Let's Start At The Bottoms!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Today, we thought we'd start telling you about our most recent birding trip.  This time, we went to both Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  We are going to start with the Bottoms.  Or ... actually in our driveway ...

"Who's ready for a family road trip?!?"
"I am!"
"Wait ... I should pack some travel games ..."

Anyway, we loaded up and were ready to go!

"All buckled in, Mom!"
"We're ready to roll!"

So ... we drove and drove and drove.  Or Dad did - we snoozed, quite frankly.  Finally, after a pitstop or two, we were at Cheyenne Bottoms!

Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area

Have we ever mentioned that it's flat at Cheyenne Bottoms?

I mean, really flat.

And marshy!  Birdies like marshy areas!  And do you know what Cam and I would like?  Check this out:

Look at all that lovely mud in the photo above!  But did we get to go tromp through it?  No.  Sheesh! Mom and her rules!

Speaking of rules, check out this sign:

"Unlawful to shoot from dikes."

Mom's pretty sure they mean that for hunters, not for photographers.  If they DO mean it for photographers, someone around here is in a heap of trouble!

Anyway - tomorrow:  birds at the Bottoms!  Stay tuned!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam

Snowballs?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  So, the other day, Mom asked Cam and me to come out front and pose with "the snowballs".  SNOW?!?!  Awesome!  We jumped at the chance!  And then ...

"Look at how pretty you look in front of the Snowball Viburnum!!!"
"Yep.  Snowballs.  Funny, Mom."
"Seriously?!"

Oh, yeah. I remember now. We just got all excited, thinking we had actual snowballs out there!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Limestone Pose

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  We hope you enjoyed yesterday's photo of the Canada Geese and their new puppies!  Our mom is still processing the 87 million photos she took on our birding trip, so instead of sharing any of those with you today, Cam and I posed on the limestone chunks by the trailhead:

"I don't see anyone on the trail, do you, Cam?"
"No, but there's some nice-looking grass you can try to snarf!"

Cam's always looking out for me like that!  She's the best!  

Anyway, we hope you all had a great weekend - stay cool and stay tuned for birdie pix!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Mother's Day!

From all of us here at Ao4 Headquarters, to all of the moms out there ...

... happy Mother's Day!

Cam and Mags

PS: Yes, we went birding yesterday! We'll have lots of photos to share soon!

Planning Meeting

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cammie. Maggie and I are in a meeting right now, laying on our weekend plans.

"Say 'Hi', Mags, then it's back to work!  You know ... because we're Working Breed pups."
"Ha roo, everybody!  And a special shout-out 'meow' to my kit-cat friends!"

So far on the agenda: Crazed River Otter Games, walks in the early morning to beat the heat, enjoying the air conditioning, napping, eating, supervising Mom from the comfort of the house while she does the garden stuff, playing with our toys, hanging out on the deck, and snacking. Maybe some birding, too! What all do you have planned?

Cammie!

Puppy!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  You won't guess what Maggie and I saw on our walk the other day!  We were going down one of our favorite legs of Hudson Trail ...

"Great day, huh, Cam?!?"
"Yes!  And a nice, shady trail, Maggie!"

... when I spotted something up ahead!

"Wait!  SQUIRREL!!"

I sensed no fear in the little guy, he didn't run or tease or anything, so I got a bit closer.

"Hello?"

Then I realized -- he was a squirrel puppy!!!! Oh, I hope he isn't like this all the time! Others might chase him, or bark, or worse!  Maggie and I stayed very calm and quiet, so we wouldn't scare him!  After all, he was just a puppy!

"Where is your mama squirrel?!?  She should be teaching you to be CAREFUL!"

Fortunately, Mama Squirrel was in a tree beside the trail, and she started yelling at him.  Or at us.  I'm not sure which.  Anyway, we let him finish his snack, then he hopped over toward where his mama was, and we went on our way.

Oh, I know.  "Siberian Husky Prey Drive" and all that.  But I couldn't help it - and neither could Maggie, who fortunately took her cues from me.  It was a squirrel PUPPY and I have a soft spot in my heart for all puppies.  I really hope this one learns to be more careful!

Cammie!

About That Kit-Cat ...

