<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Three Star Owl - Functional and Sculptural Clay Artwork with a Natural History &#187; field trips</title>
	<atom:link href="http://threestarowl.com/category/field-trips/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://threestarowl.com</link>
	<description>Three Star Owl clay studio</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:52:06 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>Willcox at eye level</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/willcox-at-eye-level</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/willcox-at-eye-level#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:15:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14642</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like the Sandhill cranes, I usually visit Willcox in the winter.  That&#8217;s when the town hosts Wings Over Willcox, a birding and cultural event celebrating the cold season presence of Sandhill cranes, who dwell in the fields and wetlands of the Sulphur Springs Valley from October to March.  (below, Stewart St. in Willcox AZ.  Photo [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/willcox-at-eye-level/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Crane-o-rama!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/crane-o-rama</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/crane-o-rama#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:24:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14615</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tens of thousands of Sandhill cranes winter in the fields and wetlands of far southeastern Arizona each year, and they have their own festival: Wings Over Willcox, held in mid-January by the historical community of Willcox, AZ. This year is the 19th Annual WOW Festival, and it&#8217;s part of SE Arizona&#8217;s celebration of the state [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/crane-o-rama/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Last chance to see&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/last-chance-to-see</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/last-chance-to-see#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:15:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artefaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; &#8220;Ossuary: an archæology of resurrection&#8221; in the show Death and Rebirth at Maryville University&#8217;s Morton May Gallery in St.Louis.  The show will be up until this friday, December 2.  Click here for details about the show and about the Ossuary.
&#60;&#60; Detail (photo and piece, A.Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/last-chance-to-see/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tale of Two Tiny Tarantulas</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On our way home from our weekend getaway, E and I stopped at Montezuma Well National Monument.  It&#8217;s one of our favorite places: a compact confluence of archæology, geology, and natural history. If you haven&#8217;t been there while visiting central Arizona, I highly recommend it.
&#62;&#62; Montezuma Well and beautiful fall color (all photos in this [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tale-of-two-tiny-tarantulas/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gratuitous Arizona scenery</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/gratuitous-arizona-scenery</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/gratuitous-arizona-scenery#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:28:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14436</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[E and I managed a bit of a getaway northward this weekend.   We&#8217;re back home now, unsure if we were gone a month or a minute.  But I&#8217;ll be putting up some images from the trip to prove we were somewhere else, for however long it was.  Here&#8217;s one from late Sunday afternoon, of yuccas [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/gratuitous-arizona-scenery/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spot the Bird!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Nov 2011 02:16:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=14348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Me: reminiscing about our trip to New Zealand a while back.  You: trying to Spot the Bird.
It shouldn&#8217;t be too hard, but here&#8217;s a hint: you&#8217;re looking for a parrot.  Now don&#8217;t go clicking on the photo to enlarge it right off the bat, you&#8217;ll make it too easy!  (And, by the way, it&#8217;s a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tucson in the rearview mirror: and&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/tucson-in-the-rearview-mirror-and</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/tucson-in-the-rearview-mirror-and#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Aug 2011 05:04:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13889</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I rolled back into Phoenix from Tucson earlier today &#8212; the drive seemed nearly instantaneous and was marvelously uneventful, although I did miss the bumper crop of towering dust devils swirling in the dry creosote flats on the Gila River reservation that I&#8217;d seen on the way down but was unable to photograph safely from [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/tucson-in-the-rearview-mirror-and/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fasten your seatbelts&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/fasten-your-seatbelts</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/fasten-your-seatbelts#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13742</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;.Three Star Owl is hitting the road!
For three days &#8212; Thursday, Friday and Saturday August 4, 5, and 6 2011, I&#8217;ll have a booth at the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival in Sierra Vista, AZ.
For more info about the festival, click HERE.
&#60;&#60; VLO (Very Large Owl) effigy and a couple of coati tails.

Special Note: [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/fasten-your-seatbelts/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chinese opera mask bug (and bonus dubious chemical spotting)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/chinese-opera-mask-bug-and-bonus-dubious-chemical-spotting</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/chinese-opera-mask-bug-and-bonus-dubious-chemical-spotting#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2011 17:08:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[E]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unexpected]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Updated with possible bug ID, see bottom of post:
E sent me a photo he took of this brightly colored centimeter-long bug marching up the stone steps of the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, China. Since there&#8217;s not much going on at home here in AZ, except ongoing wrestling with both the machinery and chemistry of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/chinese-opera-mask-bug-and-bonus-dubious-chemical-spotting/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Cat Won&#8217;t Comply</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/my-cat-wont-comply</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/my-cat-wont-comply#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2011 17:59:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unexpected]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13154</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So what&#8217;s new?  Underpass art along Hwy 60 at Devil&#8217;s Canyon Bridge.
Other way to consider this issue: Is the cat amenable to Show Procedure?

Go ahead, click to enlarge. (Photo A or E Shock)
updated:
Wait, I didn&#8217;t think I would need to explain that this was found art, not made-by-me art.


]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/my-cat-wont-comply/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Boojum moon</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/boojum-moon</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/boojum-moon#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 May 2011 22:40:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unexpected]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=13040</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;In the dark was a boojum, you see,&#8221; to paraphrase Lewis Carroll.

