Somethin' yummy for the tummy

"When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and cloudy

I just stick out my chin and grin and say..."

COMFORT FOOD!

What goes best with a damp, gray, wet, cloudy, dull, blecky day? Meat loaf and scalloped potatoes, just like Momma used to make.

While I can cook, at least the basics, I rarely do. There's just me here, so why spend hours preparing food that will take me minutes to eat? Besides, I only know how to cook in proportions for a family of four, which means I eat leftovers for a week.

Still, as I was driving to the grocery store yesterday to pick up a couple of things, I thought, "Meat loaf." And, then, "scalloped potatoes." So, I picked up the ingredients for both, forgetting only onions, and set about pretending to be Mrs. Cleaver.

Meat loaf done.
Time to start the potatoes.

Hey, there's some shredded cheese in the 'fridge.
Let's make these potatoes au gratin!

Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

I'm glad to see I haven't lost my touch.

. . .

Word of the Day:

Solace

From the Middle English solas, which comes from the Latin solari, to console

Definition:
1) alleviation of grief or anxiety
2) a source of relief or consolation

"Nothing gives me more solace when I'm blue than a home-cooked meal."

Pottery News

I am starting to get some size in my pieces. No longer throwing salsa bowls, I am now making ... larger salsa bowls. I don't know what these things are or will become, but they are all about 6"x6"x4" high. I threw them last week, and they are now in the "leather hard" stage. (They are kept wrapped in plastic till I trim them, to keep them from drying any further.)


The two pots on the ends are from the end of my first 25# of white clay. Now, I am working with brown clay, which has a little more grog, or grit, in it. It handles a little differently, and I am enjoying working with it. Also, it looks more like mud, so you look dirtier, which is a plus in my book!

These are two of the three pieces I threw last night. This bowl was looking really good, but there was a sharp inclusion in the inner surface. I picked out a bit of hard plastic, then had to try to smooth over the defect. In doing so, I messed up the rim a bit.


Somehow, I thought this piece was straighter and more symmetrical when I got done with it than it looks in this photo. The funny story about this piece is that the bottom was so thin that when I undercut it with a thin wire, so as to be able to remove it from the bat later, I cut right through the bottom. So, I tried to patch it. We will see what happens when I trim and fire it next week. Perhaps it will be a planter - it will already have a drainage hole in it.

Word of the Day:

Grimalkin

A grimalkin is an elderly female cat. The word is derived from the Old English, a combination of gray and the archaic malkin, meaning demon. Scottish legend makes reference to the grimalkin as a faery cat which dwells in the highlands.


"It will be quite a while before Dixie becomes a grimalkin. After all, she is only six and a half."

A Raptor-licious Day

For a week or more, I have been meaning to make the trek to Armleder Park to see the now famous Short-eared Owls. Today was the day. The weather was cold, but sunny, dry and not too windy, which is perfect winter birding weather for me, and fortunately, I had the day off from work.

This is the birdiest part of Armleder Park -
a paved walking track around an open field.
Signs indicate it is being managed for grassland birds.

Days off and good weather rarely coincide, so I made my plans. Reports on the Cincinnati Bird Club web site seemed to indicate that late afternoon was the best time to see the birds, so I figured I would aim to arrive around 3-3:30pm. Just before 2pm, as I was putting on my wool socks, my cell phone rang. It was Susan.

"I'm at Armleder right now and there are Short-eared Owls ALL OVER THE PLACE! Get your butt here RIGHT AWAY!"

"OK, Susan, but it will take me an hour to drive there." I knew she couldn't wait that long, so I asked what specific areas of the park I should check for the owls.

"They are EVERYWHERE! They are on the north end, the south end, they are ALL OVER THE PARK!"

Susan was obviously excited. I didn't have the heart to tell her I don't know the north end of the park from the south.

The Little Miami River is on my right.
Since my shadow is in front of me at about 4pm,
the setting sun must be behind me, ergo, I am facing east.
What? I don't think that's right.
Maybe north-east. (I need a compass.)

I donned the rest of my oh-so-attractive winter birding garb, grabbed extra batteries for the camera, bins, spotting scope, water bottle - all the requisite gear - filled my bird feeders, fed the horses, and pulled out of the drive at 2:15pm.

My raptor count started in my yard, with a fly-by Buteo. I didn't get a good enough look for a definite ID, but I'm pretty sure it was the neighborhood Red-shouldered Hawk, who has been calling daily from a tall tree across the road.

