Showing posts with label Eagle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eagle. Show all posts

Friday, December 10, 2021

Observations of the week...

At this point Im just trying to get to the new year 


Hovering over a photo with your cursor will give you the caption....this is something new Im trying to remember to do...so try it out and see if you like it.



The landscape is mostly brown now..
We had some cold damp rainy weather and so I didn't get out much with my camera...I tried to find some seasonal color to share...


Taking my walk by one of the ponds sadly I had seen a dead fish floating...and then I saw this immature Bald Eagle cruising by and he circled and spied the fish...


I could not see the pond surface at this time cause some vegetation blocked my view but I enjoyed watching him as he... 


 maneuvered around the cell tower...and into position to go for it...



he was moving swiftly all this time, he disappeared and when he reappeared, rising up, he had the fish in his talons, too bad I missed the grab action, it all happened really fast..


Can you see the fish? I don't know what kind it was...


Its good to see any type flower this time of year.


Lots of texture in this 




I enjoyed these leaves from gold, orange, maroon, to bronze!

Around home my Christmas cacti have only a couple flowers on them I have kept them small because they can be very fragile...




The girls and I are enjoying a nightly fire to stay warm when we relax at night.  



NOW its on to the 3rd week of December...This weekend is the Free Christmas Concert, covid is on the rise I may or may not go...will decide last minute....I've been doing a lot of reminiscing of  Christmas's past...I purchased Home Alone 1 & 2 hope to watch on Christmas Eve...time to embrace new traditions. I think I am channeling my Mom this year as she never was a fan of the whole affair. BUT she did love to bake Magik Cookies! 





PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.

Friday, April 30, 2021

May Day!

I'm happy  to get this week out of the way.  The SHOT I will let  you know later in this post how it went.  

my Earth Day pick up was an entire bag of cans dumped on the road in one spot!  ALL picked up and recycled now! I pick up trash every single time I go out in nature not just Earth Day.  Im tired of  some lazy ass who thinks Nature is a place to trash?? GROW UP!

I had a quiet weekend at home I worked on my bike rack put new straps on it, because a squirrel did a job on it when I had it stored in the old shed....for a cost of $7 I bought strapping replaced it, and it works fine, but I have anxiety with it even tho... I don't want to worry that the strap comes loose and it falls off so after my shot tomorrow I will  see if they have one at Harbor Freight, the website says they do but I will see.  


The Pink Moon from my deck

I did replace the bike front Gear shifter did not make a video because I just didn't want to mess with the camera and I didn't feel like speaking.  Some days I do not speak to another human in fact most days I do not speak to another human, I do talk to the dogs, the birds, the squirrels. 


And even dragonflies, and Im perfectly fine with that...

It took a lot of fine tuning to get the bike to change gears properly...tweaking the high and low screws and making sure the cable was the right length.  What a dinosaur piece of engineering...lol BUT it works.  So I took it out today.  Put it on the rack and hauled it out to Sandhills.  

Perfect day the sun was warm but the humidity is low.  



I had planned to ride thru 2 areas, so I parked and off loaded my bike.  I am having problems with putting my binoculars and camera around my chest like in a sling manner.  They press on my neck I think of poor George Floyd as the pain becomes unbearable...I think I want to find a Velcro attached  tote of some kind, so I can whip it on and off of the front handlebars.  I want something soft but with a foundation I may end up making one myself.,,so a bump can't send my stuff flying,  I want to be able to whip it out fast. 

While getting things ready I heard this....My ears perked up!


And I was so very excited, the Bachman's Sparrow! Not just one but many calling to each other.   I found one close enough to get a photo.  


Bachman's Sparrow

It was nice to hear so many and to know they are flourishing, I hope they have a successful nest season. 
And then off down the trail...Almost immediately there is a tree across the path..



  had to bush whack around that and then eventually I arrived at the back of Pool D. 



SO many birds were singing  A Great Blue Heron took off, along with a Wood Duck, Orchard Orioles were already protecting territory and Eastern Kingbird was really belting out a song!!


"OH I just love Spring Breeding," I think that is what he is singing.   

I parked the bike and went tromping around I scared an Eastern Towhee off her nest...they nest on the ground or in/under a short shrub, I had no clue I was so close to a nest...but once she flushed I moved away. 



 Common Yellow Throat scolded me and stayed mostly hidden...there was a pair. 



Back at the van I moved to a shady spot for lunch this is one of my favorite spots to sit and listen to the pond,,,


I enjoyed listening to Great Crested Flycatcher whistling up high in the pines, and the Frogs calling,.,





A blue Grosbeak showed up to take a quick dip in the pond,.,


I moved the van to the photo blind parking area and rode the bike down to the blind,,,






I didn't expect to see much but I was wrong, the Dutch Iris was in bloom...




