~A Sojourn~ Life on Planet Earth~
header photo-Riley Moore Falls, Oconee Co., SC
"Did you ever suffer an attack of a wandering foot caused by the lure of that mystic unknown? There's is no permanent cure, relief only had
while making the wilds your home."
This has been one of those weeks where nothing went according to plan that happens sometimes...
no....not again with the R'coon troubles!
These female Ruby Throated Hummers are not bothered by the shovel that slipped on the wall and ended up right at their feeder...they are so brave and fearless...the squirrels chewed all the perches and some of the flowers off my new feeder, it's in pretty rough shape!
Ive been in misery for a couple months with my hip and finally am getting some help from a chiropractor....it is really out of whack and hopefully with a couple treatments it will be as good as new, or good as OLD can be.
a couple of shots I took of the Pileated Woodpecker he was on the dead dogwood tree in the front yard...I don't want to cut the tree down cause it's always a great landing spot for birds and it's full of insect activity so that means protein for them too.
Summer haze
I thought this was an interesting look at a Yellow Throated Warbler...
Red Winged Blackbirds are so fun to listen to and watch, especially the way they flash those red shoulders!
Pitcher plants are fully grown and ready to go to work trapping the unwary insect...
This Blue Jay was so quiet and still
While this Grey Catbird jumped up and sang a song for me...
We have thunder, sure hope we get some rain. Our chances are 50%. Its been a very dry April and May! The south has to have rains or the lush green disappears...
Anhinga at Bramblewood
The Lazy weather has arrived where it's hitting the 90's school is out, and the fish are jumping and the skeeters are biting and the ticks are begging to catch a ride. Two weeks till summer.
I have a lot of clean winter up I need to be doing but I just keep going out and checking the trees for birds instead. Tomorrow I may try to get a start on it.
Saturday of last week I finally made it to Sandhills. I spent the majority of my time at Lake Bee Picnic Area where the lake has just been refilled a few months back and the little wetland the water flows through on it's way out of the lake is open to the public again.
OUT of all the habitat types I love wetlands the most! Because the diversity is unmatched!
The other end has a highway running thru it so that is a huge negative, but it still has great potential. I ran into several Swamp Sparrow...
You can just see the road that crosses this wetland...Once the trees green up the critters will have more cover and privacy. Fortunately after the water passes under the highway it goes into the Wildlife Refuge where it flows into another small pond.,,and then it goes on and flows into what they call Pool D,
Up by the picnic area are very tall Long Leaf Pine, and I found three of the rare Red Cockaded Woodpeckers, pecking away and getting bugs out from under the bark. The males do have a little red spot on the top of the head which is rarely seen...
Glad to know the numbers are increasing all over our state...Thanks to some proper forestry management. They nest in mature long leaf pine.
On the way out of the Park I stopped at Pool D another of my favorite spots, and glad I stopped there I found a River Otter.
He hissed at me....
Sunday it rained all day...so I did some window birding...A couple of the large Pileated Woodpeckers burrowed into the bark in the big pine in the frontyard...
Cousin to the Ivory Billed Woodpecker that is thought to be extinct now...there is some controversary about that. If you ever see one of these with BIG white Wing patches, and a white bill, you have seen a bird thought to be extinct.
And a Golden Crowned Kinglet was soaked by the rain...but still managed to throw up his golden crown..
Monday was blue and pretty again and a flock of Cedar Waxwing came into the yard...they are amazing to watch..
These are the first I've seen in a long time!
later I checked a couple of nearby Hotspots...Bluebirds are ready to get their families started...they make good use of the picnic tables At Goodale State Park, to perch on while looking for insects.
And the Yellow Rump Warbler (Myrtle variety) is a bird I will see many times this breeding season...they are such great insect hunters! Here he tries very hard to blend in with this fading piece of mistletoe..
After that stop I headed to Bramblewood with some take out! I don't normal partake but I was starved so I got some junk food...sat n my van out of the wind and gobbled it up then checked out what was going on...The Geese are staking out good spots...
Tuesday I stayed home....got busy picking up lots of sticks and such in the back which is a wooded area, sort of the dogs play area, I try to keep it picked up of all the big stuff...I don't mind the cones on the ground but sticks they can get tangled up in I try to keep picked up...So while I was in the yard I spotted the first Purple Finch of the year on the feeder.
She had me wondering for a while if she could be a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, which sometimes do stop by but I couldn't pin it down and went with the safe bet, the reason I questioned it at all was in one shot I got she had a yellow tinge to her throat. I cropped this so the yellow can be seen...she has a sunflower seed in her beak...so looks a little weird,
either way she is a stunning bird.
Wednesday I combined some chores with some birding...I had to empty my trailer of the sticks and such so I stopped at the recycle center to do that...
I decided to take up a challenge given by a Youtube channel I follow called Badgerland Birding. Its a March Madness challenge and they tossed out 3 species for us to find...each participant is entered to win a prize, we don't know nor do we care what the prize is, we just love the challenge...SO in my region the 3 birds I have to find are the Song Sparrow, an Eastern Meadowlark, and a Northern Shoveler.
I found my Song Sparrow right away...at Bramblewood ponds,..I have had better shots of a Song Sparrow but this is THE one I found for the challenge...
