Morning Birding

I had good intentions of getting up about 30 minutes before sunrise so Louie & I could be out and about at 10 minutes before sunrise. But I couldn't get my contacts in, I had gone to bed too late and gotten up too early. So I went back to bed; we started our morning walk around 9:15 and did about 3/4 mile in 20 minutes. While we were out we met Gerald & Finn; or I should say I met them since Louie already knew them! They live across the cul-de-sac from Mary Ellen & Michael and occasionally Louie goes over for a doggie play date. Gerald told me about a loop that is about 1.5 miles long; he has got a 2 mile loop he does but he said that would just get me lost.

Louie patiently waiting for us to start our morning walk.

Most of my birding this morning was by ear; I heard birds and knew by their songs or calls which ones they were. Today I saw or heard these 8 species: Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, and Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon). The flicker was interesting, it was actually drumming on a metal chimney flue to amplify the sound of its mating "call".

Northern Flicker.

I will need to borrow some gloves from Mary Ellen; the heated vest doesn't do much to keep my fingers warm! My ears were also a little cold. I can't tell you how cold it was when I was out because I didn't check. But I do know it has remained cold enough that there are still piles of snow in the shaded areas.


The most important thing today was meeting with Wing to see what kind of services Kai qualifies for; through her agency we found out that was nothing. So we go back to the drawing board and are looking at other options.

After we met with Wing, I picked Sherie up. She came over to Mary Ellen & Michael's to give Kai and me haircuts. She also cleaned up Kai's beard. Sherie has a new rescue dog that she is rehabilitating. Spike growled at me when I first went to pick Sherie up but by the time I dropped her off, Spike had warmed up to me and only barked when I tried to leave.

Before.

After.

When I got back Mary Ellen & Michael had guests. It was Tambe, his 8-month old son Kasimir, and his step-son Alex. I had not seen him on my last 2 trips back so it was great to see him this time!


I talked to Michael about the keto diet; he has been on it for a few years. I think I might try that since I seem to be at a plateau with the fat loss. He made a keto meal tonight, roasted chicken drumsticks and broiled Brussels sprouts. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of his delicious meal. Michael had also made some chocolate candy; he used very dark chocolate, butter, a sweetener called Swerve, and vanilla extract. It also was delicious! Although I did not get a photo of the candy bar, I did get you a photo of the alternative sweetener!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Peggy, Roger, Winnie, David, & Shawn!