While reviewing recent photos I realized I had omitted some from today's earlier post. And, so, I give you some yellows.
Yellow Warbler, female. This shot is very similar to one from the post "Today Was Spectacular" on 5/10/2013. That photo was of a male. The two photos were taken about a mile apart.
And here we have both male and female Goldfinches, taken very near the shot above of the Yellow Warbler.
I couldn't decide which of the two poses of the female I liked best, so I included both. I tend to favor the bottom one.
And, reaching back another couple days I found this immature male enjoying his dandelion seeds.
Regarding progress on the trailer: there are no new photos to share. Weather has been awful lately, and I have been suffering from a severe allergic reaction to something, so progress has been slow. The current focus is on precisely how we will mount and hinge the hatch. Please stand by on that.
I processed a few days of bird photos, and found some worth sharing. For starters we have Semi-Palmated Sandpipers and Dunlins, two of the class of Sandpipers known as "peeps." The SP Sandpipers are the smaller of the two with a relatively short bill. The Dunlins have the longer bill, a more ruddy back, and a black belly.
Next up are some House Finches. The coloration of the male caught my eye, especially around the rump.
Next up is an illustrated story.
A few days ago my wife and I were at Hammonasset Beach State Park during some of the cold and rainy weather. My wife noticed a female Killdeer sitting on a nest and called my attention to it. When I took a look, it was apparent that she wasn't sitting on a clutch of eggs but rather a pair of juvenile offspring.
Yesterday I noticed she was still on the nest, and the two juveniles were hanging around close.
Here's Mom on the nest:
Here are both juveniles, with one of them burrowing beneath the other:
Next, one of the juveniles approaches mom, seeking shelter. I can imagine the conversation going something like this:
"Mom?"
"Yes, Junior."
"I'm cold."
"Not now, Junior. Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Sorry, Mom. I gotta come in!"
"Sigh."
Note that with Mom standing, two of the three eggs in her new clutch can be seen. Is it any wonder she looks put-upon by the juvenile?
(muffled) "Thanks, Mom!"
"They can't leave the nest quickly enough!"
As it turns out, she was sitting both on a clutch of eggs AND two juveniles!
It is a simple step. After forming and sanding a piece, one adds a finish to a wood. In most cases, and when done well, that step reveals the beauty previously forged in nature. So it is with urethane and rosewood.
As this has become a dual-purpose blog, for the time being, I will label posts pertaining to the construction of the teardrop with the "Teardrop" header. Other posts will not contain that wording in the header.
I am very pleased with the rosewood electrical boxes. Today Sean sanded each of them, and we glued in the blocks that will permit attachment of the devices.
The above view is prior to sanding, but shows how the 120v GFI device will fit into the box.
Below is the detail of a sanded box corner prior to filling.
The photo below shows the completed box with added poplar blocks to receive the mounting screws for the electrical devices.
Also today we put a light stain on the box to contain the dovetail jig.
I love how the stain brings out the character of the woods involved. Pine sides, where the dovetails show both face and end grains, the birch bottoms and the rosewood details.
Ah, Minwax. You make me proud.
Sean and I have been back at work on the teardrop for a bit over a week now. One of the first orders of business was to acquire and assemble the Ikea POÄNG chair in which I will sleep.
A side note: Many years ago a badly strained back led me to search for a more comfortable sleeping position. I discovered that sleeping in a chair completely eliminated the back pain, and had the added benefit of substantially reducing the effects of apnea.
One reason the cabin of this trailer is 4' 6" inside is to accommodate the chair. It was critical at this juncture to put the chair into the cabin so we could locate two light fixtures plus a wall-mounted fan.
There is plenty of headroom and legroom with the chair facing aft. Plus, with it moved to one side, adequate floor space remains for a mattress for my wife.
With the locations for the light fixtures and fan decided, we added some 1/4" thick oak trim to cover the plywood joint, the joints between the walls and the ceiling, and to represent the two internal ribs. Where the light fixtures will mount on the strip covering the plywood joint we widened the strip with some rosewood of the same thickness. When the lights are mounted, the rosewood will "trim" the fixtures nicely.
Next we built up and mounted a wall plate for the fan, again using rosewood to trim the mount.
The balance of the time we have been learning how to use the dovetail jig I bought last year. I want to employ dovetails when building various boxes, large and small. For instance, both inside the cabin and under the hatch we will mount a 12v DC outlet and a 120v AC outlet. These outlets need to be in boxes of some sort; the walls aren't thick enough to use a standard electrical box as in your home, so they must be surface mounted, and I don't wish to use plastic or metal Wiremold type boxes.
Therefore, I will build the boxes from rosewood and oak, with dovetailed joints for effect.
As part of the learning process, we built this box which is a drawer that slides into the dovetail jig's stand. It will be used to store all the extra templates, guides, router bits, etc. that go along with the jig.
Yesterday we glued up two halves of a box to store the jig itself. Once this box is finished we'll move on to the rosewood electrical boxes.
I've been spending so much time photographing birds and working on the teardrop lately that I've neglected this blog, and for that I apologize.
This post will attempt to get caught up on the bird photos. We've been in the midst of migrations and returns for a while now, making for a lot of material. I'll start with some Snowy Egrets, among my favorite birds to watch and photograph. They are back in substantial numbers now.
The next feature is Northern Shovelers. Normally these guys would be gone by now, but this one pair persists, apparently having missed their flight north. Their oversized beaks are used to stir up and filter the mud at the bottom of the pond. They are most often seen with their backsides sticking up into the air while scouring the pond bottom.
In this last shot the male appears to be practicing yoga.
Another of my favorite waders is the Little Blue Heron. There is much discussion locally by those who know more than I as to whether this bird is a hybrid with a Tri-Color Heron. Noted are the white streak on his neck and the white feathers under the wings and on the thighs.
If the bird is a hybrid, certainly the impact of the Tri-Color is minimal. Yet, I don't believe a true Little Blue would have all those lighter features.
Finally, for today, is a Semipalmated Sandpiper in a rare still pose. Normally these little guys (very small, considered one of the "peeps") are busily poking about in the muck you see in this photograph and scurrying from spot to spot. With them constantly on the move, a non-blurry photo is difficult to come by.
I still have a few hundred shots already taken to sort through, so more should be forthcoming soon. I've been trying to get good shots of Semipalmated Plovers, Black Bellied Plovers (in breeding plumage), Dunlins (also in breeding plumage), and more.
Next up: an update on the teardrop.
