SakuraDestiny's Xanga

Ridgefield NWR, Wash. - today

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 01:32:35 GMT

SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER & ??? (the consensus was PECTORAL SANDPIPER, although it was considerably smaller than the sharp-tailed - perhaps a male sharp-tailed and a female pectoral?):

A couple more shots of the SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER:

Yawning DOWITCHER:

RUFF:

I haven't died

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 04:51:50 GMT

There's just not much point in writing in here any more since no one reads it...

Bay-breasted Warbler

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 00:31:28 GMT

After striking out in the dark, cold drizzle Thursday evening, I went back to the St. Helens Tree Farm today to look for the bay-breasted warbler that has been seen there for the past week or so. Fortunately when I got there some other birders had already located it, so all I had to do was wait patiently until it flew to an observable perch in the thick trees. I ended up getting a good look at it then, and then from another, nearby location later on as I was leaving. I've included a couple of photos below. I wanted to get more, but I was having trouble focusing through the trees, and the bird didn't stay put long enough.

(okay, so this last one is a baby bluebird, not a bay-breasted warbler...)

happy birthday to me!

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 04:13:48 GMT

Since I don't have anyone to comment on my entries any more, I am not nearly as motivated to continue writing here. But I will try to keep up with it on a fairly regular basis. Today was my birthday. I turned 28. Why do I have to get so old? At least I got to eat 4 pieces of cake (not all at the same time though) and got to talk to my parents for awhile. I think I may be falling in love for real for the first time in my adult life. No, not with cake. I mean with the Japanese girl that I met on the internet a few months ago. Of course we won't know for sure until we meet in person, but things seem to be going very well, and God has really blessed me with the chance to get to know such a special woman.

Coast

Mon, 15 May 2006 05:15:22 GMT

Wow, I just realized that it's been over a month since I've written here. I just spent a wonderful weekend camping at the Oregon coast. Almost perfect weather, and really nice to get away for awhile. Unfortunately, better weather often means less birds, so my quest to add a red knot to my life list will have to continue at a later date. I did find an out of range sage thrasher in Newport, so it was nice to add something unusual to my Oregon list (check out the photos below...)

Sage Thrasher

Starling

Aww, isn't it cuuuute...

I had to take the pic and run before mama came after me...

(don't worry, I didn't get close enough to disturb the baby - I just have a really good zoom on my camera)

peeps

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 05:20:49 GMT

I had no idea that Easter candy was so cheap. Did you know that you could buy a 1/2 pound solid chocolate bunny for 99 cents and a pack of 5 peeps for 40 cents? That's only 8 cents per peep. Even cheaper than a pack of instant ramen, although I suppose pure processed suger and preservatives with red #5 and yellow #6 or whatever those dyes that they put in foods, is probably not quite as good for you as dried pasta. By the way, why is there only 5 in the pack? Don't things usually come in 6 or 8? Why 5? Easter is a time of new birth, but the odd peep has no one to hook up with to make little peeps. I feel sorry for him. I guess there is aways the chocolate bunny, although I doubt that their offspring would taste very good. Chocolate peeps just don't sound very appetizing, not that most people besides myself find regular peeps very appetizing, which is probably why they have to sell them for so cheep...

Ahh!

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:02:25 GMT

The only person that regularly reads my site just shut down her site. What am I going to do? I feel so lonely...

ehhhxcellent!

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 04:08:16 GMT

I just remembered that the Simpsons tonight had my very favorite new quote by Mr. Burns: "Smithers, 'I told you so' has a brother. His name is 'shut the hell up!'"

lost in translation

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 04:03:55 GMT

My new Japanese tutor's e-mail address is heavensxx@ [something] (I better protect her privacy and not give the whole thing). I think it probably means "heaven's kiss," but at first glance it looks an awful lot like heavenxxx or heavensex, which I am sure is not what she intended. I didn't say anything, but it momentarily threw me for a loop when I first saw it.

I am such a nerd...

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 07:03:11 GMT

Here is today's Foxtrot:

I decided it might be cool to actually color it and see if it makes a picture or not. Well, it was cool until I realized how long it was going to take, and then by that time I was too far in to it to stop. I made lists of all the numbers divisible by 13, 17, 19, and primes so that I didn't have to keep using a calculator, but it still took forever. So here is the finished product:

Now that it turned out to be what I was expecting it to be (Paige), I wish I had gone to bed on time instead of staying up to finish it, but it is still cool, so I thought I would share it, at least until Bill Amend finds it and forces me to remove it. The sad thing is, I'm probably not the only one to waste an hour and a half coloring it in...