Gold Digger :D

That's me grinning at my first pan... every pan's a winner!
(Photo by R.Way of Eureka Gold Panning)

How's this for a cheap hobby? Hook up with a local prospecting outfitter and ride out with them to a well-known gold producing creek and pan all day and keep what you find! That's what I did over the Labor Day holiday! I learned to improve my panning technique and even picked up some new ideas for coaxing gold out of the creek bed. There are more uses for a turkey baster than the original designer ever imagined! LOL

 

Here's a look at my first pan. Yes, we hit pay dirt on the first try!
(Photo by R.Way of Eureka Gold Panning)

The Sunday evening thunderstorms had scared away many would-be Monday morning prospectors. I am glad I do not scare too easily! The gold was practically jumping out of the creek into our pans! 

(Photo by R.Way of Eureka Gold Panning)

 Here is what the lead prospector coaxed out of the heavy concentrates after the excursion. One day, I will have my own extraction to get the microgold out for myself. For now, he gladly obliges himself to do it. Amazing what is not readily visible to the naked eye! He uses magnets to draw away the iron compounds and a microscope to see what he's working with. Not a grain gets by... :)

My "naked eye" picks are in the vial. Another panner's finds are in the top of the pan. See the gold chain in the corner of the pan? That is what we want! 

(Photo by R.Way of Eureka Gold Panning)

In addition to the gold in my little pill bottle (vial), this is what was recovered from my concentrates. Nice artistic expression he has! LOL

(Photo by R.Way of Eureka Gold Panning)

I shared all this on Facebook, and now my friends want to get in on it! There's plenty for everyone, but few will put in the work to get it.. I won't lie, it is work.. you have to find a sweet spot, dig under and around submerged rocks and shake that pan filled with mud and rock to get it down the the workable paydirt... you will get a backache, your legs will hurt from squatting for long periods of time... you will be nursing sore muscles the next day (or two)... and that doesn't cover the snake hazards, bears-deer-mountain lions-bobcats-foxes-coyotes that are meandering through the woods, the sudden downpours from summer thundershowers that leave you wetter than if you had gone swimming, falling in the mud, water filled boots, no phone reception, backpack & contents soaked from rain.....

BUT IT WAS ALL SOOOOOO WORTH IT! I am definitely going to do this again!

Many thanks to Eureka Gold Panning of Greensboro, NC, for an adventure I will remember and repeat!
(Website: http://eurekagoldpan.com/ or LIKE them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EurekaGoldPanning )

This is my precious walking buddy... She is enviously watching me take pictures of various birds and roosts on the property. Taking pictures is difficult when I let her outside with me. There is the obvious, that she might chase the birds, but most importantly, she will jump the fence! I have to keep her on a leash, and can't aim the camera with her tugging on my arm! So, she watches from the door.

I let the feeder run empty yesterday, which caused quite a stir this morning! I am sharing some of the reactions I captured from the visitors:

"Can you believe it? She let us run out of food!"

"Hey! How about a little service here!"

"Aw! Look at this! Not even the big red seeds left in here!"

"I see her in there! YOO_HOO!! ... I don't think she can
hear me?"

  You'll notice that big cardinal was staying close in case a secret trove was uncovered!

A nuthatch came by to check out the
disturbance and see if there were any
tasty critters in the wooden feeder.

On a different note, I thought you might be interested in seeing the Honeysuckle Downs nesting site: 

"Honeysuckle Downs"... where the White Throated Sparrows live
(or at least hang out a lot!)

I saw my first American Goldfinch this morning at the feeder! I tossed around a few roasted peanuts (in the shell, but cracked) and quartered an orange on the patio table. I also tossed a couple of lemon-poppy seed muffins around the feed station. Hopefully, I will attract a few more new types of birds before the Great Backyard Bird Count starts in a couple of weeks!

Gossip travels fast!

Ha ha! You've heard "a little bird told me?" Apparently, gossip travels at lightning speeds even in the avian world! Yesterday's post included a fictitious script about a chickadee who will have to rebuild his nest or move to a new location, "Honeysuckle Downs," which is based on an actual rosebush and honeysuckle bramble in my backyard. (yesterday's post here: http://ankhirasfirstblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/bird-gossip.html)

Today, as I escorted my dog around the backyard, "Honeysuckle Downs" was all a flutter with activity! More than two dozen sparrows were crowded into the brush, and immediately began chirping and tweeting upon my arrival! So, I acknowledged them (because I talk to animals), and their tweeting became even MORE animated and they were all chirping at once!

