If you are still having problems using the blogger photo upload button, I feel for ya'. Sometimes I can use it, and sometimes I have to use Cyber Duck. One thing I have noticed: if your issue is after you have selected your photo and hit the download button, it starts to load and then shows a blank box with a little "done" a the bottom. Try again, sometimes by doing it four or five times, it will finally show the right box. Also, if you keep numbers out of the name of your photo, that seems to make a difference too. That's how I got photos in this entry. It's a pain, but it's an option. Spell check is still not working. Whoa is me (har har).
I'm Home! No thanks to Cinna-bunny-butthead.
Apparently, she disapproved of leaving the carpeted hotel room with a king sized bed to hop on and hide under. I got a late start anyway, and then on top of that it took me a half hour to corral Cinnamon and get her in the car. It was the first time the whole trip that she was really naughty. Rabbits are a lot like cats, they have their moods when they want to be cuddled and moods when they want to be left alone, moods when they want to explore and play and moods when they want to hide. This was Cinnamon's mood to not travel in the car. Once we were in the car, she wedged herself between her litter blox and the insulation on the floor of the passenger seat and pouted all the way home--the whole 600 miles. When I pulled up out in front of our home, I couldn't get her out of the car, she somehow managed to thump and splash hay all over me. She must have enjoyed the cranes more than I realized...or the ladies at Red Lobster who spoiled her rotton with veggies and parsley.
The drive home was GORGEOUS! The sky was a vivid blue, enhancing the snowy landscape. Roads were very clear so I could still notice all the raptors on the way home. During a mile 
stretch I saw an adult red-tail soaring, then a dark morph adult red-tail sitting on a fence post (it looked like a life sized chocolate hawk), then a perched red-tail so light, at first glance its head looked like a ferruginous hawk (unlikley for central Iowa) and a couple of kestrels.
During a four mile stretch in southern Minnesota we counted 9 red-tailed hawks, one harrier, one rough-legged hawk and five kestrels.
So, now I must tackle my massive to do list. Thanks for all the well wishes for a safe journey, they worked, we arrived home without incident.
"Mom, I'm so booooooooooored!"
I-80 is still closed. Rumor has it that might open within the next four hours. Many of us at the hotel are playing a waiting game to see if we get to check out today or have to stay another night. That's my window on the left in the above photo. I was half tempted to tell you that I'm on the second floor of the hotel, but I won't, I am on the first floor. Apparently we got 17 inches after the snow stopped.
The hotel staff has been joking with us that even though the interstate may open, we may not be able to get out of the parking lot. I'm lucky, my car isn't as wedged in as the one above, but will require some shoveling. I'm really kicking myself because I didn't bring my snow boots. Since I do more traveling, I've been trying to cut back on my packing--especially if I take a car and not a plane. I remember last week as I was loading the rental car and I looked at my Saturn and realized my snow boots were in the back. I started to grab them and then reminded myself that when I go to Nebraska, I bird almost entirely by car--I told myself that I didn't need them. So, I left them behind. DOH!
So, how am I passing my time?
By fighting over a bag of almond salad garnish with my bunny while watching reruns of 
I have to hand it to the Fairfield Inn in Kearney, they are taking good care of their stranded guests. The restaurant next door, Carlos O'Kelly's (potato tacos anyone?) decided to closed for the day, but worked with the hotel to provide lunch and dinner for us. I asked at the front desk if it would be possible to get some fresh veggies for Cinnamon and extra lettuce was provided.
I wonder how all the cranes are doing? I would imagine that they are sticking pretty close to Rowe Sanctuary. The 
Speaking of birds, I got a response from Bud Anderson about the 
I forgot a couple of highlights of the Rivers and Wildlife Celebration. I met 
Of course, a festival, just isn't a festival unless I buy some souvenirs. Cinnamon helped me realize that I wanted one of 
I don't think I'll be driving from Kearney, NE to Minneapolis today.
Word at the hotel front desk is that the roads will be officially closed within the next two hours. The radio station I'm listening to is reading the list of all that is closed (schools, malls, clinics, weightwatchers, etc). He's been going nonstop for the last twelve minutes, I think it would have been faster to read what is open. Many restaurants are closed or will be closing soon, but the hotel is making food arrangements for us.
Hmmmmmm, I'm not sure I will be leaving tomorrow morning 
Today while demonstrating some digiscoping, I noticed two long billed male red-winged blackbirds feeding on the ground at Rowe Sanctuary. Early readers of this blog may remember the 
There is so much we're learning but so little we don't know. Part of me was excited when I saw the birds, realizing that this is part of a great mystery, but then I felt sad that this a problem that we don't know the answer to and these birds are going to have a rough go of it as their bills continue to grow. A friend had given me a copy of Bud's PowerPoint Presentation on the long-billed hawk syndrome so I showed some of the examples of birds to the staff at Rowe Sanctuary, there was even a photo of a male red-winged black bird looking just like the blackbirds in my photos.
If you see a long-billed bird, please report it to Bud at bud@frg.org.
Oh dear, Kearney is officially under a winter storm warning and currently rain is shifting to snow. Tonight at the banquet at the Rivers and Wildlife Festival it was announced that the prairie chicken blind trip tomorrow morning is cancelled, since the chickens will not be "workin' the lek" (mating) due to the impending snow. The crane blind trip is still a go since the cranes landed on the river tonight to roost and when they wake up in the morning, they can't really "sleep in" on the water so that experience should still be magical and worthwhile. Wussy prairie chickens. I wonder if Cinnamon and I will be able to make the 18 miles from my hotel to my booth at Rowe Sanctuary tomorrow?
Speaking of Cinnamon, when I take her outside, you can tell she is not sure what to make of all the crane sounds. When I am carrying her from the car to the booth, she gets very tense and is trying to figure out the source of the sound, but just doesn't know what to make of it.
Cinnamon is earning her pay by being the model for testing out close focusing of binoculars at the Eagle Optics booth. I made her wear a harness and leash while at the festival because I realize that just because I enjoy the company of the bunny, doesn't mean all the vendors around me do.
Here, Cinnamon is taking a visit to sculptor Gary Ginther's booth on the left to check out his pewter eagles and cranes. Gary's work can be seen around Kearney and he recently did a ten foot buffalo sculpture for Ted Turner. Cinnamon was also very interested in the wooden frames surrounding the photos of 
True to form Cinnamon gives Mark a 
"I disapprove of this dignity robbing harness. I am a force of nature who cannot be tamed by some mere human."
