AUGUST--> then fall

I am trying to bid on a couple cameras on ebay, I got outbid right away so we'll see.  Tonight I was in a last minute literally bidding war.  It was seriously tense..I lost! I'm actually bidding on the exact camera I have!  I love this camera, hate that I damaged it, but each ding, drop, and bang was earned enjoying my life and living it with zest!  Still it takes good photos, but it does not want to focus on digital zoom. So birds are hard to capture if they are far away. 

I wanted to catch the tail end of the cool weather spell we were having so up at 6 am last Sunday... I was off to the hotspot and had some of the expected birds up and about...like this Anhinga already drying his feathers from his morning swim.

There was a lifting fog still clinging to the lake 

This immature Chipping Sparrow along with his brother was on the ground exploring this big new world.

This Great Blue Heron flushed up to the top of this flat topped Cyprus...

While the wily Red Shouldered Hawk lay in wait...hopefully not for the young birds I see frolicking all around. 

The good news for this day was a (#114) White Breasted Nuthatch I spotted harassing some red bellied woodpecker by accident...so another addition for the 5 mile radius.  This is my only July addition.  Got this one really awful for the record shot...then he zoomed off to deeper cover when the red bellied mama got after him. 

You can just barely tell what it is. At first I thought I caught his backside but nope its his face, beak turned to the left.  I'm busy turning those grey bars to green in my hotspot ebird bar graph.  I changed July to green, and now onto August.  Today is the 209th day of this yr.  Even if not one bird is around there is always something lovely to see.  

 

On Wednesday we took our picnic to Poinsett State Park, named for the Statesman Joel Roberts Poinsett who is buried a few miles away.  I got a stamp for my book and we enjoyed some exploring, it was hot so we didn't wander too far from the car's AC.

And as is the case in most of our parks, the Civilian Conservation Corp was working here in 1934-1942.  

We chose to sit in the shade and keep Mom on the cement covered areas...and that worked out great for us.  We were able to admire the beautiful work of the CCC. 

the Sluice of an old Grist Mill 

I was a bit remiss on getting photos of our day! We didn't see many birds around only a few..we had a list of about 12 including this Eastern Wood Peewee who I wanted to be something more but with long wings Im sticking on Peewee There has to be an easier way to distinguish these empids..this one never made a sound otherwise it would be an easy call...

there was some young with her/him.  

We checked out the campground, no one there only a host!  And the 4 rental cabins, looked nice and rustic, and there is a lot of hiking trails for later on when summer is over.  It is not very friendly to handicapped people...as we had to wrestle mom's chair over rough paths and roots, the restrooms had no handicapped stalls so that makes life a challenge.  We really love taking Mom along on our outings, and although she does enjoy it, it's also sometimes hard for her to enjoy it when access is so hard.  

We stopped at Gen Thomas Sumter's memorial park, he is buried there along with his wife, and son and other family members...

 

On the way home we stopped at Boykin Mill Pond and saw hundreds of Egrets! The entire far bank was lined with them in the trees.  We also saw lots of Little Blue Herons, Double Crested Cormorants, Anhinga, some unknown ducks and lots of White Ibis, and I saw at least one really dark Ibis, possibly an immature or even a Glossy, but flying overhead into a dull sky impossible to tell... this is possibly a rookery?  It is a privately owned pond, and there is a tiny town called Boykin built along it's bank but everything was locked up tight..

We had a busy week and it was a great one too...hope your's was the same. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

May Day

Another month gone? I can't believe it...My last report the 3rd week of April, was really a good week where I had 6 in one week...but wait!  

When I ended March had my 5 mile radius up to 77 species sighted since Jan 1st..and April really helped me push the count higher all the way up to 96 The last week of April,  I didn't get to bird every day so I got only 2 species by the 30th...the Blue Grosbeak...(#95) 

And on the                            same day in the exact same area almost in the                                       same tree the lovely  Indigo Bunting (#96)

And the beautiful turquoise back...

So I ended up with 96 for April.  Then MAY arrived and what a May Day I had.  I was in the field by 7:15 am since it is now getting hot by midday.  I had plans to go into town outside my radius to look for the Swainson's Warbler spotted by the 2 other birders who are listing in my county.  They live in the burbs but I had so much going on in my radius I never made it to town!  

