http://www.radleyice.com "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." - Dr. Johnson Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:46:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Alright, it's really the Kalispell Landfill, but, damn, does it ever bring in the rare gulls. I went last Friday (Nov. 29th) and I was able to pull in Glaucous, Glaucous-winged, Thayer's, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls. The Glaucous-winged gull is a state bird for me (yippee). Below is a couple ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/12/03/the-flathead-gull-sanctuary/ I was reviewing some photos from this summer and I came across this image from my last day along the Rio Tarcoles. What the hell was I thinking? Walking along a river where I had just seen a 15 foot crocodile. Oh yeah, there were birds to ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/23/looking-back-at-rio-tarcoles/ Tonight I brewed up a recipe that I have been mulling over for quite some time, a juniper Rye pale ale. The idea is merge a floral hoppiness of a pale ale with the unique juniper aroma and essence. The following is a summary of the boil and pitch process. ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/20/brewing-the-northern-lights-juniper-rye-pa/ Today, I was looking at my office window, or rather I was wishing I were on the other side of the pane. Snow flurries had move in from the west and the horses in the neighboring pasture were grazing in a tight bunch that reminded me of images I have ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/19/the-passing-of-autumn/ Jerry R Oldenettel from Socorro, NM posted on ID Frontiers that there is a Sungrebe at Bospue del Apache. You can see pics of the bird at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/ http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/18/sungrebe-at-bosque-del-apache-nwr/ I recently heard a podcast that featured Kevin Karlson speaking about his upcoming book - Birding by Impression. The concept is to use general impression upon viewing bird to narrow the identification choices or positively identify a species. Most of us are familiar with of "giss" - using our ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/18/birding-by-impression-giss-20/ This evening I brought over a couple of bottles of my two latest homebrew to Andy's place for a little tasting and watch the bills on MNF (we won't mention the game outcome, but it was brutal). Below is a couple of pics of the brews and my intentional impressions. ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/17/the-homebrewfinally-tasted/ Ok..there's is no such thing, but this is what happens when you let a hillbilly get a hold of good spices...we make chili. This is actually a variation on a recipe shown to me by an Indian friend, a very Americanized Indian friend. The recipe is stupid simple but the ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/16/kashmiri-chili/ Today we (Olivia and I) went for a little hike along South Cottonwood Creek. The weather was overcast and warm, and the trail was a little muddy. It took 3 changes of water to get Olivia clean when we return home. These kind of days bring that unique quiet ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/15/warm-day-along-south-cottonwood-creek/ This evening I made a delightful caprese salad with roasted cherry tomatoes and anchovies. This is a super simple dish to make, and it is suitable for a starter salad or as a salad entree. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Salt and pepper them, and place ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/14/caprese-salad-with-roasted-cherry-tomatoes-and-anchovies/ Appearance: Dark Golden with a thick creamy head Aroma: Soft pine aroma with light hops Taste: Creamy palate with bright pine notes...very pleasant Overall: I have never had a juniper-infused ale, but I have been thinking of using that ingredient in an upcoming homebrew. So, when I saw this on the shelf ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/14/rogue-river-juniper-pale-ale/ This evening Andy and I went down to the Bozeman Brewing Company's tasting room. We started off with a Pumpkin Ale. We both thought that it was somewhat over-spiced with, in my opinion, the allspice taking over. My next brew was a Dry Irish Stout on a nitrogenated tap. This ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/12/bozone-tasting-room/ I finally bottled my latest two batches of homebrew, the Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter and the South by Southwheat Agave Ale. Below I will give my impressions of each patch as they went into the bottle. Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter Dark as the ace of spades and fully ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/08/bottling-day/ This Saturday morning Olivia and I went up to Hyalite for a little hiking and check out the waterfalls. The weather was severely overcast with moments of sprinkles and glimpse of sunshine. Olivia loves to hike and explore rabbit trails. It was nice to see some old friends. Clark's Nutcrackers ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/08/saturday-at-hyalite-with-old-friends/ With Election Day looming tomorrow, all the talk from the well-groomed media puppets is about character, experience and, even, the associations of the candidates; however, the one term I have not heard in quite some time is environment. It seems with the volatile state of economy and our current foreign ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/11/03/whats-been-missing/ Sometimes I choose not to go for a hike because there doesn't seem to be enough time for it. Well, this evening that awful assumption was put to rest completely. With the nice weather and all, I rushed home after work and grabbed Miss Olivia for a quick loop up ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/27/the-value-of-a-quick-hike/ Every year John Parker graciously leads the Sacajawea Audubon trip to Ennis Lake where the target species are scoters, loons (other than Common), and maybe a Herring Gull or two. While had a few gulls, but the waterfowl and loon numbers were way down. The lake was as empty ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/25/annual-audubon-trip-to-ennis-lake/ Tonight I brewed my South by Southwheat Ale. It's a wheat ale twist a couple of twists - the use of agave nectar in place of honey, which I normally use, and Sorachi Ace hops (a Japanese variety that is supposed to lend a mild lemon/citrus flavor - perfect ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/23/south-by-southwheat-ale/ As the light faded into twilight this evening, thousands of Mallards descended upon the few remaining stubble fields south of Bozeman. I surmise that this event is my true herald of autumn, the small waves of migrating waterfowl honking overhead as they pass through the valley. Some may settle for ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/23/passage/ Today I brewed a recipe of my own devices, a Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter. The intent of this was to have big porter with sweet tones of coffee, maple, and floral tones from the Fuggles hops and honey. In what follows is the recipes, images from the brew ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/19/sticky-sweet-maple-honey-porter/ One day alone is wonderful to have at Ennis Lake during the fall, but to have two such days is sublime. Sam Koenen and I took his mini-me, Jabe, out for a bit of guy time with some birding and breakfast at Yesterday's Cafe (best sausage gravy ever...I mean ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/18/another-good-day-at-ennis-lake-2/ Every once in a while you come across a set of circumstances so incredibly odd that it defies description. At lunch today, I had to go into Safeway, and upon entering the store, two police officers were holding a obliviously "crazy" man. First of all, one of the cops had ... http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/17/the-safeway-samurai-swordsmanwtf/ http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/15/when-good-decisions-are-made/ Today's snow give Olivia the chance to have a great time outside. http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/11/olivia-partying-on-the-snow/ This morning I woke to a steady, if not howling then talking loudly, wind. Looking outside there was a dusting of snow and big flakes screaming through the air. The first snow of season...looks like winter might be long and hard this year. http://www.radleyice.com/2008/10/10/first-snow-of-the-season/