The Hydrohot guy, John, came back and finished the service and repair this morning. He found a circulation pump and a mixer valve that needed to be replaced. Hydrohot is our heating system. It runs on diesel, electric, or both, depending on which switches we activate from inside. It provides the heated fluid for our furnace vents, front and back. It provides all the hot water for our dishes and showers. It provides the engine preheat so we don’t have to start a cold engine in the morning or have an extended idle while the engine comes up to temperature. It even works in reverse. When the engine is running, the engine provides the heat for the circulating fluid, so all the hot water systems work without any of the burners being turned on. Most of this stuff is usually done with propane. With all of it done with diesel and electric, we don’t do much with propane. We have a twenty-five gallon propane tank that runs the stovetop burners and the refrigerator when we’re not plugged in to shore power. We only have to fill the propane tank once a year. Anyway, we’re all fixed, the hot water stays a nice constant 127 degrees now. (It was yo-yo ing before.) Judy got the Jeep serviced and new tires put on.
Tuesday
Root canal day. Judy had a tooth attack last week. It turned out to be an issue the emergency dental clinic couldn’t deal with so she got drugs and the opportunity to tough it out over the weekend. She got her root canal done by the oral surgeon today. She gets a crown on it next week. It’s always a busy time when we’re in this part of Colorado. Optometrist, root canal, Hydrohot repair, haircuts, Jeep service, tires, dermatologist, dentist, annual physicals, kids, grandkids, fishing, campfire, hot dogs, smores… We’re working our way through it.
Birding
That last list was for July. 138 birds. A good month for us. And the list for August. Not so many. 114 birds. Four of them were lifers for us though. http://steveandjudystravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/august-bird-list.html
August bird list
And the list for August. Not so many. 114 birds. Four of them were lifers for us though.
| Cackling Goose (lifer) |
| Canada Goose |
| Wood Duck |
| American Wigeon |
| Mallard |
| Ring-necked Duck |
| Common Goldeneye |
| Hooded Merganser |
| Common Merganser |
| Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Sharp-tailed Grouse |
| Common Loon |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| American White Pelican |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| Bald Eagle |
| Northern Harrier |
| Cooper’s Hawk |
| Swainson’s Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Golden Eagle |
| American Kestrel |
| Peregrine Falcon |
| Prairie Falcon |
| American Coot |
| Killdeer |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| Greater Yellowlegs |
| Lesser Yellowlegs |
| Baird’s Sandpiper |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| California Gull |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Vaux’s Swift |
| White-throated Swift |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| Downy Woodpecker |
| American Three-toed Woodpecker (lifer) |
| Northern Flicker |
| Pileated Woodpecker |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| Western Wood-Pewee |
| Alder Flycatcher (lifer) |
| Willow Flycatcher |
| Least Flycatcher |
| Hammond‘s Flycatcher |
| Eastern Phoebe |
| Western Kingbird |
| Eastern Kingbird |
| Warbling Vireo |
| Red-eyed Vireo |
| Gray Jay |
| Steller’s Jay |
| Blue Jay |
| Clark‘s Nutcracker |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Horned Lark |
| Violet-green Swallow |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| Cliff Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Mountain Chickadee |
| Boreal Chickadee (lifer) |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Mountain Bluebird |
| Townsend’s Solitaire |
| Swainson’s Thrush |
| American Robin |
| Gray Catbird |
| European Starling |
| Cedar Waxwing |
| Tennessee Warbler |
| Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Yellow Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Townsend’s Warbler |
| American Redstart |
| Common Yellowthroat |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
| Western Tanager |
| Chipping Sparrow |
| Brewer’s Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Song Sparrow |
| Lincoln‘s Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| Northern Cardinal |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Lazuli Bunting |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Common Grackle |
| Bullock’s Oriole |
| Cassin’s Finch |
| House Finch |
| Pine Siskin |
| American Goldfinch |
| Evening Grosbeak |
| House Sparrow |
July bird list
A pretty good list for July: 138 birds.
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck |
| Canada Goose |
| Mallard |
| Blue-winged Teal |
| Ruddy Duck |
| Northern Bobwhite |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| Western Grebe |
| Clark‘s Grebe |
| American White Pelican |
| Brown Pelican |
| Neotropic Cormorant |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Snowy Egret |
| Little Blue Heron |
| Tricolored Heron |
| Cattle Egret |
| Green Heron |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| White Ibis |
| White-faced Ibis |
| Roseate Spoonbill |
| Black Vulture |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| Mississippi Kite |
| Northern Harrier |
| Swainson’s Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Golden Eagle |
| American Kestrel |
| Sora |
| Common Moorhen |
| American Coot |
| Wilson‘s Plover |
| Killdeer |
| Black-necked Stilt |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| Greater Yellowlegs |
| Long-billed Curlew |
| Laughing Gull |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| California Gull |
| Least Tern |
| Gull-billed Tern |
| Caspian Tern |
| Black Tern |
| Forster’s Tern |
| Royal Tern |
| Black Skimmer |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| White-winged Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Inca Dove |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
| Great Horned Owl |
| Common Nighthawk |
| White-throated Swift |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird |
| Broad-tailed Hummingbird |
| Rufous Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Golden-fronted Woodpecker |
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Western Wood-Pewee |
| Dusky Flycatcher |
| Eastern Phoebe |
| Say’s Phoebe |
| Western Kingbird |
| Eastern Kingbird |
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
| Steller’s Jay |
| Western Scrub-Jay |
| Pinyon Jay |
| Clark‘s Nutcracker |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Chihuahuan Raven |
| Common Raven |
| Horned Lark |
| Tree Swallow |
| Violet-green Swallow |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| Bank Swallow |
| Cliff Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Mountain Chickadee |
| Bushtit |
| Cactus Wren |
| Rock Wren |
| House Wren |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| Western Bluebird |
| Mountain Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| Northern Mockingbird |
| Sage Thrasher |
| Curve-billed Thrasher |
| European Starling |
| Cedar Waxwing |
| Yellow Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler |
| Common Yellowthroat |
| Western Tanager |
| Green-tailed Towhee |
| Spotted Towhee |
| Canyon Towhee |
| Chipping Sparrow |
| Brewer’s Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow |
| Lark Sparrow |
| Black-throated Sparrow |
| Grasshopper Sparrow |
| Northern Cardinal |
| Lazuli Bunting |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Eastern Meadowlark |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Common Grackle |
| Great-tailed Grackle |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Orchard Oriole |
| Bullock’s Oriole |
| Pine Grosbeak |
| Cassin’s Finch |
| House Finch |
| Pine Siskin |
| Lesser Goldfinch |
| American Goldfinch |
| House Sparrow |