Category: Animals

October Recap

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10/01 (Sun) – Picked up some mums for $6 each at Meijer. Only got two this year – orange and “purple”, which really ended up being more of a magenta color. Between my neglect, the squirrels, and the cold weather, they didn’t do well this year. I think next year I will get one orange one and leave it at that.

Later in the day I added a new bird to my life list – a Belted Kingfisher!

10/02 (Mon) – Had a very unpleasant experience at Dollar Tree where the cashier shoveled some candy into her mouth, practically licking her palm, right before fingering my merchandise. Gross!

10/03 (Tue) – Got freaked out by the cans of Wookie’s wet food I had recently purchased. Luckily it was just a weather related thing that had made the fat rise to the top and congeal and it wasn’t spoiled. I did end up exchanging the unopened cans with new ones though.

10/04 (Wed) – Decorated for Halloween inside

10/07 (Sat) – Bought a 50 lb bag of black oil sunflower seeds at Menards and set up a hanging platform feeder in the hopes to draw in birds. The squirrels have been relentless trying to get into it, but it’s also attracted sparrows and house finches, as well as two woodpeckers thus far. The dark-eyed juncos won’t go inside it, but they do hop around underneath looking for scraps.

Had to end our 30 day streak of not needing to run the HVAC at all and turn on the heat. It was good while it lasted!

10/08 (Sun) – Finally saw warblers at the arboretum!

10/10 (Tue) – Was washing my hands in the kitchen sink when I spotted a red-tailed hawk in the tree right behind our house. For a split second I thought it was an owl, but it was exciting nonetheless. Luckily I’ve been keeping my camera on the dining room table so I was able to quickly grab it and take a ton of shots before it flew off. Our new patio door is so nice and clear. I never would have been able to get good shots through the old one.

10/12 (Thu) – Picked up a new delicious dip from Costco – Buffalo Style Chicken by Good Foods.

10/13 (Fri) – Tried McDonald’s new limited time sweet & spicy jam. It’s delicious! It’s just flavored corn syrup, though, so I probably won’t get it again anytime soon.

10/14 (Sat) – Went to Trader Joe’s for the first time in quite awhile and went a bit crazy. We’re really loving sautéing peppers with cubed potatoes for breakfast, amongst other things.

10/17 (Wed) – Great horned owls in the backyard.

10/22 (Sun) – Toured 8 Halloween decorated homes in Carol Stream. We decided to forgo the Gallery of Ghoulish Homes Tour in St. Charles this year. It’s a lot of driving that we were just not up to, especially with how much energy we expend during the day hiking forest preserves.

10/25 (Wed) – The neighbor in the building perpendicular to ours finally turned off his patio light for the first time in weeks. It is so bright at night and since I’ve yet to choose a blackout shade for our new windows, the drapes I have up were not stopping it from making the room rather bright. My sleep seems to be improved since he turned it off.

Also found out Bibibop will soon be opening a location way closer to our home than the one we go to in Oak Brook. Yay!

10/28 (Sat) – Finally saw a Great Horned Owl thanks to a new friend I made who frequents many of the same spots we do. She was kind enough to meet up with us at a local forest preserve and show us where it and its mate like to roost.

10/29 (Sun) – Jolted awake at 12:30 am by someone popping off fireworks. Why are people so inconsiderate?!? Lately if I wake up in the middle of the night I cannot go back to sleep easily. I was up for an hour and a half after that. Thanks, shitty neighbor.

10/31 (Tue) – Got a group of 10 trick-or-treaters at 4:30 pm and not a single kid after that. Joe had run to Target on his way home from work to buy another bag of candy that we never ended up needing. We later returned it and learned they have to throw all returned candy in the trash, so we won’t get freaked out next year and if for some crazy reason we run out of candy we’ll just turn off the light. The kids were really psyched about the microwave popcorn we gave out with the candy. One kid exclaimed “yay, movie night!” and it was adorable.

(Costco sells their Kirkland brand popcorn for $15 and you get 44 bags. It’s a steal, and way more popcorn than we can ever eat before it expires.)

Enjoyed the following movies and series in October:

Meg 2: The Trench – I hadn’t heard good things about this movie, but I’ll watch anything with Jason Statham in it. Well, I’m glad I did because this was so funny! I’m not sure if it was meant to be, but you couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the plot.

Spree – Kurt Kunkle is a rideshare driver who has figured out a deadly plan to go viral. Kept our attention and had some good laughs too.

Sprung – Not sure how I missed hearing about this comedy, but I’m liking it. Stars the two actors who played the parents in Raising Hope and has that kind of humor.

Totally Killer – Back To The Future meets horror comedy. Yes please!

Kath & Kim – A New Zealand based sitcom that should have had more seasons. “Look at me, look at me, look.at.me”.

Haunted Mansion (2023) – This updated version was done quite well. I prefer it to the Eddie Murphy one.

Deadstream – I plan to watch this every spooky season. A YouTuber decides to spend a night alone in an abandoned house that’s said to be haunted and live stream it. He has cameras in other rooms as well and interacts with his viewers as things go down. It was both scary and funny. There were jump-scares, one of which made us scream, and scenes so ridiculous we were in tears.