I stirred up a couple of Grey Catbirds, they seemed to be defending a nest site as well



And an Osprey sailed in to see what he could find from his perch,  


On the way back I had wanted to pedal the road by the lake but there is no way to get from the Blind to the road with the bike, it's been plowed and where it's not plowed it's briars.   By then it was hot so I made my way back to the van and packed it up for the day.  

The  butterflies love the Spring Thistle



I am enjoying incorporating the exercise of the bike into my nature and bird  outings.  

So I had the shot, it was crowded but they had their process down pat so once my name was called I had the shot then 15 min wait n see they made an appointment for my second dose that will be 3rd week of May. I have my white card with one check mark, and after that I stopped and got the bike rack will have to show it to you when I get it assembled. 


Since I was on that side of the river I went up to the Lake and Dam...



an Imm Bald Eagle soared over the river 



Singing up in the leafy tops was the White Eyed Vireo..



The Cliff Swallows found a couple of mud puddles to help shore up their Adobe Condo's lined up under the edge of the generating station...




Some birds had more luck on solid ground...like the Brown Thrasher...


AND with all the skeeters and gnats we need every Blue Grey Gnatcatcher we can get


A splash of Red is always welcome...
Northern Cardinal...


Wilma sent me on this short cut from the river to the lake, turned out to be a good short cut 



I heard Bob Whites singing, as well as Field Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager and the Prairie Warbler..



and a good thing for me got my FOY Indigo Bunting and the Yellow Breasted Chat...






And he was singing his heart out...I just listened to Joe Biden's address to Congress...a real President laid out a wonderful plan for our future; I only hope the GOP will realize we are  in ALL OF THIS TOGETHER not just the pandemic, but all of it, what holds one down holds us ALL DOWN. The economy will only flourish when we feed it, by giving a decent wage to those who don't get it...that means more spending and more spending means more bottom line GDP.

WiN WiN 

 IF that is not the truth then why did the Republicans  support the TRUMP stimulus? ?????? And tax break to the rich?? ANY break for individuals mean more spending in shops, eateries, and saving for a rainy day so how can giving people more money to spend put a business out of business?? ITS trickle UP people,,,we all know that is how it works, You give me more I spend more then I need more services keeping my new Home up etc...

AND the DEMS supported it also because spending is how our economy works.  THE GOP is the obstruction party they are in a word USELESS to the f this country. Their platform is to keep people down why do you think they don't support the child care portion of the bill?? They think Women should stay home with their kids not go off to work and be independent WHY else would they NOT want to help people with decent child care???? What is the problem with that?? And it's an attempt to keep minorities from having a family and realizing the American Dream. 

Until voters (US) are able to squash this rise of the bigotry and the double talk of the Right, we will get no satisfaction as a Nation. The Right Wing of this nation is the Taliban of the USA!

Hope your week was as interesting as mine was. 



PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.

Friday, April 9, 2021

Nesting time



Another mixed bag post, variety is the spice of life so they say!  I was finally able to get my bike tires back on...After checking the price I went the cheap route and bought the tire and tubes and oiled up the rest I even greased the bearings in the wheel axles.  So it runs good now I just need to be in better condition to pedal it...


A little confusing but I finally got it done. 


The tires are back on the bike now...they say you never forget how to ride a bike, I haven't been riding it for many years!! My Bike is 21 yrs old. 

The last thing I want is to fall so I will be taking it easy...I've been going here and there  I notice birds are full stream ahead with nesting.   I stopped at the County Environmental Park and caught this Carolina Wren with nesting material...his/her partner was nearby also  bringing in the sheathes...



And this may be the last White Throated Sparrow I see this year...caught this guy at a cemetery that I enjoy birding at because right behind this cemetery is a lake and a wetland...




Immature Red Tail 

I checked the Eagle Nest in Wisacky, the immature one is hanging by the nest as I figured it would, all alone now..





The Wisteria is in Bloom...Newsome Mill Pond

And I spotted a House Sparrow, something I don't see every day...At McBee Farms Roadside Store



I made a roadside stop at the Rookery in Society Hill  I showed you last year...this year they have put up signs keep out, and a motion activated game camera so I stayed on the OK side of the locked barrier, and tried to see the nesting behavior from the side of the road.  Looks busy.




They are already sitting on the nests..

I was not able to get a good look but I could see at least 50 nesting sites,  and there was a lot of Anhinga on nests too...

and ducks at Lake Wallace, in Bennettsville, are wasting no time at all...



SOOOO cute...




These Ruddy duck look like they may be planning to nest here I would love to see some baby Ruddy Ducks..but so far only adults..





And how about some American Coots out of the water Grazing..

OH how sweet...







Kestrels Hunting in Dove Field A at Sandhills, 



And the FOY Eastern Kingbird...At Goodale Park...





I was all around the area this week,....the weather is gorgeous getting warm fast..

PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.