R will get a "new elbow"!

R's elbow surgery is scheduled, and we've been given the green light to go ahead with it despite some other health issues with R.

As many of you know, finding a surgeon and scheduling the procedure has taken a long time (since early January) and lots of work. The reason is that R is having a relatively new surgery ("CUE") for late-stage congenital elbow dysplasia, and not many surgeons are experienced with it. After tons of searching, we finally found a great surgeon who was willing to fly here to lead R's surgery on 4/15.

We had a recent scare that we worried might delay the surgery. R's liver enzymes have been somewhat high and inching upward over the past few months. They continued to go up even after we cut his Rimadyl dose in half. Earlier this week, he had an abdominal ultrasound to make sure that his liver looked okay overall, and it did. We got the "green light" last evening to go forward with the surgery.

The hope is that his liver will return to normal when he doesn't need drugs to control his elbow pain. The surgery can be thought of as giving R a "new elbow" because he'll have artificial surfaces installed for weight-bearing within the elbow. He'll no longer have bones grinding against each other like he has now so we hope that his elbow pain will be greatly reduced or even eliminated.

It's a fairly long recovery so we let him run and have fun in the desert (within reason). He now has 2 weeks until the surgery... and then I hope it's smooth sailing during his recovery!

Thanks for all of the amazing support and offers of help while I was so frustrated by the process of getting his surgery scheduled. Now, I'm starting to feel nervous about the surgery, having cleared all the hurdles to schedule it. That's inevitable, I think!

Sunshine!

Today, we finally saw some sunshine for the first part of the day. Although clouds still hovered over the mountains and in the canyons, it was a joy.

Shyla and I thoroughly enjoyed a sunny ride!

Although the sun was shining, the world was still so wet that we got soaked despite the sunshine.

I was so happy to see the sun that I rode home to pick up R and take a few photos of him in the wildflowers. Full sunlight isn't best for a black dog photoshoot but it's better than pouring rain!

It was a good day for the Cordilleran Flycatcher couple who are nesting under our deck. Here's a photo of the male, keeping an eye on me, as he protected the nest.

He's been protecting the nest for a long time. The mother was incubating eggs for 19 days. Most years, the eggs hatch after 15 days. For that reason, I was getting worried that the eggs had been damaged by the cold and wet weather. But, yesterday, I saw one nestling by peeking through a crack in the deck, and I did a little happy dance. The mother is still hunkered down, keeping the nesting(s) warm.

Here was the mother on the first day of incubation. She left the nest so rarely during incubation that I wonder how she possibly got enough to eat. I didn't see the male feeding her at all over that time.

Typically, the babies leave the nest around 2 weeks after hatching. However, nothing seems "typical" this year. Their development might be slowed by the lack of insects flying around for their parents to snag. The insects disappeared when the cold rain started many days ago. Here's a photo of mom getting ready to go out and catch some flies.

I'm hoping that we return to normal weather soon, for the sake of my sanity and for the sake of the wildlife, including our resident Flycatchers!

Springtime: The Duo and The Bears

Recently, I had both halves of the Duo for a morning mountain bike ride.

We had lots of fun playing atop Hug Hill.

And, later that day, a chocolate and a black bear cub played nearby. Their colors reminded me of Shyla and R.

It turned out to be a big day of bear activity. My trail cameras monitored a large male bear, probably Tiny, who walked about 5 miles in the afternoon, marking trees along the way. I made a video of his travels that you can watch here or at Youtube.

There's some true video in this one so it's fun to watch (at least, for me!).

Happy Springtime!

On the Homefront...

I see more signs of spring every day, including voles, flowers, and bears! R is the one who is most interested in voles. He sometimes digs so deep for them that his entire head, including his tongue, is covered in dirt when he finally emerges from the hole.

Recently, I went to visit a spot where orchids bloom most summers. I thought it was surely too early for them but I checked anyway. One was fully open and others were barely starting to open!!!!

Soon the entire patch will have these pink jewels blooming!

And then there are the bears. The males are doing their amazing tree marking dances, and I'll share videos of those soon. But, today's big trail camera surprise was a mother and two cubs. I have a trail camera pointed at a bear marking tree that has been very active recently. First, a male passed it twice, and then the mother marked it like crazy while her cubs milled around (and then climbed a tree).

I was surprised to see a mother bear with small cubs on the trail used by huge males. I would think that would be a big risk to the cubs.

I don't recognize the mother. She either just moved into the area or she's a youngster who has her first cubs.

Here's the video that you can watch here or at Youtube.

Finding this bear footage this morning was a nice surprise. I had a horrific day yesterday. I simultaneously had horrendous pain in my leg due to my spine, a migraine, and a high fever. I collapsed into bed and, this morning, I fortunately woke up feeling about 70% better. And then these bear photos gave me another big boost!

Mountain Biking with the Labraduo

I had two days of the Labraduo joining me for my sunrise bike ride. I had never seen how R's fur turns color when the sun barely peeks over the eastern horizon. He has a reddish glow!

The same is true for Shyla's chocolate coat. It looks almost fake because it glows so brightly. This bright glow lasts for only about 10 minutes after sunrise.

After the sun was a little higher in the sky, we played some games. As I looked through my photos of them, I noticed a very funny thing. When I called the Duo to run to me, they almost always simultaneously licked their noses with their tongues. I've read that "tongue flicks" are a sign of stress but I truly don't believe the Duo was under "stress". Perhaps it was a sign of excitement in this case.

