*looking up at just the right moment to see a Swainson's Hawk soaring over my car in the rain
*egrets glowing white in the sunlight
*driving home on a stormy day with lead-grey skies and seeing the valley turn gold from the setting sun peeking under the clouds
*watching a Western Tanager and a pair of Summer Tanagers taking turns eating an orange at our bird feeder (the Summer Tanagers are bigger and so the Western Tanager would leave when they flew in, but he perched nearby and returned as soon as they left)
*so many hummingbirds!

This is the time of year when I spend a lot of time outdoors. I am happiest when I am spending time outdoors.

In late April, DH and I went to Arizona for a week to go birding. We went to lots of beautiful places and saw lots of birds. In the summer, I wear those lightweight pants that dry quickly and can be converted to shorts by unzipping the legs. I actually never turn them into shorts, but I like them because they are cool and comfortable and because they do dry quickly. I'm not sure exactly what they are made of - maybe it's ripstop nylon? Anyway, I had not worn mine since last fall, and when I put them on the first day, they were tight. I could wear them, but they were not comfortable at all. While I cannot say I was overjoyed by this, I decided to be practical. We were in Tucson, they have an REI there, and I went there and bought new, more comfortable pants. Even better, I found a different style of the pants that was more comfortable and more flattering - these don't have zip off legs, which is just fine with me. I was able to spend the rest of the trip in comfort, instead of trying to squish into the other pants and having them dig into my waist the whole time.

We did some hiking on the trip - lots of uphill stuff. My legs didn't get nearly as sore as I expected and it felt good to be able to climb. DH did much better than he expected, too. We had cold cuts and bread in our room, as well as yam cakes and cheese sticks and celery etc. Every day we would make sandwiches and pack cut up celery and carrots, apples, cheese, hard boiled eggs from the breakfast bar, and yam cakes. That way, I could eat lunch when I needed to and have snacks as needed and we could bird without having to stop and drive back to the main part of town to get a meal.

The other outdoor thing I'm doing is monitoring hawk and owl nests. I have several miles of territory that I monitor. After work and on weekends, I am out walking, checking nests and looking for nests. This year I have 4 hawks on nests, 2 more areas where I expect hawks to be on nests, one owl on a nest, and a mystery owl nest that I need to find. The other night I decided to go out after work. The sun was out at my office, but as I drove toward the area I was going to check, the sky was very grey. I decided to go anyway, and if it got bad, I would go back to the car. It was grey and a bit blustery at times, but I really enjoyed it. Because of the weather, there were fewer other people than usual, so I had periods of time when I had the woods to myself, which I always enjoy. It was cool, and I decided not to take my backpack, just a small bag with my phone and gps unit (the kind people use for camping and geocaching), so I was able to walk fast, which I always enjoy. I stopped whenever I heard a bird or saw something interesting. I did get back to the car just in time, because it was starting to thunder. It was really windy on the way home, but I got to see the valley turn golden. I never saw golden light like that when I lived on the East Coast, plus I didn't get to see big, open areas like that.

Of course, with all this extra physical activity, I am making sure to be attentive to food. I eat a meal before leaving work, so that my blood sugar is steady when I'm out walking for a couple of hours. Then I eat a small dinner when I get home. When I go out on weekends, I carry yam cakes and cheese sticks in my backpack so I can snack as needed. I think yam cakes are one of my most useful discoveries. They really help, they are portable, and they taste really good. I keep them in the freezer, and they keep my cheese sticks from getting too warm when I'm out in the field. They are even tasty when they are still partially frozen. I highly recommend them for camping, hiking etc. I use Elaine's recipe, the one with Restore in it.
Allison