Strays – This movie, along with Barbie and Deadstream, all came in at the library at the same time. I assumed Barbie would be the breakout star, but it was the worst (although still enjoyable), and this was the funniest. I’m usually not a fan of the CGI talking dog schtick, but here it just works. It’s vulgar and not meant for kids, and people who get offended by cursing and poop jokes won’t like it, but I thought it was fun and plan to watch it again.

The Fall of the House of Usher – If you liked The Haunting of Hill House or The Haunting of Bly Manor, you’ll love this since they’re all created by Mike Flanagan and star many of the same actors.

Slotherhouse – This is labeled a horror comedy but it’s less horror than it is comedy. It is hilarious because of its ridiculousness. A killer sloth that can drive a car and has a social media account? Ok! Definitely watching this one again.

Great Horned Owls

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Last night something exciting happened – I added a Great Horned Owl to my life list. Best of all, it was right behind our house!!!

Joe and I were upstairs shortly before 9 pm getting ready for bed when we both heard what sounded like hooting. We rushed to the bedroom, opened the window, and sure enough, it was two owls calling to each other, and they sounded very close.

I ran downstairs, threw on my coat, hat, and new hiking boots, grabbed my phone, and flew out back to see if I could locate them.

I pinpointed their location to a particular pine tree, but the flashlight on my phone wasn’t cutting it, so I couldn’t actually see them. I rushed back to the house where Joe was waiting with a bright flashlight. I was able to use it to find one of the owls who was way at the top of the tree looking around.

I could only get a crappy phone video of it. This is a still from that.

It stopped calling once I spotted it, so unfortunately by the time Joe was able to come outside to hold the flashlight for me, it was gone. I had wanted to see if I could get a photo of it but it wasn’t meant to be. I never actually saw the second owl, but it sounded like it was in the same tree somewhere.

We had planned to go to bed early but I was so hyped up afterwards that I didn’t feel sleepy until midnight. Totally worth it, though! I hope they come back soon! I have heard Great Horned owls behind the house before, usually in the winter. Maybe I’ll get lucky and see one during the daytime so I can photograph it.

Saturday Excursion to St. Charles & Batavia

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We had a fantastic morning! Even though it was overcast we decided to hit up a couple of places we haven’t visited in awhile, and they did not disappoint.

Our first stop was Mount Saint Mary Park along the Fox River where we saw ducks, egrets, finches, blue jays, squirrels, and chipmunks, lots and lots of chipmunks.

We spent a lot of time under one oak tree in particular where the chipmunks were running around collecting food. It was the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

By this point the park was getting busy with tons of joggers, so we decided to grab breakfast at a little café up the river where we had the single greatest breakfast burrito either one of us has ever eaten. The weather was perfect so we enjoyed our breakfast on their patio.

Our next stop was Fermilab in Batavia. We recently got Real IDs from the Secretary of State since Fermilab will not let you on the property without one (or a passport, but ours expired).

The security guard warned us no buildings are open to the public which struck me as odd since the learning center usually is. We parked near it and walked through a wooded area and over to a pond where we came across a bees’ nest in the ground. I’ve read about them making nests in holes in the ground, giving a new name to b hole (hahaha), but never witnessed it myself. I tried to get photos to no avail and when I attempted to video them I guess they got angry and at least two of them swarmed around my head. They sound pretty menacing when they are buzzing right in your ear, so I got the heck out of there. Not before screaming like a little bitch, though! Lol

On the way back to the car an employee stopped us to ask if we were bird watching, then had us come into the learning center building (the same one the guard had incorrectly told us was closed to visitors), gave us a map, and showed us the best (ahem, only) places to bird that are open to the public on the property. She was so nice and helpful.

One spot is along a lake we had never visited before, and we saw a pair of sandhill cranes in a field across from it! I’ve only ever seen them in a wildlife rehab or far far far above our heads in huge flocks during migration, so that was cool.

As we walked further down the path by the lake we came across a guy bird-watching with a huge spotting scope, and he invited us over to look at some pintails (ducks) he had zoomed into in a pond. We discussed whether he’s been to Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in the city and he said yes but felt the best birding is actually at Fermi, so we’ll be going back soon for sure.

Shortly after parting ways with that nice guy I saw a warbler which was exciting! A palm warbler, to be specific.

Birders have been seeing all sorts of warblers for weeks but it’s my first confirmed sighting.

By the time we got home we had been out for five hours and I had taken 450 photos.

Canon R7

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So after having the same camera for 15 years (Canon 40D), I decided to upgrade to a mirrorless camera and went with the Canon R7 because I heard fantastic things about it’s autofocus system and ability to track animals such as birds.

I ended up getting the kit with the 18-150mm lens from ABT who delivered it via their own truck the same day. Talk about service! I guess that’s what you get when you spend almost $2000. Yea, this thing cost more than our refrigerator!

