Backyard Sledding

It had been raining for a few days straight. It finally got cold enough overnight to snow. We received a few inches last night and we spent some time in the back yard enjoying it.


Kevin on his new Snowboard thing.



Ethan sledding and falling (in all fairness he's been a little sick, so he's more sensitive than usual).


Me on the Saucer Sled.

Light Saber

Kevin and Ethan got Light Sabers for Christmas. Here's Kevin with his.


Kevin with his Light Saber

Christmas Day

We spent a fairly quiet Christmas at home this year. It was nice. Here are the three boys Christmas morning.



Here I am relaxing Christmas afternoon.

Construction

I love when they wrap construction projects in plastic during the winter. There are currently a number of construction projects happening on campus right now. This is an addition to the Snow Building.


Snow Building Under Construction, Rexburg, ID 2005

Ice Temple

The last couple of winters a family on the hill above Rexburg has been making cool ice fountain things. I posted one here. This winter they're doing the same thing, but doing it in the shape of the Temple. I think in anticipation of the new temple being built in Rexburg. The weather has been pretty warm (40s) the last couple of days hopefully the whole thing doesn't melt. I'm sure it will cool down soon.


Ice Temple, Rexburg, ID 2005

Website Update

I've updated my website with a few things I've photographed over the last year or so. I've also rearranged some of the image galleries. It's still not exactly how I want it, but it will do for a while. I think my next web project is to get our photography program at school on line. Of course, I may hire a student to do that. Go to www.darrenclarkphoto.net to see the updates. Here are a couple of sample images:


darrenclarkphoto.net/Explorations/Nests/index.html


darrenclarkphoto.net/Explorations/Still_Lifes/index.html


darrenclarkphoto.net/west/uppervalley/Architecture/index.html


darrenclarkphoto.net/west/uppervalley/Landscapes/index.html

Rexburg CBC

This post may be of interest to very few of you, but hey it's my blog.

It is Christmas Bird Count season. The Christmas Bird Count is a survey of birds in a 15 mile diameter circle. The official count season is from December 14th through the 3rd or something like that. There are hundreds of counts going on during that time across North America. I am the official compiler for the Rexburg CBC. We held our count on Friday, December 16th. We had a large turnout (ca. 20 participants), including 5-6 students. The weather was frightful (-8 degrees to start, but it warmed up to 14). In spite of the cold temperatures we had a great day and saw a record number of species for Rexburg. Here is our birdlist and numbers from the day:

Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Trumpeter Swan 196
Canada Goose 434
American Green-winged Teal 17
American Wigeon 1
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Goldeneye 113
Common Merganser 3
Bald Eagle 7
Northern Harrier 9
Cooper's Hawk 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk*
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 13
Rough-legged Hawk 24
Golden Eagle 1
American Kestrel 25
Prairie Falcon 3
Gray Partridge 41
Ring-necked Pheasant 7
Wild Turkey 75
Killdeer 2
Wilson's Snipe 4
Rock Pigeon 562
Mourning Dove 11
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2**
Great-horned Owl 1
Barn Owl 1***
Northern Saw-whet Owl 1**
Belted Kingfisher 13
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 37
Steller's Jay 1
Horned Lark 199
Black-billed Magpie 642
American Crow 24
Common Raven 9
Black-capped Chickadee 39
Juniper Titmouse 1**
Mountain Chickadee 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Townsend's Solitaire5
American Robin 18
Bohemian Waxwing 95
Cedar Waxwing 11
Northern Shrike 5
European Starling 1512
American Tree Sparrow 11
Song Sparrow 24
Dark-eyed Junco 57
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Snow Bunting*
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brewer's Blackbird 12
Yellow-headed Blackbird*
Western Meadowlark 1**
House Finch 271
Pine Siskin 2
Evening Grosbeak 8**
American Goldfinch 68
House Sparrow 1071

*seen during the week, but not on count day
**Unusual Species only seen once or twice on the count

66 Total Species (new high for the Rexburg CBC)

Jacob and his Dad

I think the last time I posted a picture of Jacob he was less than two months old. He's now five months old, so I guess it's time for an update. Here he is. You also get to enjoy the photographic talents of Susan.


Jacob and his Dad

Tree Trimming

I see this sort of thing quite often and always smile. Today I made a photograph.


Trimmed Tree

A Less Cute Bunny

A few months ago I posted a cute picture of a bunny that likes to get into our garden:


Bunny in our Garden

I fear it ruined my reputation. Here's a bunny I found today. I disturbed a flock of Magpies that were picking its carcass clean.


Bunny Carcass with Hoarfrost

Quick Trip to Fayette

Yesterday we drove down to Salt Lake City to visit my parents and brother and sister and their families. We then went down to Fayette to make a picture of Susan's side of the family. Though I'm not a very good portrait/family photographer I did the photograph. Gary, Susan's brother got back from Iraq after almost 18 months and Andy, another of Susan's brothers is leaving on a mission. This would be the only chance for everybody to be in a family picture for at least two years.

After taking the picture I left to come back home. I have a church lesson to teach Sunday, and an exam to prepare for Monday.

On the way home I photographed a little bit at Devil's Creek Reservoir. It's a lovely little reservoir off the interstate. I always want to stop, but we're usually in a rush to get to Utah or to get back home. The light was pretty nice, I nearly froze, but I think I like what I got.


Cat Stuck in Tree while Kevin, Jared, and Kaitlin (I just realized I'm not sure how my neice spells her name) look on


Family Picture Out-take


Devil's Creek Reservoir

It's Still Cold and Getting Worse

When we got home from Thanksgiving winter had arrived. It doesn't look like it's going to leave any time soon. Today's forecasted high is 10 degrees, tonight's low is supposed to be -13, and tomorrow's high is supposed to top out at 5 degrees. It seems like we may have a real Rexburg winter. Enjoy a couple of cold photographs.


Icy Road, Walker, ID


Birch at Sunset

Winter has Arrived

Poleline Road, Rexburg, ID

Winter has arrived in Rexburg. It's been snowing and blowing and it hasn't been above freezing for a few days now. One thing I enjoy doing in winter is driving the farm fields on the Bench SE of Rexburg looking for birds (Mostly sorting through hundreds of Horned Larks for Snow Buntings and Longspurs) and enjoying the stark landscape. I found a couple of Snow Buntings, but no Longspurs, Snowy Owls, Gyrfalcons or other goodies. I'm not really a winter person, but I'm trying to make the best of it.


Eight Pines in front of a Potato Cellar


Horned Lark


Thirty-two Horned Larks and one Snow Bunting