Hawks Eye View

The sun chose to shine on me in the afternoon when I took Indy for her walk...she is still a healthy dog and she needs to get some time on her own so I take her for long walks when I get Spanky comfortable enough to be on his own for an hour. So Indy and I went to the little creek near here..its just a wee flow--she likes to wade in it..but yesterday she chose not to.

Meanwhile we spied this dramatic scene going on in the front yard....this area attracts many hawks I presume due to the availability of FOOD (squirrels, chipmunks, birds etc.)

You can see the predicament this squirrel found himself in--the hawk had him in his sights I believe it was my presence that saved his life. Ive seen these guys swoop and take chipmunks away in one quick swift action so I know what expert hunters they are.

This is a coopers hawk, I also see many northern harriers here too...they nest and hunt in this housing development, the developer chose to leave mature hardwoods and build the homes around the trees!! SO this is still a forest--its quite dark under the trees in summer and in fall and winter the leaf cleanup is a huge undertaking by each homeowner. Some have removed the trees but most have kept them. Good news for the hawks.

Look at the clear beautify eyes on this guy--

Detour

Hi Friends...today Im back at my sis's dog sitting for the old boy yet again...he is much closer to completing his circle than the last time I saw him at Christmas--but I'm not feeling sorry for him, he will soon know the secrets of the other side---

                                                                             Spanky 

The weather is gloomy...again! It seems every time I come this way its either raining or threatening or tottering on the brink of down right miserable! The drive up was a bit different this time since a 15 mile section of the main highway is closed and there is a detour involved--Just that word detour makes my spine kind of tingle ---for that means highways unknown, towns unheard of, and time either wasted or enjoyed. It conjures up thoughts of chillers seen on late night tv, the innocent traveler the evil laying in wait--THE DETOUR---(insert spooky music here.)

I-26 West. 

But a detour can be enjoyed if you have ooodles of time to spare, wasted if you're hoping to stay on schedule...I craned my neck and yearned to stop and take pictures of the old house that could easily be the haunted house in the next Friday 13th movie...but I didnt have time to dally--I also wanted to pull over at the old freight train station and take a photo of the lovely mural someone had painstakingly painted--- but the clock was ticking--and then I wanted to pay a visit to the el'junque shop I spied on the left...but daylight was burning!! Then there was the huge Red Tail perched at the very tip-top of a mature bare limbed pecan tree staring out over the Interstate looking more regal than any King Ive seen admiring his court...but I was in the wrong lane--- he faded into my rear view mirror as I sliced through time at 75 mph and he became a part of my past.

... moving at a slower pace, now wouldn't that be a hoot?

MKL day

 This post was originally posted in 2010 that was 10 yrs ago...the Video I posted has since become inactive, or what ever it's gone anyways so Im repairing as many of my old blogs that I can. 

Martin Luther King was a wonderful human being.  His life was taken because he believed in Equality and all these years later we still don't have it.  Our current history shows that with police murdering black men at a high rate, Black Lives Matter is a movement to bring attention to this  horrible unjust part of our society which shows the inequality is still very real.  We now have our first black VP, we had a Black President, so one sector of our population is showing they are all for equality by casting their votes to be inclusive, and one sector is not.  

I am not in favor of the Conservative viewpoint when it come to many things...and their constant reminder that they support White Supremacy is a huge stopping point for me.  

ONE day it will happen if we keep trying,  Looks like I had a photo of a moon up here so let me find one to put up...

A nice Crescent Moon,...is only part of the whole story...when Light Hits it, we see the whole picture. 

The Red Heads

IT finally warmed up enough for me to take my camera out and not have to put gloves on and off...just cant deal with the small buttons and gloves!! IT was the perfect day to go to what I always lovingly call the "Forty Acre Woods"...its not really 40 acres its more like 150 and its a very abused piece of land used to grow and cut timber within walking distance of my house its about 1/4 mile away. Lucky for me the last time they cut it they never replanted!!

 SO its more open now although the brambles are beginning to take over./.its also leased for hunting so certain times of the year I cant go rambling thru there. But the great thing about it is the land is not flat its on a slope...and at the bottom of that slope is a wet area where the entire acreage drains and this creates a seasonal pool of water so that means BIRDS love this area. I always see amazing birds there..in the spring n summer the Indigo Bunting & Blue Grosbeak are my favorites to stalk, and year round the Red Headed Woodpecker!  

This is their typical stance 

They are very curious so not too hard to get close to...I usually make a lot of strange noise and they come to check me out...there are several standing dead trees they make use of in the Forty Acre Woods for nesting. I have to visit again in the spring when they are feeding and raising young! Last year there were many of them...they use the trees closer to the water pool I mentioned for nesting...since water means BUGS! The trees have large holes hollowed out for the nests...REALLY COOL spot to reconnect with nature.

They have a complete red head, a broad black back with a wide patch of white on the lower half of the wing so its' easy to ID them in flight...

                                  with his beak buried in the tree holes

They differ from the Red bellied WP in size, shape and coloration, 

they have a red slash on the head from forehead to neck and back and wings, with a  ladder side to side striping, 

                                

                                        Red bellied for comparrison...