The javelinas, bats, and skunks get to see it like this all the time. But before last friday night, I&#8217;d never seen a boojum in the moonlight. 
Turns out waxing gibbous is a good look for the strange tree.
(Boojum, Fouquieria columnaris, or cirio in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/boojum-moon/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>It was all fun and games till the alligator showed up&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2011 15:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, not actually an alligator, but a beautiful spiny lizard.   As we were packing up, we found him snoozing in a sheltered nook under my table foot at Birdy Verde.  The event is in a huge tent set up in a field, and they put a carpet down over the dirt &#8212; this [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/it-was-all-fun-and-games-till-the-alligator-showed-up/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wild hogs in the desert&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-hogs-in-the-desert</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-hogs-in-the-desert#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:54:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12707</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;.but not the quadrupedal kind.
One of the main attractions of following the Castle Hotsprings Road through the edge of the Buckhorn Mountains NW of Phoenix is the spring wildflower bloom.  This past weekend the succulent plants predominated: Ocotillos were in full swing, and the prickly pear were starting to get the hang of it.

It [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/wild-hogs-in-the-desert/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wild burro</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/wild-burro</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/wild-burro#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:17:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12665</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past Saturday, E and I took a Sunday drive.  We got out into the desert, to look for things. Normally, April is a good time of year for wildflowers, but due to the late freezes this year&#8217;s show is a bit sporadic &#8212; some things, like the Paloverde trees, are spectacular.  All over the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/wild-burro/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spot the Bird: rock and wren</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-rock-and-wren</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-rock-and-wren#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:22:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=12587</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been a while since we&#8217;ve had a SPOT THE BIRD.
Rock wrens, Salpinctes obsoletus, live among rocks in the arid mountain and desert west.  Here are some rocks.  These rocks are along the Castle Hotsprings Road between Phoenix and Wickenburg, AZ.  There is a Rock wren in these rocks.  If you could hear the wren, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-rock-and-wren/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where are the Owl Hives?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/where-are-the-owl-hives</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/where-are-the-owl-hives#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artefaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pseudopod waltz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Owl Hives are in Chandler.
On Friday night, March 18, the All AZ Clay Invitational Exhibition opened at the Chandler Center for the Arts, displaying the work of more than 40 clay artists from all over the state of Arizona.  Among them is an installation of artefaux by me, entitled Assemblage: Owl Hives.
&#62;&#62; Assemblage: Owl [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/where-are-the-owl-hives/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>San Diego is a wrap!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/san-diego-is-a-wrap</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/san-diego-is-a-wrap#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:09:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cranky owlet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11449</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s cheers to all of the Three Star Owl friends and clients who came by, old and new (nice to meet you, Doriot!), to the San Diego Bird Festival this weekend.  And many thanks to Karen Straus and the volunteers and organizers of the San Diego Audubon Society for all of their good care and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/san-diego-is-a-wrap/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Oh say can you KIK&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/oh-say-can-you-kik</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/oh-say-can-you-kik#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:37:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11424</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;by the dawnzerly light?
&#60;&#60; Here&#8217;s one of the local Cooper&#8217;s hawks preening in the pre-dawn light above my tent &#8220;office&#8221;.  Every morning at EXACTLY 5:48 by the alarm clock, the pair begins their day by skrekking KIK a couple of solo kiks, then rolling out a long stream of duo kik kik kik kik kik [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/oh-say-can-you-kik/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The delights of urban camping</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-delights-of-urban-camping</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-delights-of-urban-camping#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:23:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11407</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is the Office, Three Star Owl&#8217;s nest away from nest on certain roadtrips, complete with cot and a TV tray table that serves as a desk, and a battery-powered lamp or two. &#60;&#60;

And here is the Cooper&#8217;s hawk who nests here each time I&#8217;ve stayed in this RV Resort.  It&#8217;s eating something fairly large, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/the-delights-of-urban-camping/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Christchurch Cathedral before the quake</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/christchurch-cathedral-before-the-quake</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/christchurch-cathedral-before-the-quake#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:17:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11347</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just under two years ago, we were in Christchurch New Zealand, finishing up our month-long tour of both islands.   We had turned in our campervan, and spent a night or two in the city before flying back to Aukland and then home to Arizona.  It was early winter, later in the season [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/christchurch-cathedral-before-the-quake/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Year&#8217;s First New Bird</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:44:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last post was the New Year&#8217;s first bird &#8212; a frosty Costa&#8217;s hummingbird &#8212; but this one is the Year&#8217;s First New Bird, and it&#8217;s a hummer, too.
We just returned from Baja California, and in the mission village of San Javier on the dramatic east side of the Sierra de la Giganta in Baja California [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-years-first-new-bird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spot the Bird: bright beak gray cheek</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-bright-beak-gray-cheek</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-bright-beak-gray-cheek#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:38:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=11057</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In celebration of my friend Kate seeing Black-bellied whistling ducks in New Orleans, here is a Black-bellied whistling duck Spot the Bird.
The photo was taken in a coastal wetland in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, in Ocotber of 2008.  I was scanning the greenery with binx when I spotted the ducks &#8212; I suspect [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-bird-bright-beak-gray-cheek/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Owls dislike Autumn because&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/owls-dislike-autumn-because</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/owls-dislike-autumn-because#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;it&#8217;s hard to hide in bright, falling foliage if you&#8217;re a flying tiger&#8230;
Here&#8217;s one of a pair of Great Horned Owls we happened upon yesterday in a cottonwood grove along the Verde River east of the Phoenix metro area.  We were scouting for Tuesday&#8217;s official Christmas Bird Count of the Rio Verde area, and accidentally [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/owls-dislike-autumn-because/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Antidote to Black Friday: desert color</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/antidote-to-black-friday-desert-color</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/antidote-to-black-friday-desert-color#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:51:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10938</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not uncommon for people who have moved here from wooded parts of the country to declare that they miss the seasons, especially fall and its bright colors.  This can be true especially for those who live on golf courses with year-round green lawns and palm trees.  But on close inspection, the natural Sonoran desert [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/antidote-to-black-friday-desert-color/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>El Guajolote Supremo wishes everyone&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:35:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10919</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;a Happy Thanksgiving!
As fabulous a bird as our North American Wild Turkey undoubtedly is, there is a turkey more wonderful still: the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) of tropical Central America.&#62;&#62;
On this Turkey Day feast your eyes on the glory that is the iridescent El Guajolote Supremo &#8212; eaten nearly to extinction because it apparantly tastes [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/guajolote-supremo-wishes-everyone/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quite a lot of penguins</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/quite-a-lot-of-penguins</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/quite-a-lot-of-penguins#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 02:54:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10622</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s still hot in Phoenix, although less hot than formerly, so here&#8217;s a cooling black-and-white-and-gray vista to cool the eye.

