Training Tuesday

All of the volunteers and staff had to show up at the maintenance office this morning for a training video on safe driving.  Each month it’s something different, and I missed the October training on blood born pathogens.  Oh darn!  :)  I’ve about got that video memorized from all the years of viewing it back in my former life.

When that was over with, I headed back to the rig to relax until after lunch.  Then I headed to the Visitor’s Information Center (VIS) to get trained in on the new cash register for the nature store.  This year’s version even has a scanner for items that we sell.  Technology marches on even at our refuges!
During a lull in the afternoon, I took a short drive down one of the refuge roads to see what birds were about.  This Loggerhead shrike posed on a couple of branches for me.  This bird has a common name of butcher bird because it catches small birds and insects and impales them on thorns to dine.  It’s talons and feet are not strong enough to squeeze the life out of its prey, so it’s not considered a raptor.  They are quite common on the refuge.
I also got a brief view of an Eastern phoebe on the barbed wire.  Notice the dragonfly zooming around at the top of the pic.  You can’t see much more than the silhouette of this bird because I was shooting into the sun, but I liked the effect.

I hustled back to the VIS to learn the closing procedures, but our only sale today was a bottle of water to a staff member.  :(  This isn’t exactly the busiest time of the year here for the VIS.  I’m really surprised the VIS is open every day at this time of the year, but originally the new VIS was supposed to be already built by this time.  There are plenty of volunteers to man it and the new second center closer to I-10, but neither facility has been completed.  I’m hoping to help set up the new visitor’s center before I leave, but I’m not sure it will be done by then.
After we closed up the building, I took a drive around Shoveler Pond.  This pic of a great blue heron was all I could come up with.  Since the hurricane, this wildlife drive has been miserably unproductive.  Before the hurricane, it was a fresh water oasis in the middle of brackish and salt water areas.  It will take more time to get it back to a fresh water haven. 

It’s not been a very exciting day today, but tomorrow I’m off on a bird survey assignment.  The weather has been muggy, windy, and hot; perfect for the hoards of mosquitoes that don’t seem to be blown off by the winds.  :(  When I lower the window on my vehicle to take a picture, dozens of those blood suckers rush inside and I’ve got lumps all over.  Even though it’s hot, I wear jeans and a sweatshirt to take Emma out so I won’t be a head to toe pincushion!  That’s the price I pay for this great location.

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy 

Sunset Serenade

Today was my last day on the job at the Visitor’s Center, and I believe the first full day of fall after the autumnal equinox.  My calendar shows the equinox as tomorrow, but today is close enough.  I think the birds may somehow know this.
Overnight, thousands of sandhill cranes migrated into this oasis in the high desert from places far North.  The moon is full, and the winds must have been right!  Almost everyone that came into the VC reported seeing large flocks of cranes in the fields.  I’m sure they were fueling up after their long flight.  They are joining the 200+ pairs and their young that nest here.
I was happy to see an Osprey pull one of the carp out of the pond below the VC this morning.  The refuge needs all the help it can get in eliminating this invasive species of fish!
As I took this picture of the departing Osprey with it’s booty, I was able to capture a bit of Malheur Lake in the background.  The lake is about 40,000 acres this year, and this is about the only way you can see it unless you have an airplane.  There are no access roads open to the public.  Those cranes in the first photo were flying over the VC and headed to the field area between the pond and the lake. 

I had 79 visitors today, so I was pretty busy from opening to closing, and didn’t get much of a chance to get outside.  :(  It certainly made the day go faster as compared to only 7 visitors when I started here!

So, what about the sunset serenade?  Well, as Emma and I sat outside this evening just before sunset, there was suddenly a great loud ruckus going on.  All those thousands of sandhill cranes were descending upon Malheur Lake to roost for the night.  They generally roost in water to make them safer from predation by the coyotes…and no one can call sandhill cranes quiet!  Wow!  Even though the lake is about a mile away, you just couldn’t help but hear all those cranes whooping it up.  :)  I just love the sound of cranes, and when you get thousands of them all jabbering away at the same time, it is just something I will never forget!  After about ten minutes, they all quieted down, and then the great horned owl decided to chime in with it’s hoots adding bass notes to the symphony!  Not to be outdone, the coyotes added their mournful alto and soprano tones as well.  The Chicago Symphony would have a hard time competing with the wonderful wild concert I was listening to tonight.  What a fantastic musical send off for our time here at Malheur!  Is it any wonder that I continue to volunteer at National Wildlife Refuges?

