Author: Richard

My Latest Interest: Geocaching

I was out looking for a bald eagle’s nest at Fountainebleau State Park when a Texas auto pulled up. The driver asked if I’d found it and having been there before, helped me locate it through my scope. When I asked if they were birders, he replied, “No, we are geocachers from Biloxi.”

Well, I knew what geocaching was since our grandson, Mac, had just gone on a Cub Scout geo outing. When my new friend asked, “Want to see one?” I followed him up to a little path into the underbrush. He reached down and lifted up a root, showing me the drilled hole in the underside, with a small cylinder inserted. He showed me the rolled up log sheet inside – and I was hooked. I went to his website (Gulf Coast Geocachers)read up a bit, downloaded an iPhone app, and was off and running.

Here’s a little of what I learned (from Wikipedia):
Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, anywhere in the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name.

Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value.


Geocaching is often described as a “game of high-tech hide and seek”, sharing many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.

Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. After 10 years of activity there are over 1,532,000 active geocaches published on various websites. There are over 5 million geocachers worldwide.

So, I’ve done some geocaching at Fountainebleau and Lake Fausse Pointe in Louisiana and at Village Creek annd Goose Island state parks in Texas. I find that it goes well with dog walking, biking, and birding and like the fact that it gets you outside. I also like the geeky aspect of gps and online record-keeping and tracking objects around the country and the world. I also like the inter-generational potential of it; kids love it.

So for now, it’s a “give it a try” activity to check out. When the birds are resting, it is a chance to get out the iPhone and see where the closest geocache might be. And perhaps, there’s a new bird waiting there as well.

The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds

Julie Zickefoose lives for the moment when a wild, free living bird that she has raised or rehabilitated comes back to visit her; their eyes meet and they share a spark of understanding. Her reward for the grueling work of rescuing birds—such as feeding baby hummingbirds every twenty minutes all day long—is her empathy with them and the satisfaction of knowing the world is a birdier and more beautiful place. 

The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds is about the change that’s set in motion by one single act, such as saving an injured bluebird—or a hummingbird, swift, or phoebe. Each of the twenty five chapters covers a different species, and many depict an individual bird, each with its own personality, habits, and quirks. And each chapter is illustrated with Zickefoose’s stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not just individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds,The Bluebird Effect mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds.
A Harvard educated biologist with the soul of a poet, Ms. Zickefoose has become beloved to countless readers, as well as National Public Radio listeners, as a keen interpreter of the natural world who brings to her work a level of attention to not only the subtleties and intimate details of her subjects but also the effects the interaction with them has upon her, and by extension her readers, as well. Included in this new book alongside her essays will also be a wide-ranging collection of her sketches, finished drawings, and paintings (examples of which can be viewed in her online portfolio).
The Bluebird Effect will be officially released for sale in both clothbound as well as electronic book formats on 20 March 2012.

The Trails of Lake Fausse Pointe State Park

We had never been to Lake Fausse Point SP but after an interesting journey getting there, Penny and I enjoyed getting out on their many trails.
Most are very bikeable if you are comfortable with roots and long rather narrow bridges over swamps.  You see lots of neat things like this gnarly tree:
And this sign:
And this cottonmouth
From time to time, while I am checking something out, Penny relaxes along the trail
One outing, we came back to the interpretive center and in talking with the naturalist, I asked, “Any alligators out this time of year?”  She said, “There are eight out back.”  Sure enough, in the small pond behind the center, a bunch of small ‘gators were lying around, quite dormant in the cool temperatures.  There are two or three in the picture below — but I would never have thought to look for them if she had not told me about them.
We endured a line of storms with a tornado watch while we were there.  Most of us gathered at the conference center because of the concern of high winds but all passed without damage, aside from a deluge of rain throughout the night.
One ranger told me:  “This is Cajun country and you have to want to get to this campground to do so.  It’s off the beaten path.  We like it that way.”
Aside from the rain and mosquitos, so did we.

Check out my birding blog at Vermont Birder

Duck, ducks!

We just arrived at Goose Island State Park, one of our favorite birding spots, and were awakened at 5:00 this morning by a host os noisy airboats taking hunters out to their shooting spots. Yes, it’s the last several days of duck hunting season and being a Sunday, the boys (and gals) are out in force. Taking the Vizsla for a dawn walk, I was admiring the low-flying turkey vultures here while hearing hundreds of shotgun blasts far off. My dog hates gunshots and really has little interest leaving the trailer – she’s growling and barking at the shots she can hear from here on the couch.


