drive around the Northern/Southern Tier area.

I drove past Hammond and Tioga Lakes today to see if the ice was out. It has melted near the dams and along the northern shore of Hammond Lake which is usually the first to melt. All the gates are still closed however, so you can't even get into the parking areas near the boat launches or the campground areas along the south shore. Even the boat launch area on Tioga Lake and the road to it are still gated. I could walk it but that's close to three miles...one way.

I did see quite a few water fowl on the lakes but they were w-a-a-a-y over on the other side. Too far for good identification. I believe there were Common Mergansers in the mix, however. There were two immature Bald Eagles flying along Route 287 on the northern shore of Hammond Lake. They were right up close and personal making identification easy.

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Quite a few Robins in the trees around the Aerie at sunset today, but not one plaintive "Peent" of a Woodcock to be heard. They must be chasing the Snow Geese. No Spring Peepers either.

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Speaking of Saturday...It is the first official day of Spring. Yep. The Vernal Equinox. Twelve hours of sunlight and twelve of dark. Enjoy the day.

Mouse & Mousetrap

Tell the cats to watch out for this guy. (Be sure to watch all 1:29.)

Farm Wars: Conflicting Nature Signs

Running around to do some things this morning I happened to notice lots of plastic tubing running through the sugar bushes capturing sap for maple syrup. Syruping requires lots of luck in that there's a definite benefit from warm days and cold (below freezing) nights. The warmth draws the sap up the tree during the day and the cold forces it to run back down at night. (If it stayed in the smaller twigs, they might burst from expansion of frozen water in the sap.) So these contrasting temperatures are a boon to the person tapping the trees. They get a heavy rush of sap into their tubes (or buckets if they are old school) when the sap goes up and another rush when it comes back down. If the night time temps aren't cold enough, that night time rush doesn't happen and the next morning there's no big flow going up since it's still up there. Plus, when the sap stays in the twigs and buds long enough, they start to bloom and the sap flavor changes for the worse.

Anyway, my main chore this morning was to visit a place in Millerton, PA, that sells fishing licenses. Not only did I need to purchase mine for 2010, but the Tiadaghton Audubon Society has had some posters printed up for the eel project and we've been trying to get to all the license vendors in the county. Along the same road and in the next town over is Draper's Super Bee Apiary and I was asked to stop and get some Orange Blossom Honey. (I also picked up some Pure Clover for myself. Delicious stuff!) I commented about the spring-like weather and said something to the effect that the bees would be active soon. The clerk told me that they already are active and that they are working some of the red maple flowers appearing in the trees across the yard. That is NOT a good sign for the maple folks.

Watching the dairy cows milling around the barns and feed piles of hay, I got to thinking about something Threecollie of Northview Dairy said the other day. She was wishing mightily for the pasture grass to start growing so they could turn the herd loose amongst this "free" food that is better than stored hay. Of course her wish for fast growing fields of grass might not benefit the syrup man working the sugar bush on her property, but if they got some bees....