Bird identification and measuring tread

First - in the post yesterday(http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2017/01/trying-out-new-ef-100-400mm-lens.html), we labeled the birds pictured as "a grey and white bird with a beady eye" and "another bird". I figured that a helpful reader would provide us information about what kind of birds they were - I was thinking niece Ginny, but instead her mom, sister-by-love Regina, provided this very helpful information:

I bet Miss Kitty knows what the grey and white bird is.  Clue 1 – It has a love/hate relationship with cats.  Clue 2 – It is found all across the U.S.  Clue 3 – And you should know what it is from being on the farm.  It is the infamous Mockingbird!

 

The second bird is a Curve-billed Thrasher.  About 10 ½ in.  Large, blurry, rounded spotting on upper breast; long noticeably downward curved bill; orangish eye.  Habitat is semi-desert scrub and suburban parks and yards.  Forages on the ground for insects.  Also eats seeds, berries, and ofen comes to bird feeders for fruit, and to birdbaths.  It places its nests in cholla cactus, thorny bush, or small tress 2 – 15 ft. above the ground.

I kinda thought the first one looked like a mockingbird, and I definitely remember them. In the garden when I was growing up there was one that would dive-bomb on our boxer dog, Betsy. She was such a sweet dog and wasn't hurting the bird at all... oh well, that's the way mockingbirds are!

The other part of this post is to provide information to my brother, Jimmy, about what we have found in measuring the tread depth in the Jeep tires. As background information, regular readers might recall that we've had various and assorted tire issues with the Jeep over the past year or so... including having to replace tires that were just 15 months old because they were so badly worn. They didn't have anywhere close to the mileage that they were supposed to be able to run. As a result, we are watching the tires on the Jeep a bit more closely, ensuring that we rotate them at appropriate intervals. We are pretty certain that the front tires on the Jeep get more scraping as, when it is being towed, the tires are forced to turn or go straight by adjusting to the friction that they are receiving from the road surface (not by being steered in any way). Besides keeping better records (Patti the spreadsheet girl), Dwayne has been trying to keep measurements of the tread depth.

Back to the information for Jimmy. Dwayne went out to do the tread depth measurement but... found a problem... you might recall that we've been having quite a bit of rain and are pretty much surrounded by mud (http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2017/01/does-it-rain-in-desert.html).

I thought I would share with you what our tires look like when we are parked at the campground...

We have to go through pretty deep mud to get to the campsite.

I think our tread depth measurements might be a bit off if done now...

The campsite itself has gravel, which is where the rocks come from.

We'll get that tread depth measurement done at the *next* campground - hopefully!