I’m not anti-hunting per se but it is disconcerting to see hundreds of ducks here yesterday and then hear the blasting this morning. It’s something that any birder who gets out in the fall at preserves and management areas hears but it doesn’t mean we like it. We buy duck stamps (birders probably match hunters in stamp purchases) to support the conservation programs but if you are like me, you cringe when you see or hear ducks and geese being killed.

Another few hours and things will calm down. Then the dog and I can head out for some quiet birding.

Also check out http://vtairstreaming.blogspot.com/ where we blog about our travels with the Airstream.

Some Southern Birds

I’ve been shooting with the Canon, with varied success, as we’ve stayed at several state parks on our trip.  I’ve also been experimenting with digiscoping.  Here are a few of the birds we’ve encountered:

A Brown Nuthatch feeding at Fountainebleau. Note grub in beak

American Coot at Fountainebleau
A nesting Great Horned Owl again at Fountainebleau

A flight of White Ibis on a foggy morning

A Pine Warbler visits us at Clarkco State Park, MS

Same Pine Warbler

A Red-headed Woodpecker digiscoped at Fountainebleau SP

I-10 Builds Character

We moved today from Fontainebleau State Park which involves jumping on to I-12 which hooks up with I-10 out of New Orleans.  It’s never fun and today, with the temperature a muggy 79 degrees, it seemed worse than ever.  The haze hung over the wetlands and the tractor-trailers made life miserable.

Things got worse as we headed past Baton Rouge in a windy section with heavy traffic.  A kid in a car beside us yelled something and pointed toward the back of our rig as we navigated some curves.  I swung into a breakdown lane, just after an on ramp, and carefully exited the truck.  The traffic roaring by was scary but as I went to the back of the trailer, I saw what they had been yelling about.  Our electrical cord had escaped from the holder and was dragging the plug down the highway.  Talk about road rash — the plug looked pretty sad as I stowed it safely away.

Getting back on and up to speed was tough and then we nearly missed a split of the highway, needing a quick change to a left lane but then we were over the Mississippi and things got a bit more quiet.  The GPS route to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park looked a little crooked but I wanted off I-10 so we followed the routing. I told Mary, ” It looks like a goat path on the map.” Louisiana doesn’t spend a lot of money on their back roads — the road we were on was narrow, pock-marked, but straight with a speed limit of 55 mph.  No way was I going that fast on such a road, which wound back and forth, through little hamlets, past many fishing camps, and eventually coming to a pontoon bridge, ending with a sudden lurch up over a levee on to a real road.  (The park ranger, hearing my route, told me that several bigger rigs have lost antennas and mirrors on that bridge.)  We won’t be going back that way.

A pontoon bridge rated at 5 tons (now what do we weigh?)

Nearly every camp/home we passed on the “goat path” had a name:  “Bud’s Swampland.” “Who Dat?” …. It was an interesting look at rural Louisiana but it was nice to get on a wider highway for the last 15 miles down to the park.  As we listen to peepers this evening, it’s a far cry from the chaos of Interstate 10.  In spite of the mosquitos, I prefer this setting much more.

Southern Comfort

After a nice stay at Harrison Bay State Park in Tennessee, where we had the park nearly to ourselves, we drove down to ClarkCo State Park in Mississippi where we have stayed before.  Since we were moving on  Martin Luther King Day, the traffic was relatively light through Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa.  We settled into ClarkCo and I had a chance to take the dog on several long runs (she can roam on the back trails since no one is there.)

Staying with in ClarkCo for a few days gave us a chance to see Kevin and Jason, our Mississippi friends.  They took us out to eat at a local favorite — Charlie’s Catfish House — and we enjoyed a wonderful meal and had a great time.  Of course, the food is fried and tasty — one of those places where you don’t worry about calories.  We topped it off with a King Cake back at Kevin & Jason’s Laurel home and I got the baby, which means good luck and I have to buy next year’s King Cake.

Catfish, Steak Fries, & Hush Puppies

It’s a pretty easy four-hour drive down to Fountainebleau State Park, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain.  The park is great — even while nearly filled with locals here for the weekend.  It’s neat to have kids framming around on bikes and enjoying 70’s weather.  The birding here is superb as well and all Louisiana parks have decent wifi.  So, after a week of 3G, we could get caught up on some of our laptop projects.

I’ve had the bike out and got Penny running alongside.  It’s a good way for both of us to get exercise when we can’t let her run.  We are off to Lake Fausse Pointe state park tomorrow — a place we’ve not visited, then start heading west toward Texas.  Enjoying shorts and T-shirt weather and many birds.