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy   

How long are you going to do this?

This is what Terri, the office manager of the refuge, asked me today.  She was referring to fulltiming, and volunteering at National Wildlife Refuges.  My answer was “Until I die in the traces, or can no longer drive the rig.”  I realize that things can happen, and my plans may change, but I really enjoy this lifestyle and hope I have many years left to enjoy it.  I’m a life time member of Escapees, and told her about that and the CARE program in Livingston, TX.  (If you don’t know about Escapees and CARE, let me know and I’ll do a post about that)  I’m hoping not to end up living with one of my kids in my old age and becoming a burden to them.

It was another day of working in the Visitor’s Center today, and the electronic counter on one of the entrance doors said I had 44 visitors today.  Since it counts people as they enter and leave, I probably really had only about 25 folks stop in.  There is another door without a counter, and some people enter and leave that way. 
Early on, I noticed one of the Lewis’s woodpeckers fly into one of the elm trees surrounding the VC.  I grabbed my camera and ran outside since that would mean he might be in the sun.  I’m not sure I’ll get a better pic than this of this dark colored woodpecker, but I’ll keep trying.  None of the red in his plumage showed up in this angle.  :(

I had a visitor today ask if we had a form to leave comments for the refuge manager.  We don’t, so she just wrote her comments on a piece of paper, and I took that to the appropriate person.  That resulted in a little project, thank goodness, for me.  I’m developing a comments form that will be available for visitors.  That sure beats playing spider solitaire all day long when no one is visiting!  The biggest challenge I face in doing this is working with an ancient version of Microsoft Word.  I told the volunteer coordinator that that’s why I always had a secretary in my former life.  They could have whipped up this form in minutes, where as it is taking me hours!
Once I got home, Emma was more than anxious to get out of the confines of the rig.  We sat outside for several hours, after taking a good walk around.  I just wish I could hear, smell, and interpret  everything she does.  Here she is on vigil status protecting our home!  :)

I have tomorrow off from the VC, and I’m going on a tour of the refuge with fellow volunteers, Jan and Karl.  They have volunteered here for 14 years, and are amateur (not really) archeologists.  They’ll be showing me petroglyphs and an authentic sod house among other things.  I’m pretty excited about that, as we will be going to areas of the refuge that are not available to the normal visitor.  Cool Beans!!

I leave you with tonight’s sunset….
                              on a drying Walla Walla sweet onion on my picnic table.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Back to work

It was a pretty busy day today in the Visitor’s Center, for a weekday, but I did manage to sneak outside occasionally to see what was going on.
I’ve always felt one of the signs of fall is the congregating of the swallows on the electrical wires.  They’re done with the breeding season, and are just fueling up on all the insects to increase their fat supplies for the coming journey south for the winter. 
These birds are pretty smart.  They line up on the wires so evenly spaced, and don’t tread into others’ personal space.  A good lesson is to be learned there… :)  Here’s a bit of trivia you can use at your next boring gathering to liven things up a bit.  Put your finger in the little dip where your collar bones meet below your neck.  Do you feel that semi circle?  Well, birds have the same thing, and that’s where they store their fat for upcoming migration journeys.  Just before they’re ready to move on, that little area will just bulge with yellow fat.  That’s where they get the fuel to accomplish their amazing journeys.  I sure wish that was the only place I stored extra fat!  :)  I could just wear a scarf around my neck or something.  :)
As I went to take the picture of all of the swallows, this was the view of the marsh and surrounding mountains from the visitor’s parking lot.   The amber colors of fall with one swallow not following the crowd on the wires.  I guess he flaps to a different drummer.  :)
This fawn was skulking about the front yard underneath the crab apple tree looking for tasty morsels.  She/he is usually accompanied by its mother.  The mother has a huge hematoma growth on her leg, and I did not see her at all this morning.  A visiting veterinarian said it may just fall off, but it makes you wonder if maybe the coyotes got her.  That huge tumor like growth made it difficult for her to walk.  We all will be looking for her to show up again.