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Remember the kit-cat I was watching on TV the other evening? I kept thinking I had seen him before somewhere. Then, the other day when I was   looking out of the window, daydreaming   on Guard Duty, it hit me! Well, it didn't hit me so much as ...

"There he is!  Hey!  I saw you on that mystery show the other night!!!"

Pretty cool having an international TV star right here in the neighborhood!  (He's not that tiny; our backyard is a flight of steps down!)

Oh, I know.  Some of you are wondering why a kit-cat would come so close to our house -- a house with TWO Siberian Huskies.  Right?  Well, check out who came up that aforementioned flight of steps and practically knocked on the kitchen door!

"Hello."

Yep.  An orange and white kit-cat!  Cam said she thinks word has gotten out that they might have a kindred spirit here at Ao4 Headquarters.  I'm not sure what she means, but in case any others drop by, I'm going to wait right here for them!

"I've heard this is the best way to attract a kit-cat.  And no, Cam, I'm not getting treats."

I'll let you know if anyone else comes by!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Honorary Kit-Cat

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Après-Walk Cool Down

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  This morning, Maggie and I took Mom and Dad on a nice walk, then we all went out on the deck to cool down and enjoy the breeze.

"Oh, this is so nice!"

"Isn't this lovely, Maggie?"
"Perfect, Cam!  You should lay down and relax a bit!"

That sounded like a great idea!

"Oh, yes.  Very nice.  Very nice indeed!"

She does have some good ideas!  And then ...

"How 'bout a hug, Cam?"
"Oh, Maggie!"

It was so sweet!

...

OK, she was really trying to get me to get back up and play.  It's still cute, though.

Speaking of cute, Maggie was VERY interested in the deck in one spot.  She was listening and cocking her head like she has done before (check it out at this link).  Mom knew it must mean one thing -- our lean, not mean, bug-eating machine Bart the Bat had to be back!  He hangs underneath our upper deck, and Mom can see him from the lower deck!

She got the camera and went down to try to get a shot of him.  Not only was he there, but when Mom downloaded her photo, she saw a little surprise:

"Good eeeeevening--I mean morrrrrning.  Keep it down, please; my friend is sleeping."

Do you see the other bat behind him?!?  Wow, is that ever exciting!  No wonder Maggie was keying on him!  He has a friend!  Since one bat like Bart can eat over 12,000 mosquito-sized bugs an hour, Mom is mighty happy to see them!  Bon appétit, bat friends!!!

What a fun morning!

Cammie!

It's A Tough Job ...

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Mom and Dad did a lot of work outside this weekend, so after walks and playtime in the yard, I did a lot of this:

"Oh, thank God the new air conditioner is up and running!  Zzz ..."

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!  How was your weekend?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  "What's so serene?" you might ask.  Check it out:

"Look!  There's water in the Kansas Ocean!!!"
"And that's not all!"

Not only did our recent storms start filling up the Kansas Ocean, but check out the Trans-Oceanic Bridge!

"Now THAT is a puddle!"

You see, one of us around here either walks around or jumps over puddles; the other one takes delight in splashing right through them!  Can you guess who does what?

"Oh, that feels so good on my feety-feet!!!"

Yes, I'm the one who loves a good puddle!!!  Mom would have stopped me, but she knows the joy I get from splashing right through.

"Very undignified, Cam.  Very undignified.  I jumped over."
"You don't know what you're missing, Mags!"

What sweet serenity!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Cammie!

I Know Who Didn't Do It!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Frequent readers of the Ao4 Digest know I love watching movies and TV shows -- especially British detective/mystery shows!  Last night, I was just settling in to watch another episode of one of my favorites, when ...

"Oh, good!  Let's start another episo--WAIT!"

"Run it back, Dad!  Just a little bit!"

I wasn't 100% sure I had seen what I thought I had seen!

"Wow!  Yeah, look at that!"

"Where did you come from, Kit-cat?!!?"

"And where are you going?"

"Run it back again, Dad.  I may have missed something!"

"Ohhh... I see now."

"Yep.  See you later, Kit-cat!  Don't worry, I won't let them frame you!"

OK. I may not know "who dunnit" yet, but I know who didn't do it! That kit-cat is innocent!!!

