So much to Blog about, so little time--oh,and It's Monday, what are you reading?

Since I know Sheila from Book Journey is in New York City for BEA, this will be a short "It's Monday, What are you Reading" post.  Shhhh.....don't tell her, but I have other things to write about this afternoon.
One would be how much fun it has been to read all the introductory posts for Armchair BEA.   I can't wait for the rest of the week and all of our assignments/events.

Before I get too far away from It's Monday, let me list the books I read last week.

I finished   Ten Little Bloodhounds (the one I had started last week) and enjoyed it very much.   Its number 5 in a 6 book series, so....soon I will be done and there will be no more bloodhounds. The author, Virginia Lanier, has passed away.    




And I read "Death of A Butterfly" by Margarot Maron.  This is her 2nd in the Sigrid Harald series.  I love her Deoborah Knott series and it would be bad if I said I was forcing myself to read the Sigrid series, wouldn't it?   I am not forcing myself....they are good.  I just started with Deborah and it's hard to backtrack. ( I love the Deborah Knott Books.)

Why am I bothering, you ask?  Because in November the 17th Deborah Knott book is coming out and she goes to NYC and meets Sigrid.  So, of course I must know all about Sigrid too.  (there are only 8 in that series--6 more to go before November)

Having said all that.... I do like Sigrid.  She is hard to get to know, but once you do, I feel like she will become a good friend of mine.  (that's how I feel about series mysteries)  Sigrid is a Detective in NYC circa 1970, when women in positions of power were new, there were no cells phones and smoking was common place.  It's kind of a fun read since was a teenager circa 1970's.

Next week, I have to read  "Same Kind of Different As Me" by  Ron Hall and Denver Moore, for my Lit Wits book club and   "The Last Lecture" for my Totally Lit bookclub. 
I'll be busy all week.

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Now....back to my birds.  

As you know, I went to Spring Wings  last weekend with my friends, the Bird Nerd Herd and they are  waitig paitently for more pictures and more bird blogging.

Yes, I was a newbie at this bird watching thing.  I have been a backyard birder for some time....but to go on a 'tour'?    Sounded kind of weird to me, but I'm game for anything. 

Guess what?  I had THE BEST TIME EVER!

If you care, here is my first post about the weekend  and here is my second post about the weekend.

And now....I have to tell you...

The Rest of the Story 

This is Carson Lake.

In between and all around these ponds, lakes, puddles are county roads.  Dirt roads.  And it's very big (the wetlands known as Carson Lake).  There are roads that go off of any map--that you can't see on  a map.  The water  ebbs  and flows depending on rain and irrigation.  You have to be very careful, because if it has been rainy, a road could be covered, or if you are caught in a rain storm,  a road you might have taken into the wetlands, could possibly be part of a lake when you try to get out.

Here is a map:

and a more detailed map:

On Saturday afternoon,  we sign up for the tour of Carson Lake, hoping to see some good birds.  Jane is our driver.

Jane is in the middle. In blue.

We are so excited.  Over the whole weekend we saw over 50 species of birds.... and on this afternoon, probably 25 of them.    We are beyond excited!  We go off in search of the Yellow  Warbler!   
Jane takes off.  We are a fun group!  Mitzi and Jolina sing.  We are the singing van tour!  (one thing I've learned is that when you travel with Mitzi and Jolina,  you can break out in song at any moment).  We are having a grand time....Jane heads farther and farther out.... and finally   we come to a thicket of trees and lo and behold, there are Warblers!    We also had to contend with a bull, who was mad!    He thought he owned the thicket where the warblers were.  He didn't care for us being there.

This is all fine.  This is all good.  But.... we then have to find our way back thru the maze of roads.  We were late to begin with....but then...then we couldn't find our way out.  We kept going down roads that led to nowhere.  Dead ends.  The sun was setting  (not really, that is literary license to exaggerate), but we were late!  We were also hysterical.  Not in the  "I'M LOST PLEASE HELP ME" kind of hysterical, but   laughing our arses off  kind of hysterical.   We all had to go pee!   We were late.  We were being stalked by a bull. And we couldn't find our way back to the town.   But we were having the best time.

More pictures of our weekend

In the (lost) van.

Pat, Mitzi and Maris

Mitzi and me with our BIG CAMERAS

Maris and Jolina with their little cameras.

Let's go look at birds!!

The Black Ibis

The Long Billed Curlew  (I think)  Or maybe  A Willet

Hot Chicks!   Oh...I mean, me, Jolina and Mitzi.

Black Necked Stilts (my favorite) and Phalaropes

A Snowy Egret

Mitzi took this pic with her BIG LENS.

Most of the time, we all looked like this:

Pretty Birds!

and finally....Our tired hosts.

Who did so much for us! 

Thanks Maris and Tim.

The end.