I have no idea what they were saying! I said I talk to them, I did not claim I to understand them. I can only surmise the sparrows were upset about the rumor that a chickadee was planning to build his nest among theirs. What else could it be? I filled the feeder this morning and the flat pans, and even put a few peanuts on the table.   Nothing out of the ordinary... so, what else got the sparrows all stirred up?

In other news, I need to buy more peanuts and black sunflower seeds. I read that I can entice even more species with pieces of fruit. My friend gave me larger pine cones to make feeders.  That's my weekend project for this week...the weather here is scheduled as rainy and nasty all weekend.

How to attract birds to your birdfeeder...

I found out how to attract birds to my feeder.... I have to sit outside about 50 feet away with a camera. Most birds are shy and will stay hidden in the brush or visit a different feeder area. After half an hour (or when I get cold), I should go back indoors and look out the window. Dozens of birds who were patiently waiting for me to abandon my stalking will be flocking to the feeder! Many photos today were taken through the window screen or storm door. My apologies if they don't do the birds justice.

Carolina Wren keeps a watchful eye on me while he inspects the buffet table!

I did have a little house sparrow come to inquire why I was up in the treehouse, and posed for a photo-shoot. The treehouse turned out to be a disappointing viewing platform due to the wiry limbs blocking clear views. Here are a few pics I did get from the treehouse yesterday:

A mourning dove pretends she is camouflaged ... keep believing, little bird!

Uh-oh! I think I've been spotted! Blue Jays aren't as common in my yard as I expected them to be.

I believe this little bird is hoping to be "discovered!" Perhaps my photos will end up on the cover of a birding magazine! LOL

 Hello, little Sparrow! Nice to see you! May I take some photos of you? Nice smile! Wonderful! ........................ How about a right profile?....  great!




And now the left profile?... can you show me a sideview? Awesome! And one more before you move on, how about a nice shot of your wing markings? Terrific! Thank you so much! We're done here!  

Cold and Blustery Day at the Birdfeeder!

"What? No more sunflower seeds?"

Hello, all! I hope you are enjoying my happy chatter about my birdfeeder. It ain't much to look at, but the birds seem to be happy. My father has taken a slight interest in our daily visitors, and he has loaned me a better camera for stalking them. It's a Canon Rebel XT (EOS) with a six-inch zoom lens. A little different than my Canon Powershot A720 IS, but I think I can figure it out.

Last night we had a lot of wind come through. I had to reset the pan under the pine tree! Good thing the hanging feeder didn't blow down! The cold wind persisted through the day today, but I did sneak a few pictures this afternoon. Northern cardinal, Carolina chickadee, and an American robin. I hope to meet the "Breakfast Club" in the morning. :)

American Robin

Cardinal watches a little bird rummage under a seed-filled log 

It wasn't a chickadee!

Aha! That little bird I saw head-on yesterday with the black and gray throat and chest was not a chickadee! It was a common House Sparrow! The little fat chick that studied me on the porch was the female of the pair. So, How about that?!

I had an early class this morning so I didn't get to see the "Breakfast Club" at the feeder today. However, an Eastern Towhee came by this afternoon for an early dinner and hung out with the cardinals. Lots of Carolina Chickadees and Northern Cardinals around today! Didn't see the little Tufted Titmouse that's been coming up, but maybe it's a morning bird. The Carolina Wren came by for a few minutes but didn't stay long.

It appears that some sparrows are trying to restore an old dilapidated nest in the honeysuckle-rosebush bramble. The day I brought the feeder in to clean it and refill it (right before my bird blogs start) we had a blustery day. I found a bird's nest in the yard downwind of the rose/honeysuckle mess. I wonder if it is the main part of the one the sparrows are working on? I made some notes on that dilapidated one for NestWatch, but I don't remember it being partially intact? There is (was?) another nest in a sapling just behind the one in question. The part that blew down into the yard could be from that nesting spot.

Tomorrow I will have a little leisure time to watch the "Breakfast Club." Perhaps there will be another purple finch I can get a picture of!

Tufted Titmouse

House Sparrow (male, winter)

Here are a couple of frequent visitors. The purple finch comes by before 9am, so I have to be ready with the camera....

Bird list keeps getting longer!

