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Monday, April 04, 2011

Birding 3-03- 2011 : Willow Creek: Pahrump: (Nye County)


A blue sunny sky and clear water in all the ponds which showed reflection
of the trees all budding out. The area I walked today seemed to be cast in
a golden yellow on this wonderful birding morning.

The first bird of the day at the top of a fir tree filled with pine cones
was a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and right next to him on the same branch but a
little higher was a beautiful Yellow-rumped Warbler (male) (Audubon's)

As I walked around I was met by a Cooper's hawk making lots of noise as it
flew over my head and then I saw a second Cooper's hawk with its red brown
breast puffed out with white fluff hanging down around it's legs not far
from a nest.

In the Cottonwood tree at the top of the tree was a male House Finch with a
male Lesser Goldfinch sitting next to it on the same branch.

Northern Shoveler's spinning in the pond amongst male and female Cinnamon
Teal's swimming on the same pond.

Red-shouldered Hawk hidden amongst the new green growth of the tree it was
in. With a second Red-shouldered Hawk not far away.

Western Bluebird's were flitting from fir tree to a stump on the ground
amidst the White-Crowned Sparrow's on the ground.

A Black Phoebe at the top of a Cottonwood tree.Made be think of a gentlemen
all dressed out in his tuxedo.

Say's Phoebe flapping midair with a Raven below it on the ground.

Black-crowned Night Heron's sitting in the greenery and  a Anna's
Hummingbird, with the sun glinting off it's head giving an appearance of
shimmering rose red.

A Northern Flicker (red-shafted) with it's head held out from the tree
displaying it's black mustache and the red crescent on the back of it's
crown.

A tiny Verdin, bounding across the path in front of me to a tree which held
a Phainopepla.

Black-chinned Hummingbird and a Bewick's wren sharing the same habitat.

Pied-billed Grebe's and American Coot's sharing the same pond with their
diving activities.

Red-winged Blackbird's sitting amongst the golden marsh grass.

Two male Ruddy Duck's swimming together when a flock of Yellow-headed
Blackbird's landed in the marsh grass near them. The contrast of yellow,
black, white, blue and reddish brown, was startling and made me realize how
lucky I am to be experience such beauty.

Brewer's Blackbirds on the ground feeding with Brown-headed Cowbird's

Male Mallard's with American Wigeon's swimming in the same pond. The
Mallard's head were an emerald green with the sun shinning on them.

Killdeer with display activity crouched on the green grass near the pond.

Gambel's Quail amongst the Lilac and White Bearded Iris in Richard &Carol's
yard.

House Sparrows, moving among the red Ranunculus flowers in Richard &
Carol's yard, with orange fish in the small pond in their front yard.

Mourning Dove's and Eurasian-Collared Dove's sharing the same space on a
tree.

Tree Swallow's skimming over the pond an then soaring over the Cottonwood
tree with Great-tailed Grackle's sitting in them.

As I headed back to my car, a Crissal Thrasher, was at the top of a
telephone pole singing with its rusty red rump clearly visible as it
flipped it's tail up as I passed underneath it.

A Song Sparrow popping out of the bushes.

Submitted by
Darlene Feener
Pahrump, Nevada

Basic homemade dish soap

½ C of Soap Shavings (or Soap ‘Flakes’) I use a bar of our homemade bar soap!
3 C Water
4 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar

Its a good idea to keep an old pot around for making homemade cleaning stuff. Mark it well so no one uses it for cooking.  Pour your water and soap shavings in it and heat up to a medium temperature, slowly. Stir, and keep heating until all soap is melted, do not boil. Remove from heat, allow your mixture to cool a little and then add in your lemon juice or vinegar stir and allow to sit in the pot until completely cooled. Pour into a plastic bottle or old dish soap bottle, shake and it’s voila!