Atop Hug Hill, they did the same thing. Their synchronization was remarkable!

The Duo played together, and they totally relaxed together in the warm sunshine. Shyla actually snoozed, which she'd never do without her trusty big brother by her side.

It's definitely a bit more stressful for me to keep two dogs under control than when I have only one with me. When mountain biking, the dogs have to be truly under "voice control" because I also have to pay attention to riding my bike and not crashing. But, it was good fun, and the Duo was generally very well behaved.

This morning, Shyla and I were on our own again. We look forward to the next time that the black tornado can join us!

Solar Eclipse!

Our pack stopped everything to watch the partial solar eclipse this afternoon. As you know, it's not safe to look at the sun without eye protection. R was ready!

Shyla kept cheating, peaking out from the glasses with one eye.

My camera was ready too. I had a solar filter from back in 2012 when we saw the annular solar eclipse on K's last trip to the desert.

We saw the second half of the eclipse today. Here, the moon was taking a large bite out of the sun. You can see that there were sun spots - several of them - visible through our funky glasses and my special lens filter.

The sun was fairly high in the sky for when the eclipse was maximum but some clouds drifted across the sun at times.

The next one looks like a Halloween decoration! Spooky dark clouds gathered at the bottom of the sun. You can also see the shadow of the moon "rolling" to the left compared to previous photos.

As the eclipse was winding down, the sun was also setting. So, the sun took on a honey-like beautiful color and thin clouds added a touch of mystique.

As the sun dropped in the sky, the clouds over the Divide started changing colors.

At the very end of the eclipse, there were no clouds obscuring the sun, and the sun sat just barely above the Divide. You can see the tiny bit of shadow of the moon in the upper left of the sun.

Finally, about 3 minutes before the sun dropped below the mountains, the whole orb blazed again! The entire sequence of photos was over about an hour.

And patient Shyla sat glowing in the setting sun's light after the eclipse was over.

It was a fun and relaxing afternoon, seeing something that is so rare. In the next decade, there will be only three solar eclipses visible from anywhere near our perch in the mountains so I'm glad we took the time to sit out on K's rock (where the banner photo was taken) and watch this eclipse.

The Birthday Boy

Our handsome puppy, R, just had a birthday!

It blows our minds that our little puppy is now the "King" of the pack.

He's gone from being the youngest of three to being the eldest in our current Duo. However, much to our delight, he certainly is not the most mature dog in the house!

Despite his glorious lack of maturity at some times, he's an incredible big brother to Shyla. He has helped teach her that the world is not as scary as she first thought.

And he lets her "lean on him" whenever needed.

R and Shyla are perhaps the most bonded of the many pairs of Labs we've had in our family. It makes my heart happy to watch them interact so lovingly.

Happy Birthday, R! Both the Runner and I think the next photo (taken a few weeks ago) truly shows R's spirit. When he's out running in the forest, he is the embodiment of joy.

Here's to many more years of that puppy-like glint in your eyes, sweet R!

Sunset - The Labraduo and the Mountain Lion Duo

One evening recently, the Labraduo and I were enjoying a quiet evening hike up on our plateau.  R waved goodbye to the sun as it dipped toward the horizon.

And I was in awe of the deep red color that the setting sun brought out in Shyla's fur.

At almost the same time, a mother mountain lion and her kitten were in the middle of a long walk nearby. I caught footage of them at five trail camera different sites (about 600 photos and a minute of real video). I think I've figured out their favorite route!

Today, I'll share just one set of photos that is kind of funny. Here, mom is walking up a gully. She has a GPS and radio collar around her neck and tags pinned to her ears for a study she's in. She looks small. My guess is that she's a young mother.

Because she was in a shaded area, my camera went into infrared mode, glowing with a soft red flash and yielding black and white photos. Mom seemed to notice the soft red glow of the camera.

She licked her lips while she waited for her kitten.

Her kitten appeared behind her. My expert friend and I are guessing the kitten is somewhere between 4 and 8 months old.

At another camera, Kitty showed us her underside, and I'm pretty she's a girl (you'll see all the footage over the coming week or so). Kitty also focused on the camera.

For an instant, they both alerted on something else - maybe a sound in the forest. The kitten doesn't have a collar for the study (yet).

The curious kitten stared at the camera.

Her eyes squinted, as she seemed to contemplate it. I actually wish it didn't attract their attention at all. I have one camera with an invisible flash (no red glow), and I might move it to this site.

Then, Mom decided to leave, and the kitten started sniffing a spot often marked by wild cats.

Very interesting, she thought...

Then, unfortunately for me, she really focused on the camera.

With determination, she moved toward it.

And then the camera captured a whole series of photos like this one - a closeup of cat fur as the kitten rubbed very hard against the camera.

After a little while the kitten backed away, but you can see that the camera view is now skewed.

Indeed, the camera then fell to the ground, face down.

And that was how I found it. You can imagine, after the recent theft, that I felt very anxious when I glimpsed the camera lying on the ground. But, I quickly figured out that it was probably a wild animal's work because the strap holding the camera case in place had been broken. The cable lock between the camera and the tree was still intact. Phew.

When I looked at the photos, I laughed out loud. The antics of a kitten!!!!

I feel so privileged to be able to see the lives of our most elusive animals up close and personal.