More Migrants arrive

 Learning Bird calls and songs is a very important part of growing your craft of birding. 

Like this bird here...if not for hearing the song I would not have looked hard for it and found it...the Swainson's Warbler. 

play 3 seconds song

I've never gotten a decent shot of one, but this shot I like! I did make a video of the bird singing but there was a lot of background noise so I made a recording of the call only and combined with my photo. 

 

A Green Anole changes his color to brown ...

A White Eyed Vireo is a very vocal bird...and this is one of  his calls

Just a 3 second clip of the bird and call..

he found a grub or spider to eat...

And GOSLINGS! Not many but we will take it. 

Summer Tanagers are in my yard looking for a nest mate...

They are a delightful shade of Orangey Red...

And this first year male Orchard Oriole is multicolored with gold, yellows, blacks and greys...

Other First of the Season birds of this week are the Yellow Breasted Chat...another bird with a loud and boisterous call..

I also saw Indigo Bunting this week I hope to get some good photos of him next time out  I wasn't successful in capturing any good looks this week...They were all around the edges of this wide open field...a new birding spot for me.  It's nearby, it's a dirt road with no homes on it....all rural forest and fields. 

Lots of Savannah Sparrow, and this is one of our May Challenge birds, along with Indigo Bunting, and Eastern Towhee.  

And I will leave you with a look at the vernal pool that I monitor...it's quite large now...

recently I've seen Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, 

Red Winged Blackbird, Killdeer, Red Tailed Hawk, and so far I've seen 50 species here since I starting keep records of my sightings at this pool  of water that is controlled by the amount of rain we have!!

This is in the river tho...hope you have a rock to rest on when you need one,,,

And this is my Mother's Day cactus, given to me by our family friend Nettie who passed away in 2020..
Remembering her and my Mom this mother's day. 

Thats all for this week... 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

X'D off Another Week.

I think the weather is about to normalize, it's been whacky tho...Heat in the morning open the doors mid day then run the fan in the late afternoon, windows shut and heavy blanket at night!

Been mostly local this week...spotted this unbothered Gr Blue Heron catching a Sunfish..

He swallowed it whole...



In  one gulp

Then he climbed up out of the water onto the shore...he stood 5 feet tall if he was in inch!! That railing is waist high on me, 

I crept down along the creek's edge to spy on this Louisiana Waterthrush  singing  in a tree...I love to catch a video of a bird singing,  so here he is...

Normally I only see them on the ground so this was a rare treat. 

I have at least 50 bird song videos...so catch a listen sometime when you got nothing to do!

The Eastern Bluebirds are getting SO BLUE it's stings my eyes to look  at them! Just Gorgeous!

They are not camera shy this is why I have a shot of one every week pretty much...

And on this day I got a shot of the elusive Female Common Yellowthroat...I showed you a male last week with his black mask...

Caught some interaction between a pair of adult Bald Eagles, they landed across the river, and I made a video of them interacting and calling to each other...I will share that video next week...its taking too long to upload for todays post.  

Wednesday I was able to get out to Sandhills, and had several First of  Year birds...like the Prairie Warbler, 

The Eastern Kingbird, and I found one on a nest as well...

The Orchard Oriole...

AND the Bachman's Sparrow..

Still considered rare, but I am finding them every year in about the same area of the refuge. There was two of them one singing by the road this one, and then another answering off in the not too far distance. 

-----

Meanwhile back at the homestead...the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds have arrived, I didn't catch him in the right light to get  his ruby throat to display but I will keep trying...

And my Doe Friend Tulip, paid a visit she is going into her 2nd summer. 

She has a malformed or healed injury to oft hindleg, but she has managed just fine, a little limp always but she can run jump and do anything the other deer can do.  And she is sooo lovely. She will probably have her first fawn next May...Because she does not appear to be with Fawn, but she could be.  Females chase away their male offspring after the spots are faded, but female fawns sometimes stay in a family group up to two years....Tulip was with 2 others on this day one was a young yearling female and an older doe, maybe that was her mother and sister. 

See ya next week! 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Unravel my week...