These King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) are amassed on South Georgia Island, located at 54〫S in the fearsome southern Atlantic ocean.  There are tens of thousands of them on this breeding beach.  Most of the individuals in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/quite-a-lot-of-penguins/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>More Mightier Pink</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The last post, on Roseate Spoonbills, was mighty pink. But I have to admit Flamingos are pretty dang pink, pinker even than Roseates. This is because they are bigger, and their entire neck and head are flaming salmon.  And these two are American Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber), who are among the pinker of the world&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/more-mightier-pink/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Roseate spoonbill</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:25:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=10084</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#8217;s all.  Just&#8230; Roseate spoonbill.
Platalelea ajaja is a fairly large hot pink wading bird with knobby gray knees and a spoon-ended sifting bill which it swings side to side in the water while feeding.  They tend to be gregarious, and seeing a bunch feeding together on mudflats is a fine pinksome sight.
&#60;&#60; This solitary one [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/roseate-spoonbill/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another excellent tropical owl</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:29:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=9556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(This post newly updated with better link to owl sound)

Here&#8217;s a Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), staring hard at us from its perch in the tropical lowlands of Sarapiquí in Costa Rica.  What could be more delightful than a cinnamon-and-cholcolate owl with white &#8220;spectacles?&#8221; 
I have the answer: one that makes a strange, rapidly pulsating noise [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/another-excellent-tropical-owl/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Pulsatrix-perspicillata-1.mp3" length="102817" type="audio/mpeg" />
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Good owls come in strange places</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:16:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I tell my non-birding friends that we saw quite a few owls in Costa Rica, many of them are surprised.  The common perception is that owls are indeed woodland creatures, but that&#8217;s &#8220;normal&#8221; woods &#8212;  not, you know, the &#8220;jungle.&#8221;  I suspect this monolithic concept of owls &#8212; where &#8220;owl&#8221; pretty much equals [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/good-owls-come-in-strange-places/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8230;yes, more Great Potoo&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like most enthusiasts, birders can get excited about seemingly unexciting things.  As proof, first there was the Maroon-chested ground-dove, a seriously exciting species that most of my non-birding friends think looks like a &#8220;boring&#8221; Mourning dove, but was easily one of the most thrilling sightings of the entire Costa Rica trip, which was full [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yes-more-great-potoo/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Great Potoo</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#8217;s almost all there is to say, except: here&#8217;s a picture of one, trying its best to look like a tree trunk, and doing an expert job of it:
I&#8217;ve always longed to see a Potoo, and when we got to Finca La Selva OTS (known to most North American birders as La Selva Research Station) [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-great-potoo/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Break from the tropics</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:44:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, you guessed it, this is not a photo from the recent Costa Rica trip.  I thought a frosty retreat from the steamy tropics was in order, and decided to insert this flashback of a favorite photo and sighting from a 2004 trip to the Antarctica Peninsula: a Gentoo penguin parent about to feed [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/break-from-the-tropics/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Did you see a Resplendent quetzal&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/did-you-see-a-resplendent-quetzal</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/did-you-see-a-resplendent-quetzal#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:22:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8406</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
&#8230;when you were in Costa Rica?  Yes.



Did you get a photo of a Resplendent quetzal?  No.



And was the Quetzal resplendent?  Yes.

Resplendent quetzales (Pharomachrus cocinno) are glimmering emerald birds who inhabit the dense, wet montane and cloud forests of parts of Central America. The males have splendid iridescent fringed tail plumes which trail extravagantly behind them, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/did-you-see-a-resplendent-quetzal/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hordes of hummers</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:21:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Living in Arizona there&#8217;s no room for complaint about the quantity and loveliness of the hummers which visit our yard feeders.  In the Phoenix area we have Costa&#8217;s and Anna&#8217;s year round, Black-chinned in summer, with Broad-tailed and Rufous making migratory appearances. I&#8217;ve seen a brilliant Broad-billed just two miles from here at the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hoards-of-hummers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What you need for watching birds in Costa Rica</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/birds/what-you-need-for-watching-birds-in-costa-rica</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/birds/what-you-need-for-watching-birds-in-costa-rica#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:22:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8268</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are some things you need to watch birds in Costa Rica, presented in no particular order:
A pack or bag with a waterproof stuff sack inside (I used a Sea to Summit drysack, lightweight, relatively durable, quite waterproof).  Trust me, the waterproof part will make your camera, checklist or notebook, and cookies happy.
Waterproof binoculars.  These [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/birds/what-you-need-for-watching-birds-in-costa-rica/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tiny owlets toot in trees</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:15:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To say that pygmy owls are sparrow-like isn&#8217;t entirely true.  But it&#8217;s almost true.
To start with, there&#8217;s their size: they are Very Very Small (the technical term).  Almost sparrow-sized.  Perched in a conifer, they look like a tiny pinecone. Also, like sparrows, they&#8217;re largely diurnal, and can frequently be found glaring down from a high [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tiny-owlets-toot-in-trees/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Life under the volcano</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8202</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three Star Owl blogging resumes after a hiatus of two weeks in Costa Rica&#8230;

