New additions

As of last night we have two new additions to our neighborhood - in addition to the daily plants that Diana brings home :-).

Bees and quail have joined us! Friends brought out a beehive with bees and installed it for the small price of some pizza and libations! Earlier, the quail ran into the north end of the lot and then jumped on the neighbor's fence to make himself known. Quail have not been seen in this subdivision as far as we are aware. Fun times!

Feathers, flowers, fur and fish!

A beautiful day here in the valley so MJ and I stopped by the owl nest to check on them - what a great choice that was!  Mom and babe both looking at me - wow! Then a quick stop to grab a pic of the white pelican and then down the road for the fur - yellow-bellied marmot on a post!
Out a Horseshoe Springs the long-billed curlews have arrived, the black-necked stilts continue their crazy play and the big carp are joined by an orange fish from someone's aquarium!  Across the highway the blue and the orange flowers add beauty in their subtle way to the landscape.

Enjoy!

Golden eagle taken through the truck windshield - hate to do it that way but was only way to get a pic.

Long-billed curlews

Black-necked stilts

Yes I was surprised to see an orange fish in these waters.

Coming closer!

We planted several new trees on the south side of the house to act as a windbreak...and sure enough, the meadowlark decided to hang out and sing to us from it!  Taken out the kitchen window.

Owl

Friends at Tooele Valley Nursery told me about an owl's nest in Stansbury park - so drove over there and sure enough, there it was.  Here's a couple of photos.

Visiting Price Utah

Diana and I were in Price this past weekend so she could fill in at the Lutheran - Episcopal church there as their priest died earlier in the week.  A tough time for the congregation.

Murphy and I wandered the desert during the church service then came back and took some shots of the church itself.  Desert wildflowers were out and it was glorious!

Desert barbwire

Indian Paintbrush

Looking back at Price and the church from the southeast corner.

Magical flowers

Paintbrush again - love the red and green/sage.

A couple of shots of the church which is a striking contrast to the desert country it sits in.

After the Storm

The day started with 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground which quickly disappeared as it warmed up to a whomping 46! Murph and I had been home long enough so we took a little trip starting at Timpie Springs, then to Horseshoe Springs and down to Terra, over the mountains and back up the Mormon Trail to home. Lots of birds at Timpie and Horseshoe with the white pelicans being at Timpie. We were greeted by a GBH at Horseshoe and then sat and watched the Black-necked Stilts and Avocets play with a couple of Willets dropping by. On the way home a Red-tailed Hawk sat while I took his portrait.

Just like Winter!

White Pelicans are slow but fluid flyers.

Classic Avocet posture

The GBH flew into the wind slowly and quite close to the ground.

Ducks

Avocets and Stilts

Willets dropped in.

Water wash in the mud

Patterns in the sand

Red-tailed

April showers - Snow?

What a wild couple of days it has been.  Yesterday with 40 to 60 mph winds that blew everything around to 5+ inches of snow today and wet wet landscape! Wow! Yet I love the water as we need it so much! My son-in-law Sean snowboarded at Solitude today and said it was easily the best day this year!
Here's a few shots from our place - starting with the mud rain that has covered the windows to the snow and the birds flocking in to where there is food!

The window looking out on the back deck facing north is a mess.

Fuzzy kitty on our bedroom window this morning - yucky window.

We had 4 to 8 inches overall.

The blackbirds and starlings hang out and sing a lot!

Around the yard

We've been adding a few more plants - chokecherry trees, chokeberry bushes, Oregon Grape, Norway Spruce (red cone) - and cleaning out the grass from around the trees. Here's a few shots from around the place - flowers are coming out and it looks like all the trees are returning in good form for the new year.

Ice plant brightens up the gully.

The guys are hilarious to watch and listen too.

 Tulip that Katie and Diana planted

The Black Walnut tree leafing out exquisitely.

Back at Horseshoe Springs

The wind died down and the sun came out and in between landscaping work Murphy and I visited Horseshoe Springs again.  The Avocets and Stilts are there along with a colorful assortment of ducks - mallards, teal, etc... I also spotted one big trout in the pond. After splashing around in the water we took another unexplored road up to the North Stansbury Mountains study area and found zillions of rocks of all kinds, just piled as the glacier left them, I suppose. A cricket wearing gang-like insignia's closed out the day!

Murphy doesn't chase birds and if he is walking slowly they don't scatter.

The avocets and stilts hang out together a lot.

Here's the cricket - have to look close to see him but the insignia on his back is very visible.

Rocks galore!

Windy

Monday and Tuesday the wind blew all day and night. Gusty and mostly from the south, it has continued into Wednesday morning but warmed up a bit. Rain is in the forecast for today but since it has been before several times and nothing happened we are a bit skeptical. Perhaps the mountains will get various forms of water to help out a bit.
Home Depot is a short 2 miles away from us and it sits on the edge of a horse meadow that provides a sweeping vista north. Up there yesterday morning I saw this white cloud of dust blowing against the darker sky and it did come out well. Later that evening Murphy and I watched the sunset and caught a brief moment of light and God rays.
Enjoy!