Fall, Revisited

When I arrived home it was cool and blue sky, marvelous....then BAM...it changed,  had a couple weeks of sucky weather,  fall out from Nate. It gets really crazy during Hurricane season in the south...you never know when the weather will turn on you...I'm only just now getting a handle on all the dead wood and over grown shrubs and hedges around here.  I have been making busy with lots of  trimming of branches and other stuff...and even the gate is overgrown...

                                                      filling up the trailer with trimmings

Another chore: a large limb fell and smashed a section of my aging yard fence.  I headed to Lowes for supplies to fix it up...found out it was cheaper to buy this damaged section than to start from scratch so that's what I did...one broken picket made this 8 ft section half price...fine by me cause it will blend in better,  other sections have broken pickets...

                                                   once it's weathered it will blend right in

                                                             eastern bluebird

       I can tell from this shot the new door panels I put on the bird houses have been squirrel chewed!! WTH??

Here is another hunt n seek shot for you, the Northern Parula I mentioned,  they summer here so it's not rare to see one...but rare for me to catch a photo of one...do you see it?

                                                                  Northern Parula 

A DIY project I'm glad to have behind me:

The storm door that enters the screen porch had to have a doggie door.  There was an old doggie door missing the flap in the shed...my X removed the metal bottom panel of this storm door and got rid of it...so I put screen in the bottom and that worked for keeping bugs out but the dogs couldn't get out without me coming out to open it, I used to keep it slightly ajar, but then a bird got in and that was bad...so that didn't work out.  I made a new bottom section of scrap wood...and fashioned  a flap from a vinyl place mat! It works!  Another $80 saved, more like $180 in this case you can purchase a storm door sporting a doggie entrance but it is not cheap. I did it for $1 for the place mat at the Dollar Store.

                                                  dogs can get in and out and no birds and no mosquitoes 

Hard to get a crisp shot anymore with my ailing camera...even a still bird close as this Northern Cardinal is blurred! BUT for now I'm still using it! With all the car repairs I had this past year, I'm trying to wait as long as possible to replace this camera...and that means the one I want to get is getting older and cheaper :o)

                                Three deer sneaked into the pasture the other day I sneaky shot of one. 

                                                               white tailed deer

So after almost 2 weeks of HOT humid horrible weather, it improved, chilled down in fact I've had to use the heat!  I'm  outside again tending to chores and cutting up firewood.  

                                                                 I have a lot in common with beavers 

 I saw this Yellow Throated Warbler,  Got this  photo but at least I can add it to my yard list.  

                                                   Yellow Throated Warbler

                                                       

It was so backlit I ran it through an editing program just to see what it was...glad I did cause I thought it was a yellow rump which is pretty common here, but after the editing I could see the yellow throat, the wide bright white wing bars, and the black face line including the eye...so a new yard bird for me. Normally I see these when I walk around Goodale State Park in the spring. 

Picking birds outta the twigs is hard with any camera! 

                                        

                                                             White Throated Sparrow

See that dogwood tree trying to bloom? That's how warm it got; the buds that should wait till spring started to open...

I've enjoyed reconnecting with my yard birds....here's our Carolina Chickadee...looks like a Coal Tit to some of you I'm sure!

I get daily visits from our State Bird the Carolina Wren.

...here is one I don't have to go far to find, just check my feeder and he will be there the Tufted Titmouse with his ink black big eye...so much more colorful than the Juniper Titmouse I was seeing in Colorado...but not as cool looking as JO's Bridled Titmouse down in Arizona!

Another common bird (but not in large numbers in my yard) is the Eastern Phoebe...a couple have been hanging around fighting over the best mosquitoes...

e phoebe

The Eastern Phoebe

Today I was chasing Ruby Crowned Kinglets around the yard I counted 5 in the Holly bush out back...they can hover almost like a hummingbird and they are super small...

Then up on the dead limb the Red Bellied Woodpecker was knocking quite loud...pecking out bugs..this shots shows why it's called Red Bellied!  

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Good yard bird friends!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Green River and Lake Adger

A wrap up of the Blue Ridge Mountain Spring trip--

I had a morning hike after breakfast  Monday, I knew I had to be home in time to feed my dogs so didn't mess around much I had the van ready to roll by 11:30 check out is noon. Like the day before most of the birds were up high and I couldn't see them! Could hear plenty tho...one chickadee photo not much to show for all my phishing..

Black Capped chickadee

I took this weird pano of the van, I kinda like the way it looks, like it belongs in a cartoon strip or something...a guy asked what does the Dixxeland Express mean, after viewing my front plate, so I thought about it and then said "It means it's my way out of DixxeLand" he didnt like my answer, and replied Whaaaat? I explained its my escape mobile....he liked that better..

I planned to stop at a couple places on the way home in Polk County, the Green River Gamelands and the Adger Lake which is right next to the gameland.  The Green River flows through the game lands and the road follows the river to the lake...the upper part of the road is SOMETHING else tho!

This is Green River Cove Road in NC east of I-26.  Talk about a hair pin?? It was a series of hairpins for 3 miles!! I put my van in 1st gear so as to not wear out my new front brakes!!  I had to blow my horn on a couple of turns I could not see if anyone was on the way up and I did encounter 2 cars coming up.  

Hairpins

Finally when the road straightened out I found the river...

The clouds had come over and it chilled off....once again birds were scarce, so I kept driving...came across one Wild Turkey moving fast to clear the highway...

When I arrived at the lake there was a parking area and boat launch sign said Lake Adger Marina, but I saw no buildings of any kind, a few slips most empty some with pontoons.  

You can see how the day had turned grey and chilly and the wind was gusting again not as bad as earlier in the weekend but not comfortable either....I found this gazebo and had a spot of "tea"as they say under the willows.  Those concrete tables--one was off balance it threatened to fall over the other the benches were so short the table was up to my chin...very odd...

I scanned the far bank area of the lake and spotted a couple of Greater Yellowlegs, got one horrible fuzzy shot cause they were just too far away...then a Great  Blue Heron flew by 

On the way out near the reeds and cat tails I spotted a couple of Red Winged Blackbirds...

male 

female 

Some barn swallows were up on the power line preening, 

....I set my GPS, Wilma to Home and off we went...took only 3 hrs for her to announce "you have arrived to Home" 

Had a great trip, arrived to a wonderful greeting by my dogs who missed me as much as I did them!!

I am planning some day trips hope the weather will be more co-operative so I can spot more spring birds!

Time...Well Spent

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.