I can certainly see why the Northern Cardinal is the State Bird of North Carolina! It is so far the most popular bird at the feeder, followed closely by the Carolina Chickadee. The cardinal is pictured here with a White-throated Sparrow (LOL at the beady little eyes!). My apologies for my slow-action camera... it needs fresh batteries.
So, to recap, let's review the birds I've seen so far:
      Northern Cardinal  (very common)     Blue Jay (c -vc)
      Carolina Chickadee  (vc)                       Tufted Titmouse  (common)  
      Mourning Dove  (vc)                             Northern Flicker  (c)
      White-throated Sparrow (vc)                Downy Woodpecker (c)
      Mockingbird (vc)

(did I remember them all?)

On Friday, I saw a big rufous (cinnamon brown) bird I believe to be a Brown Thrasher, and although my bird was a little shorter than the book says (Birds of Eastern North America, a photographic guide, P. Sterry and Brian E. Small, 2009) I didn't find a better match. American Robins joined the feeder-area list on Friday, January 06.

This morning, before I left for school, I put a cup of birdseed in the feeder and scattered some roasted peanuts under the pine tree. It had rained during the night, and I didn't take the time to dry out the dish on the ground there so I didn't put seed in the wet dish. Within minutes, an Eastern Towhee came to check out what the Cardinals were all excited about! I counted three pairs of Cardinals around the feeder, and two more pairs were in the front yard! Before I left, I saw a Purple Finch on top of the hanging feeder! HOORAY! I added two new birds to my list today!... and saw two more that I didn't have time to look up, although one was likely the female to the purple finch, and the other was a nose-to-beak view of a Carolina Chickadee and I was focusing on the black and dark gray throat and chest plumage instead of the distinctive head.

Oh! While I am writing this, a Carolina Wren has dropped by and is scouting around the edge of the workshed! How awesome is that!

American Robin (vc)          Purple Finch (c)          Eastern Towhee (c)
Brown Thrasher (c)           Carolina Wren (vc)          

and this little chick came close to me on the porch during the photo shoot before joining a Cardinal on the feeder:

That's all for now! I'm off to get fresh batteries and start on the pine cones! Happiness is in the little things! (whew! 14 species so far! and I'll bet there's a couple more brown speckled birds I didn't get a good look at yet that will be "new" for me!) Love it!

New Visitors to the Birdfeeder!

What do you know?! Those birdbrains might really have been fooled by the ugly faded water hose! Since I moved it away from the feeder area, I have had several birds visit the hanging feeder. Yesterday, only a cardinal came to lunch. Early this morning I spotted a Northern Flicker under the tree! He started to climb up while I was watching, but something spooked him. A few Carolina Chickadees played musical chairs with a Tufted Titmouse for a seat at the feeder! A Downy Woodpecker dropped in for a bit of hammering before 10am. Yay! Happiness! FOUR (yes, 4) "new" birds at the feeder! I am hopeful for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Birds are getting the word out that I've got a little bistro going.

I saw two different Mourning Doves this morning sitting on the power lines and a Mockingbird was watching the activity at the feeder. Later on in the morning, a big cat wandered through the yard! I yelled at it from my kitchen window, and it ran away.

I can identify White-Throated Sparrows with certainty now. They hang out near the tray at the rosebush with a matched pair of Northern Cardinals. I haven't seen any other birds by the pine tree yet. I plan to hang pine-cone feeders there (you know, the ones coated in peanut butter and rolled in birdseed). These little critters are up early, scarce in early afternoon and then come back around 5pm just before sundown. Interesting...

Birdwatching teaches patience

Happiness! I have had a Northern Cardinal visit the hanging feeder at least twice today! I admit, I moved the tangled water hose away from the tree. I do not see how that 30 ft tangled mess of seafoam green and yellow could have fooled a bird to think it was a snake, but I cannot think of another reason birds were not flocking to my feeder. Voila! Moved the "snake" and a cardinal enjoyed a long lunch!

At the pine tree, I had a pair of cardinals (one male and one female) dine at the seed tray this morning. I then added some plumped raisins and baked pie crust with pecan pieces (from a pecan pie) on a nearby napkin. A white-throated sparrow came to check it out!

This bird, as common as it is, was tough for me to get an ID on! They are little brown birds about 6-ish inches long with speckled breasts (some individuals more than others). I had to keep looking... oh! It has a white "beard" under its head (the correct term is "throat") and looks like it has a long dark mustache that contrasts against the white throat. But... am I sure that's a white throat or just a pale buff? It makes a difference! Could I see a yellow spot of plumage just above the eye at what would be the bridge of its nose? hmm... go back and see if you see the bird again!