I had only just heard a Meadowlark on March 1st. The challenge is to see or hear each bird beginning March 1st at 12 am to March 31st Midnight...so technically I got the Meadowlark...but I really want to SEE it as well. I didn't hear about the challenge till that night of the 1st when I watched the video...so I just heard an Eastern Meadowlark singing and marked it down on an accidental birding list when I dropped off the first load of trailer limbs on Tuesday...morning. So according to the rules I did get it...BUT Im trying to see and photo one if possible and I have plenty o time to get it done.
While looking I found a bird I don't see too often An English House Sparrow..
Seems they are nest building up in this piece of electrical equipment
I hope this was a good choice for them...
Also found another European bird, the Starling. They are nest building up in the belly of this F- 4C Phantom Fighter Jet from the Vietnam era on display at our small air field..
Rocket bird!
On the day I was looking for the Meadowlarks, I didn't see one...I checked another spot where I normally find them but didn't see any there either-- saw a ton of Brown Headed Cowbird instead...
Such a lovely bird! So here it is Friday and I have more yard work to do it's supposed to be windy today so a good day to tackle more stick pick ups...and we'll see what the weekend holds for me, come my next post...HOPE all of you are happy n healthy and ready to enjoy the Month of March...madness and all..
I really hope you're all dealing with this new world order... I'm not fond of it to be certain! Yesterday when I pulled into my nearby State Park there was this hand scribbled sign on cardboard sitting in front of a locked gate it said CLOSED TILL APRIL 30th
REALLY? I don't like it one bit..
So far the National Wildlife Refuge nearby is still open or it was on Friday when I was there...they have been doing their prescribed burns as seen in this photo...Looks like it was about 3 weeks ago when they did it.
This refuge does not cater to the wading or waterfowl birds, they keep the water level too high...and I think all the burning causes run off that changes the PH of the water. That is MY theory. The do cater to the Red Cockaded Woodpecker tho...and they have been very successful in bringing back their habitat and increasing their numbers. I saw 4 on this day in three different locations of the refuge.
The burning plays a large roll in this habitat restoration.
These woodpeckers live in family groups much like Bluebirds look for the broad white cheek patch when trying to ID them and they sound a lot like White Breasted Nuthatch with a chattery sound. The video came out better than the still since he would never be still so check out the video.
Martin's Lake
The yellow Jasmine has bloomed, it is our State Flower.
This Pileated Woodpecker was at the edge of the yard this morning, My tulips made it, and I cut my grass for the first time this week in 2020...
I took my coffee out on the screen porch this morning to sit with the dogs after they ate so Casey could go about his morning routine while I watched him from my seat, he has been having some very big challenges lately....and I thought I saw something really fast go zooming by. So later I hung my hummingbird feeder! NOW I've seen a male Ruby Throated feeding at it all afternoon.
welcome home little friend, Im sure this bird was born right here in my yard
The lettuce is almost big enough to eat. Im trying to keep the squirrels away from it, I moved the spinach under my new safety box... but this pot is way too heavy to lift.
And the spring onions are getting ready to join that salad! I have them under a wire cage to try and keep critters out! I built this box outta some of Mom's Ramp wood. That's why it's a little odd blueprint wise as it is re-purposed.
Since all the State managed parks are currently closed I have to depend on my roadside nature spots...I checked on the beaver pond, and he has added a bit of fresh stuff...to the dam, kinda sloppy looking but hey it's also re-purposed!
A Belted Kingfisher was hunting close to the dam,
I checked on the Eagle chick he is still hanging out at the nest and there was one adult in the area possibly a parent come to check on him...he leaves the nest and does his own thing I missed his flight as I was busy phishing some Black and White Warblers and Ruby Crowned Kinglets out of the trees. They stayed back in the shadows but this Tufted Titmouse came out.
Found more Savannah Sparrow roadside.
And some Eastern Towhee showed an interest in me. A female and a male.
We had a rain day but the morning was okay so I went out early...to see if the Riverside County Park was open, it was!! The Twenty Five Mile Creek was in flood stage again not as much as before but moving swift and muddy. I'm checking for the Northern Waterthrush to return. I had some good interaction with a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. He seems to have a weird toe.
And this really "angry bird" looking Blue Grey Gnatcatcher was really mad at me for being too close to his patch!
I had to do chores...had some big pine limbs to cut up and take to the dump, then I washed my van it was so dirty! While out there working I spotted this Brown Thrasher up high singing his heart out!
A home video for your viewing pleasure.
I watch free movies on Tubi. They stream fast there may be an ad or two but free is free! The other night I saw a John Travolta flick I have never seen, it was a good thriller...Domestic Disturbance. Also watched one with Demi Moore that was set in a beautiful seaside cottage...also a thriller/drama, called Half Light it had a twist for sure. Both were entertaining. Hope you got things to keep you busy while we are under these orders to stay clear of each other. Now if they say we have to stay indoors.... HOUSTON we got a problem!!
Now for some serious talk: I'm down to 2 rolls of TP and one half of a roll in the van for those emergencies when one is miles from a bathroom. So My backup plan is I have a few boxes of Kleenex and that should go about a month, after that must get creative!! I've read on various blogs and seen on You Tubes all sorts of advice. My Granny had the Sears n Roebuck catalog in her outhouse...but Sears did away with that and put it online! There is this Harbor Freight catalog but it has a glossy finish--- ut-oh! What y'all gonna do? Those same people who bought up all the TP and are hording it, also bought rifles and shotguns to keep it. I was clueless about the whole buy out that was happening as I am the last one to know anything! Trump should of tossed us some TP.
