Benedeluxfra Biking Trip Comes to an End

My ninth a final day of biking with my friend Andrew last Thursday was a big one, in fact my longest bike ride ever: 82 miles from Soissons to the 13th arrondissement of Paris. There were busy highways, quiet back country roads, and a very nice bike path along a canal the last few miles that took us directly into the heart of Paris, "the city of light and poodleshit" as Andrew calls his temporary home some 30 years ago. But there was also some nice habitat along the way with lots of birds (such as Greater Whitethroats). In one such area I took a photo of what looked a lot like an elderberry, but wasn't really woody and shrub-like. It turns out to be Dwarf Elder, Sambucus ebulus, the last of the photos above.

Some French Bugs

Biking from Florenville, Belgium to the village of Thugny-Trugny, I paused twice to get some bug photos. iNaturalist identified them as Aglais urticae, Small Tortoiseshell and Rutpela maculata, Spotted Longhorn.

Biking in Benedeluxfra

Blogger isn't allowing me to make posts with several photos, so I'll try just one from my ongoing 9-day biking (non-birding!) trip through Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. More later, I hope! The photo is of the massive cathedral complex in Aachen, Germany.

California Gulch Birding

I was home just 4 full days after Gambell and was lucky to coincide with my friend Marc Passmann, who had been traveling with friends and family in the state for the previous week.

I suggested we look for birds in California Gulch, camping one night to see the Buff-collared Nightjars. We had resounding success, even watching one sing at close range in my flashlight's beam.

We also saw Western Screech-Owl and a pair of this tiny yet ferocious looking Elf Owl.

WINGS Tour to Gambell, Alaska: Chef For a Week

Before I get too much farther behind, I thought I'd post something from my phone. From May 28-June 4, I was the cook for the WINGS tour to Gambell for the 10th year. It went really well. Above is the Tartine's Country Bread I made from starter I brought with me from Tucson.