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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Snow flurries??

It’s been an interesting couple of days since I lasted posted.  After the nice southerly winds over the weekend, that changed and the pleasant weather left.  It was back to northerly winds, cold temps, rain, and even a few snow flurries today.  Yuck!

Yesterday, I sat around waiting for the arrival of the DISH technician.  You see, since I got the new automatic satellite receiver installed on the roof, and I do have an HD TV, I decided to upgrade to an HD receiver.  It didn’t cost me anything for the DISH technician to come out, and was a wash as far as my monthly bill was concerned to get the upgrade.  It seemed like an easy switch out for both the technician and myself.  I figured it would just take minutes to do.  So did he. 

That is until he told me he had to have access to the back of the TV.  Disappointed smile The TV is built into my entertainment center in the rig, and access to it is more than a challenge.  Understand that these technicians really know nothing about motorhomes.  The TV is strapped down and secured so it doesn’t fall out while traveling, so you just can’t pull it out to attach cords to it. 

Eventually, he detached the panel on the side with a gazillion wires attached to it that operates both slides, the water heater, generator, inverter, and other things.  I had to hold that up in the air as he inserted my tick-finding mirror so he could see the back of the TV.  Mostly by feel, he was able to insert the cable for the HD option.  I won’t go into the other problems we encountered, but suffice it to say, that this easy trade out took almost three hours.  It was successful finally, and I can now enjoy the splendor of HD TV.

Today, we had over 100 third graders coming for their spring environmental program on the refuge, and the temps were in the low 30’s as we began.  Most of these kids were not properly prepared for these temperatures, and they along with I, were freezing.  I had lots of layers on, but with a cold wind it was not pleasant.

IMG_7048                                                  Hooded mergansers on one of the ponds.

I was working the Bio-Blitz station.  That involved 45 minutes with each group as they tried to identify at least five different tree species.  I didn’t do my best with the first group as this was new to me, and I’m no whiz at tree identification.  By the second group, I was ‘in the groove’, and really enjoyed the rest of the time.  I had a lot of fun with those kids, and identifying Burrrrr  Oaks, and Quaaaking Aspens seemed to be appropriate since out teeth were chattering.  Winking smile  And you can just guess how much fun coming upon deer scat was for a bunch of third grade boys!  Think brown/black jellybeans…

They all, gratefully, piled back on their buses around 2:00, and I was free to warm up until a 3:30 meeting.  I decided to put the heater on full blast in my car, and take a slow route back to headquarters.  Even though there was some snow spitting, I decided to do the Blackbird Auto Tour Route to see what I could see.

IMG_7004

I think that the bird migration north has been slowed a bit by all the northerly winds this year.  There are lots of yellow-rumped warblers around, but they are among the first warblers to arrive.  May 15th should be the height of warbler migration in this neck of the woods, but unless the winds change, I don’t see that happening by tomorrow… and the winds aren’t predicted to change by then.

IMG_7044

I also found flocks and flocks of palm warblers this afternoon.  Both of these warblers are really only here as a stop off point as they make their way further north.  Very few of our nesting warblers have arrived as yet.  Tomorrow begins the Festival of Birds for Detroit Lakes, and all of us will be busy through the weekend welcoming birders and supporting many activities and tours.  Slightly balmier conditions would sure be appreciated.

IMG_7062

                                                         Time to find a roost for the night…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

29 comments:

  1. oh my goodness. . .snow flurries and 10 year olds do not sound like a fun mix. . .

    perhaps the three hour install will be a bit like childbirth. . .you'll enjoy the HD so much. . .you'll forget the agony. . .LOL!

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    1. That was funny!! I wish my childbirth experiences only lasted three hours. :)

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  2. I missed the snow, but it is fairly cold outdoors..real damp. I hope we get rid of this dreary cold weather soon. I heard something about a Birding thing going on...have fun! :0

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  3. Beautiful Palm Warbler photos; they are so sweet looking. Sorry for your colder weather, hope it changes soon.