Volcán Turrialba at dawn, from Rancho Naturalista (photo A.Shock).
In the view above only a small plume of steam and gas is visible from the most active of the three summit craters of the nearly 11,000 foot stratovolcano.  Its last major eruption was [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/life-under-the-volcano/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mono birds and tufa</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8154</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of our destinations during the recent eastern California trip was the dramatic and amazing Mono Lake and its crumbly, gradually ephemeral tufa groves.  Tufa towers are mineral formations deposited underwater when calcium-rich spring water pours up into carbonate-rich lakewater.  The resulting mixture precipitates calcium-carbonate which builds upward into the lake water, sort of like [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mono-birds-and-tufa/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Boss in her office: &#8220;checking for lard&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:52:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=8101</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[This is a Spot the Bird, although it's less of a quiz than a photo series. All photos A or E Shock.  Click to enlarge.]
Here are some feral date palms, growing wild at a substantial oasis in Death Valley, CA.  The date palm is Phoenix dactylifera (&#8220;finger-bearing&#8221;), but in this case we could call it [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-boss-in-her-office-checking-for-lard/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rocks sticking up out of the ground in that way they do</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:56:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unexpected]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unnatural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7975</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are the Famous Fish Rocks, kept fresh with white paint by unknown artists in Trona, California.  I admit to disappointment when I found out they were not meant to represent T-rexes rising out of the earth to once again dominate the landscape, but, even if they&#8217;re just fish&#8230; really big fish&#8230; they&#8217;re excellent.  Each [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rocks-sticking-up-out-of-the-ground-in-that-way-they-do/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rock-watching in the wind</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 May 2010 20:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rox]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7917</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
A few days ago, we drove far out into sage-covered lava rocks to check out some hot springs on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.  After walking to the top of the hill, walking around the next hill and between two other hills, seeing what birds were around and about, and while E [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rock-watching-in-the-wind/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mohave patch-nosed snake&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 02:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;was a &#8220;life snake&#8221; for us, meaning we&#8217;d never seen one before we stopped to photo this graceful specimen crossing the road on the way to Titus Canyon on the east side of Death Valley.
The Mohave patch-nosed snake (Salvadora hexalepis mojavensis) is a diurnal generalist, with good eyesight and quick reflexes; this one was sunning [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/mohave-patch-nosed-snake/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The lady and the pear</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 May 2010 02:12:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recent posts have been about lady bugs, and prickly pears.  Here&#8217;s one about both: a lady bug on an Opuntia blossom in the Mojave desert.  (Both photos A.Shock)

You can&#8217;t tell, but this particular prickly pear lives in a little piece of Nevada jammed between Arizona and California.  Its chief attraction is that it&#8217;s also stuffed [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-lady-and-the-pear/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lichen with legs</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 May 2010 15:28:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday was a rich day; with all sensory input oddly and schizophrenically split between very early and very late.  The day ended after midnight with a fun and funky evening at the CD drop party for the Groove Noodles, a friend&#8217;s band.  But it started before dawn in the outdoors, on Queen Creek and in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/lichen-with-legs/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Three Star Owl at Verde Birdy</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:47:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cranky owlet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7739</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are a few images from last weekend&#8217;s event at the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival.  If you haven&#8217;t checked out the Verde Valley in north central Arizona, you should &#8212; it&#8217;s beautiful green country, with big trees and lots of year-round water like the Verde River, as well as surrounding mountains, good restaurants, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Three Star Owl at Verde Birdy this week</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy-this-week</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy-this-week#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:53:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7708</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Later this week is the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival in Cottonwood Arizona.  The event is held each year in Dead Horse Ranch State park, which is OPEN (unlike some other Arizona state parks!).

Three Star Owl will be there, with a pithy assortment of one of a kind, hand made clay items from Gila [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/three-star-owl-at-verde-birdy-this-week/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bendire&#8217;s thrasher in Papago Park</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:35:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7660</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some things always amaze me.  One of them is why there are so many different Thrasher species in the arid Southwestern U.S.
Most of us who live in the Low Desert are used to two of the more common thrashers: the ubiquitous Northern mockingbird, its slender gray-and-white profile often seen  on high perches, singing its [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/bendires-thrasher-in-papago-park-2/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yep, goats in trees</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7479</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes when you say &#8220;Goats in Trees,&#8221; people say, &#8220;No way.&#8221;
Way.
Here are goats in trees.
(Photo by E.Shock; Oman, 2010)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/yep-goats-in-trees/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Aerial talon-show over Papago Park</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7437</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Had a nice morning walk in Papago Park (Phoenix AZ) this morning &#8212; the spring air was breezy and clear, and the high skies brought out a number of aerial show-offs.  The main attraction was a Peregrine falcon, spiraling and soaring between the two largest buttes in the Park and the Army National Guard reservation, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/aerial-talon-show-over-papago-park/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rio Salado in early spring</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I actually got outdoors to breathe air, soak up sunbeams, and take a look at what&#8217;s up, and what&#8217;s in the air.  It&#8217;d been awhile, and I thought I&#8217;d celebrate by passing along some of what&#8217;s happening along the Salt River, smack in the middle of the City of Phoenix, AZ.
&#60;&#60; green Goodding&#8217;s willows, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/rio-salado-in-early-spring/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spot the Pipit! plus: gallery of international pipits (a bird with a view)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spot the bird]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=7012</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a small bird in this photo of lakeside rocks.  Can you spot the pipit?
Sunday E and I watched an American pipit (Anthus rubescens; photo E.Shock) working its way along water&#8217;s edge at Burnt Corral on Apache Lake east of Phoenix, darting after flies. beetles, larvae and other yummies around the cobbles in the shallow [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/spot-the-pipit-plus-gallery-of-international-pipits-a-bird-with-a-view/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Colorado indeed</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:38:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6994</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been an unusually wet gray week in the desert, and this has brought water to my mind in general, and some of its more colorful properties from wishful thinking.  So, here are some photos of brightly colored waters.  One is tinted by reflections on its surface, another by what&#8217;s under its surface, one by [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/colorado-indeed/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Winter in the Anchas</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:06:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6961</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[E and I went uphill today, to see what last week&#8217;s winter storms had brought to the higher terrain: a proper Sunday Drive.  We drove up into the Sierra Anchas, a rugged wilderness area east of Phoenix, east of Lake Roosevelt, a place we seem never to explore frequently enough.  In a surprisingly short distance, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/winter-in-the-anchas/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Winging over to Willcox</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6909</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three Star Owl is spending this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Willcox, AZ, for the annual Wings Over Willcox festival.  If you&#8217;re in the area, stop by the Willcox Community Center, and see what&#8217;s up.
(Detail of an oval vessel with a Sandhill Crane repoussé and carved in low relief, 10.5&#8243;, stoneware, A.Shock 2009)