Yours truly,
Margaret Thatcher

Finally!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  It's been quite the week -- severe storms, the house being really hot and humid, the air conditioner being declared kaput, men coming and going, noise, not being able to open windows because of the storms, opening windows when we could, being put on something called Benadryl for a while (all I know really is I got some cheese!), Mom coming after me with ear rinse and eye drops, Mom using my eye drops on her own eyes ... and yesterday, the men weren't just downstairs, they popped in and out of the main level, so Cam and I had to stay on leashes the whole time!  It's been a lot to handle!

But it's finally Friday - and they're done!  Well, not totally, but done enough that the house is cool and not sticky any more!  The men have to come back and do more things, but now that my cool air vents are putting out cool air again, Cam and I are happy Siberians. 

"All is right with the world again!"

Who's ready for a nice, quiet weekend?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Bird-A-Palooza!

Hello and greetings to all!  Cam and Maggie here to share more of our mom's photos from our last trip to Quivira.  If you'll remember, we shared some Northern Shovelers with you a bit ago; they are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far as the birdies we saw!  Let's take a sampling!

Mom was walking along, focusing on something else when she spotted this guy moving through the reeds:

American Bittern

If he hadn't been moving, or if he'd been at a different angle, she never would have seen him! God gave this guy GREAT built-in camouflage!

She got so excited when she saw this tiny bird at close range that she forgot to extend her lens!

Pied-Billed Grebe

There were a handful of different species of shorebirds there!  Representing that category is this next birdie:

Lesser Yellowlegs

Some of our Summer residents are starting to appear, like this irridescent-feathered beauty:

White-Faced Ibis

Cool beak, too, don't you think?  Speaking of cool beaks, this guy is really showing off how delicate his curved beak is:

American Avocet

In addition to the Shovelers we showed you, we saw lots of other ducks!  Take a look at some!

Blue-Winged Teals

Greater Scaup, a Ruddy Duck, and Buffleheads

Lots of the birdies are in their "breeding plumage" -- which basically means they're wearing their Sunday best to look nice for each other!  Ruddy Ducks aren't in breeding plumage for very long, but Mom was hoping to be able to see one as such!  She saw a handful of them!  Check this guy out!!!

Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage!

Don't you love his bright blue bill and deep-rust body?!!?  Mom just went ga-ga over-----

"Hey! Hey, Camera Lady!  Don't forget about me!!!  Aren't I your fave??? Check out my tail feathers!!!"

Sigh.  Well, yes, she went crazy over the male Ruddy Duck, but her heart still belongs to the Northern Shoveler.  Whatever.

(Come on, girls!  Is that not the most charismatic, handsome, adorable duck EVER?!?!)

Do you see what we have to put up with here?

Anyway, we saw lots of Blackbirds, Red-Winged and Yellow-Headed!  Check these out:

Yellow-Headed Blackbirds

That was about it ...

American Avocet

Usually, Mom takes the lens off her camera as soon as we leave the refuge, and puts all of her equipment in the back of the vehicle.  For some reason, she decided to keep it on her lap for a while.  As Dad was driving home, down one of the little highways, Mom looked into a field and had one of those moments when she said, "Wait.  What in the ... OHMYGOODNESSPLEASESTOP!!!"  Fortunately, there wasn't anyone behind us, so Dad pulled over a bit and stopped.  (There was no shoulder on the road.). Mom had spotted THREE of these:

Sandhill Cranes!!!!

Mom had never been that close to Cranes and oh, boy, was she excited!  She was so thrilled to see them and get a few shots off without disturbing them.  (She later said she was surprised she didn't drop the camera!). It was an incredible experience!  She was thankful Dad was able to pull over, and so very thankful God blessed her with the photo opportunity!

We hope you enjoyed our birdie pix!  Back to normal programming tomorrow!

Cam and Mags

PS:  If you'd like to see a whole bunch more photos from our trip, please click here to visit our FlickR album; it's a two-pager!

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam

Allow Me To Vent!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  When our weather changes from nice and cold to hot, I like to vent.  You know ... like this:

Me, venting

"I don't think this baby's firing on all cylinders ..."

I sure hope someone can do something about this - and soon!  I need to vent!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

What Am I Doing?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Check it out!  It's me, posing ever-so-sweetly in front of our neighbor's tree!

Me!  Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

Yeah, not really. I was staring at the people across the street. Mom made the best of the situation, though!  I mean - what a great pose, don't you think?

Have a great Monday!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher