Hello!
Okay, now I’m really late. I got back Friday morning from Yellowstone National Park, and it has been a crazy schedule ever since. I spent this Wednesday and Thursday up at Lake Lodge for work; both nights, I gave two presentations about different types of raptors in Yellowstone—or that was the plan anyway. But I will start from the beginning.
On Wednesday, I came to work on time and gathered all of my supplies up—I brought several props because I couldn’t bring an actual bird—and I loaded everything into Melissa’s car, which she graciously let us borrow. Then, I added a few finishing touches to the program I had written, printed it, and I was off on my adventure! The drive to Yellowstone was so beautiful—the only annoyances were the people who were in a hurry, which seemed to be everyone. I was going right around the speed limit, and almost every car I was in front of rode very close behind me and then passed at ridiculous speeds. I don’t understand the rush; the drive was so nice, they should have taken their time to enjoy the views! But anyway, silly people aside, I had a great drive and finally made it to Lake Lodge at about noon.
It is a gorgeous lodge, and what a view! I had to wait to check in till around 3:30 p.m., so I mostly lounged around the lobby and relaxed. I was so sleepy! My room was very nice, and I quickly settled in, and then I took a short nap. I had to give my programs at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., so I woke up at 4:15, and went to have a quick dinner at 4:30. Then it was time for set up! I had a table to use, so I set everything out, and from 5:30 until 7:15, I had two or three people at a time that came up and asked a few questions, and then left. Not the formal program I was expecting, but I like informal anyway 🙂 When 7:30 p.m. rolled around, I had enough people who wanted a program, and it was kind of rocky but it went well enough.
The next day, I got to explore! I went hiking, saw some geyser pools, and took tons of photos of dragonflies, flowers, and butterflies. It was a very nice day, not too warm or stormy, just about perfect. Too soon it seemed, I headed back to the lodge to eat dinner and prepare for the programs. This night, I gave two formal programs at the usual times and answered questions between the programs, and it went pretty well. Then I packed up for the final time and packed up all my stuff so I could be ready early in the morning. Overall, it was a fun and great experience.
As I was driving back, I had to stop and take some photos of the sun coming up over the Yellowstone River; it was so awesome!
Driving back through the beautiful park and into Cody was as good as the drive in, and then I got to work, and it was almost a normal day.
The birds are doing well, and the temperatures are cooling off slowly but surely; summer is almost over! The cooler weather is great for Teasdale and Kateri especially, though Teasdale remains his grumpy self. He does seem to be getting better overall.
Kateri is her awesome self, and Nicole has progressed with her, and got to take her into the weathering yard for a short time. We just love working with her!
Suli has been getting more and more scared of everything lately. Last week, we tried to do an informal photo shoot with her to get a grown-up photo for her new bookmarks, and she was a total goof! We took her to a different part of the weathering yard, and she was trembling on my glove and she even vomited. She has not been herself lately, but maybe she will perk up toward the end of summer.
Isham seems to be calming down a little bit, and is not as bate-y as usual. He is being pretty vocal, and Melissa was able to catch that on video—make sure to check out Isham’s facebook page!
Hayabusa is being her piggy self and enjoying every minute of it. Today, she had a big chicken leg all to herself, and her crop was so full! She was so happy! 🙂
Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave questions!
Katie