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/winging-over-to-willcox/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Heading into Winter&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/heading-into-winter</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/heading-into-winter#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:59:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6698</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;for the second time.
As fall is about to turn to winter here in Arizona, I realized that it&#8217;s our second winter for 2009, having spent the same turn of season in the southern hemisphere earlier this year in New Zealand.
The high wind and sleet don&#8217;t show in this photo of me crossing a suspension bridge [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/heading-into-winter/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Four calling owls, three quail hens, two Inca doves&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6634</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and a Phainopepla in a Palo Verde tree.
As around the turn of every new year, Christmas Bird Counts are happening across America.  Under the auspices of the Audubon Society winter bird distribution and population information is compiled, collected by volunteers, most of whom are not ornithologists but people with a non-professional &#8212;  although sometimes [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/four-calling-owls-three-quail-hens-two-inca-doves/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A first year Cooper&#8217;s hawk&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:44:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6373</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;is bent on both mayhem and mischief.
She was lurking at the north entrance to Papago Park early Saturday morning, in the low spot where the White-crowned sparrows, House finches, and Mourning doves are usually found in great numbers on chilly winter mornings.  She even swooped over our heads on her way up to the top [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-first-year-coopers-hawk/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Coati moment, or two</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:48:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[furbearers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An excellent working weekend in Tucson had an unexpected furry, long-tailed highlight: on a hike up Sabino Canyon with Kate McKinnon and the other participants of her metal clay workshop, we ran into a pair of Coatis! I&#8217;d forgotten my camera, but fortunately others had theirs, and the younger coati obliged us by being visible [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-coati-moment-or-two/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hey, it&#8217;s a Wrentit!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:27:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6272</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Can&#8217;t resist posting this swell picture by E of a Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata), a veritable Dinky Dude not of the Desert, but of West Coast scrub and inland chaparral.
(left, Wrentit, photo E. Shock)
It may have subdued plumage, but how can anyone not like a skulking, big-headed, tiny bird with white eyes, who is the only [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/hey-its-a-wrentit/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is this the offending foam?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:11:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On last weekend&#8217;s trip to the Oregon coast, E and I noticed the beaches were festooned with unsupported sea-foam, churned up by the waves.  This might have been the slimy foam that&#8217;s currently causing major problems for sea birds along the Oregon coast.  The foam, a result of an off-shore algal bloom, coats the bird&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-this-the-offending-foam/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Redcaps and Redthroats: &#8217;shrooms and loons&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:07:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6153</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;on the northwest Oregon coast.
It&#8217;s not very much like the Sonoran Desert here. Everything&#8217;s either wet or damp, and when it rains it&#8217;s not a pounding monsoonal deluge that ends quickly, but a steady long-term soaking, which might last hours, days, or the rest of the year.  Things that live here are water-loving organisms, like [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/redcaps-and-redthroats-shrooms-and-loons/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>October 10 turned out to be unofficial Rock Art Day&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/october-10-turned-out-to-be-unofficial-rock-art-day</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/october-10-turned-out-to-be-unofficial-rock-art-day#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:42:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=6109</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;and we spent the day near Sedona in the Red Rocks and Wet Beaver Creek visiting Palatki and V-V (a ranch brand pronounced Vee-Bar-Vee), both quite spectacular rock art venues.
These are fairly easily accessible sites maintained by the Forest Service for public viewing, and well worth the trip (around 2 1/2 hours from Phoenix, much [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/october-10-turned-out-to-be-unofficial-rock-art-day/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The pulchritude of vulturitude, or&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:25:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5922</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;things are more colorful in the tropics.

