Im continuing to unearth many of my old post photos and made a wee bit of progress...It's a way to deal with the combo rainy weather and cold air. Texas is under a deep freeze we just dodged the bullet on that one, our temps hung at a balmy 39F while they got the icy cold temp drop and it sent them straight to hell no power, frozen water, slick treacherous roads. But for the grace, there go I...so I must not complain because you guessed it, could be WORSE.
What it does mean is I have been housebound for 5 straight days! I birded from the back porch trying to photograph rare birds, at least now they are rare; 8 days ago they were not...and even with clear photos no confirmation from ebird, yet lists with no photos confirmed. Are US Senators now ebird reviewers?
clouds lining up to get the heck outta here,,,
We are now promised 4 days of sunshine, if we don't get it well lets just say the local tv weather guy is gonna be getting a lot of hate mail...lol "do something" well the thing is we need to stop calling it global warming, and just call it weather change. The birds don't leave, the sun don't shine, and the deep South freezes. Is it possible we are in a cycle that is taking us to a new Ice Age? It is highly possible, since in 2012 we finished up a 26,000 yr cycle. We are clueless about what could be on the horizon.
a farm field, full of water...
Then the wind blew HARD and it pushed those clouds outta here!!
The flashing yellow light town of Patrick, SC. along my route today...under a chilly blue sky. They have a cell tower!
Since the wind was not going to allow me to scan trees looking for birds, scanning water may be easier was my thinking so I went back to Paul Wallace Lake,
A brisk wind continues...so I parked right here and opened up my lunch pak and had snack...I arrived just before noon, after the snack I went for a walk, before the chill drove me back to the van to warm up I found a few things to report...
A brisk wind continues...so I parked right here and opened up my lunch pak and had snack...I arrived just before noon, after the snack I went for a walk, before the chill drove me back to the van to warm up I found a few things to report...
One was a Yellow Rump pumping this tail? NO It's a Palm Warbler, FOY on that one...
This Mallard Female, showed me her pretty eye,
T his Ring Bill Gull was not flying he was riding a current in the air...
After this I moved the van to the other side of the lake, just in time to see a huge flock of Common Grackle fly over...
Hundreds of birds....
Then my attention went to the water Ring Necked Duck still around,
I spotted an otter about that time one quick look and he was gone, I could not relocate him in this choppy water...got one really awful photo of him when he gulped down some air before diving...
The lake was also full of American Coots
And more Bufflehead than my last trip...this one allowed me to get close...
On the way home I stopped at the site of Dizzy Gillespie's boyhood home...the house is gone so it's like a small park surrounded by small humble homes...he was born in this town of Cheraw, pronounced Sure-Raw.
Back toward home I stopped to show you the Great Pee Dee river in flood stage...
for your viewing pleasure...
for your viewing pleasure...
And a Kestrel on the wire is always fun the wind had his feathers in a ruffle.
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
I think your Finch photos are pretty clear and I'm sure the weather there has had an effects on the birds right now! Your photos are gorgeous with the blue sky and the sun, it doesn't 'look' chilly! The Grackles must have been fantastic to watch. I hope you get the promised sunshine!
ReplyDeleteHi Pam, thank you, yes the high that day was like 49 but with a still 15 mph wind it felt a lot colder....Actually we got only 1 1/2 days of the SUN, now back to cold rain. The weather people are not quite prepared for how quickly it changes these days.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI love your Purple Finches, I am still seeing a few here coming and going. Great sightings of the warbler, duck and the Kestrel. The Buffleheads are beautiful. Pretty sky shots, I am looking forward to warm weather next week. Take care, happy birding! Have a great weekend!
Hi Eileen and than you, so in the end they were getting so many Purple Finch and Pine Siskin reports I think they (ebird) moved their migration date, I put them in yesterdays list NOT rare yesterday I think they got the message. LoL
DeleteThe purple finch is very purple in the picture. Great bird shots and the water shots with the clouds reflecting on it are gorgeous. I'm happy you at least had 1 day to get out and enjoy the parks.
ReplyDeleteWe should have a nice day tomorrow so maybe I can clean my porch and do some reading out there, and watch the hummers at the feeder. The we also will see some more wind and clouds.
HI Jo, hope you get to watch those hummers, I wish we had them year round too, I hope you got those nice days of weather, we had some cold air but the sun was so welcome.
DeleteWe too have lots of rain Sondra, with much flooding, but next week is supposed to be dry, so fingers crossed. I've had a pair of Pied Wagtails visit the garden and they sit and wait while I throw them some meal worms. A few years ago we had one who would flutter outside the window to get our attention.
ReplyDeleteBeing a map freek it's good when you mention places as it puts journeys and places into perspective, ie Patrick with a pop. of 351.
Spring is on its way as the early morning birdsong is increasing with my favourite, the Blackbird, coming over loudly. Enjoy your week.
HI Dave, birds are so very smart they can communicate with us and they try hard to make their wishes known. I love Blackbirds they are super smart and so beautiful. Yes Patrick is a don't blink town,,,one flashing light and a couple of old buildings. It's cute tho. Next time I hope to remember to photo the old train station. You also have a good week.
DeleteGlad to hear you didn't get the deep freeze that others got, but being housebound for five days is not fun. All that sunny birding looks good!
ReplyDeleteHi Jen yes 5 straight days of cold miserable rain, it was quite miserable. I have some inside projects to keep me busy so that's what I did...and lots of window birding.
DeleteIt’s Muddy Waters on the PeeDee! And I made that capital letters because I was thinking jazz legends for some reason )). Happy you were spared the horrible Texas weather and could finally get out there — and what a beautiful drive/walk/bird day it was! Seems like years ago when our youngest son explained to us why Al Gore should have sold the whole thing as “climate change” not global warming... it sets my teeth on edge when somebody gets it wrong (every day, it seems lik3 you still hear somebody say how happy they would be (or how happy they are ) for a warm winter day,
ReplyDeleteHi Sallie....And today I drove through the hometown of Chubby Cheeker!! In Georgetown county. Yes Climate Change is more correct, it includes global warming, and floods, and fires, and ten ton of snow...and excessive rain, and hurricanes up the wazoo.
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