IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THE ZOO

Last Wednesday, the Camera Club took a trip to the Tucson Zoo! Bob nor I had been there before so we decided to go along. We saw a number of animals; below are my favorites.

HUMMINGBIRD BANDING

On Monday I volunteered at the Camera Club as a Monitor, so Bob headed up to Madera Canyon where he had heard they were banding Hummingbirds. He lucked out and he even got to hold one of the Hummingbirds after it was banded (sorry, no picture of him holding it).

The Hummingbirds are caught in these nets.

Then they are weighted, measured, and banded. Bob says the band they put around their tiny little legs look like tiny pieces of aluminum foil.

This lady held the Hummingbird after it was banded until it decided to fly away.

They are amazing little creatures that weigh about 4 + grams. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1260 beats per minute, and they flap their wings 12 to 90 times per second. They are the only bird that can fly backwards.

The banding is over for this year, but you can bet Bob (and probably me) will be right there next year when they begin banding in April.

BOB'S WEEKEND ADVENTURE

This past weekend, Bob went with some friends, Norm and Howard, to northeast Arizona on a rockhounding trip in conjunction with the Pima County Community College. They went up through Show Low to Taylor, where they spent the night, and then to the area near the Petrified Forest National Park.

Below is a picture of Harrison Yokum, the leader of the group. He is 86 years old, and according to Bob, has more energy than most young people.

Some of the scenery they traveled through to get to their destination.

Below is what was once a forest. This was back in the dinosaur age. Now it is covered with petrified wood.

Below are chunks of the petrified wood.

He had a good time, brought back lots of petrified wood, and learned a great deal about rocks!

PATAGONIA FALL FESTIVAL

We went to Patagonia yesterday with friends Jim and Linda. We specifically went to do some birding, but found that the birds had other ideas. There were hardly any. I think Bob said we only saw 11 species. So Patagonia was having their annual fall festival and we decided that would be fun to see. We were really surprised by the amount of craft booths they had. Patagonia is a small town maybe a few more than 1000 people, but this festival rivaled "Arts in the Park" in Boise. We were impressed.

They had a group of Native Americans dance and I took some pictures. They were very good, and very energetic.

The festival was fun, and we plan to make it an annual trip.

THE GRANDCHILDREN

When we decided we were going to Idaho, we decided to take all the grandchildren a gift showing them something about where we now live. We gave them all books about the desert except Gavin; he is a sports nut so we got him a U of A baseball hat.

Below are Jessica and Kip's girls

Jarod and Katie's

Jason and Sarah's

Those are all the Idaho grandchildren. On our way home we stopped in Spanish Fork, UT, to see the rest of the group. We just couldn't get Jake to hold his present up so that you can read his name.

It was fun seeing everyone. Now it's their turn to come see us!

OUR TRIP TO WINNEMUCCA

We went to Winnemucca, Nevada, on August 24. We went there to help K.C celebrate his 40th birthday on August 28.

He had decided earlier in the summer to have his house stuccoed, and they were finishing the last of it when we arrived. The picture below is what his house used to look like.

And this is front and back after the makeover!

He has taken out all of the trees in the backyard and put in a waterfall with two ponds. He and a friend built a new patio on the back. It looked great and it was a wonderful place to have a 40th birthday party!

Right to left: friends of Jerry and Dorothy's; Jerry and Dorothy Kracaw; me and Bob.

Jennifer Moore (an old friend of Katie's); me and Katie.

K.C, Don and Katie.

Annie and Jimmy Kracaw, Jennifer, Katie, and K.C

Emma and Will Kracaw (Jim and Annie's children)

K.C, me, Bob, and Katie

It was also Jimmy's birthday (he's 6 years older than K.C) and the two of them opened cards together.

Katie giving Aunt Coralee a big hug!

We had a great time and I'm sure that K.C is glad he only turns 40 once!!

HUMMERS, HUMMERS EVERYWHERE!

This past Saturday and Sunday we had a migration of Hummingbirds. There were conservatively about 40 plus Hummingbirds at the neighbor's next door and our house. I tried to get pictures of them all, but as you can see they do not hold still, so I did my best.

They are so cute and so busy. There were four types of Hummers: Anna's, Broad-billed, Black-chinned, and Rufous. All will eventually migrate to southern climates except the Anna's who stay here year round. Below are pictures of the Rufous female and immature Rufous male.

We are sad to see them go, but we know they will migrate back through next spring.