More birding and other stuff, too

Seems like I'm busier by the minute and I really need to find some time to do some woodturning. I did manage to do some work on my latest project this weekend, and I'll have time tomorrow to do a lot of the detail work on this piece. I've not posted any pics of it as of yet, but will have something, I hope, by next weekend to share here on the blog.

I spent a lot of my time this past week practicing on my fiddle so that I would be prepared to record two fiddle tracks this weekend for the Aisling CD project. All that practice certainly helped me to record acceptable tracks. I'm definitely the second fiddler in our band (Stuart's the star fiddler in our band), but I can fill in some depth on some of the tune tracks. We're laying down a scratch track on one of the vocals in this picture. My goal for my fiddle playing was to record tracks that wouldn't embarrass me to listen to for the long haul. I think I succeeded there, but I'm sure I'll enjoy listening to my hammer dulcimer work much more than the fiddle tracks or the vocals. At any rate, the project is moving along toward completion. You can see more pics of our studio time on the Aisling blog.




I spent some time this morning on an Audubon field trip lead by Rob Thorn. We walked around Whittier Peninsula and Greenlawn Cemetery. The migration season is definitely past prime time, but we saw some neat birds today. This one is an Eastern Wood Peewee. We also saw and heard a Willow Flycatcher, which is related to this species.











Whittier Peninisula has been designated as an important bird area and the city is developing a park that highlights this birding hotspot. This is the sign marking the spot where the Audubon Center will be in the near future. That's Steve poking his nose out from behind the sign.








We saw a lot Cedar Waxwings today. I like their elegant appearance.

















We sure saw a lot of catbirds today, too.










There are a lot of butterflies and moths out and about this time of year, also.












Here's a mourning dove sitting on her nest.








Greenlawn cemetery wasn't all that great for birding today, but we did see a Swainson's and a Wood thrush. We also heard a Gray-cheeked thrush.

I'll be back here tomorrow morning for a band photo shoot. The cover art for our CD project features an old cemetery in Ireland. We're doing a band portrait at Greenlawn Cemetery.