Nine Months in Ruby Lake

Rod and I moved to Nevada over nine months ago now... 

I still recall the anxiety and anticipation of the unknown.  We were leaving everyone we knew and all that was familiar (and a job that I loved) behind to embark on this new adventure.

Now we're all settled in, I think we can both agree Ruby Lake suits us well, and we're happy.

I just wanted to share some recent photos we've taken of our home -

We took the dogs for a hike up Indian Creek on a nice warm day (which are becoming fewer and farther between!)

Poor Haley - every chance she got she found a patch of shade to flop down in!

We also had a BEAUTIFUL full moon on the fall equinox - made for great photo opps!

Now, we are eagerly awaiting the birth of our first child - I'm sure the next nine months in Ruby Lake will bring lots more enjoyment for us!  We are looking forward to it!

Robert's Ruby Lake Visit

Rod's dad came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. Fortunately, it coincided with Rod's RDO day, so Rod had a four day weekend, and we make the most of it!

Rod got off work early on Friday and we drove into Elko to pick him up at the airport. We took the dogs along, and got a cheap hotel room, had mexican (what else?), took advantage of a free art reception at the Northeastern Nevada Museum, then caught a movie.

The next day we got up and headed to Lamoille Canyon - one of the most beautiful places we've been here in NV. We definitely wanted to show Robert! It was a GORGEOUS day for a hike!

I was pretty proud of myself - hiking at over 9,000 feet at 8 months pregnant! I was definitely feeling it though - as was Rod's dad, not being used to the elevation. I definitely had a tougher time of it than last time we hiked it with Ambre, Brad and kids near the 4th of July - of course, that was two months ago! Needless to say, we didn't make it nearly as far this time. We did see the Clark's Nutcrackers again, however, which is always a treat, but struck out a second time on large ungulates (no mountain goats or bighorn sheep).

We were going to have lunch at the Pine Lodge Dinner House, but it was closed, so we fell back on one of our faves - Ruby Mountain Pizza Company. Then we headed over Harrison Pass, which Robert was astounded by, to Ruby Lake.

We spent the next three days lounging around the house and sightseeing on the refuge. He couldn't get over the scenery or the wildlife! I think during his visit he saw mule deer, pronghorn, porcupine, coyotes, waterfowl, wading/marsh birds, raptors, Great Basin rattlesnakes - although we did strike out on the Golden Eagles.

On one of our outings I took this photo of the refuge, which I absolutely love:

And we also had a big dust storm one evening, not a rare occurrence across the marsh:

We drove the auto loop twice, went snaking every night, toured the old Fort Ruby, and saw where the old Pony Express trail crosses Ruby Valley Road. We watched a couple of movies, lots of CNN, and just enjoyed each other's company, before I drove him back to the airport on Wednesday. It was a great visit!

Rediscovering Fort Ruby

A team of archaeologists and volunteers from the USFWS, USFS, and the Partners in Time volunteer program did a week long excavation at Fort Ruby, on the south end of the refuge. I went down and spent a day with them, learning about the old fort, seeing remnants of it underground that I had no idea were even there, and collecting information to write an article for the Elko Free Press.

Here are some photos I took, along with a link to the article I wrote.

My article - "Old Fort Ruby site under excavation"

Our Garden

This was my first real go at a garden. Rod planted sunflowers and squash in a little corner of our backyard in Fayetteville, and I planted a couple of tomato and pepper plants in the front yard, but this was a real full-blown garden!

Overall I think it turned out well for the first time! We planted corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, strawberries, lettuce and spinach.

I started a lot of it indoors from seeds in a planting tray - not sure it made much of a difference. A lot of it didn't make it (next year I know to buy tomato and pepper plants to start out with), and I think what did make it I could've planted straight in the ground without head starting it (as I ended up doing anyway in addition to the seedlings I'd started).

Some stuff did GREAT - squash, zucchini, carrots, lettuce and spinach:

The broccoli produced huge beautiful plants, but... no broccoli! Actually, I'm just now getting racquetball sized heads growing out of them.

The corn did produce little ears, but with our recent freeze, I fear it just wasn't in time. The tomato/pepper plants I purchased later (but too late) - one of the two tomato plants has lots of green tomatoes on it right now, and one of the two pepper plants produced one tiny green pepper.



The beans never came up, oddly. No explanation for that.

Anyway - we harvested quite a bit - lots of salad greens, a decent amount of squash/zucchini (would have had lots more, but the recent nighttime freezing temps took care of that), and lots of carrots - half of which are still in the ground right now.

Overall - a success!

OWLS

I've had two owls brought to me over the last couple of weeks. The first was found in the post-lady's yard in Wells, with an injured wing. After calling the refuge, she had Don, our postman (who happens to come out of Wells) transport the owl to me in his mail truck. Upon examining the owl, a Short-eared Owl nonetheless, I found it to have a complex fracture of the distal humerus/joint, automatically deeming it nonreleasable. Rod helped me wrap up the wing until we could transport the bird.

I spent a morning calling around the west (NV, CA, ID, UT) trying to find an organization/individual to take it for educational purposes. I learned a lot. I learned that in the west rehabbers are generally looked down upon by state wildlife agencies. They are seen as a "thorn in their side", and the agencies generally wish they didn't exist. I was told it therefore is very hard to place an animal for education purposes, as they make the permits very difficult to get, preferring them to just be euthanized.

I spoke with Martin Tyner of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, who told me he was the first licensed falconer to fly a Golden Eagle. I spoke with Utah's Hogle Zoo, Zoo Boise, the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, MO, the The Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, and The Great Salt Lake Nature Center, among others. Finally I received promising news from Dalyn Erickson at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. She referred me to the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City. They were interested!

Unfortunately - after I took the owl to Jo Dean, our local raptor rehab expert, it died while she was examining it.

Last week our neighbors in the north end of the valley, Marlow and Stephanie Dahl, called to say they had a young owl missing a wing on the ground, and that they'd found two other owl carcasses nearby. I went to investigate... and found a fledgling Great-Horned Owl in pretty sad shape. It was missing its left foot and its right wing - what in the world could have caused that? Two owls watched the drama play out from the tree overhead - presumably they'd been bringing it food, as it obviously could not hunt but had been eating (it expelled a pellet in the carrier on the way home). It was alert and active, albeit slightly thin. After speaking with Jo, she said it sounded like electrocution; however, after she actually saw the bird, she didn't think so - we cannot imagine what happened to this young bird.

Anyway, Jo is optimistic about its health, and as long as I can find someone willing to take it she'll transfer it. So - off to work I go! If anyone knows of anyone licensed and interested in a GHOW, let me know! :)

Snow in September!

Well, we've been wondering when the snows come around these here parts... guess our questions are answered (at least partly).

Rod woke up on the morning of September 9, yesterday, after a night of rain (a rare event in the desert) tinking off of our roof, and said "You gotta look at this!" - out our bedroom window I saw an unbelievable sight...

Sigh... at least it's not hit here at 6000 feet yet, but how crazy is that?

Ropin' Practice

Katie at the hatchery goes down fairly regularly to watch some cowboys/girls from the valley calf rope. She even helps out sometimes to free them up to ride.


She invited me to go along, so we spent an evening down at Ruby Lake estates - Sis Harmon's place - watching.

It was something to say I've done, while living in Ruby Valley among the ranches, but I think once was enough for me!