I made a stop at one of my personal hotspots where I have seen quite a few of my FOY birds so far including the Blue's just mentioned...I can't make if official it's private property I bird from the road...
but I heard gunshots...probably a Turkey Hunter..it's still Turkey season.   So I moved on to a similar habitat.  Sure am glad I did... asa I got out of the van I heard this bird: (#97)

I haven't seen one of these in like 10 years was really thrilled to see 4 different individuals!  The Yellow Breasted Chat. 

these flowering shrubs are all around the area where the chat was 

Had more orchard oriole's males, immature males, and females..

Then more Prairie Warblers, more Indigo Buntings too...

All singing high up on tops of the trees.  

I pulled the van a little farther down the road and heard a somewhat familiar sound...how could I forget the call of all those yellow warblers that I saw in CO last yr so this is my FOY Yellow Warbler, (#98)

Then I moved the van to an area where I have an awesome spot to bird a swampy verge.  I found my FOY Gray Catbird, (#99)  no photo and then in the field area that is on the edge of the woods, I heard the Grasshopper Sparrow. (#100)  He /she would not pop up for a look but no mistaking that buzzy call.  

I found these tracks...I always enjoy trying to figure out tracks...so this one had me stumped for a moment...what's your guess? I'll post my guess once the commenting is done so stop back by or subscribe to comments to see if we are all in sync about what this was. 

Back at home I was hot and tired and rested on the screen porch and bam In flew this lady to make my #101 bird!  

The Female Rose Breasted Grosbeak!  

...the last week of April, we had a luncheon on the porch...I made a salad from my container grown  greens, and it was delicious served with fresh strawberries!  Mom and sis approved.

Life is not all about Birds ya know!

Here is one of my radius Eastern Towhee with the red eye..the yellow eye one that lives in the clear cut is very special...but lately I've had to venture out of the clear cut to find my latest arriving birds..

Even with this stick in the way that eye is just ....well eye catching! 

And  you can't go wrong with a posing Northern Mockingbird...

So I broke the 100 ceiling count...and now it's going to get even harder to rack up numbers...I will keep trying till it gets too hot! Once birds are in place raising young, not going to see many newbies come through.  

So ended up April with 96 and the entire county count was 146 so my % fell some; ended up with close to 66%.

Adding a Wild Turkey... the heard from the yard in April species was at 38!  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

February Wrap

I really don't understand why "they" can't just make February 30 days like the rest...I really needed the extra days to get more birds on my February list for the 5 Mile Radius.  Mainly because this is how most of the days of Feb were here in my radius! And this morning March 5th there was a tiny dust of snow on my van when I got up Weather Man Epic Fail!!

Believe it or not I was hoping to see birds in this mess...lol  Somedays it would be a complete rain out others it started later in the afternoon, we had at least one half day of sun...and I went out and birded one of the cemeteries, hoping to see blackbirds, or even a feral pigeon! Nope but I saw a Blue Jay who played hide n seek with me up in the new spring buds

I  can see youuuuuuuuuu...lol I also saw tons of Robins that day...and had this great look at a Tufted Titmouse in breeding plumage...

After the wood ducks mentioned in the previous post, I had added 12 to February I was hard put to find any new ones to add, mostly weather issues...Im hopeful for an influx once the Spring warm up happens.  I have been consistently seeing all the species tapped so far, but in lower numbers than previous years.  Since I knew the time was right after seeing the huge flock of Grackle I showed you in my video...I was looking hard for black birds, and this for my radius means HORSE OR COW POOP! Yes never give a black bird a kiss on the beak...lol SO I cruise the fields looking for birds, but non birders see this:

"911 what is your emergency?"
"I see this totally weird van with this strange woman creeping around...." YES  I look like a total creep-oid in my Conversion Van with shades on the windows, cruising slowly around, glaring at their livestock through high powered binoculars...and taking PICTURES!! Yes I expect to be taken into custody soon on some sort of trespassing/stalking warrant. 

It's hard to look nonchalant while engaging in this behavior...but I found my birds right there digging in the mixed bag of cow and horse poop in this field where both are turned out.  YES!! 