Let&#8217;s unofficially extend International Vulture Awareness &#8220;Day&#8221; to &#8220;Weekend&#8221;, just so we can examine the glorious elegance that is the facial skin of the Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture, a cousin of the widely distributed Turkey vulture that most of us Norte Americaños are familiar with.
You could argue that the King [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-pulchritude-of-vulturitude-or/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Watch your step!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:13:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5888</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As kids growing up in coastal southern California, we loved to warn each other authoritatively &#8220;Shuffle your feet!&#8221;, having been scared by older cousins and uncles about the dangers of stingrays in the warm shallow waters of some of the bays we swam in.  Older cousins and uncles may like to terrify little girls for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/watch-your-step/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pleistocene megafauna revisited, and a couple of varieties of festoonage</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:17:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5862</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In an earlier post, I recalled an uncomfortable encounter with a bison on Catalina Island.  For the past few days, we were in Yellowstone (no internet anywhere in the Park!), and our interactions with large mammals were definitely calmer and thankfully more removed.  Here is one, placidly grazing by a park roadside.  He&#8217;s been head-butting [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/pleistocene-megafauna-revisited-and-a-couple-of-varieties-of-festoonage/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Howdy from Sierra Vista, Arizona</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5553</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gaze upon Sierra Vista, in south eastern Arizona, where the beautiful Huachuca Mountains beetle over the fast food restaurants and motels of the busy town.  Not visible in this shot, but also beetling, is the everpresent and mysterious white surveillance blimp.  One day, I will find out about the white blimp.  Maybe today.

The natural beauty [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/howdy-from-sierra-vista-arizona/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Green relief for the hot desert eye</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:35:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4736</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s some eye refreshment for those of us in the hot desert to contemplate: a view of a moist, mossy and cool rainforest from Aotearoa (New Zealand).  Here there be Kiwi birds, and Kakariki, and Mohua.

It always amazes me how effective a bit of shade is for cooling, visually and physically, even in the most [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/green-relief-for-the-hot-desert-eye/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lord of the Fly(catchers)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:24:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yard list]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=5362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Late each spring, later than most other neotropical migrants, the Brown-crested flycatchers (Myiarchus tyrannulus) return to our neighborhood (and other places in southern Arizona) from their wintering grounds in Mexico.
They are relatively large tyrant flycatchers, about the size of the more familiar Cardinal, but unlike Cardinals they&#8217;re not usually seen on or even terribly close [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/lord-of-the-flycatchers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Springtime do-over in Sedona (with Bonus Wild Hen nidification)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drawn in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nidification]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4859</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We missed some of Spring in the desert this year, so last weekend we went in search of it under the Mogollon Rim: Sunday found us hiking along the West Fork of Oak Creek in Sedona.  It&#8217;s one of the more popular trails in that popular area, and at times it&#8217;s mobbed by clusters of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/art/springtime-do-over-in-sedona-with-bonus-wild-hen-nidification/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The (retail) plundering of the continents&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/the-retail-plundering-of-the-continents</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/the-retail-plundering-of-the-continents#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:40:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4750</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;results in Kiwi-&#8221;flavoured&#8221; tea-towels.
Some people search out exotic specialties and luxuries when they travel, studying the ethnographic crafts and traditional handworks unique to the region.  I admire this, but don&#8217;t seem to be able to accomplish it for my own trips.  I want small, light, unbreakable, useful, evocative, and cheap I mean AFFORDABLE.  So, I [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/the-retail-plundering-of-the-continents/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>One of the best things we DIDN&#8217;T see in New Zealand&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:02:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;was a Ruru, or Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).

It&#8217;s NZ&#8217;s only remaining native owl (the Laughing owl was last recorded in 1914), and is fairly common in many habitats, even parks and gardens, but is especially numerous in tracts of native bush.  We heard them several places, mostly in the Kauri Forest while on a night walk [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/one-of-the-best-things-we-didnt-see-in-new-zealand/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blupeng and the Campervan Life (Four): Breakfast of Seabirds</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-four-breakfast-of-seabirds</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-four-breakfast-of-seabirds#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 13:19:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4323</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A typical Campervan breakfast: instant oatmeal, manuka honey, instant cocoa, dried fruit, Sanitarium brand soya milk, and Vita-brits!  No paper plates here: note the nice &#8220;china&#8221; that&#8217;s supplied with the campervan &#8212; posh!
Still, some are never satisfied:
&#8220;What, no Arrow Squid?&#8221;

