August was a busy and fulfilling month for us. We had to adjust to not having our kids and grandkids around and that was a little hard. The house was so quiet.
We participated early in the month with a clean-up of the Provo River near where we enjoy walking.
Our group found 3 grocery carts that they hauled with great effort out of the river and to the dumpsters!
We went up to the Deseret News/Church News summer party up at Snowbird.
We had the bright idea to take the tram up to the top and hike down...better than hiking up, right?
Well, as our object was also to "bird" on our way down, we were disappointed in how few trees and birds there really were along the trails.
This Mountain Chickadee was pretty cute though.
We took some photos partway down near a sign for Snowbird...
...and then changed it to what it really was, NO BIRD
Hiking steeply downhill for so long really took a toll on our feet, particularly our toes, they were sore for days afterwards! Rocky and steep downhill was not as fun as we had hoped.
We really enjoyed our ward activity attending a sealing session at the Provo City Center Temple. We had two groups that overlapped in service and then we went for ice cream afterwards.
Birding still is a big part of what we do weekly. We get out to as many areas as we can. We have found that we are just not seeing as many and the variety of birds that we saw last year though. Maybe the drought and heat and low water in rivers and lakes is to blame?
However, our cute Say's Phoebe that sleeps on the porch had another little batch of babies which she brought to feed and sleep for a while on the front porch. We really enjoy having our own "pet" bird.
We have been fortunate to see this bird several times this summer, an American Dipper.
They wade in rivers or creeks sometimes going completely under the water to find something to eat.
Well, after we saw this one, we too went "under the water" as a terrific storm came up while we walked in Provo Canyon. We were blown like crazy and drenched within seconds! It was funny and scary all at the same time!
A birding highlight this month was finding the elusive Sora in a little swampy area just off the parkway where we often walk or run. I heard its call and went to see what it was and saw it out in the open. We came back the next AM with a camera and it was out again so we got photos. Have not seen it since.
We went to a little neighborhood salsa party at some new neighbors home this month and it was fun to get to know them and some other neighbors along with some old friends.
Scott had a work trip this month down to Deseret Ranches near Orlando Florida.
He took a photographer who in turn took some photos of him as a photographer. Nice!
They walked the Orlando Wetlands Preserve that we went to in June.
Lots of beautiful water birds here like these Snowy Egrets.
The Purple Galinule
And the Anhinga.
Glad he got to back somewhere that we enjoyed so much.
I have bottled a couple new things this month.
First, our Boysenberry plant has produced a lovely amount of fruit so I was able to make jam. Good stuff!
Then, our second year grapes produced a nice crop of pretty good grapes as well. I borrowed LeAnn's steamer and made about 9 pints of pretty, pink juice that tastes really good.
Scott and I went back up to Almo for a get-away one weekend in August.
We hike and bird and just like being up in Almo area. The weather was lovely!
We found a new area way up at the top of City of Rocks where we found a flock of Mountain Bluebirds and some Yellow-rumped Warblers hanging out.
We went to Castle Rocks later that day and saw this Western Meadowlark on the way.
In exploring the supposed wetland area of this park, we found ourselves trying to forge our way through thick brush to get back to the trail...it was a long way out!
We did scare up a Great-horned Owl while up there though and chased it around a while. It was playing "peek-a-boo" here with us for a while.
One of the outbuildings near the house in Almo.
We stopped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the way home and saw some of our favorite water birds.
Then we stopped at Jenny and Jon's home to celebrate the twins birthday and saw some really pretty hummingbirds near their beautiful flowers!
A lot of what we do involves our Young Single Adult ward and our weekly Family home Evening activities. We are busy weekly serving in our ward and we love these kids too.
In exploring the supposed wetland area of this park, we found ourselves trying to forge our way through thick brush to get back to the trail...it was a long way out!
