Hummingbird Banding in Pearl

This is the hummingbird trap. Volunteers stand about 10 feet back. The trap door is held up with fishing line, and then let the door down when a bird enters. Then they reach in and gently grab the bird and put it in a net bag so the bird can wait its turn for meeting bander Fred Hound.


The bag needs to be drawn tight at the top, or these birds will wiggle out. We saw one make an escape that way.
After Fred bands, weighs and measures the birds, he treats them to dinner. He said first-year birds rarely take a drink when offered, but older birds always slurp up free food - and it was true! This is a mature black-chinned hummingbird.

At the home where the banding took place, there were not only a lot of feeders, but a lot of plants popular with hummingbirds. This is an agastache with a black-chinned hummingbird at it. The banding takes place every year and we'll be there again!

Egyptian Theatre Extras

These ladies are at the top of the stage proscenium.
This is the original pipe organ installed in 1927. It does get tuned and refurbished every few years.

This is the west wall.

Full stage-view. The theater also has a large balcony. My daughter got to sit up there while waiting for her turn on stage. Kids LOVE sitting in the balcony.

This is the sign on the doors backstage. Someone went to a lot of work to make a fancy sign and forgot to spell check!

Electric Christmas

More all-out holiday lights. These are on the same street.
Logistically, I don't know how you manage the electricity without overloading circuits.

Festival of Trees

Click on the pictures to englarge...if you want

This first tree is for Hilda at My Manila. It's a Philippines tree. Information boards on traditions were included.

Next up, for Wayne at Vancouver Daily Photo. A tractor tree!

And for Kris at This Will Hurt Me, a tree that reminded of the header on his blog.

While I don't think there were as many big trees as I've seen in previous years, there were more table-top trees and wreaths than expected, which I didn't photograph much. On to the trees!

We liked this angel tree.

This tree is a salute to Boise's Basque community.
Bears roasting marshmallows at the base of a tree.
A "Bob the Builder" construction tree.

A cooking tree.

A cowboy tree.

A giant dog knocked over a tree! Bad dog!

A fairy tree.

A gardening tree.

A game tree with Mr. Potato Head - how very "Idaho."

A Pirates of the Caribbean tree.

A tree that's been "torched."

A tree "under the sea."

Volkswagen mini-tree.

Clever ornament on a "cheers to wine" tree - a glass ornament filled with old wine corks. This is just a sampling of what there is to see. If you're in Boise, the festival runs through this weekend.

The Festival of Trees is a perfect outing for ladies of a certain age who belong to the Red Hat Club.