Boise Travel Report
A trip to Boise last weekend resulted in a pile of photos, a pile of books, and one (1) new bird on the life list. Alexfandra will likely scoff, and possibly doubt, but I am claiming that the merlin we saw last weekend was my first verified and confirmed sighting of this fine little raptor. [[UPDATE: Alas, it seems I was mistaken and it was probably just a somewhat unusual sharpshinned hawk. I'm ready to give up on this whole birding business, I am.]] Both Eli and I were pleased, I believe, when the merlin failed to catch the songbird it briefly chased while we watched. Oh, I know raptors have to eat too but I don't have to witness the kill and I'd be happiest if they contented themselves with tasty starlings. Of which we saw very few in Boise. In addition to the merlin, we saw a fine downy woodpecker, a number of birds wintering over water, some finches, a kingfisher or two, and a number of geese, seemingly wintering near water. For a couple of days, it was some pretty decent bird action.
As hinted in the first line, we also spent some time (and cash) at Boise's excellent used bookstore, Trip Taylor's. Scott found a Ruskin that weighed about a million pounds and I picked up a few books that had, one way or another, come up in discussion earlier in the visit. I also bought a Gorky I'd never heard of before (Foma Gordeyev), largely because it had excellent cover art.
It was a fine visit, with pleasant friends (nudges one of the few readers of this LJ here), plentiful cocktails, excellent food, delightful walks, and some opportunity for lobbing snowballs (nudges again). But it's also nice to be home with Gradka.
My not brilliant photo of the merlin. Did I mention it was up in a tree and across a river? [[UPDATE: And not even a merlin at all. Sigh. At least I can still recognize a Canada goose. I think.]]
Sadly, a photo doesn't capture the full charm of a Canada goose walking on ice. Trust me, it was excellent.
I call this the "arty Canada goose shot"
Not my photo but I like this one of Eli, CAW, and me. Looking at birds. Go figure.
A coworker insisted we had to go to Bar Gernika for the croquettes. And beer. So we did. She wasn't wrong.
Boise squirrels are just so much cuter than the invasive Eastern squirrels we have in Seattle, but this one has a Pinkie Brown air to him that I find a little alarming.
What I call the somewhat less arty Canada goose shot.
For those playing along at home, I finished Tortoise by Candlelight last night. It was an odd little book. I've now started Ironweed.
As hinted in the first line, we also spent some time (and cash) at Boise's excellent used bookstore, Trip Taylor's. Scott found a Ruskin that weighed about a million pounds and I picked up a few books that had, one way or another, come up in discussion earlier in the visit. I also bought a Gorky I'd never heard of before (Foma Gordeyev), largely because it had excellent cover art.
It was a fine visit, with pleasant friends (nudges one of the few readers of this LJ here), plentiful cocktails, excellent food, delightful walks, and some opportunity for lobbing snowballs (nudges again). But it's also nice to be home with Gradka.
My not brilliant photo of the merlin. Did I mention it was up in a tree and across a river? [[UPDATE: And not even a merlin at all. Sigh. At least I can still recognize a Canada goose. I think.]]
Sadly, a photo doesn't capture the full charm of a Canada goose walking on ice. Trust me, it was excellent.
I call this the "arty Canada goose shot"
Not my photo but I like this one of Eli, CAW, and me. Looking at birds. Go figure.
A coworker insisted we had to go to Bar Gernika for the croquettes. And beer. So we did. She wasn't wrong.
Boise squirrels are just so much cuter than the invasive Eastern squirrels we have in Seattle, but this one has a Pinkie Brown air to him that I find a little alarming.
What I call the somewhat less arty Canada goose shot.
For those playing along at home, I finished Tortoise by Candlelight last night. It was an odd little book. I've now started Ironweed.