AWANA

I love AWANA. It was very influential in my life as I was growing up, so it's got a special place in my heart. Our church, Blessed Sacrament, has just started an AWANA club of its own; I'm very excited about it. Jonathan and I are in charge of the 3rd-6th graders. Doesn't he look handsome in his uniform?
And because it's only fair, here's my picture as well:
Yay AWANA!

Time flies?

Last Saturday Libby and I went to Bolsa Chica for a little early winter/ late Fall birding. We started at Harriet Weider Park and enjoyed a couple of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, White-crowned Sparrows and a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds before moving along. I was hoping to see some Pipits in the field there, but there weren't any Pipits or Meadowlarks anywhere to be found.

Red-winged Blackbird (male)

Right after that we headed over to the main reserve with two goals. One, to enjoy the common birds of Bolsa Chica, and two, to see if we could find a Tricolored Heron that was seen there. I'm happy to say we accomplished both goals!

Most of the ducks have arrived in small numbers, and it was especially nice to see our first Buffleheads of the season bobbing about as they disappeared from time to time to feed. The tide was really high, so most of the shorebirds we saw were either flying by or perched in the bushes and eelgrass still above water. The only terns we saw were perched on poles butting out of the water or zipping about in pursuit of prey. Not only that, but we only saw Forster's Terns in winter plumage. Brown Pelicans were feeding conspicuously both at the tide gates and at the boardwalk.

Brown Pelican

The neatest moment came on our way back to the car when we saw a Merlin swoop in, spook a shorebird flock, and come out carrying a limp-winged bird. It proceeded to perch in a distant (but viewable through our scope) snag where its early lunch sent feathers floating off in the wind.

As I said earlier, we did find the Tricolored Heron. We almost missed it, and later some other birders told us we walked right by it without seeing it (funny), but we got some ok looks at the bird through our scope for a short while before it flew off. We were able to find it again pretty easily, and had more extensive looks. The bird was backlit and further away at that point, but there really wasn't anything to complain about. Still, I didn't get any pictures.

We also saw two Reddish Egrets at Bolsa Chica on the same trip. These used to be about as rare as Tricolored Herons (which have actually bred in the past near the Salton Sea), but there have been a few of them at Bolsa Chica almost continually since we started birding. They definitely appear to be on the northward march. I got a single distant picture of one on Saturday:

Reddish Egret

After all the excitement we could do nothing better than go to Disneyland for lunch! Which we did. And then we could do nothing better than to beat the heat on Splash Mountain. We got the full experience there, sitting in the very front and getting totally soaked. We even stood in line for Peter Pan, which is one of our favorite rides, so we had a good time. Actually, I guess you could say we had a good day!

Pumpkin Carving

Every year around this time Libby and I really cut loose and take a knife to a pumpkin. What other season is so well suited towards savoring the unique pleasure of doing violence to a vegetable?

Jack O'Lantern
Flickr

Anyway, we've been carving pumpkins and taking pictures of ourselves doing it since before we were married. You might say it's at the heart of what makes our relationship tick (though you'd be wrong), and you might say that there isn't a better set of pumpkin cutters on God's green earth. You'd be right on that one.

You should know, though, that when I say we're the best at cutting pumpkins, I'm not saying that we possess the greatest skill. I'm saying that we possess the biggest hearts. After all, isn't that what really counts?

Pictures

Abortion and the Election

This is a disturbing article about Senator Obama's record and beliefs on abortion issues. Suffice to say, he favors no legal protection at all for unborn persons.

Public Discourse - Roger George on "Obama's Abortion Extremism."

Although I'm not a big fan of McCain, I could never in good conscience vote for someone with this record to be president. It's pretty depressing considering it looks like he's going to win the election.

Apple Time!

Fresh pressed apple cider is the best part of Fall. I love it! Every year, we go to Oak Glen to pick some up, and I never regret the visit. This last Saturday was our first trip to Oak Glen this year, and boy did we get some awesome cider! You just can't get cider that good away from a cider mill, so that alone is really worth the trip. We also picked up some tasty apples that you can't find in stores (Mutsu and Staymen Winesap).

Apples at Riley's Farm

It was really crowded, though. It makes it hard to find anywhere to park and can be a little overwhelming. We just take it slow and try not to be in a hurry. Another disappointment was that the little park/ one room school house we like to visit was closed. That's usually a little quieter, and let's you walk around in some oak woodland that's otherwise completely off limits in Oak Glen.

I've put up some pictures from the trip on Flickr: Oak Glen Oct 8.

Posting!

Here's a post, so the blog doesn't die. I guess nobody's felt inspired to write here for awhile.

Libby's busy in school. She's been doing a great job in her professional writing class. This is the last class she has to take at Biola. Cool, huh? On a less positive note, she fell down on our Monday run, and is now nursing a really painful scrape on her hand. So, that's a bummer. She's still teaching the children, of course. That's what she does.

Work's calmed down a bit for me. I go birding a couple of mornings a week and on weekends, if all goes well, but because of Libby's class load, she hasn't had any time to go with me. That's a bummer. I added a couple more birds to my Creek Park list last Friday when I saw an Osprey fly overhead, and found a Merlin predating a Black Phoebe in the eucalyptus grove. That brings it to 90. It's fun getting to know the birds of Creek Park so intimately. Plus, as a microcosm of the greater Los Angeles area it helps me learn a bit about the distribution of California birds as a whole (when are which migrants passing through, etc). Birdwatching one area regularly (birders call this patch birding) is fulfilling and fun!

Hopefully, we're hoping to make it up to Oak Glen for this first time this year on Saturday. It'll be a zoo, but I sure would like some fresh apple cider.

There's a new Awanas club at Blessed Sacrament that we'll be helping out with; it starts tomorrow. That should be good. We got trained by Libby's Mom!

We've seen some cool movies lately. Yesterday we watched Grumpy Old Men, which was funny. Not as good as the Odd Couple, the other Lemmon/Matthau pairing we've seen, but it made us laugh. Before that, we saw Diary of a Country Priest - a movie (in French) about the struggles of an young and ailing Catholic curate in rural France. It's by Robert Bresson, and is quite good. It's refreshing to watch a very well made movie that tackles profound issues about faith and grace in the human condition. Of course, it's a bit slow. I also saw Appaloosa with Lem and Luke last Saturday evening while Libby was doing homework. Not the best western ever, for sure. The plot just wasn't engaging - the best part was definitely the relationship between the male leads. Both Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson do a great job, and the roles are well written and directed. Still, not enough of a reason to pay through the nose to see it in a theater.

Oh... a week ago Friday I had to serve Jury Duty in Downtown L.A. That was exciting - I took public transportation to and fro. And, Libby had her annual Pilgrim Ship field trip the same weekend. I guess a lot happened back then!