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  4. Snow in mid-May? Oh no! Really hope you get good weather for Festival of the Birds. Your pictures are sure great. Love those mergansers.

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  5. Beautiful weather here in Forest City, Iowa. Glad we're not in the Frigid North with you right now. Maybe the cold will knock out the skeeters?

    PS: The Winnebago Factory Service Center is easy to get to and they are very dog friendly here.

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  6. Will you have to go through the same procedure with the TV when you leave?
    Great bird pictures.

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  7. I can only imagine what the dish technician thought when all those wires were exposed when he took the panel off. Direct tv folks won't do anything in rv's, or at least wouldn't.

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  8. Oh yes, third graders... you never know what they're going to say next! Enjoy the DISH upgrade.

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  9. Snow shouldn't even be a word in our vocabulary by the time May rolls around. So far, we have been lucky up where we are in Saskatchewan, the weather has been beautiful even if we did wake up to a bit of frost yesterday morning. Looks like rain is in our forecast for tomorrow though.

    Glad you had fun with the children, even in the miserable weather.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  10. That many third graders would have me taking Advil:) It was 89 here today with 100% humidity.

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  11. Well, glad you only had flurries....it's that darn cold wind that is so miserable!
    Glad things went well with the kids.
    Wish I could be apart of the birding group you are expecting...what fun!

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  12. I think some of the CO/WY snow must have drifted east. Its all clear here now. Cody, WY is having a birding festival this weekend, I am going to try and get on some of the tours into Yellowstone and the FS areas. I didn't know about it before I arrived, so I hope they have some seats left.

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  13. I agree withh Ruth snow shouldnt even be a word in May. but in the 30s here and raining so who knows. what a trooper only thing I can think would be worse than 10 yr old boys would be 13 year old boys :-)

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  14. It sounds like the kids had a good time... that's such a fun age... they are never bored. Yeah... those "chocolate covered raisins" get a low of "euuuuueeee" and other comments. Snow? ARG!

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  15. That cold reached the Upper Texas Coast. The migrants are pretty much gone, with the possible exception of bobolinks, so it's not bothering them, but the temp was 49 in Houston and they think it may hit 48 to match the record low for today. Love those Palm Warblers. First found them wintering in Florida and then found them at Okefenokee in March. I'll miss the helping with environmental education at Red Rock.. We too remote to get to do that.

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  16. We have Directv without HD. We'd like HD but were told it was harder to find the signal, so we are doing without. One of these days hopefully we'll be able to upgrade to HD. Enjoy!

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  17. Glad you got the tv cord thing figured out ! It's a tangle back there on ours and we have to sit backwards on the dash, butt facing the windshield, legs straddling the steering wheel to get to ours!


    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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    1. now that is a funny mental pic. . .oh the things we do. . .LOL!

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  18. Egads...and we were complaining about so much rain. You can keep the snow!

    Have have Direct TV and HD receiver and love it. What a huge difference it made in the picture. Enjoy.

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  19. Snow? I'd stay inside and watch that nice HD TV!

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  20. Oh my, it is going to be 102* here in the LA area today. Cooling down by the weekend to the mid 70's. But hot hot hot today.

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    Replies
    1. and fires. . .are you having fires there? Our niece is posting pics of the fires on FB. . .scary. . .

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  21. I think this year Mother Nature is pushing the envelope on weather...We have been cold and rainy here for the last 4 days...I'm back into my sweatpants and flannels uniform...LOVE that picture of the Hooded Merganser....beautiful!!!

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  22. These roller-coaster temps are driving me nuts! You, too, I suspect!

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  23. Snow flurries there record highs on Monterey Bay, weather is sure fickle.

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  24. My first time to see a Palm Warbler. What a beautiful little bird. Thanks, kiddo. It is nasty here in Indianapolis. When are we going to ever have good weather????

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  25. I really like the photo of the Palm warbler. You did a good job!

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  26. awesome photo of the Palm warbler.loved it reading amazing ....................
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