 Good grief! This is tougher than I thought! Good thing I didn't wait until the day of the Great Backyard Bird Count to start looking at birds! I'm also glad I got a headstart on FeederWatch. It's important to not only count the birds I observe, but also to list which birds I have observed. Descriptions like "and 6 more little brown birds with speckled breasts" doesn't help CornellLab know which birds are hanging out in my little piece of the world.  :P

Am I having fun yet? Of COURSE!! School starts back on Monday, though, so I need to figure out my observing schedule.

Extreme Couponing... is it worth it?

YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!

I like saving money. I like having a full pantry. I like having a little extra that I can share with someone who needs it. I use coupons when I go to the grocery store. I started shopping a few months ago at a store that doubles coupons (up to 99c face value). I'm pretty happy with what I spend on groceries and my savings with coupons and store discounts. According to the popular TV show "Extreme Couponing" (TLC Channel), maybe I shouldn't be...

TLC channel is running a marathon today of EC. They are showing women who shop for hours with hundreds of coupons per trip, and thousands more in their trusty binders. Their pantries are stocked with over $10,000 in products (food, snacks, cleaning supplies, etc) for which they claim to have paid less than $2,000 in total receipts! Primarily, these shoppers are women. However, the show has highlighted a couple of young men who have a couponing addiction. I will call it an addiction, because I wonder if (some) of these people need help. Like the couple who are wanting to move out of state because they live in a bad neighborhood. So they are stockpiling items in order to save money on their total grocery bill, the one place most households can make the biggest dent in their budget, and use these savings for the "big move". I wonder though, did they not just make themselves a burglary and looting target by exploiting their treasure trove on cable? Did I mention this couple might try eating less and putting some of that savings toward a serious gym membership? A lot of extreme couponers seem to be large people... but one in three Americans is overweight, so maybe that is not necessarily a symptom of a grocery shopping addiction?

FIRST POINT: Even if it IS free, poor quality food will cost you a bundle in medical complications. The longer you eat highly processed (junk) foods, the more you can expect to pay for health problems. Eat fresh, whenever possible (fresh food isn't free unless you grow it).

       Every one of these shoppers has a nerve-wrecking check-out experience! I personally do not need the stress. The cash registers have scan limits, so you can't check out more than 'x' scans including scanned coupons in a single transaction. So, the shoppers split their orders into 20+ separate orders. They spend 5+ hours in the store, which might include more than two hours  just in the check-out process! Now, I don't know about you, but my time is more valuable than that! I've got other stuff to do! If I spent a whole day in one store, I would hope it's because I work there!!

SECOND POINT: It takes a LOT of time to shop all the sales and collect all the items you have 'pons for even if you only go to one store. That is IN ADDITION to the time you've spent collecting all those coupons and researching the ads to match sales with coupons to get the best pricing! Some women use 20 to 40 hours a week (nearly a full time job)!... and don't forget the time to unload it all back at home... OH THAT'S ANOTHER POINT!!

THIRD POINT: The space it takes to stockpile all this stuff! If you don't keep it organized, you could end up on "Hoarders: Buried Alive" (another cable show)! Freezers for the frozen stuff, refrigeration space in either multiple refrigerators (power hogs) or freezing less fragile cold items (I hear you can freeze milk and cheese?). Closets, spare bedrooms... oh, there is the college student with a 1-BR apartment! He keeps his stockpile in the kitchen and living room of the apartment. I just think that will be a LOT of stuff to move (student apartments are very temporary addresses....)

What about the guy that buys stuff he will never have a need for ("who cares? It's FREE!")... maybe he donates the feminine products to the local women's prison or battered women's shelter?

Let me make a final point from a business/economy angle:
Q: Why does it matter who buys the 250 cans of tuna/boxes of cereal/bottles of nutri-water? The manufacturers and distributors make the same either way whether 250 couponholders buy the products at one each, or one couponer with 250 coupons nabs them. So what?
A: It makes long term sense to have 250 individual consumers try your product. It doesn't matter if they try it for free, but the long-term effect is that SOME of those consumers will buy that product again with or without a sale or coupon. The one who emptied shelves in four stores has cheated 249 other shoppers of trying the product, and likely won't make a repeat purchase for a long time.

We can expect more restrictions in stores' coupon policies as manufacturers and distributors strive to maximize brand exposure.

I WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS! PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES, OPINIONS (keep it clean please!), AND GENERAL THOUGHTS ON SHOPPING, COUPONING,  AND STOCKPILING!