Showing posts with label EBBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EBBI. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Field Trips!

..literally in Fields! 


I've been out and about alone socially distanced as normal for me to places a couple or less hours away and continuing to get more hiking in while our weather is still nice and cool. That intro means this post is gonna be just stuff I saw here and there!  More mixed media, hodge-podge and hopefully move me closer to real time!


 April 14th, I visited Carolina Sandhills and I saw this Wild Turkey standing by the lake and before he realized I was there he moseyed around enjoying his time feeding...it almost looks like a starry night...

On that same day I checked out this Eastern Bluebird house number 30 while looking for some grassland/verge birds and here is how that went...

Prairie Warbler
press play...


One of the fields I checked was so pretty on that day...the light and the rolling hills it was breath taking...and then a few days later in the County Riverside Park reopened so I visited there...the fields were alive with yellow...



There is a river here and a bridge...under that bridge Cliff Swallows have a breeding colony...There is a lot of traffic noise as cars pass overhead so I lowered the volume on this video... of a couple residents! 

cliff swallow

Near the edge of the field in the trees, I found a very difficult American Restart, he refused to come down to my level....so very hard to get a good look at this magnificent migrant.  



He is black, orange, yellow and white!  I wish I could have seen more than his belly!  


Then I took a hike to Lake 12 at the Refuge on April 28th.  





This is a Summer Tanager another beautiful migrant, the female is calling in the background...I think this is  her young he looks like a juvenile. 

summer tanager
Play

Near the end of April,  I took a hike in a field of wildflowers...it was so amazing, except my socks got filled with all sorts of prickly stuff...took me an  hour to pick it all out...


                                                       Variegated Fritillary

Coreopsis


Eastern Kingbird hunting for moths and butterflies, ut-oh



Field Wildflowers up close


Female Commom Yellowthroat hunting insects, while I hunt for birds to enjoy...

Oxpen Lakes Area found out there is a game camera mounted for a direct view of where I stood and readjusted my clothing...OMG! Don't ever take for granted you are not being watched...I thought about confiscating the camera but really it was pretty far away but my point is there is no escape the prying eyes of mankind.


Thistle seedhead...

A Common Nighthawk took to the sky in broad daylight!

The telling white bars on the oversized wings 

Around the first of May,  a wetland I check on a weekly basis in my 5 mile radius, gave me a beautiful Prothonotary Warbler, he flew right at me, I may have inadvertently been close to a nest..


Beaverdam Creek Wetland (I named this wetland it has no official name) is the place I filmed the Pileated Family. 


I found one leucistic Indigo Bunting had me fooled for a minute but his back still had most of the normal color I see...


May 1st, I went to bird one more of my unbirded counties...so glad I chose the place I did....and You'll have to wait till next time to learn about my visit to Lynches River County Park, in Florence County. I drove the rural roads to get there which I enjoy doing when I am able to make it work...


...and I see many scenes like this I call these the Tobacco Roads....It's reminiscent to find old homesteads like this still in use...much like my Grandma's farm back in TN.  Of course its not like it was, it was modernized and in my opinion that destroyed it.  Many homesteads like this still stand in rural counties complete with contents I WOULD love to do a walk thru and just go back in time s simpler way of life where at the end of the day you felt like you had done your best to survive and you had that feeling of life is good.  


So that's up next!  We had a couple rain days so Im posting a mid week extra post in an attempt to catch up soon the weather will become sticky and I probably won't be out and about as much but we'll see!

PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.


Sunday, July 28, 2019

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.