The count quickly rose with 3 Red-tailed Hawks and a Red-shouldered Hawk on SR. 32. As I pulled into Armleder, I spotted a falcon in a tree. Before I could get my bins up to my eyes, a guy walked underneath the bird's perch, spooking it. I had hoped it was the Merlin, but I'm pretty sure it was an American Kestrel.

The Walking Man, out with his camera,
walking towards a SEOW and spooking it,
just as he spooked the falcon earlier.

Another Red-tailed flew out of the trees as I walked toward a group of crows. I thought their calls indicated an owl in the area, but I didn't see one.

Northern Harriers have been very active in this park this winter. I ran into a guy today who said there have been as many as 10 spotted at one time. I saw at least two today. They are pretty incredible birds, and I was fascinated watching them, but I was there for those darned owls.

Suddenly, something was different. Two Harriers were chasing a third bird, which looked smaller and lighter in color. That's it! A Short-eared Owl, a Life Bird for me! A flock of crows began mobbing it, and chased it out of my binoculars range. Well, I saw it, but it was not very satisfying look.

The bird on the upper right is a Short-eared Owl
and the one on the lower left is a Northern Harrier.
Trust me.

I continued walking around, following the Harriers, and doing some light, general birding. I picked up a Great Blue Heron, a Pileated Woodpecker, a number of Song Sparrows, my FOS (First Of the Season) American Tree Sparrows, and a blue-million Northern Cardinals.

Eventually, I saw more owls. There were at least two different birds, and although I could follow their flights with my binoculars, I couldn't get the scope on them. If they weren't flying, they landed in the grass, where I couldn't find them. Eventually, I put the scope in the car, and that's when an owl decided to T up on a tree.

Believe it or not, that's a Short-eared Owl in the top of that tree.
And, this is a SEOW perched on the ground.
I know, it could be a groundhog,
but it really is an owl.

The best of a bad lot of flight photos:

The dark "wrist" patch is characteristic
of Short-eared Owls.As is the buffy patch on the upper wing surface

LIFE BIRD #274

Word of the Day

Something I want to try to start this year is "Word of the Day." My sources are A.Word.A.Day at wordsmith.org and FreeRice.com Free Rice is a cool site; they give you a word and a choice of 4 definitions. For every word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to a charity that feeds people. If you get three right in a row, they advance you to the next level, if you miss one, they drop you back down a level. There are 50 levels. I have only gotten to #48.

Today's word comes from Free Rice:

Grok

Grok comes from Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 classic science fiction book, "Stranger in a Strange Land." According to Wikipedia, "grok" is derived from the Martian word meaning "to drink." It is basically defined as "to understand," but really is more than that. It means to understand so deeply as to become one with, to merge, to meld with, to lose oneself in the experience.

Grok. To understand completely. Use it in a sentence. I dare you.

Christmas Ducks

[Inspiration by Mary, who recently had a post filled with photos of real live ducks, "Christmas was JUST DUCKY!" Naturally, my version has a KatDoc twist.]


My dogs have always loved stuffed toys with squeakers, but for most of their lives, they have been too hard on them. I bought them many stuffed animals over the years (hedgehogs were their favorites) only to see $15 to $20 worth of Holofill scattered over the carpet in 10 minutes or less. I finally stopped buying them and went to longer lasting, albeit less exciting, toys.

I tried again in December, 2005, with some stuffed hippos that were less expensive than the hedgehogs. Surpisingly, the hippos lasted longer than any other stuffed toy in the past, with one surviving until Christmas of 2006. I bought two more last year, and we still have 3 Hungry Hippos in the toy chest. Amazing. I sent one to Chet Baker, on the theory that hippos were somehow superior to other stuffed animals. However, he shredded that theory, quickly and decisively. It appeared the difference was in my dogs, not in their toys.

Holly, lovin' her hippo

Since they seem to have finally outgrown their insatiable appetites for Holofill, I promised them hedgehogs for Christmas this year. Unfortunately, the pet store was out of hedgies, so I thought we might try ducks instead.


These are no artificial yellow duckies, these are anatomically correct waterfowl, bearing accurate field marks. We have a classic Mallard duck, and what appears to be a Canada Goose. The only complaint I have is that it is too small. It is the same size as the Mallard, so maybe it is a Cackling Goose instead. Both came with quackers (or honkers) rather than squeakers (although the goose is now silent.) They were a big hit.

"For me? Cool!"

