The (Good) Life...

I was aiming the remote at the TV trying to UNMUTE, most of the time I have the sound on mute but if something catches my eye I may want to hear it...pushed and pushed the button, "what's wrong with this thing" I'm asking myself...that's when I noticed I had the remote backwards DUH!! These duh moments seem to come more and more often, and it's unsettling...Life is short.  The good life, even shorter.  With that said...let's get out into reality, the great outdoors, the real good life!

At the lake, I was the only person there, the only car in the lot....the parking area is big enough for about 20 cars maybe more, and yet....when someone else arrived

 

SO close they park?...I like to have space by my side doors, and people crowd up to them...its a pet peeve of mine. I mean we are not worms following a scent trail left by the worm in front of us..are we?  

 

These are Contracted Datana Moth caterpillars and they were in the yard.  Once I looked this up and saw the moth OH YEAH I've seen those moths around.    

The lake is back to full again, I wish they had left the level down a bit cause the birds were closer in for my viewing purposes when it was low...

great egret

I've been going up early because I've been waking up early...like this Great Crested Flycatcher.  

And then sometimes the Early Birder bites off more than she can chew!  Especially when she's wading into the edges of the lake grass for a better view...

OH Awesome: a Pit Viper! Cotton Mouth aka Water Moccasin 

Me: "do not move"
Him: "do not move lady if you want to live,"
he moved first so I went the other way...whew that was close! I'd rather turn around and find a gator than this guy...he slithered off no video of that slither as I made hay the other way! 

Had an Osprey checking things out for a couple days...check those talons!

Woodstorks are around...

Then onto the fields...

Grasshopper time!  I go looking to find some sparrows...nothing new yet on that front. 

Monarch Time, and then....

WOW and on the way home just  4 blocks away BAM...got a photo opt with the Barred Owl, whose feather I found and who flew across my path a couple weeks ago...We introduced ourselves,   

Me: "HI there, I'm into birds"....
Him: "WHO, WHO Cares."  

Well dang! 

Had a Hairy (of the Eastern flavor) Woodpecker up in this pine tree..

I guess these will  be split up at some point, the Rocky Mtn, the Pacific etc...the Eastern has spots on the wings, and wider facial bands and of course the long beak.  This was the species tie breaker that put my hotspot into first place!! Meaning I put my Hotspot into top ranking in my county with my birding effort this year.

Stood under this Brown Thrasher  for an hour as I was hiding to check out the little pond at the Racetrack...

Watched this Northern Harrier swoop over the Killdeer and scare them he wasn't after them tho he actually tried to scoop a frog out of the water with his talons!  

We have had some really high humidity since Dorian came close by...

And then overnight as it cools down we get heavy FOG! Could barely see a thing...at my midweek lake check

Not exactly good birding weather...

this is the sun reflecting on the water but you can barely see the sun up in the sky...

Let there be Grasshoppers!   And then there is the Kestrel on the wire making sure there is not too many grasshoppers.  

I hope the yellow billed cuckoo has a place to land when he migrates to South America...

So I've found a little bits of the good life in my little corner of the globe...Hope you have some good life moments in yours!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.