And then there is the BIGGEST of our Woodpeckers the Pileated Woodpecker, cousin the extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker. These guys are about 16-19 inches in length...this one happened to land on the ground to work on the base of this tree.  

We have other red birds, but these are some of my favs. 

ICE ICE BABY!

Still cold...weather men have been known to be wrong--and this is one of those times!! Yesterday I went to Goodale lake not far from here...I had seen a Bald Eagle there earlier and of course I was not in my car and didnt have my camera so I went back later hoping he would be there but Nope wasnt there! So I took a few shots of the lake...its frozen what looks to be 4 - 6 inches of solid ice on the top of the lake! I've never seen that before...ice yes but not so almost completely covering the surface of this lake!! Warmer tempts are promised for later in this week and rain at the weeks end--so that should help free up the ice there.

   

Just look at our water garden where many of our critters drink...it was quite pretty..but Im wondering what the birds are doing with no open water? I found these berries alongside the edge of the lake...not sure the birds like these...

 This mocking bird has been attacking my car--he sees his reflection and he is defending his territory---

  

 Speaking of my car I found a crack in my windshield and its getting longer every day so tomorrow the insurance co is sending a guy here to repair it!! 

That should be in to watch!! Im wondering what the mockingbird will think of that! And this pudgy little squirrel....maybe she is carrying young? She sure is plump, but she eats all my birdseed so I guess she has gained some weight!!

 

Stay Warm!

IM FREE AT LAST!

 My girlz have been getting kinda bored----Brrr...still under that blast of cold air, last night it was 18 and today it got up to 36-F which it still is. I bundled up and took them for a walk...got pretty warm in my knee length down coat. I purchased that coat when living in NY...didn't really think I'd be wearing it here but I pulled it out and it keeps me nice and warm!! BOY--I've been fighting that Virus and the peripheral damage it caused to my computer since Christmas Eve--- IF Only I had known I could have gone to Malwarebytes.com and downloaded the free malware software and it would have rid my PC of the Trojans. I actually had 2 but I think they came onboard together!! I didn't realize at first that I had one...but I noticed while searching I was being redirected every time to some off the wall place- then I realized I couldn't run any of my virus software..it had been disabled! I ended up taking it in and having the hard drive scrubbed...and windows reinstalled but---when I reloaded my saved files the Trojans were in there!! and they re-infected my machine..so after that I went searching for a way to get rid of it!! 

NOT only did it disable most of my programs it affected my monitor which was driving me nutz. I did everything I could think of--finally found a forum online in Microsoft help...and one fellow directed readers to Malwarebytes. Went there ran the scan and found I had 11 files infected!! The trojans had changed my registry, changed permissions, and all sorts of "Evil" back door stuff had taken place. So finally I have my system back -- So far --"knocks on good wood".. I know that's kind of boring but maybe someone else will need this information.. The trojans that were hidden were hiding here

 Hkey_local machine\system\currentControlSet\Services\pyktqgfy
the other was here
 C:\Doucments and Settings\emachine\sytklb.exe

E-mahcine is my computer name yours will be different. It changed all sorts of security issues, set up all sorts of auto-starts...and just took over!! After I got rid of it, I went to E=machines and downloaded the driver that was missing and got my monitor issue settled! WHEWWW it was a hard battle but I won in the end. Now I can focus on the little things in life again---like walking my dogs, having fun with my camera, drawing, and trying to meddle in my sons life...lol!!

   

  

 Tomorrow I'm headed over to see my Sons new apartment which is only new to him its in a older neighborhood on Devine street near downtown Columbia, SC ...he is no longer sharing...I think he's had enough of room mates and the "college" type life style../finally--- he is 28!! So Im headed over arms full of those little things that make a house a home, like towels, shower curtains, place mats, trash cans and other do dads and do hickeys!! I'm planning to use those Chili's Gift Cards and enjoy lunch with JT and Iris 

 

Off to a good Start!

The saga of the PC Problems continue but Im taking a break from fighting the good fight to get rid of this virus I picked up. I have no clue where but I know I got it on Christmas Eve! Its a nasty little one that stops you from running your virus software, and your system restore...So its quite smart. I dont see the pleasure someone would gain in creating and releasing such a thing...makes me wonder if the software makers create these bugs to force us to purchase the antivirus software??? Something to ponder!

WELL its colder than a .....you fill in the blank.....here!! Today it got no warmer than 35 degrees and the wind has been pretty steady at 8-10 so there is a windchill I dont know the official numbers! My oldest friend has moved back to Arizona and I was a bit jealous when she told me the high there was 65 today!! Im sure our weather will be back to normal soon---we dont usually have really cold weather. I havent had much time to take shots with my new camera---seems Im always doing something else!! I do like it, although its heavier than the other one I was using. Here are some of my favorites so far!...See what you think--

My son goofing off he would die if he saw this...lol no golf club just the swing,,

A downy Woodpecker having a snack..

A couple of Muscovy Ducks  following me around---

This is what I hate about fishermen, 

A one legged bird waiting to happen...

And this one---I love the simplicity and bokeh

Hope all who come by here to say hello are enjoying the new year so far!!
And I can share one tip here...when fishing if you have line to throw away--cut it into very small pieces before you put it in the trash...birds get entangled at landfills too!!