The Rusty Blackbird with what I'm calling a Red Wing-Blackbird, but could be a Rusty X Red Wing  just because of the rusty color outlining the tertials of the wings, it is visible sort of if you look close. 

so 68 & 69 together in one mixed flock 

Had this nice looking purple finch visit my feeders last week...actually he was accompanied by another male and 2 females.  

the Yellow-eyed Eastern Towhee

He lives down by the vernal pool highlighted in my last You Tube video and in my last blog post as well...

and finally I got some footage of that Common Yellow Throat! He was in constant movement, but here he is...with his little black mask..I think a name change could do this bird well..."the lone ranger"

...and another resident of the vernal pool...one of the many yellow rumped warblers...of the Myrtle subspecies. 

My 2 month wrap up = 69 species or 67.6% of county reported birds.  The other 30% are birds reported by a very aggressive birder who comes up with some amazing and unbelievable species..while the rest of the field including me, are consistent with our numbers and species...somehow he finds birds that not one other birder is finding...so there is that!

...and in other news

For one overnight I was an anxious mom of these 2 babies squirrels Annie found in the yard! They are smaller than the kosher pickles in my jar. 

I was soooo happy to find Pine Tree Hill Rescue and Margaret the director met me in the morning and I was relieved that she took them!  I put the box out in the area where they were found and they did squeak, and no mom came to claim them after a couple hrs, Margaret suspected the mom was injured or dead.  Annie may have attacked her I just don't know any details, all I know is Annie did not hurt these little babies and she showed me where they were, poor little guys were so cold when I found them it's amazing they survived.  I put that fleece in the dryer  to warm it then wrapped them up and they were frisky and moving later when I attempted to give them some liquid.   I really did not want to try to rehab them myself they have to be fed every 4 hrs. I was thrilled she took them off my hands! WHEW, close call!

Here is a tip: GO ahead NOW and research rescue groups in your area put their number in your phone or your Rolodex, if you still have one, so you will be prepared.  I see so many people on Facebook begging for help when they find an injured bird or mammal....so the old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, works best.

I was the head cage cleaner and flight attendant at a Bird of Prey Rehab facility for a couple years, so I know enough to give immediate care but without the proper food and knowledge you have to turn to those more capable and prepared in a time of need. 

Our Feb challenge was a photo contest, and our March challenge is to clean up as we go...literally.  Stay tuned. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Field Trip

I'm trying to stay connected to my 5 Mile Radius.  In order to become more familiar with the outlined area I divided it into quads to make it easier for me.  It' still hard to know when IM in or out of my Radius..lol I need one of those ankle bracelets to sound off when I drift out of bounds. 

OK without further rambling, my Field Trip. I call it a Field Trip cause it centers around some fields.  I have found 3 major sorghum fields and the birds found them too! Nothing rare or even unexpected but fun to find out where everyone is hanging out! 

If I had to describe my area it's very rural, and if the words tobacco road mean anything to you then you sort of have an idea, although there's no tobacco being grown here now...cotton yes. 

an HDR filter added to this gives the barn a pop. 

I wanted to make a movie of my week...and I actually started it but I got so distracted with the "stuff" of life I lost my focus...and I never finished it so I will try to highlight my week here with a mixed bag of media.

There's 3 big sorghum fields are in Quad 2, 3, and 4.  

This is Quad 3, I scared about 50 dove outta this field...

Flock of Mourning Dove and one sitting in a China Berry Tree

and then down another dirt road...

another old home place...

^Eastern Towhee & below female n male

The fields are surrounded by woods so the birds are in and out of the field and back to the trees to rest and take cover...

Eastern Phoebe 

and many Song Sparrow 

Mostly chipping sparrow by the 100's! But getting them on film is almost impossible, they rarely sit still...

here is one resting

ALL the Sparrows blend in so well it's difficult to see them in the field..here's a song sparrow to prove my point...

The field in the Quad 3 had Field Sparrow in the mix...

Im always happy to find them in the flocks...

And out on the road a Hermit Thrush hops around...

Some of the birds stand out a little bit more...

And not all were after the seed heads, some were after insects that were out there...

A really fine week of birding, I did visit my one hotspot weekly, and although there was no grey box in January to fill up (June & August need work) I made a nice green line on my own Jan bar graph and my 5MR Patch species count is up to 50 since Jan 1 and I hope to add more by the end of the month. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.