The one who has the most toys wins.
Hippo, check.
Kong toy, check
Canada Goose, mmrph

"Now, I have BOTH ducks!
Who needs hippos?"

"Stuffed goose on carpet -
Better than pheasant under glass."


*Note: No ducks, hedgehogs or hippopotami were injured in the making of this blog post.*

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful ..."

OK, well not exactly frightful. I know this photo doesn't look too bad, but that's because you can't feel the temperatures dropping by the hour, nor can you feel (or HEAR!) the wind whipping around my yard. Trust me, it is bitter cold out there, and promising to get worse. I have only been out long enough to feed and water the horses, fill the bird feeders, and set up the heated birdbath.

Because I am a fair-weather birder (Yes, I confess - I don't like to bird when it is too hot, too cold or too wet) I canceled my plans for my annual New Year's Day "birdathon." I started this tradition last year - can something be a tradition if you have only done it one year in a row? - when I spent all day driving around my local birding hot spots. I totalled 43 species that year, including all 7 of Ohio's winter woodpecker species (Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Northern Flicker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker), my second ever 7-woodpecker day.

There is a Dark-eyed Junco and a House Finch
in this maple tree.
There were more birds, but most flew away
in the time it took my camera to capture this image.

Today, I am birding from the window, watching my feeders and occasionally chasing away starlings. I'll update my daily total later, but so far, it is rather slow. I have had a real dearth of sparrow species so far this winter, but I hoping the numbers will pick up.

. . .

"... but the fire is so delightful."

Is there anything better than a crackling fire on a blustery day? My pets agree, and I usually have to chase one or more of them out of the way when I want to tend it. Today, because I want to take pictures, everyone is avoiding me as I stake out the hearth. I had to pose Holly here and put her on a "Down-Stay" to get this shot.


Here is a series from last winter of Dixie and Tugger enjoying the fire (and each other):



Edit: 8:30pm

Trip List for today, birds seen in my yard

Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
European Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
House Sparrow

First Bird of 2008

Do you do this? Every year on January 1, I look outside my windows to see the first bird of the New Year. Last year, it was a Song Sparrow. This year, American Goldfinch. Points go to my sister, who predicted "some kind of finch" would be the First Bird this year. A pretty good guess, since I am having a bumper crop of both House Finches and goldfinches this year. No winter irruptives yet, but I am holding out hope for a return of Purple Finches, which I have had here only once. My rural home, a former hay field, doesn't have enough trees for Pine Siskins, redpolls or crossbills, the other boreal birds which are being spotted all over Ohio this winter.


My 2007 Birding Year in Review:

I had a Year List total of 178, compared to 180 in 2006, the first time I ever kept a Year List. Of those, 164 were Ohio birds. The only out-of-state birding I have done is a week at the New River Gorge Birding Festival in West Virginia and a day trip to Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Indiana.

I had 20 Life Birds in 2007, compared to 30 in 2006 and 18 in 2005. This brings my total Life List to 277. The birds and their locations were:


Feb: Long-tailed Duck (formerly "Oldsquaw"), Camp Dennison gravel pits
Feb: Merlin, Armelder Park, Cincinnati
Feb: Lapland Longspur, Armleder Park
Feb: Snow Bunting, Armleder Park

May: Spotted Sandpiper, New River, W.Va.
May: Broad-winged Hawk, New River, W.Va. (Thanks, BT3)
May: Prairie Warbler, New River, W.Va. (ditto)
May: Canada Warbler, New River, W.Va. (ditto)
May: Cerulean Warbler, New River, W.Va.
May: Worm-eating Warbler, New River, W.Va.
May: Swainson's Warbler, New River, W.Va. (Thanks, Julie)
May: Black-billed Cuckoo (heard only), New River, W.Va. (saw in Sept, Magee Marsh)
May: Cliff Swallows, nesting under bridge over the Little Miami River, Cincy
May: Blue Grosbeak (a nemesis bird), Cincinnati Nature Center wetlands
May: Least Sandpiper, Killbuck, OH
May: Vesper Sparrow, Mohican State Park
May: Barn Owl, Higginsport, OH (along the Ohio River) followed by a look inside a nest box at the OOS meeting, near Mohican State Park, also in May

June: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, nesting in Bexley, OH (Columbus suburb)

Sept: Sharp-shinned Hawk (another nemesis), Back to the Wild, Castilia, OH (free-flying, not a rescue bird)

Dec: White-winged Crossbill, Cincinnati area

What new birds have you seen this year?