Floor is done

New Floor
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Hey all,

The big news is that the floor in the living room and kitchen is actually done. Wow! It looks great. Thanks to Adam and Rebecca and Grant and Mel and David and Jordan and Dan and Susan and Jaime for help packing, moving, unpacking, and plumbing and painting, we couldn't and wouldn't have done it without you.

Mary, Ashok, and Bill's Excellent Adventure

Common Murre
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Saturday we set aside our preparations for floor refinishing (more on that shortly), and had an excellent day birding down in Monterey county. After some very cooperative shorebirds at Moss Landing State Beach, we checked out Elkhorn Slough by land before going out with Captain Yohn Gideon and Elkhorn Slough Safari to check it out from the water.

The Brown Pelicans are starting to get their breeding plumage on, and they're gorgeous. Most exciting was this Common Murre, who drifted right past the boat in decent. I seem to have recovered from a mysterious "ERROR 99" message on my camera's LCD screen in time to snap a bunch of images, of which this was probably the best. See more images at flickr. Thanks Mary and Ashok for a wonderful day.

Audubon trip to Hawk Hill

Cooper's Hawk
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Executive Director Bob Power took us to Hawk Hill in Marin for a great morning of hawk watching. As a veteran hawkwatcher, Bob was able to identify most of the passing raptors from literally a mile away, and teach us how to tell them apart. Thanks, Bob!

More photos here, including a Prairie Falcon and a Broad-winged Hawk.

Herons at the Slough

Black-crowned Night Heron
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Following a hot tip from Peter Latourette, Ashok and I went to Charleston Slough to try some duck flight shots. Although the overcast skies were not good backgrounds, the White-tailed Kites were highly cooperative, so we had a good morning.

More photos available here.

Floor Day Two!

The new floor, huzzah!
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Huzzah, all the new wood is in for the floor, as you can see here. Shy and retiring Arlie (upper right) is even willing to peek out and have a look. We're very excited about the look and feel of the wood, and looking forward to having it finished in about ten days so we can get our furniture back in there. More photos here

Floor Day!

Laying boards
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, a day almost ten months in the making -- FLOOR DAY. Today we had folks in the living room laying down the boards and nailing them into place. Tonight we walked around on the unfinished boards, and they look fabulous.

Also crucial, Russ stopped by and saved us from the horrible-looking piece of wire under the floor -- thank goodness it's not connected to anything, so we don't have to try to replace it. More photos here.

Santa Vlara Valley Audubon 80th Anniversary

Barn Owl
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Mary and I had a wonderful time at the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society's 80th Anniversary party. The party took place at Maison du Lac, a delightful redwood grove in the Santa cruz mountains.

The two big attractions were Executive Director Bob Power, Karen Hoyt's beautiful raptors, and a wonderful performance by Culann's Hounds. We also bid on an excellent wooden sculpture of an American Bittern, and ours was the winning bid. More photos here.