Arches National Park: Park Avenue viewpoint

 

One of the first stops when you get into Arches National Park in Utah is a canyon called Park Avenue. Really cool location and only about a mile hike to the opposite end of the canyon and not too steep for once on one of these national park hikes. This is a formation at the entrance of the canyon and you take some stairs down, from where I am standing in the parking lot, but all in all, not a difficult hike at all and lots of amazing views. Check out the blog post from May 10th for a nice shot of Park Avenue. 

That's one black canyon

 

You can definitely see how the Black Canyon of the Gunnison got its name. Those rocks were dark and still covered in snow back when we visited last April. We didn't get to see too much as only the road up to the visitors center was open. Beyond that, roads were still closed from the snow that fell the night before we arrived. Still, my buddy Bill and I got to get a feel for the place, which was quite different in color and in the age of the rocks, from the colors of the older rock formations seen in Utah and western Colorado. These hills were newer sharper and more jagged. No hike down to the bottom for us, but that would have been a difficult hike back up in any case. Glad we got to visit. Hope to go back there one day to see more. 

Back to flying over the city

 

My second post-pandemic trip to NYC last month got me a window seat as we flew over the city. Always amazed how close we want to live to each other. Why do we do that? FOMO? You want to be where the action is, I guess. Anyway, used a filter just for fun to give a colorful vibe to the city. 

Common? Not so much!!!

 

I think that this bird has been insulted as he is called the Common Yellowthroat. First of all, I hadn't seen one until this year--so how common can they be? Plus, this is a beautiful bird and therefore deserves a better name. But, for now, until I start a campaign to change it, Common Yellowthroat it is. 

Henslow's Sparrow Singing for his supper

 

My first Henslow's Sparrow found on a nature walk in Springbrook Praire Forest Reserve, Naperville. 

Nine Visitors

 

Worked outside yesterday and kept my eye on the feeder and the nearby flowers. Got at least 9 different species visiting the yard, including a somewhat rare visits by both a Blue Jay and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, along with very common visitors like the Mourning Dove, House Sparrow, Downey Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, a bright red Northern Cardinal, House Finches (male and female) and the wonderful bright yellow American Goldfinch (who will start to lose their bright colors soon for fall and winter). The male House Finch has a spot of red on his upper breast and head in the top right picture. The female in the same shot has her back to us and plain colored. The House Sparrow is in the top left shot with the Mourning Dove with his back to us up on top of the feeder. The middle shot on top has the woodpecker hiding there and the Nuthatch. I assume you know which is the Cardinal and which is the Blue Jay. Hard to get those wrong. Having these visitors come by makes working outside a perfect day. 

Blue-winged Teals

 

The Blue Angels think they are all that. These Blue-winged Teals have their formation down pat. From a trip to Fort DeSota Beach, Florida back in the fall of 2021. 

My Flux Capacitor

 

There is my "flux capacitor", a 32 ft Nexus RV in Capitol Reef National Park from earlier this year. As in Back to the Future, the flux capacitor is what makes national park trips possible, or at least a little more comfortable. The thing is huge and a beast to drive but I like how in this shot, it is just so tiny in the frame. My new rule is that it only comes out to play when gas prices are less than $5 a gallon!!! 

Little Tough Guy

 

This little guy (barely taller than the grass in the field), has quite the look. Definitely says, "don't mess with me" and we didn't. They are actually in a field several football fields in length and about as wide, fenced off from the road and parking lots nearby. Anyway, that look would freeze any mouse in its tracks. 

Burrowing Owls

 

This was a fun one. I just got back from a work trip this week to Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida. Super hot and muggy--especially in suits but we survived the trip. I saw on my Merlin app that there were some Burrowing Owls near our hotel. This is a bird that I saw last year but I did not get any good pictures as they were nesting and we could not get near the nests. Burrowing Owls dig out a nest on the ground to lay their eggs in the spring. Anyway, I convinced my sales person, Rick Bauer into joining me in a pre-work jaunt to see if we can find these beautiful small owls, located near the football stadium of all places, on the campus of Florida Atlantic University. I wasn't sure they would be there but the app reported them in the area within the past 5 days so I was feeling we would get lucky. Got up around dawn and drove about 4 or 5 miles from our hotel and got to see these spectacular birds. Rick and I saw at least 5 of them in the area, but there could have been more. Turns out the Burrowing Owl was named the "bird of the year" for 2022 as so named by the American Birding Association. I didn't know there were "birds of the year" and here we saw one, beautifully posed and back lit, just in the right year. Burrowing Owls are threatened in Florida as habit destruction and fertilization is putting immense pressure on the species. These owls live mostly on the ground in shortgrass prairie habitats, which are being drained and converted to crop production. Efforts by farmers to reduce the numbers of ground squirrels, prairie dogs and insects means there are fewer burrows available for nesting and less prey to feed on. Definitely, a great way to start the day. 

Box Canyon

 A great view of a box canyon with the river that carved out the channel flowing through it. Taken at Mount Rainier National Park, last month. 

A new bird

 

Only got a couple of new birds this summer but this Western Tanager in the North Cascades was a highlight. I was listening for birds on all of my hikes but they don't sing as much after mating season and I tend to see very few birds in general while hiking in the west. I stood around for a few minutes in this spot and the Western flew right by me and sat on this stump. I only had enough time to get 2 or 3 shots and he was gone again. Great fun and wonderful colors. 

Mount St Helen's

 

Hard to imagine the force that blew apart this mountain, but it is all there for the viewing at the Mount St Helen's Visitor Center about 40-50 miles from I-5 (get gas before you leave the expressway area). Hard to put the size of the mountain in perspective, so I thought I would use some random tourists to help show the scale of the mountain. The bulge in the center of the crater is the last of the lava dome and the tiny tip on that bulge is the last of the active volcano. It is a beautiful drive up to see the mountain, with several visitor centers, each different, vying for your attention.