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-four-breakfast-of-seabirds/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Postcards from the Bottom Edge</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 16:37:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4696</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With a couple of exceptions, I haven&#8217;t really posted much about something that&#8217;s very plentiful in Aotearoa/NZ: amazing landscapes.  Although there&#8217;s lots and lots of pasture land, crammed with sheep and cattle and non-native trees and grasses, the islands have a plentiful supply of charming vistas, rugged and awesome terrain, and outright wilderness.  All of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/postcards-from-the-bottom-edge-of-the-world/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Harakeke rules!</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:26:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Living in Southern California as a kid, I was familiar with the massive, blade-leafed clumping plant widely used in landscaping called Flax, or New Zealand Flax.  So I shouldn&#8217;t have been surprised to see it growing everywhere in New Zealand, right?  Still, my first dim thought was, &#8220;Oh, they landscape with it here, too, just [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/harakeke-rules/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blupeng and the Campervan Life (three)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-three</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-three#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 02:02:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4315</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The human obsession with rapidly heating things like water makes no sense to Blupeng, although there is something oddly pleasing to him about the shape of the Sunbeam Express.
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-three/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Doomed: on seeing Ngauruhoe/Mt. Orodruin</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/doomed-on-seeing-ngauruhoemt-orodruin</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/doomed-on-seeing-ngauruhoemt-orodruin#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 06:49:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4474</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Right.  Since Peter Jackson filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy in NZ, you can&#8217;t escape LOTR effects on tourism there.  Week-long coach tours and pricey four-wheeling trips to locations, picture books, tea towels, keychains, Gollum figurines staring out of the windows of the souvenir shops, and lots of posters of Legolas &#8212; it&#8217;s everywhere.  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/doomed-on-seeing-ngauruhoemt-orodruin/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bull kelp and mutton birds</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/bull-kelp-and-mutton-birds</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/bull-kelp-and-mutton-birds#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 15:49:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4422</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Bull kelp in NZ coastal waters is really robust stuff, and seems to be quite common along the rocky shores of the islands.  The photo on the right is of some moderate sized kelp-wrack.
After posting earlier about how Māori use kelp bags for storing Titi, I found I had a picture of poha-titi (Māori [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/bull-kelp-and-mutton-birds/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Miscellaneous Kiwiana</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/miscellaneous-kiwiana</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/miscellaneous-kiwiana#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 07:15:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4420</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Kiwi crossing sign is frequently reproduced on teeshirts, keychains, pins and buttons (called badges, in NZ, if you ever need to ask), and other tourist stuff.  It&#8217;s certainly charming, but we found this other Kiwi crossing sign in only one place, painted on the asphalt adjacent to the yellow warning sign.  With a few [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/miscellaneous-kiwiana/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tubenoses, Albatross Elbows and Muttonbirds</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 03:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One thing the Southern Hemisphere does well is sea birds.  Albatrosses, gannets, penguins, prions, storm petrels, diving petrels, gadfly petrels, giant petrels, shearwaters, skuas, mollymawks, and more occur in baffling numbers of species (and nomenclature).  Normally, many of these birds are found well out to sea, over the deepwater pelagic zones.  But in tectonically active [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tubenoses-albatross-elbows-and-muttonbird/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blupeng and the Campervan Life (two)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-two</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-two#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 15:51:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4310</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Occasionally Blupeng experiences the Whiny Electric Heater the people are obsessed with.  Its function eludes him, as cold temperatures are not a problem for a soft toy sea bird.  (Overheating on land is more likely to be a problem for a well-insulated penguin body, and flipperwings more thinly feather-lined and held akimbo aid in radiating [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-two/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Evidence of life in the tree tops: Rosella and Kereru</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 09:31:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4332</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Left: Eastern Rosella feather (Platycercus eximius) with Kauri cone.  Rosellas are long-tailed, rainbow-colored Australian parrots who now live in NZ, too.

Below: Kereru feather (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, New Zealand Pigeon) on leaf.
The Kereru is a very large pigeon, much bigger than Rock Pigeons, whose striking white, iridescent green-maroon plumage and bright red feet and bill blend surprisingly [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/evidence-of-life-in-the-tree-tops-rosella-and-kereru/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Shaking Islands: colorful hot waters</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 09:19:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s not all about birds: NZ&#8217;s hot waters are as unique as its birdlife. The islands are tectonically active, and strange fuming waters seep gently and sometimes violently blow to the surface.  We saw lots of these places; here&#8217;s a sample from Wai-O-Tapu, in the volcanic plateau near Rotorua.

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/the-shaking-islands-colorful-hot-waters/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blupeng and the Campervan Life (one)</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-one</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-one#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 21:16:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4303</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Blupeng rides on the Campervan dash.  He is seen here with the reflection of Heather &#38; Robertson&#8217;s Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, which, like a penguin, is up to the rain and rigors of the outdoors in NZ .
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/field-trips/blupeng-and-the-campervan-life-one/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Alpine Parrots&#8230;no, really, parrots at tree-line.</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:58:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oddities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4279</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you were a parrot, would you live in this chilly realm?
Yes, if you&#8217;re a Kea.  A large, endemic NZ parrot, the bronze-green Kea (Nestor notabilis) spends most of its time in high alpine areas and steep rocky valleys of the mountains of New Zealand&#8217;s South Island.
Kea can be easy to photograph because of some [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/alpine-parrotsno-really-parrots-at-tree-line/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Serendipity: Fernbirds, penguins, and hogget in between</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:48:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4261</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This day was full of serendipity: we happened upon the lady with fernbirds in her yard; we went to Curio Bay for fossils, but happened upon Yellow-eyed penguins; and in between?  Hogget: it&#8217;s an age category of sheep meat between lamb and mutton, which we happened upon in the Invercargill Pack-n-Save butchery.
What a day!
Here is [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/serendipity-fernbirds-penguins-and-hogget-in-between/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When is a Wood Hen a Beach Bunny?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 06:27:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4249</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it&#8217;s a Weka (pronounced &#8220;wehkkah&#8221;, Gallirallus australis), a biggish flightless endemic NZ rail.
If you&#8217;ve ever tried to see a rail in the US, you know it can be an exercise in frustration, since our rails are furtive and well-camouflaged wetlands birds.  Designed to slip secretly through reeds and sedges (as in &#8220;thin as a&#8230;&#8221;), [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-is-a-wood-hen-a-beach-bunny/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Walkingstick sequel: in case anyone was wondering&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/walkingstick-sequel-in-case-anyone-was-wondering</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/walkingstick-sequel-in-case-anyone-was-wondering#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 09:55:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4241</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;how the photo E was taking turned out (from this post), here it is.  Now you know what the ventral surface of a NZ walking stick looks like.
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/walkingstick-sequel-in-case-anyone-was-wondering/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Piwakawaka and other obliging Non-Kiwi Kiwis</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/piwakawaka-and-other-obliging-non-kiwi-kiwis</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/piwakawaka-and-other-obliging-non-kiwi-kiwis#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2009 05:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Proper Kiwi birds are nearly impossible to take photos of.  Mainly because most kiwi birds are nocturnal and using flash is rude, but also because they&#8217;re hard to see in their environment, rummaging around in the deep ferny forest floor.  And anyway they&#8217;re terribly difficult to find at all.
But there are other, non-Kiwi birds who [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/piwakawaka-and-other-obliging-non-kiwi-kiwis/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Some swell cetaceans</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/some-swell-cetaceans</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/some-swell-cetaceans#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2009 05:18:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[NZ has lots of coastline, and there are plenty of opportunities to get out onto the sea.  During ferry trips, either getting to offshore islands or between big islands, or on small boats looking for sea birds, there&#8217;s almost always something to see &#8212; and not always birds.
Returning to the mainland from Tiri Tiri Matangi, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/some-swell-cetaceans/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Large, colorful, flightless, and clueless&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/large-colorful-flightless-and-clueless</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/large-colorful-flightless-and-clueless#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2009 08:51:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4204</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230;that&#8217;s the Takahe, a mountain-dwelling, tussock-eating, big-beaked member of the gallinule family (related to coots).  The bird was believed by ornithologists to be extinct, until G.B. Orbell &#8220;rediscovered&#8221; a population in the remote Murchison mountains of Fjordland New Zealand in 1948.  Since then heroic efforts have been made to secure its survival as a species, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/large-colorful-flightless-and-clueless/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When hiking New Zealand, always have a walking stick along</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-hiking-new-zealand-always-have-a-walking-stick-along</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-hiking-new-zealand-always-have-a-walking-stick-along#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2009 08:38:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Invertebrata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool bug!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is E, making a new friend in the Kauri Forest.  It may be big and green, but at least it doesn&#8217;t bite, like the Sand flies.
(Photo A. Shock)
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/when-hiking-new-zealand-always-have-a-walking-stick-along/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weazealand</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/weazealand</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/weazealand#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:30:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4192</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Weasels and stoats are not welcome in New Zealand, although they live there.  But they&#8217;re not native, and as opportunistic and energetic predators they&#8217;re particularly dangerous for the few remaining species of indigenous birds, many of which are ground-nesters, having evolved on an island on which there are no native species of mammal except bats, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/weazealand/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is it possible to see a Kiwi?</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-it-possible-to-see-a-kiwi</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-it-possible-to-see-a-kiwi#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:35:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4158</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, and we did!  Also very large eels that live in very small streams, and giant crickets called Weta.  Moreporks (New Zealand&#8217;s only native owl) made themselves heard, although not seen.