(Incidentally Joe received his new Google Pixel 6A the following day so we’ve just been spending money left and right. So thankful we can afford to do these things because we socked away money when we were both at the height of our respective careers).

I wasn’t able to get out to test the new camera until a couple of days later, but I used that time to look at people’s suggested settings because there is so much more to this thing than my old camera. Many more buttons and dials too. The main thing that I miss is the little screen at the top of my 40D. With this new one you have to use the LCD viewfinder or the screen on the back which eats through the battery more, although the battery is still capable of handling multiple outings before needing recharging.

I bought an adapter not too long after so I could put my old EF 50-250mm lens on the camera. While not bad, it was kinda heavy. I mentioned to Joe that I was drooling over the RF 100-400mm lens which with the camera’s crop sensor is the equivalent of having a 160-640mm lens. He encouraged me to order it, and after a little hesitation, I did. It’s much lighter, and performs well too. Between the reach and the 32 megapixels of the camera, I’m able to get some great bird shots I never could have dreamed of otherwise, like this American Redstart which is a tiny bird that was pretty far away from me.

This photo was taken with a high ISO so it was very noisy, but I also decided to subscribe to Adobe’s photo editing software package which includes a very powerful denoise feature that cleaned everything up wonderfully. Isn’t technology grand? I was still using Photoshop 7 from twenty years ago so it took me some time to acclimate to the changes but now I love it. Still not a fan of Lightroom, however. It’s the photography version of iTunes where it tries to create a library of your photos. I have my own organization method and don’t need that.

Anyway, I’m still learning the best settings for the new camera but there’s no doubt it’s made photography fun and interesting again.  It’s also opened my eyes to all the creatures, mostly birds, that I never noticed before. Plus I’m getting more daily exercise than ever before. That’s a win win win!

 

 

April 2023 Recap

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Recently tried Zevia again. We got a black cherry flavor and Dr. Zevia. Neither are very good. I wish I liked it more. I drink water 99% of the time but crave soda occasionally. (Still sad that Culver’s went and switched from Pepsi to Coke).

Tried Chick-fil-A’s new watermelon mint lemonade which was ok but not great. I really miss the peach tea lemonade they used to have years ago. I will never get over them taking it away from me.

Decorated the fireplace mantel for Easter with some faux flowers I found in the garage that I hadn’t used in years, plus a new ceramic bunny I found at JoAnn’s. Would have liked two, but it was literally the last one left and they weren’t expecting any more.

My mom invited us over for Easter but I ended up cancelling two days before because I was having the weird nerve pains all over my body again. It lasted several days but eventually went away. Ironically, I ended hearing from both her and my brother Easter evening because their landline stopped working (they use Facebook Messenger to communicate since no one in the house has a cellphone). I spent the next week getting the run-around from AT&T just to locate the right department to issue a repair ticket so they were without phone service for 8 days.

Bought a new camera (more on that in a separate post).

Found my old pedometer and figured it was time to chuck that thing in the trash. My Apple Watch is all I need to track my steps and I love it.

Organized my not-so-much junk drawer because once in awhile it needs to be redone. It’s always pretty organized, but there was stuff in there that belonged either somewhere else or in the trash.

Decluttered the garage and tried to see if any of my friends wanted the stuff I would like to get rid of, but didn’t get any takers. I am not sure what to do with stuff. I don’t enjoy listing things for sale because people are so freaking annoying to deal with, but I also don’t like donating to Goodwill or Savers anymore now that they’ve raised their prices to take advantage of people. I would feel better if I could give to someone in need directly. So right now all the stuff is sitting in boxes in the garage. Sigh.

Heard they brought back an old school Kool-Aid flavor called Sharkleberry Fin and decided to try it.

I’ve never been a fan of Kool-Aid, so it’s no surprise I wasn’t impressed.

Started researching window replacement companies because ours needs to be replaced.

Spotted a sharp-shinned hawk hanging out in a puddle in the street in front of my neighbors house.

Fortunately I was able to run downstairs to grab my new camera to get this shot. The zoom is 150mm which is the max on the lens that came with the camera, plus I was behind a dirty window, but I still feel fortunate to have gotten a photo at all.

Decided against participating in Record Store Day this year even though Show by The Cure was available. For one, it’s a picture disc which I hate. I want a nice jacket, not one with a hole in it! Secondly, it would have been $40. I’m starting to question why I’ve continue to collect Cure vinyl at all. It’s not the same as the 90’s where you could find a used copy for a few bucks. Lately the choices seem to be rare used stuff that’s over $100 or new reissues that are $30-$40. Playing vinyl isn’t exactly convenient, either since only so many songs fit on each side. Longer albums tend to be double vinyl so you have to get up four times just to listen to an album. Besides, what’s going to happen to all this stuff when I’m dead? I dunno, I just feel like I should put that money toward something I’ll get more bang for my buck with, so to speak, like camera equipment. I really want a bigger telephoto lens for my new camera, for instance. I’d use it quite often during the warm months.

We planted some zinnia seeds in an egg carton and small pot so we could get them going a little earlier this year. I love zinnias, but they take forever to bloom and I’m impatient.