Spring, Finally!

 Like many others in the upper latitude U.S. states, Spring 2011 has been VERY slow in coming. But, here are some bonafide springy pictures to commemorate the season.

Emma and Phoebe on the Farm

Friends of Molly and Phoebe, invited them out to their farm along Rocky Creek just east of Bozeman. Molly invited Emma and me to come along. It was a blustery day (in May), but the goat kids were just being born. Emma and Phoebe loved it. Their son, loved driving the girls around in his "farm truck".

High Tea with Sleeping Beauty Ballerinas

Emma does music

Sid bought Emma a ukulele when he upgraded his bass guitar and Emma wanted to join in on the musical fun. Despite invitations from her dad, I had not yet seen Emma actually use the instrument, especially in the "right" way. So, this little number I caught with my cell phone was a delightful surprise. :-)



To be honest, I think a second source of the inspiration comes from her favorite tv show, which we watch on Netfliks: Backyardagains. This show is pretty great. Four characters with imagination-based plots, all set to musical scores. They sing, they dance. I've never seen Emma come away from a tv show so entertained and enthusiastic. Because I can't resist, here is a second video, same theme.

My new system

I've been waiting for the weather to warm up to try out my new get-around-town-with-Emma system: the bike trailer. It was snowing this morning, but I decided I needed to do it anyway. So here it is! I biked it home from downtown, to the library (emma's first ride) and to an afternoon meeting with a return grocery pickup.

LOVE IT. Now I just need to attach the handlebar side mirror. The trailer came with a flag already, even though you can't see it in the picture. Emma liked, I don't know about loved, it too. She went out with dad on her own bike in the afternoon as well. 32 degrees be damned. :)

A Little Little Kid Fanciness While Waiting for Spring to Set In

Emma in Memphis: in good hands with Neena and Pops

This is only our second time away from Emma. Looks like she is doing just fine!
At the park:

At home:

At the zoo:

Back to Ding Darling NWR: more big birds

Ding Darling offered better opportunity to take pictures of the "big birds". I had my better camera and better lens. And wasn't trying to balance between paddling responsibilities and taking photos.

"Tarpon" Bay and the big birds

We went out for a guided kayak today in the mangrove formations of Tarpon Bay. Sid was salivating over the name (tarpon). Sid loves tarpon. Come to find out however, that there aren't many tarpon here. If any, the estuary acts as a nursery for baby tarpon. Poor Sid. We most likely will be headed out again in kayak, with rod and fly reel tomorrow, regardless. Fine with me. I love kayaks, the water and the breeze- tarpon or no.

Along with the wildlife, we got a chance to learn a lot about the original Indian residents of this area- the Calusa. A population of nearly 20,000 lived on this island up to 500 years ago. Wiped out by the Spaniards et al. by mid 1700s. They were able to sustain their populations without any help from agricultural productivity. They lived off the sea. That means the sea life here is RICH. A resulting combination of the subtropic zone (25 degrees north of the equator) and the mangrove-based ecosystem.

The mangroves provide an incredible about of habitat and biomass (food) to sustain a huge and diverse population of ocean life. The food chain here is impressive. We weren't able to see much of this life, except for some oysters, snails, bottleneck sharks, some mullet, etc. The biologist used a net, like a butterfly net to pick up the sea bottom life. A mid-tide, the water was only about 3 feet deep. But, in the deeper parts of the bay, there are other sharks, rays, dolphins, manatees, and even squid travel. Here to feed on the abundant food sources.

We were able to see birds. The "Big Bird dogs" of Sanibel. Here are some shots:

The Anhinga:

The Tri-colored Heron:

The Double-breasted Cormorant (terrible pic by the way, sorry about that):

A White Ibis:

The Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge and LBBs

What are LLBs, you ask?...That is what we asked ourselves as we sat ourselves down for a shorebird talk this morning at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. According to the Ontario couple, birding officianados, and volunteer speakers, they are "little brown birds". And there are many of them here.

To keep up my rep as a naturalist, we attended not just one, but two lectures. They were outside in a pavillion in the heart of the refuge. So much better than in a lecture hall. And Sid was game, at least for the first one:  "Crocs vs. 'Gators". The second one I listened to solo. The one about shorebirds. The LBBs.

The crocodile versus alligator was interesting. We learned that in a near tropic environment, they are akin to the Montana grizzly - in that they are feared by humans. And that a trouble gator/croc. is a dead gator/croc. Here, as in Montana, their populations are in jeopardy. If you want to learn more, just ask me in person. I won't bore you blog readers. I did take a lot of notes, which I can share.

At this talk by the way, when asked who we were and what we did in MT, rather than a naturalist, Sid referred to me as an environmentalist; . This description gave me pause. I had to clear my throat; which he caught. Note: When he asked about it, I said I'd rather be described as a conservationist. There is a subtle difference. At least to me. Environmentalists are radical. I'm not radical. Conservationists are rational, articulate people in support of the environment. That is me. Right?

Back to the LBBs. After the talk, Sid and I set out onto the refuge to document all the birds we could capture through Page's "big lens" and to put our good listening and learning skills to the test. It was our job to identify: 6 different types of plover..., 3 types of sandpiper, a Dunlin, Red Knot (there population in the early 2000s dropped by 80%  by the way, due to over collection of horseshoe crabs in the Chesapeake Bay area -their food source for their massive migration from southern Argentina to the Arctic. Since then, horseshoe crab catches have been regulated and the red knot bird population has rebounded. Phew!), Dowitcher, 2 species of Yellowlegs, Willett, Whimbrel and Marble Godwit.

Below is what we got. They will be labelled in a later post. Too tired right now, and Sid wants to use the computadora.

LBBs are in the background. In the front is a heron. One of three species of heron common to the island. Which one you ask...

Note: after this (next blog), I will switch to the BB (big birds), which is a shorter list and much easier to identify.