Last Wednesday

was a low humidity day for me, so I took the bike and rode a trail in Sandhills refuge...to see what I could find.  The trail I picked is one I've shown you before it ends up at the back side of Pool D...it's only half mile round trip but it's thru a mature pine forest and it's not all flat it has an up/down hill section also.  The Trial in red, 

and I heard way more than I saw...The trees and bushes are so overgrown it's hard to find birds if they are trying to hide which most do,

BUT not all, these young Barn Swallows were in harsh light but at least right out in the open..

They were practicing bug catching from this perch...

Its a swampy area once you get back there as you can see the Ham creek spreads out and keeps this whole little boggy area moist.

One Prothonotary Warbler swooped past me calling very loudly but then disappeared in the thick stuff, all that racket brought out a couple of Common Yellowthroats, and I got a not so good shot of one of the male...

And a Red Winged Blackbird was hunting from just above the water's surface...

I don't know anything much about Dragonfly except I enjoy seeing them...I tried to get the correct name of this one but could not pin it down conclusively, so Im going with Pond Hawk. 

The wings were all clear. 

I pedaled back to the van,

and moved over to the Lake Bee Recreation Area they are refilling that pond I will be happy when they open it back up cause there is a wetland I enjoy checking on the opposite side of the earthen dam. 

Bee Lake refilling 

I had a cool drink and a snack here and then

Drove up to the Oxpen Lakes area. 

 Parked and headed out on foot for a walk in the fields looking at plants and insects.  And checked the Yellow Pitchers, they are doing well...

AND a lot of Hat Pin is flourishing by the waters edge...with the world's smallest insect sitting on one

Could be a dragonfly nymph?  A Buckeye butterfly along with a Variegated Fritillary 

Along with some other insect on the ground there,..Busy doing what butterflies do....

There was even more Common Yellowthroat around 

Along with Eastern Kingbird

Orchard Oriole 

This Common Crackle found a worm...

And an Immature Red Winged Blackbird was learning the ropes down in the lily pads...

I visited the one and only public restroom on the refuge and in the parking area an Eastern Wood Pewee was flycatching...

Found something new!

And on the wall of the building I found this really weird creature...it may not look it but he was big, at least 4 inches long! And  creepy antennae, his wings seemed  almost be armored...

He definitely had the steampunk look going on..

When I looked this up I found out it's called a Dobsonfly and those long things at the front is a mandible! Like Jaws of life!  Its actually an aquatic insect...and it only lives a couple weeks and during that time it doesn't really eat anything.  There is one species of this insect in China that gets a big as a human hand! 

Later on in the week...

 I took a walk around Goodale park, one of the mornings when it was clear but hot...

And there was one Wood Stork flying around in lazy circles, I don't know if he landed a man came up and started talking to me and I lost track of the stork...

He was photographing the pitcher plants there and then I showed him where I just spotted some

Sundews...another carnivorous Plant that I have found there....this is the first time I've seen them in that area that has tried to be a BOG, the staff keep fighting this, I don't know why they don't let it evolve into what it wants to BE! So here are the tiny little Sundews

These particular ones are only an inch tall and barely 2 inches wide....

And a young Tufted Titmouse was keeping track of his parent while he learns the ropes of life...

So that pretty much unravels my week..

My van has an issue...SO until I can that diagnosed and repaired I won't be going far from home. I don't mind walking but in 89% humidity its really TOUGH...I worked on my property a little this morning.   A wild grape vine had grown it's self thru the wire of my pasture field fencing, and  was creating an issue...so I took the chainsaw, yep that's how thick it was, to cut it off the fence and get the fence attached to the post again, I need some more metal post to replace a few of the old cedar posts that are getting  rotten they have been in the ground 45 yrs.  I am keeping the fence in repair so my dogs can play in there and I don't want to worry that other stray dogs may be in there, the deer jump in but fox or coyote I really don't want in there.  Anyways I was soaked as if I had been out in the rain from the humidity when I finished up.   Now inside in the ac recovering.  

And can we all say "WTH" is up with this picture?  Are the veggie sausage people not paying attention?

Hope your week unravels in a good way. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.