MARCH 2022

March slipped right by so full of activities.

We braved the cold as much as we could to get outside walking different places.  This is by the s shore of Utah Lake.

We finally got to take some FYA to do baptisms at the Payson Temple and that was a really special activity.

Carole fell and broke her right arm, which really made life difficult all month long!  We were able to find her this power chair that she could operate using a hand controller with her left hand.  That is where she slept for several weeks.

I do not usually have photos of me with my students, but while I was helping both my AM and PM classes make their COW in school, a Mom took some pics for me.

Creating a cow is an annual delight.

We have really enjoyed seeing Bald Eagles all over this winter.

We went on an outing in Provo Canyon specifically looking for this bird, the American Dipper, which we found a lot of.  It is really fun to watch diving into the water in search of food.

And our backyard birds are also colorful and fun to watch.  We have a lot of Lesser Goldfinches in our crabapple trees.

We have had tons of Red-tailed Hawks in our area as well and got this great shot of one landing.

Some birds are considered "Rare" at certain times of the year or in certain geographic locations.  This Blue-winged Teal was considered rare for this time of year out by the airport dike.

We got to help celebrate Dad's 94th Birthday this year thanks to a party hosted by Carolyn at their home.  We had cake and pie and time to share some characteristics of Dad that we all love and appreciate!

Here he is with his birthday cake compliments of weekly BINGO.

And wearing his new birthday cap honoring a favorite TV show called "Gunsmoke."

And some more of our favorite birthday celebrators.

Scott and I hiked Rock Canyon this month...thankfully we brought our ice crampons for our shoes, it was icy and slushy most of the way up.

We spotted the Canyon Wren we had been trying to see several times before.

And using the recorded songs of birds on a phone app, I was able to catch the interest of this Ruby-crowned Kinglet and get it to actually raise up the ruby crown which you usually do not see at all.

We always love a bright blue Woodhouse Scrub Jay too!

Scott left for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil towards the end of the month.  He was covering the Temple Dedication there.

He got to see a very busy city of the world.

And some very busy beaches of the world.

Of course, he got out bird-watching as much as he could.

This is a Brown Booby.

This is a "Masked Water Tyrant"

This is a Cattle Tyrant...so many tyrants there!

Here is the Magnificent Frigatebird.

This is a Gray-cowled Wood Rail, not nearly as dull as our Virginia Rails here in the US.

A Southern Lapwing.

Red-necked Tanager was amazingly colorful!

And this crazy one is a Squirrel Cuckoo with a extra, long tail!

Meanwhile, I was back home taking care of business like signing with Bree and Elliot on their NEW HOME!!!

It was so exciting!

We immediately got to work cleaning and getting ready for them to move in...and made a long list of little things to do to make it their very own space!

We are so happy for them!

Later that week, I headed down to St George for my Power Board meetings and then Scott flew down and we met up with his brothers Aaron and Mitch to do some birding.

I got this shot of a delightful Greater Roadrunner with our old, smaller lens camera...a miracle!

It looks like he is smiling!

And this Rock Wren.

And when Scott joined us, he shot this great one of a Long-billed Curlew that was randomly at the Sand Hollow Reservoir in the area.

On our way to Lytle Ranch the next day, we saw the traditional Loggerhead Shrike.

The Black-chinned Hummingbird

And a really nice shot of the Ash-throated Flycatcher.

BYU owns this Preserve way out by the border of Nevada and it has some unique wildlife that we just have to go see once a year.