Photo by Sam Is Hungry

Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge

Yesterday, we drove from our campground up to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge to see the Sandhill Cranes. It was cold and windy but the birds were spectacular. I was hoping to see the rare Hooded Crane which has drawn birders from 41 states and 11 countries but it wasn’t there – it showed up about an hour after we left. (I did see a lone Ross Goose with the cranes – a life bird.)


Above you see thousands of sandhill cranes lifting off as something unidentified, probably a bald eagle, stirs them all at once.

The Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest sandhill crane staging areas in the east, second only to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana. Sandhill cranes to feed and rest as they migrate south to Georgia and Florida for the winter. As many as 10,000 may remain, over-wintering in Tennessee.

There were also several Bald Eagles along with Canada Geese, Great Blue Herons, and assorted gulls and ducks. A nice representation of casual and serious birders as well and lisence plates from all over.

The first photo and some of the text is from a wonderful local blog by Vickie Henderson – http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/

Also check out http://vtairstreaming.blogspot.com/ where we blog about our travels with the Airstream.

A Tiring Start

Having positioned the rig for a Saturday morning getaway, I slept poorly worrying about the driveway and finally, after solving the problems of the world, got up at 3:45 and turned on the coffee. We had received about 6 inches of new snow and I was out on the Kubota plowing at 5:00. Fortunately, the snow was light and easy to move.

Launching at 6:20 AM, we crept down the driveway in 4 WD and low gear. The Town had yet to plow the road but there were tracks from earlier vehicles and we made it to the highway without incident. Because of the weather, I decided to take the long way through Burlington and down Route 7. Traffic was light but it was cold – hanging at around 9 degrees for the first few hours.



We hit some snow down in Addison County but after a fuel stop in Fair Haven (boy did the rig look ugly with snow, ice, and salt/sand), we headed over toward the Northway and down to Albany. The trip down I-88 was long but uneventful and mid-day, we joined up with I-81 and headed southward. Gradually the temperatures rose into the low twenties and aside from a tough west wind, the travelling was easy.

After 11 hours or so, we pulled into a Walmart in Chambersburg, PA where we have overnighted before. It was a tough night, even though we were tired. It was Saturday night in farm country and every good ol’ boy ( or girl) with a tuned exhaust system seemed to drive by, with the engine revved up. The trailer was cold. Our one propane heater was cranking bit after a day of frigid temps, the Airstream held a lot of the cold. The dog was happy since the heater was at her end.

I slept well but Mary did not and we decided to start early again, leaving around 5 AM for a 600 mile drive. It’s nice to drive down I-81 early Sunday morning – very few trucks – and we had an easy time through the western tip of Maryland and into West Virginia. The ice and snow was still on the rig into Tennessee but finally, we saw 32 on the thermometer. Knoxville, usually a traffic hassle, was easy on a Sunday and mid-afternoon, we were finally on I-75 heading toward Chattanooga.

Last year, we stayed at another Walmart in Athens, TN but this year, I was aiming for Harrison Bay State Park where there was electricity and, as it touned out, water. After a last minute snag with MapQuest directions, we snaked our way through back roads to the park where a ranger with a wonderful Tennessee accent, told me to pick a spot and he’d come by to sign us up.


Only one section is open but there are only a handful of campers. It was great to settle in before dark, walk the dog, and get some exercise. We decided, since we like this place and its solitude (can’t imagine it in the summer), to stay for a while. Yesterday, I washed the salt and grit off the Airstream and we did some neat birding. No wifi around and weak 3G, but it is great to have the iPads along this trip.

Today, Tuesday, it’s raining pretty hard so we’ll take it easy and let the 50 degree rain wash the truck.



Off to Quitman, MS tomorrow where we’ll stay at Clarko State Park. Nice to have the long, snowy drives behind us.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ready To Go

Today has been a real work day, starting with plowing the driveway with the Kubota and then shoveling sand — it’s a long driveway when you are lugging pails of sand.  Then, going up to the Town garage to refill the buckets for tomorrow.

I worked on loading the truck with bikes, kayak, solar panel, and an assortment of books so that I can run Vitesse Press while on the road.  Meanwhile, Mary made dozens of trips from the house to the Airstream and got clothing and food in place.

Then I hooked up the rig and with some maneuvering, I got it around the ledge outcrop (which I hit last year while leaving) and straightened out so that I could back it up to the garage for final loads.

We’ll see what the morning brings — more snow is forecast and it’s going to be frigid and windy.  Both Mary and I remarked that this preparation was tougher than the last couple of years — we’re pretty tired but planning to launch early dark thirty.