February's end

While ski resorts are praying for snow, ducks are going about their seasonal business.  "Down the hill" in Reno, House Finches are singing, and in the wooded neighborhoods Pygmy Nuthatches are, as well.  Forests are dry, and look like November.
     Along Truckee River, and other places, I have seen Red-shouldered Hawks.  This photo is from Internet.  I was not quick enough to get photos myself.

 Northern Shovelers in courtship / chasing.

Lower photo is a Black-necked Stilt foraging in a shallow pond in late afternoon.

an uncertain Storm

Many inches of snow were forecast for Friday and the weekend.  My house-mate let me borrow an old set of tire "cable-chains"  for Silver truck. Thursday afternoon I put them on myself.  Later in the day he returned to the house and said, "Those are too big for your tires."   Richard and girlfriend have 3 old sets of  tire cable-chains that are no longer used.  They each have a Jeep.  The 3rd set we tried was the right size.  The photo is of the "too big" set I installed first.
     The top of the mountain received 30 " of snow overnight into Friday.  Skiers were happy.  Saturday it rained buckets all day and into the night.  Sunday the rain slowly tapered off.  Squaw Valley ski area closed down on Sunday.  I drove slowly around town to work and back for 3 days, before taking the cable-chains off on Monday.  It was the first time I had put chains on Silver's tires.  Yes, it did snow, then the rain melted it away. 

     Today I drove over Mt Rose highway again.  So beautiful with the new snow.  I drove to Davis Creek county park for birding because the ebird reports looked good.  By lunch time I decided those birds must have sheltered out the storm some place else.
Mountain Chickadees, White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches, Flickers, and much twittering that I did not identify.  This Spotted Towhee was singing, but did not want to be photographed.  Camera was not happy when I asked it to focus on the bird instead of the branches.

   

Northstar event

Mostly photos this time.  Northstar's mountain after the snowstorm :

Big event this weekend is the Carving competition.  not ice, but frozen congealed snow,  First photo is the entry from Team Wisconsin,  2nd photo is the creation of Team Mongolia.

The photo of the Snow Leopard attacking a goat did not come out well, so I posted this one instead.

late January

     Northstar continues to make snow every night to make up for what Nature is not providing. California's governor declared an emergency because of the drought.  Fortunately the machine-made snow is
making enough skiers happy that guests are still coming to stay in the condos.  I am still making reservations for future guests.
     Yesterday I drove up to Mt Rose, along Nevada highway 431.  The summit pass is nearly 9000 ft and supports an alpine forest of Fir and Spruce trees.  I parked Silver truck along a paved forest road and walked into the forest.  It was quiet for awhile, then I started hearing Chickadees closer to the road.  A feeding flock of Mountain Chickadees had brought all their friends and relatives.  I saw 2 Brown Creepers on different trees, heard Red-breasted Nuthatches calling, and a group of Pine Siskins announced their arrival  "shreeeeeeeeep."  I was watching little ones flitting when something else moved in to the top of a Fir.  Red Crossbills !!  Eventually I found 3 pairs feeding in that tree.  Steller's Jays and 2 Clark's Nutcrackers came for lunch as well.  All very exciting.
    Later in the afternoon I stopped by Donner Lake and saw a group of Eared Grebes.

 Top photo:  Donner Lake State Park.
to the right, a Red Crossbill feeding on a Fir cone.  Image from the Allaboutbirds.com website.

Funny thing happened this morning, I walked out the door with my directions to Tahoe Meadows, which I did not find a sign for.  I had only my binoculars and my fanny pack with me.  Totally forgot the camera, I could have taken some photos of these birds myself.

Truckee

     Back in December I drove to Pyramid Lake for the first time.  This lake is an hour east of Reno and is surrounded by the Paiute tribe's reservation.  A remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, Pyramid Lake is fed by Truckee River. Limestone tufa towers similar to those at Mono Lake dominate the landscape.  There are few trees.  I had the good fortune to meet some nice birders who invited me to participate in their Christmas Bird Count.  I was glad to not be missing this annual event. Count day was January 1, 2014, a good way to start the year.  Three of us were assigned to Area 2 in the southeastern portion of the lake.  We found 28 species for the day.  My favorites were the group of Sage Sparrows, a female Hooded Merganser, and the Western Bluebirds.  Overall the Pyramid Lake count totaled 70 species.
     Schedules at Northstar resort have settled down to four 10-hour days with 3 days off.  Yesterday I drove to Reno to retrieve Dolphin (the kayak) from my friend's house.  They have just bought a house and are moving soon.  The house I am living in has a 2 car garage occupied by 2 larger vehicles (a Pathfinder, and a Jeep), bicycles, skis, equipment, and now Dolphin has joined everything in the garage.
     Donner Lake State Park is very close.  This morning I walked in the forest near the lake to listen for birds.  Mountain Chickadees, a Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatches, an un-seen Woodpecker, and Steller's Jays.  On Donner Lake 4 Common Goldeneyes, and a male Common Merganser were diving and looking for breakfast.

photos from Donner Lake and marsh.

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.