As I was busy inside with visitors, there were a couple of reports of a Calliope Hummingbird visiting the feeders today.  I’ve never seen a Calliope hummer, so out I went every chance I got with camera in hand.
The Calliope is the smallest of hummingbirds at only 3.5” in length.   I thought I had captured one in my pics, but upon editing discovered that this was a very young hummingbird just growing in it’s tail feathers.  That’s why it appeared to be so small.  By the curve of it’s wings, I’m thinking this is just a very young black-chinned hummer.  Notice in the middle pictures how it is extending it’s tongue to catch some small insects without expending much energy.  :)
I then moved to a different feeder, but see the rounded wing on the right that is shorter than the tail?  Another black-chinned youngster.  There was no Calliope for me today.  :(
           Oh, oh, what happened to Tim, the refuge manager, that was out netting carp???
                                                  I guess he missed the step up!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy

Guess whooo returned!

The great horned owl returned this morning to roost outside the Visitor’s Center giving me and some other lucky people the chance to enjoy an up close look at this denizen of the dark.  As you can see, he swiveled his head 180* to show off his feathery horns.  :)  What a hoot!!

Another day working the VC.  Not very exciting, but I did step out several times to check out the bird life. 
The California quail are pretty skittish, but…
I was able to sneak in a few close ups before they all took off in a noisy flurry of wings and squawks.  The male, on the left, was blasting out his warning calls the whole time I was skulking around trying to get a good shot.  :)  Don’t you just love those little top knots?
A new visitor to the bird feeders this week is the American goldfinch.  They’ve already molted into their winter plumage, so they’re not  the brilliant yellow of springtime that earns them the common name of a wild canary. 
Here are my latest attempts at a decent picture of a Lewis’s woodpecker.  Obviously, my quest is not over.  :)
Lest you think birds are the only concern at this refuge, I include this picture of the refuge manager out in the pond in front of the VC.  He is pulling a fish net behind him.  The invasion of carp have really had a detrimental effect on the refuge marsh vegetation, and the natural red band trout population.  He is out there trying to net some of the unwanted carp.

The thought of working the not very busy VC four days this week was a little depressing to me, so this afternoon I worked on a plan to get out and about for at least one of those days.  If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I may have something new to report.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Malheur Visitor’s Center

It was a full eight hour shift at the Visitor’s Center for me today.  Having had only seven visitors actually come in the door, I guess you could say that it was a little slow.  :(  Nothing like working the Visitor’s Center at Pea Island NWR or Laguna Atascosa NWR!  Kind of reminded me of Swan Lake NWR.  Oh well, I brought my lap top along today, and was able to catch up on my blog reading.  You can’t keep busy restocking merchandise if nobody buys anything.  The highlight of the day was selling four cans of pop to staff members.  :)  How sad is that? 
The Visitor’s Center has a huge deck surrounding it, and I’ve been told that it is packed with visitors for the spring bird migration.  The building, was constructed by the CCC in the 1930’s, and has a unique tiled roof with many colors.  The refuge was established in 1908, so is among the oldest refuges in the nation.  This building was used as the home of some of the earlier refuge managers.
These are the views out the front picture windows.  Not too shabby, I must say.
That’s the museum building on the left, and the public restrooms on the right.  These buildings were also constructed by the CCC.  The museum has a wonderful collection of stuffed birds of the refuge, and an egg collection.  It reminded me of a small version of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY.  Most of the birds were taxidermied (don’t think that’s an actual word:)) by one of the first refuge managers.  It’s a nice collection.
Remember my story from the other day about the mother yellow-headed blackbird?  Well, I now know where all the fathers were!
They were all here just in front of the deck at the Visitor’s Center pigging out at the bird feeders.  Looks like they don’t get along together any better than the hummingbirds do.  :)
There are also a lot of hollyhocks blooming around the VC for the hummers to enjoy. 

Tomorrow, the volunteer coordinator is taking me on a tour of the refuge in the morning.  After that, I’m going to have to try to figure out what to do about my latest attack of the motorhome gremlins.  This time, there appears to be a leaking out of my hydraulic leveling jack fluid on the back driver’s side jack.  :(  Ugh!  It doesn’t sound like that’s something I can fix myself, and here I am again in the middle of nowhere!

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Holy bats and birds, Batman!

