Fall colorful...

I've been immersed in Projects all of October! I'm so happy I took that day trip to go and find the Hudsonian Godwit a couple weeks ago..and I'd like to go back there as ducks arrive! I have made some Vlogs on my Youtube Channel (link on the right sidebar)  of my projects, both of the recent ones were pretty big projects...and I'm happy to have that hard work behind me.  I hope soon to be able to get back to making some of the Nature Vlogs I enjoy doing.  

Well it seems October NEARLY skunked me in the 5 mile radius.  I had  hopes when a person who had not birded this hotspot all year long reported a bird that I had not seen there this year.  He provided no photo of his early rare sighting (Louisiana Waterthrush) so I dunno it was not confirmed I did not refind that bird, if it was ever really there! Danggit.

BUT just today, the 30th, I was sitting in a chair at Mom's I saw movement on a tree via the window, a bird 'creeping' up the side...jumped up grabbed my sis's bins, and yes it was a Brown Creeper! A new yard bird for us and one for the Radius! #(124) I really didn't want to have a Zero month! No Photo as I was sitting with mom, and I don't normally take my camera on those days.  If you have never seen a Brown Creeper...then check this link to a photo

 ... the fall color is nice around the lake...

 sweet day

Cyprus trees loose their needles each winter but first they turn this awesome rusty orange color

focus focus focus

some early morning fog hangs around

Pied Billed Grebe swims in a puddle of color...

The side challenge for the month of October in our 5Mile Radius was "how many sparrows can you find" so I ended up with 3.  The Song Sparrow, the Chipping Sparrow, and the Eastern Towhee.  

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On Halloween Night we had a terrific thunderstorm pushed in by a cold front.  It drove the nastiest gulf air possible into our area for 2 days prior to hitting us...humidity was 99% if you even had a thought in your mind you would sweat so the AC was back on high! That morning on my way to do my last day of birding for October, a black cat with 2 white feet ran across my path! OH MY--you know I'm superstitious...what a day to have that happen.  Later the storm hit with a fury unlike any October storm I recall.  The wind swirled, trees swayed, rain pelted, the sky lit up with forks of lightening tossed hither and tither...then the power went out!  No spooky movies for us on this night so.....

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Way Up There...

The heat index that is, which has hovered around the 106 mark this entire week and why would the weekend be any different? There should be a mark on the thermometer that says "YOU don't want to know" and that is about where we've been!  My eyes are swimming in puddles that collect in my glasses, makes binocular using hard at best.  Sis and I made a trip over to Cheraw State Park, got a stamp on my book and this was her first visit..

 stamp goes in the square on the bottom edge...I'M so much enjoying this stamp collecting.  

There is kayak rentals here but $10 a hr didn't sit well with a couple of bargain hunters so we will do that at a cheaper rate some place else! 

The boardwalk is nice we did some birding, and enjoyed the lake views on our hike.   Mostly by ear birding as the birds are hiding back in the cool shade rather than the verge where the sun is making it hotter.  

We didn't have any new birds to add on this trip, we did scrape up 14 birds to list for our walk...including some Mississippi Kites. 

Somebody didn't clear up their lunch trash!!  

Last Sunday I wanted to hit my 5 mile radius hotspot Goodale State Park. Its only a couple miles from home.  I got a stamp for my new passport book...this is fun! I love collecting "free things" and this fits right in with my stamp collection of the National Parks Passport books, and the penny turning too...no penny turners yet but I must keep my eye out some of the gift shops may  have one. 

Again the heat was on...my photos turned out pretty awful everything was way far out there...

the sun beats down...and puts a white glare on everything, i have to make friends with summer, hello summer I love you but can you leave earlier than expected this year? :o)

I soaked my bandanna in cold water at the picnic shelter then put that under my cap on top of my head this helps me stay cool.

...way back across the pond, I had one Mallard, one Gr Blue Heron, 3 Anhinga, one Great Egret...

...back even farther away was the prize for going out on this scorching hot day the Little Blue Heron..New for the 5 Mile Radius! I think I had my count off and I'm not sure where I went wrong on relating my count this makes bird #113 according to ebird.  A blurry for the record shot...I even thought it could be reddish but it was too small for reddish egret. 

Had a Black n White Warbler looking down on me from the leafy canopy..

