Yesterday my mom and I headed out to Fossil Creek Reservior where a Long-tailed Duck has been reported by a local birder friend of ours. Once we got there the reservior was suprisingly open, even though it hadn't gotten above 17 degrees all day. In the end we did not find the arctic traveler but got multiple good birds. Such included 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and a Western Grebe, a new bird, with a scruffy black eye, a giraffe's long neck, and a piercing ruby red eye that when it looked at you you felt like you would turn to stone.
As the morning roled a long we headed out to Timnath Reservoir to see a Barrow's Goleneye and any prairie bird that might be new for my year list. As we drove the road out to the reservoir on the south side a flock of at least 100+ Larks flew in (trying to aviod a Harrier coming down the road) and landed 30 feet out in a harvested corn field. Why not scope them we both agreed, so I hopped out of the car now at 11 degrees and started to scope the larks as snow crystals landed on my rosy-red cheecks. Lark..1,5,9.."9 more larks mom"... Is that a longspur... Yeah hay mommmmmmmm, the bird flew off with all the other larks, thanks harrier. In the flock of 100 or more larks was one (still winter plumage) Laplands Longspur. Most of the reservior was frozen and what little water it had was barren with a few Readheads and COMMON Goldeneye.
That night as I was checking over my year list I realized something, Laplands Longspur was number 100, cool! Today my mom and I might try for #101 and #102 at a local house where a Varied Thrush and also a White-crowned sparrow have been visiting. Hope we get this one.
I am very excited for Spring break, this march. I hope California turns out to be the holy grail we have heard it can be.
This is going to sound really cheesy, but, I feel it is quite fateful, that I can't miss the opportunity. My fiancé (Kimble) and I are getting married on the the 18th of October, this, was decided way before I had even heard of the 100 day project. So after deliberating on what creative project I would do, I decided that Kimble would be my subject and I would draw a piece of him every day. This will be my wedding present to my husband. Kim