http://blog.rosyfinch.com Virtual New Mexican, who winters in Florida and migrates annually to Illinois, remembers growing up, birding and practicing in New Jersey, and finds birds and beauty close to home. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:12:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.2 en http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=298 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=298#respond Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:16:20 +0000 Ken General Birding & Outdoors Florida & SE US Birding "Patches" http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=298 Finding and identifying birds can be an end in itself, but paying special attention to what birds are doing adds an important dimension to birding. As you can tell from the following photos, we are back in our Florida home. On our first day back, in between the usual chores associated with relocation, I glanced out the back patio window. Three male Boat-tailed Grackles were assembled breast-to-breast, their bills pointing to the sky...]]> http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?feed=rss2&p=298 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=297 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=297#respond Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:47:59 +0000 Ken General Birding & Outdoors Illinois Birding "Patches" http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=297 As soon as we arrived back in Illinois after our two-week trip to three Western states , we were anxious to catch up with the local birds that, in our absence, had returned north to nest. Since we missed seeing any Henslow's Sparrows or Bobolinks before departing, we headed back to nearby Dick Young/Nelson Lake Forest Preserve in Batavia. ]]> http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?feed=rss2&p=297 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=296 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=296#respond Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:28:59 +0000 Ken General Birding & Outdoors NM & SW US Grandchildren Birding "Patches" http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=296 We topped off our two week 50th Anniversary trip with 5 nights at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country Hotel in Santa Rosa, California. Transportation and lodging were a gift from our daughter and her husband, in exchange for our agreement to mind their two girls while they attended the wedding (and several associated gatherings) of a friend and business associate. Needless to say, we welcomed the task and found it to be a most pleasant "burden." The younger set enjoyed sleeping late on their vacation, while we persisted in our habit of being up and out at the crack of dawn. This provided a nice window of "prime time" for birding. Since we did not have a car, we had to find a nearby place to bird.]]> http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?feed=rss2&p=296 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=295 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=295#respond Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:34:25 +0000 Ken General Birding & Outdoors NM & SW US Grandchildren Sandia Crest http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=295 We last visited the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado several times in the 1970s and '80s, when I attended continuing medical education conferences of the American Academy of Family Physicians. I combined the trips with a few vacation days. We'd pack our children into the station wagon and drive up from Dallas. The children were kept busy with Day Camp programs, and the conference schedule allowed us for family fun, such as hay rides, hiking and sightseeing. Although the facility is now much larger, the cabins are stil fairly secluded. As their parents had before them, our grandchildren also enjoyed a wonderful selection of Day Camp activities.]]> http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?feed=rss2&p=295 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=294 http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=294#respond Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:15:46 +0000 Ken General Birding & Outdoors NM & SW US Grandchildren http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=294 On the occasion of our 50th Wedding Anniversary, Mary Lou and I have just completed an exciting two weeks of travel out west. Our trip began with a family reunion at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. All eight of our grandchildren and two of our children and spouses spent most of the first week in adjacent cabins at this beautiful retreat. Our oldest daughter and her husband had driven only as far as Colorado Springs when they received news of the sudden and unexpected death of his younger brother. Only about 2 hours away, they had to turn around and drive back to Arizona. Despite this sad news, we all spent long days filled with day camp for the kids, trail rides, sightseeing, plus lots of visiting together and and eating too much. On the day of our arrival it rained all morning, with episodes of thunder and hail, and the mountaintops received a fresh coating of snow. By afternoon the weather turned deligtful, and we enjoyed mild sunny days and cool nights at 8500 feet elevation. ]]> http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?feed=rss2&p=294