Christmas

      After reading my silly Facebook posting, my friend Sami sent a message inviting me for Christmas.  !!!   Such a wonderful invitation. When I lived in Sacramento, Sami and I went birding together.  I drove to Central Valley on the 24th and she took me out birding to Colusa NWR.   So many birds to be seen !!  Christmas morning we went birding again, thru open country and to Lake Solano.  Its good to see that despite the drought birds are still hanging on.  We counted 60 species on Wednesday.  The drier conditions seemed to have helped the Yellow-billed Magpie population by decreasing the mosquitoes.  West Nile Virus carried by mosquitoes has hit the YB Magpies hard.    (Disclaimer:   this is not my photo,  its from Internet)
     It was a good Christmas, her son made a wonderful BBQ turkey for dinner.
Back on the mountain, snow is not falling from the sky. Snow-making machines are working all night to improve the ski runs for the throngs of holiday visitors.
     I stayed at Hostel Tahoe in Kings Beach, CA, on the edge of Lake Tahoe for several days.   Holiday reservations filled up the hostel and I moved to a quaint old place in west Reno,  Wildflower Hostel.  Reminiscent of small old towns in the West, Wildflower Hostel has a coffee shop, a pub, an art gallery, and old rooms with ceramic decoration and lacy curtains.  Quite charming actually.  Tomorrow I move into a large house in Truckee, as a 4th house-mate.  Hooray !!
     Tuesday afternoon:   Silver truck is now empty of boxes and bags.  Truck washing is next!!

 
House in Truckee with a house-mate's Jeep in front.  Along this road all the houses are on the downhill side, with the 2nd floor of the house at street level.  1st floor is downstairs (down the slope of the hill.).

Northstar

To finish the driving saga:   I was glad I did the Laramie to Rawlins section in the daylight.  There were patches of ice to avoid, passes of climb, and the wind was much less.  Thursday I drove all the way to Wendover, UT.  By Friday night I was in Reno.  I stayed one night at my friend's house and drove to Northstar Saturday morning.  You know you are in the right place when the parking lot attendant says,  Go to the Conference room.  The Conference room was FULL of new employees attending orientation.  Housing is NOT provided, and this continues to be an issue.
     Monday - Friday I was training with 4 other people.  4 of us from the east coast (NJ, VT, MA, and me)  !!!   One lady is from San Francisco.  Its a new property management software to learn, and the accommodations.  As well as the Northstar condos and houses, we also offer Ritz Carlton, Hyatt, Constellation, and Tahoe Mountain Properties.  The last 2 are also very upscale. 
     Topmost photo is full Moon rising over Lake Tahoe.  I was one of several drivers pulled over to watch the full Moon rise into a purple sky.  
     Today was my first day off.  I drove out to Pyramid Lake, an hour east of Reno.
     Birds !!
A large flock of Canvasbacks, a smaller flock of Tundra Swans, a few Pintails, Buffleheads, a single male Common Goldeneye and Grebes.  As I drove along the edge of the lake, I found Pied-billed, Western, and Clark's Grebes. A Raven had claimed a picnic table.
Photo below and to the left are at Pyramid Lake.


I will take some photos of the Northstar area for the next posting.

