Birds always want to be as high as possible.  So instead of increasing the space, now the birds all want to be on the single cage.

I did come to a good solution in the mornings, though.  The birds like to start chirping and singing at first light.  But if I pick them up and put them on the cage under the eave they will sleep for another two hours.  This is great during the weekends.

As an aside, I know you can make out “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace on the shelf.  I’m not trying to plant that book to show you how awesome and well read I am.  I hate that book.  I spent close to a year trying to suffer through that book because I’m supposed to love it.  But that book is 1104 pages.  There are over 100 pages dedicated to freaking footnotes!  The book is on the shelf because I don’t care if the birds chew it.  At least someone would get some pleasure from that ridiculous book.*

*I know the author committed suicide a few years ago.  That doesn’t in any way detract from the fact that he wrote a self indulgent unfocused pile of trash.

(photo by Jon)

Antelope Island is very dry.  It looks completely different from the last time we visited.  There hasn’t been a real rain in Utah since May.

To reach the island, you drive down a long causeway.  That’s where the real action is.  I have never seen so many ibis.

Last May was the first time I got a good look at an ibis.  And yesterday I had my fill!  The white portion on the ibis’ face is very very small.  Do you see the white along his brow line?

Here is a view of their red eyes.

Here is a view of their giant feet.  This guy was itchy.

Before this I had seen plenty of ibis, but they wouldn’t let you get too close.  So I have a lot of pictures of ibis flying away from me.

When they leave because you disturbed them, they make a very low grunt.  The picture below is not the best picture of the ibis, but it’s a beautiful picture of his poop!  It’s artistic.

I was able to get much closer yesterday because the ibis are brave in large numbers.  No one flew away from me.  Ibis eat by moving their beak in shallow waters to glean out invertebrates.

Avocets have curved beaks for the same purpose, but theirs curve upwards.

Lastly, I’m not sure if this is a juvenile ibis.  I can’t find any support for an ibis having those white spots on the neck, but everything else about him screams ibis.  If anyone knows what this is, please leave a comment.

Would you believe that these birds have white, grey and black plumage in the winter?  They look more like the Clark’s Grebe in the winter, but with a shorter black beak.  Every time I see one it reminds me of a teenager because they look like a bunch of punks.

Can you see how the yellow on their head resembles an ear?  Grebes are known for carrying their babies on their back so I made sure to visit Farmington Bay in July.  The babies were out!

I was never able to get too close because the grebes are extremely protective of their babies.

It was amazing how many grebes were out with their babies.

And because I haven’t provided the best pictures of grebes, I leave you with baby racoons!!!

They didn’t see us at first, and they carefully creeped along the river.

(photo by Jon)

Once they saw us, they backed up and bunched together and then finished crossing the river.

It started with slow steps at night.  He would let me snuggle with him a little at night.  Then he became more willing to let me snuggle him during the day.  Then he enjoyed my presence in general.  Trevor especially enjoys sitting on a pillow behind me and singing.

Trevor started to mimic the kissy noise that Conner makes.  I was so excited!  Then the next step was to show him Conner’s trick.  You kiss Conner and pop back quickly.  As you pop back Conner will make the kissy noise and pop back too.  I showed Trevor how to perform this trip by putting him on my left finger and Conner on my right finger.  I did the trick with Conner and then kissed Trevor.  The very next day, Trevor did the trick.  Brilliant!

I’m so happy that he likes me.  Before I would try to pick him up and he’d run away from my hands.  It made my heart hurt.  So it’s much nicer to have him enjoy being touched.

The former residents also planted green grapes that are currently growing on the trellis that holds the bird feeders.  I’m very excited about them!  In about two weeks I should have more tomatoes than I can handle.  The plants have exploded.

Can you see the sticks?  Because I am always behind on these things, Lowes had already sold all of their metal contraptions for stabilizing the tomatoes.  So Jon broke down some sticks and I used yarn to affix the  tomatoes to the sticks.  I like this better because it looks more like what a hippie would do.  I’m going to become a total hippie in my spare time.  You know, when I’m not writing software patents on new technology.

The squash are looking good too.  They’re already flowering.

Jon keeps talking about us buying a house on 20 acres of land.  Generally I’m opposed to this idea because we currently live 3.5 miles from work, less than a mile from awesome vegetarian food, and a few miles away from independent film theaters.  But then I think about all the things I could grow!  In this house, I’ll always be limited by a pretty small plot of land.  Ah, compromises.

Can you see how the heat warps the picture in the distance?  I’m going to learn a lot this summer about how to take pictures in extreme heat.  The birds were feeling the heat too.  Check out this poor Marsh Wren.

and these sad barn swallows

the real treat of the day was to see White Pelicans.  My love of Brown Pelicans is well established.  And now I’ve seen the other type of pelican to live in the US.

Isn’t he breathtaking?  The black tips are so cool.  These guys are shyer than their brown counterparts.  Of course, the Brown Pelicans hang out on piers with people all day.  Here the pelicans are more isolated from humans.

There was a point where I was taking pictures of small birds like wrens and then I saw this giant body in the water.  At first I thought I was looking at the Lock Ness Monster.  No!  It was a pelican fishing.

He may look small in that picture, but in my 500mm lens, he was huge!  Isn’t it neat how the black feathers are almost completely tucked inside his wings?

I can’t wait to see them again.

Waxwings are named for the tiny bits of red that appear and the tips of their wings.  The red looks just like the wick on a candle.  In addition, their feathers are so sleek that they could be coated in wax.

Waxwings love berries.  I returned to the same spot from a year ago and the waxwings were still there, eating berries from the same tree.  They noticed me watching them, but they didn’t mind.

One even fluffed up in my presence.

If you want to find a waxwing, check your fruit trees.

Audrey will brook no dissent from the humans.

I appreciate Audrey’s skill.  I get frustrated with Conner’s endless whining about how I should always be in the same room with him.  He will send out alert calls when Jon gets off the bed!  But Audrey typically reserves his yells for legitimate complaints, even if those complaints are occasionally the lack of head scratches.

And unlike Trevor, who gets caught up in the excitement of cockatiel flapping and then becomes overwhelmed when he ends up on the floor, Audrey always knows what he’s doing.  If he’s on the floor, Audrey chose to be there.

I saw my first sapsucker.

You can tell that this is a male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker because he has a red throat.  The females have a white throat.

Do you see the hole that he drilled above?  Sapsuckers are incredibly patient.  They drill the hole and let the sap seep out.  Then they eat some and wait for more to ooze out.  Below is a picture of him drinking sap.

In addition to all the new birds that I saw on this trip, I also saw my first badger.  We saw him from the bus, so we were able to approach much closer.  Unfortunately taking pictures through the glass makes them a bit more blurry, but it’s still a pretty good picture of a badger!

We also saw a moose.  I never get tired of looking at them.

I love seeing the wildlife.