Today was my first official day “at work.”  The first two hours were an orientation with the volunteer coordinator, and the rest of the day was running the Visitor’s Center.  The electronic people counter on the entrance door counted 22 visitors today, but I happen to know that only 7 people came into the visitor’s center today.  I’m on duty again tomorrow, so I’ll bring my camera to get some pics to show you.  I sure hope visitation increases, because 7 visitors makes for a very long day! 

I was back at the rig shortly after 4:00, and after a walk, Emma and I sat outside to enjoy the sunny weather.  It seems she is in one of her shedding modes, so I opened up one of the basement storage doors to get out the furminator.  As I was brushing her, she kept trying to get over to the open basement door.
I checked to see what she was so interested in and found a bat hiding in the corner!  Egad!   I’ve had mud wasps sneak in the tiny border around the basement door, but never a bat!
I couldn’t figure out if it was trapped in there or just reluctant to come out into the bright sunshine.  I put Emma back inside, and asked my new neighbors if they knew anything about bats.  They didn’t, but they came over to see it.  Eventually, the bat got nervous enough to leave, and took off.  What next?  I know this is a wildlife refuge, but really!  I guess, just like mice, they can sneak into very small openings.  That gopher snake I saw the other day was also in back of the rigs tonight.

After that bit of excitement, I brought Emma back outside, and after refilling my hummingbird feeder, sat down to enjoy all the hummers buzzing around.
Merikay asked if I would ever let you know if I got that quintessential hummingbird picture, and I have to say that I probably won’t.  That would mean that quest would be over, and I think there’s always a better picture on the horizon.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

I should have guessed....

...the morning was going to pose challenges right off the bat.  When I woke up, I was surprised to see that it was 7:00.  I haven't slept that late in many moons.  It also meant that I only had a half hour to get everything done before I headed for the VIS.  Putting things into high gear, I dressed before taking Emma on her morning outs. (not that I'm usually naked when I take her out, but I generally just slip on a pair of sweats) She was very cooperative and took care of business in under ten minutes.  I wolfed down a bowl of cereal, put Emma in her crate, loaded up the van with binos, camera, and computer and drove the ten miles to the VIS by 8:00.  Phew.... Once inside the VIS, I started the free coffee to brewing, did the cash register opening checks, did the same for the charge card machine, and stepped outside to put up the banner that is strung between two poles when the VIS is open.  OK, now I was ready for business.  In the winter, visitors usually don't show up before 10:00, but today was the exception.

Around 8:30, while I was outside checking the skies with my binoculars for birds, a car pulled up, and the man driving wanted to know if he had to show his Golden Age Pass (now called the America the Beautiful Inter-agency Senior Pass) to enter the refuge.  I told him that all he had to do was register in the VIS, and followed him inside.  I seldom get cranky visitors to the refuge, but he was one of the few.  He ranted away about how there should be signs to explain all this.  Then he complained that there was no way to know this was a visitor's center.  I calmly told him that there was a large banner outside indicating such.  He then said "Well, it's upside down!"  Uh oh!  I told him I did that to get people's attention. :)  He did not think it was funny. :(  I plied him with a map and directions of where to drive, and he and his wife, who remained silent, were soon on their way.  I made sure to quickly turn the banner right side up!

A short time later, I resumed my scanning of the skies, and accidentally stepped....

right into a fire ant hill!  That's not a wise thing to do.  If you look closely, you can see all the ants swarming around after being disturbed.  They have a very nasty bite, but I was lucky and escaped that experience. 

The rest of the day calmed down.  A group of Boy Scouts arrived at 10:00, and Stephanie, Tami, and I took them on a bird tour in the van around Shoveler Pond.  They were working on their Bird Badge, and needed to identify 20 different bird species.  That was easily accomplished on our drive.  They all left happy and the subsequent visitors were all in a good frame of mind.  I had about $160 in sales today and everything balanced at close up time.  A good end to a shaky beginning today.  I locked the door of the VIS for the last time, and headed home.

Tomorrow, I'll do the last salinity testing and bird survey before I leave.  By the afternoon, fellow Escapees and NWR volunteers will arrive at the pads to visit for a day.  I've known Linda and Ron on the internet for several years, but tomorrow we'll get a chance to meet.  I look forward to that.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

Oops!