The kiwi on the right is carved from Kauri, the huge New Zealand tree which isn&#8217;t like any other tree I&#8217;ve ever seen.  The [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/is-it-possible-to-see-a-kiwi/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Morning of Birds in Trees</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-morning-of-birds-in-trees</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-morning-of-birds-in-trees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Papago Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Easter mornings are often spent focused on the ground in an Easter Egg hunt, a ritual seeking delightfully chthonic goodies on a day of rising up.  But our Easter walk in Papago Park was filled with airy trophies instead: birds in trees.  And the birds were obliging. Once seen perched safely on high, they stayed [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/a-morning-of-birds-in-trees/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Intense clay overload (in a good way) &#8212; NCECA Phoenix</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/intense-clay-overload-in-a-good-way-nceca-phoenix</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/intense-clay-overload-in-a-good-way-nceca-phoenix#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:47:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=4066</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The past three days I&#8217;ve been immersed in clay.  Sounds muddy, but what I mean is, of course, NCECA: demos, tools, galleries, other clay artists, techniques, long-time friends from St. Louis, Metro Light Rail, even a little shopping, and downtown Phoenix: all those things compressed into a fairly short amount of time, in three long [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/intense-clay-overload-in-a-good-way-nceca-phoenix/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Increments: Stacked Toad Teapot Effigy FINAL Finale</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/events/increments-stacked-toad-teapot-effigy-final-finale</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/events/increments-stacked-toad-teapot-effigy-final-finale#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:31:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art/clay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[effigy vessels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[increments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles and amphibians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three star owl]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=3749</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I mentioned previously, there are two pieces of mine in the NCECA &#8220;Potters as Sculptors; Sculptors as Potters&#8221; show currently up at Mesa Community College (see the Three Star Owl Events page for details).  One of them is the long-evolving &#8220;Toadstack&#8221; (the other is Venomosity which can currently be viewed on the Home page.) [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/events/increments-stacked-toad-teapot-effigy-final-finale/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Costa&#8217;s hummers at Boyce Thompson Arboretum</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/costas-hummers-at-boyce-thompson-arboretum</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/costas-hummers-at-boyce-thompson-arboretum#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:02:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[close in]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=3548</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my favorite places to go in the Phoenix area at any time of year (except perhaps in the heat of summer) is the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It&#8217;s a botanical garden of  native and non-native desert plants up in the desert mountains around Superior Arizona about an hour&#8217;s drive east of Phoenix.  It&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/costas-hummers-at-boyce-thompson-arboretum/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tall spiny guys</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tall-spiny-guys</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tall-spiny-guys#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:53:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[botany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=3453</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One more post from our desert hike last weekend, because, well &#8212; Wow!
Right along the trail we encountered two specimens of individual cactus that seemed taller than most of their kin.  One was a towering, somewhat spindly saguaro. Of course, saguaros are known for their height, but this was one of the tallest I&#8217;ve seen [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/tall-spiny-guys/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Feral Quadrupeds of Interest</title>
		<link>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/feral-quadrupeds-of-interest</link>
		<comments>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/feral-quadrupeds-of-interest#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Allison</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[environment/activism/politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology/words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://threestarowl.com/?p=3214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In an earlier post, there was an oblique mention of seeing &#8220;Feral Quadrupeds of Interest&#8221;.  These would be the wild burros who live in the desert around Lake Pleasant, Arizona.
On our hike the other day, E and I encountered a small group of them.  They are often described as &#8220;more likely to be heard than [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://threestarowl.com/natural-history/feral-quadrupeds-of-interest/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

