Bumpy Week

This has been a weird week....Like a black cloud hanging around...
Annie had to go to the vet with an anal sac abscess.  It scared me since she had a tumor removed from that area in 2016.  She is on Meds for 20 days...and she is doing well so far. 

nothing better than a roll in the grass..

 Before that I took them swimming and Flossie got stuck in Quick Mud...and was really lame for a few days; more lame than usual.  I had to get myself stuck in order to get her out and  destroyed my favorite flip flops in the process,  ah dang!

Tuesday we had a really strong storm lots of wind took out our electric and one of my tall bird houses,  Blue Birds had a nest build going on, so I put it back up on Wednesday morning  and  they are trying to get it fixed up again...felt sorry for all the hard work they did.  I was able to save most of their nest work...but it was a little topsy-turvy

 they worked sooo hard all day. 


So not a good way to begin the week...but it got a little better..

went one day with the bike, and that was the best day of this week...

The red line is my track out and back...and this photo below was taken in the area at the tip of the lake

Riding and birding too...I find that  birds don't flush away as fast as when Im on foot or in my van...so that is cool.  

A buckeye butterfly 

A Solitary Sandpiper poked around in the mud by the lake edge...and later I found a second one...

The Dutch Iris at Martin's Lake

Tree Swallows seem to be interested in this Wood Duck Box..

The Spotted Sandpiper was there also 

Up in the trees an Eastern Phoebe waits for me to pass by..

And the Red Eyed Vireo tries to hide up in the shadows...

A Great Blue Heron stands tall at the back of the lake...

I rode along the road from the photo blind parking down the road and to the lake making stops at key spots along the way and that worked out really great. 

An Acadian Flycatcher posed for me quickly...

And the Yellow Rump's are so beautiful in their breeding plumage

Back at the homestead, the mother's day cactus is doing her thing...our friend Nettie, who passed last year, gave this plant to me years ago, So happy Mother's Day Mom and Nettie,

And I put the Knock Out Roses in the ground they are doing good so far

the Carolina Wren was in the front yard.

And these two Downy Woodpeckers had some sort of stand off going on...

And this was the lightest moment of the week, a male who pulled out all the stops to try and impress the love of his life...

House Finch's Love Dance

I think she handled it like a mature lady...lol. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Back to Lee State Park...

At Lee State Park, on May 15th....

I always enjoy going to this park, it's situated alongside the Lynches River but the river is down a fairly rough dirt tract and most of the time they have that tract closed...Up by the visitors center huge trees draw the attention of the migrants like this Northern Parula.  

A very inquisitive bird...This park has several artesian wells and they flow constantly...I see people bring jugs and fill them with the right out of the Earth water.  I have never tried it..but know it's cold

PLAY by clicking in the center

Near the boardwalk I found a Wood Thrush, sometimes you hear them and never see them this time I saw one for a change...

The Hermit Thrush has the rusty color on his tail the Wood Thrush has it on the head, neck and upper back.  The melodious song is such a treasure to listen to.  On the ground was this Broadhead Skink and this is the female, they are sometimes confused with a 5 line skink. 

Once I got on the forest drive,  I started to hear different birds the ones who like it damp..this is the

Acadian Flycatcher...they make a loud WHIT,  -WHIT WHEW sound...is how I describe it...

As mentioned the River Loop Trail (road) was open so I took it, it's about a 4 mile drive, it's open to horses, foot traffic, and when the gates are open vehicles.  It's still wet and muddy from recent rains but manageable...once closer to the river I encountered many Prothonotary Warblers, they like to be near water's edges.  I would park get out walk a while then return and move up the road and got a good feel for how the birds were staging.  The flycatchers were near the road so they could see and swoop out to get moths and flying insects...the warblers were a layer back gleening the leaves and stems of the trees...and farther back the deep forest birds like the Thrushes and the Towhees.  

Prothonotary warbler

the water was muddy and murky due to all the heavy rains  in May...

the trunk of this Holly Tree has so many pretty colors! 

natural camo 

The river bends here by the road and this is a good spot to pull over and enjoy a picnic 

I had to help this Snapping Turtle across the road, he got into a deep puddle that was right in the road so with some not so gentle encouragement I moved  him to the edge of the road, these guys are heavy and they bite!  This one didn't try to bite like the last time I tried to help one...I know it's not very nice but I picked him  up by the tail and lopped him off to the road edge on top of these branches then I used a fork shaped stick to push him into the deeper water...good thing too asa I got him over a truck came and he would have been squashed where he had been originally!  Here he is walking across the road, but then he settled into that puddle, 

Press center to play videos....

He was none the worse for wear but he did not appreciate my help

nostrils above water 

This water snake was seeking better cover also..

Press the center to play in this window...

I  watched a lady pull over and move a turtle off the road last week, and I've moved 2 since then myself...and one even came home with me, I will  explain in later posts...

The problem Im having with the new Blogger is it jumps all over the place...I move the photo or text where I want it, then it jumps by itself to where it wants to be so spacing is going to be difficult...I am assuming.  I am not using the new format yet, but I can tell by the way the old one is reacting it's gonna be tricky.  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.