Yesterday morning I took my time getting up and doing the normal morning chores.  I fixed a nice hot breakfast, took Emma for a long walk, and finally went to Winnie to do some grocery shopping.  By the time I got home and put everything away, it was a little after 11:00.  I then sat down to calculate my volunteer hours for the month of December, and glanced at the calendar that Stephanie had printed for me with my January assignments.  To my great surprise, it showed that I was supposed to be working the VIS yesterday.  Oh my goodness!  I thought I was only working the VIS on Saturdays.  Apparently the local volunteer wasn't available this weekend.

Needless to say, I literally hopped up out of my seat and prepared to hot foot it the ten miles over to the shack.  I got things opened up by noon, and had a fairly busy afternoon.  I guess it was because it was a holiday weekend.  The weather certainly wasn't anything to write home about.

One of the visitors I spoke with was a gentleman from Mississippi.  I asked him if he knew of the Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in southern Mississippi where I am thinking of volunteering at next winter.  It turned out he was a research biologist at Mississippi State University and works with both the Sandhill Crane and  Grand Bay NWRs.  What a small world!  I was just coresponding with a fellow volunteer that is at Sandhill in the morning.  He gave me his card, and maybe I'll be working with him next year.

I'm sure glad I glanced at that calendar...

I'm trying a new edition of the editor for my blog today, so I'm not sure how this will turn out.  I can't seem to find the spell check feature with this edition, and that is a concern to me.  I spell pretty well, but it never hurts to have a proofreader.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

Working the VIS

I was on the road by 7:30 this morning headed for the VIS. Naturally, since it was a work day, the sun was shining and the temperature was slowly rising. I opened the building, started brewing the free coffee, put out the banner and waited for the crowds to arrive. OK, I knew there weren't going to be hordes of people, but I didn't think I'd have to wait two hours for anyone to show up. After the miserably wet week, I thought the birders would be arriving early on such a gorgeous day. I was wrong.

So, there was not much to do except go outside with my camera and see if I could find that vermilion flycatcher. ;)


Right in back of the temporary VIS is a small pond (the one that had all the frogs wiped out by hurricane Ike). Those black dots in the sky are starlings...ugh. It's a pretty little pond and the flycatcher likes to hang out around it.

Eventually, the little dude showed up. This shot is better than the last one I took, but I'm still not satisfied. Of course, each time I got the camera set up, he decided to flit off to some other perch in his search for insects on the wing. I'm not giving up yet. I've got about six weeks left to get a better shot.

By the end of the day, the grand total of folks that stopped in the VIS was 19, and I had $34 worth of sales. Not exactly the big time, but it sure beats being skunked all day like I was at Swan Lake NWR in Missouri last summer. I always enjoy talking with the visitors, and I had two fellows that were repeats from last weekend. One is an English chap who kindly noticed that I wasn't Colin. :) The other was a fellow from about eighty miles away that has never been out of the state of Texas. He was astounded to learn that I drive my rig by myself and travel around the country alone. I told him I am one of many, but he just couldn't believe that a good looking, bright woman (his words) like me would travel alone. He should have stopped there with the flattering comments, but he didn't. He went on to say...surely, there's some old geezer out there with the same interests that you could hook up with! Oh boy! I reminded myself that he was a visitor and remained pleasant. I'm sure he'll be back with more words of wisdom in the future.

Just another day in the VIS...

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A way to help the boredom

On Saturdays, I put in a ten hour day at the visitor's center at the refuge. It would help quite a bit if lots of people visited, but that is simply not the case here. I had a total of eight people today in three different groups, so that means many hours of nothing to do. Every Saturday, I vacuum the place to pass some time and arrange the chairs for Sunday's movie presentation. That takes about 45 minutes, so I'm still left with a lot of down time. I've started bringing my computer along so I can at least play spider solitaire and flip word2, but you can only do so much of that.

Last week, my son, Daniel, signed me up for Net Flix and that may be a real God send. I got my first two movies in the mail earlier this week and saved one of them for today. There is a pull down screen in the visitor's center and a projector and surround sound for the Sunday movies. This afternoon, I popped in "Chariots of Fire" and watched the whole two hour movie without anyone coming in. It's kind of like going to the movie theater, only I, thankfully, have control over the volume. ;) I did put it on pause at one point so I could run outside and take down the flag before the ever-recurring thunderstorms began.

So I'm planning to make good use of those Net Flix movies for the next couple of months! I hope there will be a good crowd for the movie tomorrow and that the weather is conducive to bringing out visitors.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy