Fall Equinox

FINALLY FALL 

So we had a rainy week...followed up by a cold front...So welcoming is the cold front! On the last day of rain I had six visitors to my plot of land..

                           A small herd of Does with some yearlings mixed  in...

They are either eating acorns or ripe Persimmon that fell on the ground 

Then finally the SUN...

I ran into a Long Tailed Skipper this is the time of year I look for them.  This one was in super fine condition..

Cute Carolina Chickadee eating some seed up in a tree...

Some good Camouflage going on here...

Green Anole

These Geese look as if they are floating in grass, but there is water down under the grass, deep enough for them to swim in 

Fall Color is quickly taking over....

Here's a young Chipping Sparrow 

I always enjoy the color of the Sassafras Leaves in Fall they turn a brilliant pumpkin orange..

It's been a good year for Eastern Wood Pewee...

And this Poke Berry Bush has been pretty much stripped clean of the berries, Lovely Chartreuse color!!

I headed to the WLR to relax and enjoy the sunshine and I forgot to grab any food...something I havent done in a while....got gas station food!! Not vegan but I found a slice of Veggie Pizza and an Orange Soda with SUGAR! 

On the way up there I stopped at a cemetery and photo'd two headstones, and there was some Nuttal's Sensitive Briar in there...

If you touch the frilly leaves, they fold up! It has something to do with tugour of the cells...it's cool to watch I tried to make a video can you see how the leaves fold up when I touch it?

It's a little tough to see the plant is very close to the ground and it has sharp briars on the stems...so I was touched gingerly...

And normally I see crows swooping and attacking hawks, but this one was chasing one of the regular crows that hang out around my homestead...he looked pretty serious! The photos were taken thru the glass so the focus is a little soft...

Yellow eye, well defined streaks, flat head...

As far as I can tell it's a Coopers Hawk, she was after the cardinals in a bush yesterday...so my feeder birds better beware.  
We are supposed to have some awesome weather for the next 4 or 5 days, Im really happy about that. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Last Full Week of Summer

Last week was pretty nice weather wise no real complaints for a change!  I can't seem to get the font the size I want so hope this one works for everyone...

Thru the viewfinder:

I went to my favorite cemetery nearby it's always good to find something alive....and this time I found one Loggerhead Shrike...

He found some high perches to hunt from and then he got tangled up with a couple of Mockingbirds, and they went into defense mode.

And chased him away...

From another perch not far away an Eastern Phoebe watched and made sure he wasn't going to be attacked next...

He was safe, then the Mockingbirds started to chase each other...lol so no one got to settle on the poke berries on the edges...

A Red Admiral hung onto this twig in the cedar tree I tried and tried to get him wings open but he would not co operate...just stuck h is nose up in the air!

The really small flowers on the ground attracted this Bee Fly, pretty good name for this fly that looks and acts like a Bee...

And I read that flies actually do a lot of pollination so I guess we need to think before we swat that fly! 

This flower is called Meadow Beauty...another awesome fall bloomer...

On my way out of the cemetery I heard a chip coming from the pines and found an immature Blue Grosbeak up top looking around 

Easy to see that big beak...he will eventually turn blue...

Moving to another location saw this field with a line of Canada Geese pulling the tops off this winter hay crop..

... on the way to my old stomps, of the Beaver Pond, looks very different now there is no pond to speak of since they trapped and killed the beaver...

 Im still bent about that...I did see this turtle with a garden growing on this back!

Pond Slider

And I found out from one of the locals the Eagle Nest tree has fallen down wondered why I couldn't spot it, hope they will find another tree in the area to build in come late December. 

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I made a stop at the vernal pool I have been watching for a couple years and lately this Great Egret has been fishing there, I believe there is still plenty of tadpole, frog, and small turtle in the pool...

a bit too deep for the Green Herons that I normally see here although earlier in the season they were around..

I went to Sandhills took a couple of short hikes, and had a lot of Pine Warbler scolding me along the way...

Hunting season is about to get going so I will have to be careful out and about from now till the end of Feb. 

Buck Eye 

Grasshopper with bonus spider(??) 

Meanwhile back at home look who is in the flower bed...

Writing Spider 3 inches across!!

I did find some seeds for my winter garden plans...But I had dig through the Halloween costumes, and Spooky yard decorations and push aside the boxes of "Christmas Garland" waiting to be unboxed...dear readers  we will starve to death if the Pandemic gets worse, every store is over stocked with useless junk from China and I had to dig through a disheveled box of seeds looking for some to plant....at the Dollar Store!   To me this is a real shame.  Every community should have a seed exchange in it...not talking GMO seeds either...The garden centers are full of Mums, Pansies, and decorative plants.  We can't eat that. 

What are your thoughts on this subject. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Good Bad Ugly

I gotta say this week was such a challenge for me.  Right off the bat, nothing went right...and I guess I drew all that to me somehow...And all the PTSD of 9/11 wears on my mind.  Our beautiful humidity free days ended too fast but they say it will get better by the end of the week...hopefully by the time you are reading this post. 

This is one of the Butternut Squash I grew, actually I grew everything in this bowl except the Rice and Quinoa.   I love one bowl meals, easy peasy, 

More Homegrown
 

This Great Blue  Heron was grooming while standing on a submerged log and he made a nice reflection...I took this last week 

SO my new camera arrived it's exactly like my old one only not worn out.  It just arrived yesterday and I haven't done much with it since it's been raining  since it arrived...and what I did last week with my old camera I lost when my computer CRASHED...Windows 10 and Microsoft...used to put out a good product now its an unstable and temperamental beast. 

I thought this could be immature Northern Shovelers...thanks to a  couple of birding buddies, Jen of I Used to Hate Birds, 
 and Steve Patterson a local ebirder, who both advised  me on these ducks...
Best consensus is Blue Winged Teal female.  I don't think I've ever seen them without males to help give away the identity.  

modern turf sod farm 

 
I made a trip to a local sod farm last week to look for Upland Sandpiper 

found them. they were too far out for decent photos (on the right) and I found these 2 below  later but didn't have a clue what they were then  another birder  listed them as Buff Breasted Sandpiper, again pretty far away...we are not to disrupt sod farm operations by driving up their access roads or tromping out on the sod, so its hard to get close this one is 3.4 miles in total area

 so that was good 2 rare birds in one field.

And this was kind of rare also...and sad.  IN an empty Parking lot right across from the Piggly Wiggly in town  I found a dead Armadillo.  Poor thing-- they are so cute when they are alive...I can't see any obvious cause of death I wonder if poison was at work here??

Sometimes Nature is not all rainbows and everything nice...

Once only seen along our border states the Armadillo has made it's way north and some consider it a nuisance animal for the digging they do...can't say I would want one in my yard, but I think I would try to relocate it.  

Had some Wood Stork fly over one of my stops last week,,

Since my blog posts on Thursday at Midnight I normally start putting it together on Wednesday...I did upload a few photos to Google Photos that I havent shared so I will just have to dive into that and put something together since I lost all the photos on my laptop,  Thankfully I have saved most of my heirloom photos on T-Drives, so those are safe... but the recent stuff is what I lost. 

POP QUIZ:  What track do you think this is?  Not the man made ones but the ones in the middle? 

Here is another hint...

Answer at bottom 

 I  enjoy how the light glows through this Fritillary wings, from my butterfly field trip..

Answer to the Pop Quiz is:

Wild Turkey, the feather is a tail feather...and the track of Turkey  always has a big middle toe. I hope you  learn something new from this blog each time you visit. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.