A juvenile Eastern Bluebird was out learning the ropes on how to catch insects for a living..

The views are closing up as the vegetation reaches out to close the gap...

And lastly a mother Blue Grosbeak was giving me the evil eye..

Time to head home and hit the showers!

there goes my Little Blue!

And Friday we made another trip because our weather is so awesome this week what a difference a week makes.  We drove about 1/2 an hr up to the Carolina Sandhills Natl, Wildlife Refuge.   For a quick picnic and wildlife drive-by birding.  Mom joined us.  By the headquarters building they have Butterfly Milkweed in the flower beds, I want some of this...

This place has lots of ponds and all are beautiful...

painted lady butterfly & friend

The button bush was attracting all kinds of butterflies and other pollinators. 

Eastern tiger swallowtail 

Not to mention the Passionflower.

We had lots of Eastern Kingbirds....

And found at least one immature Pine Warbler, 

And then it was time for the weekend to start!!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Horizons...

Second week of May already seems like this year is on a steamer headed for 2020! Yeah lets not forget that magical number headed our way.  Dates such as that boggle my mind since I'm always reading headstones with birthdates like 1797 or 1840 shows us how very short our life span really is. Hopefully we will all make it well into the the 2020's.  My mom was born in 1924! She is so very close to that century mark. 

Mom with a rhodie she planted many years ago...Happy Mother's Day!

Most of my time these days is spent in a couple of areas of life, family, doing yard work, chores etc, and birding between my trips to town for supplies! My walks in nature are always special to me...so lets jump right in!

I spy with my little eye something that looks so amazing!!

Polyphumes Moth the "Clyclopes Moth" a Giant Silk Moth! 

The vernal Pool hangs on...

A shed Snake Skin, at least 4 ft in length the entire skin was there! 

in the same area where the young Eagles have fledged and only one was around the day we visited...it made me sad he looked so lonely..

Like he was saying "where has my family gone..." sigh must be hard being a bird sometimes...

Down under a nearby bridge chaos of another family was going on as the barn swallows put on a flight show for me....

This is a cellphone shot of the nest of a chipping sparrow...it's in a bush right by mom's front porch we can lean over and see down into it...see the brown dots on the eggs?

and another cellphone shot of the eggs in the bluebird nest gourd...I know you may not be able to see since this is phone has small pixel, but the eggs look as if they have been speckled with tiny brown specks...

What a miraculous job they did building this nest so much work and thought and planning went into it! 

We have many birds nesting here but these are the only ones I've found the nest of...watched the Carolina Wrens as they guided they first brood of fledglings out into the world..

Ive been birding in my 5 mile radius this is one of my favorite wetlands...the roadside one where there is no place to stand have to jump the rail each time a car flies by ....but it's so pretty there!

I called it the Mt Zion wetland...after the road I saw some neat birds there like the Great Crested Flycatcher Male...

This shot captures the beautiful feather detail of this beautiful bird! 

the Yellow Breasted Chats continue to provide me with such a show!! Look at his throat as he makes some of his weird sounds...

Could watch for hours! 

MY latest finds I didn't get good photos of...in case  you are wondering why Im not just jumping into that I did get a shot of the elusive Gray Catbird this week...saw him last week...

And had a loggerheaded shrike out in the open as they normally are, the butcher bird as they are sometimes called due to they like to impale their prey on sharp objects..

Most of the fields around are in amazing color right now with the Ragwort in bloom...

SO my new sightings for the radius this week as I said I got very few photos of them..mainly because of heavy cover, and the birds are so busy finding mates, nest building, it's just a busy time of year for them..

the Mississippi Kite (#102)

had a pair one landed pretty far away...

A Black Throated Blue Warbler, (103)

I know terrible! But you take what you can get he was in and out so fast maybe on my next visit...

same thing  with the American Redstart..(104)

Anyway for the record shot... and then a couple I didn't even get a shot of the Swainson's Warbler (105)...and the Yellow Throated Vireo,(106) along with the heard only Eastern Wood Peewee. (107)  I did get him on tape with a red eyed vireo over singing him..lol 

I found an area where many of the red headed woodies are nesting...

So my count stands at 107 in my 5 mile!!  I made this my big day...it was Monday, and in my radius I  had 61 species for the day!

My Big Day List Here

my little buddy following me around..

Enjoy your week!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.