mid-section of the country

      Picking up the journey in Indiana.  Snow plows were busy early in the morning.  The highway leading south from LaPorte was merely wet.  I created a detour around Chicago using highway 30 and rejoining highway 80 at Joilet.  That turned out to be a good choice, as the TV weather reported many car accidents on the icy, slippery roads in Chicago.  Highway 80 was dry and white with salt. 
      80 is a toll road in Indiana, and they do not have people in a toll booth to give you change.  I put my ticket one slot in the machine, and a $ 20 bill in another slot.  The machine gave me a hand-full of Susan B Anthony dollar coins !!
    Bird excitement that day was a Red tail Hawk in a tree, and 2 Bald Eagles.  I spent the night just east of Des Moines.  Temperatures were forecast to be 4 F overnight, with wind chills of -15 F.
     Next morning the sun was out, and I counted 8 RT Hawks in Iowa.  I crossed into Nebraska at Omaha.  A large group of Canada Geese were gathered on a frozen pond.  A few more RT Hawks, and a maybe Mississippi Kite kiting over a field next to the highway.  I would have loved to stop to have a better look at that bird.
     Platte River valley was surprising for the lack of birds.  I did not see one Sandhill Crane !    In February and March there are 1000's of Crane and Snow Geese visible from the highway.   That night I looked at ebird reports for Sandhill Cranes, and few have been reported from NE.  
     In the morning I drove the last part of Nebraska and into Colorado.  Raptors were the stars of the show that day.  I saw 6 Rough-legged Hawks  (!!!!),   2 Bald Eagles, more Red Tailed Hawks, and several Kestrels sitting on phone wires. 
    In the afternoon I stopped at my storage unit and picked up my skis.  Working at a ski resort, I need to bring skis with me.  I drove thru Cheyenne and picked up highway 80 again.  Traveling west the highway warning signs were worrisome: "Slippery spots ahead Turn off cruise control."   Other signs read  "Warning Strong winds to 35 mph."
     It was dark when I arrived in Laramie.  Warnings signs were ominous:  "Caution strong winds to 50 mph   Trailers and small vehicles not advised."  I stayed overnight in Laramie to wait out the wind storm.  In the morning the wind was much less, and driving was better.
    Thursday I kept going from Laramie to the western edge of Utah.  Wendover is 2 bizzare towns, a painted line in the road separates Mormon Utah from the casinos of Nevada.  
     While driving I sometimes listen to my iPod with some podcasts I downloaded a few years ago.  Last night it would not charge the battery from the wall outlet so I plugged it into the computer.  iTunes was immediately automatically activated, and that program deleted all the podcasts I was listening to.  Very angry with that stupid program for deleting my bird podcasts, and very sad to have lost them.

Top photo:   Rocky Mountains from Hwy 80 in Laramie, WY.
2nd Photo:   snow-covered mountain south of hwy 80,  west of Salt Lake City.
3rd and 4th photos were taken 2 years in Wyoming.  looked just like that today.





    

driving west again

     I really didn't want to leave NH so quickly. We were having a good time.
Thursday night, as a concluding event, Sue and Jorge and friends and I went to a wonderful concert at University of Connecticut.  They are generous, big-hearted people.
      With the job being in the CAL Sierras my schedule was planned.  I packed up the truck on Thursday.  Sue and I looked at the weather maps. A winter storm with ice and snow was moving across the middle of the country.  Friday morning we talked about the weather again.  I started driving Friday afternoon into grey skies, but the rain had stopped.  As I drove into NY and Pennsylvania another rain storm moved in.  As I approached Scranton darkness and sleet were both falling.  Overnight 2 inches of snow fell.
     In the next days I enjoyed rural Pennsylvania, snow-covered conifers, and Gulls on Lake Erie as I drove on Interstates 80 and 90.  Light snow fell as I crossed Indiana.  I am worried about slippery roads as the temperature drops each evening, so no night-time driving.
     Photo:  December driving.

moving thru November

         I have been at this job hunting activity for several months.  What am I ?  Chopped Liver ?  Maybe I will stop being depressed and go do something else.  I came to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving week, and things began to happen.  Today it is official, I will spend the winter working at Northstar ski resort near Truckee, California.  Hurray !!   In a few days I will be driving across the country again.
        My Dad and I have done some excellent coastal birding in Maine, NH, and Massachusetts.  Red-breasted Mergansers, Harlequin Ducks, all 3 Scoters (Black, White-winged, Surf), Common Eiders, Buffleheads, Long-tailed Ducks, Red-throated and Common Loons, Western and Horned Grebes (!!!),  Snow Buntings.  Special Mention:  a Razorbill (Karen's Life bird),  and Snowy Owls.

 Top photo of Cocheco Falls in Dover, NH.  Old brick buildings once housed textile factories.

Great Blue Heron fishing in a shallow marsh with brown grasses at the end of autumn.

      Tufted Titmouse looking for a mid-morning snack.