Yesterday and today...

I used to love to sing...I was never particularly good at it, but it sure did make me feel good to try.  So tonight I sang acapella, Memory, from the Broadway musical, CATS,  to my dogs...Im happy they didn't begin to howl...lol  I Love Barbara Streisand's version ...I just don't hear her music much anymore.  

If you're familiar with the play, Grizabella has been ostracized by the fellow cats, And she is lonely and in much sadness.  The play is actually very moving and the costumes are amazing.   I watched a DVD version of the play...If you have never seen it I recommend it.  

Lately I have been going way back in time digging up memories...one line in the song says... "When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too, and a new day will begin." Each day we are creating the past the future is only alive in our thoughts...Actually when you think about it there is only Then and now.  There is NO future!! Wow. 

We definitely had winter this year.  By northern standards it was a cake walk but nothing is colder than a damp cold, the type we had.  So I feel like I've been curled up in a blanket for nearly a month.  Time to uncurl!

First of the year Ring Necked Ducks seen on Monday in a pond by the highway...

Soon enough Im sure I will be complaining about the heat, such is life eh? 

This little White Throated Sparrow will soon be heading back to breeding grounds up north and the birds in the tropics will be moving in here to take their  place...I hope

"It's so easy to leave me all alone with my memories of my days in the sun."

Today it was nice and warm so I took a walk around I haven't been going very far these days, seems Im completely content to just be at home with my simple life.  There was a beautiful crow on the ground this morning..

Then later in the day I had to go out and so I stopped at the Sewage Ponds, one part has been restored to a natural area...So I walked one of the trails around, found this Swamp Sparrow..

Moving  by the cattails lots of Song Sparrow skittered around they don't fly far and sometimes one would perch up to see what all the disturbance is about...

These two birds look  very similar but if you look closely one has streaks and a strong dot on the chest and the other does not.  

When the Sparrows leave and the Summer Tanager and the Flycatchers arrive the heat comes with them...up from the tropics..

 I left the ponds and went by the river to see what was out, a Bald Eagle flew over headed North but too far for a photo so I concentrated on the Double Crested Cormorants swimming and diving in the water.

I'm keeping this short since I posted on Wednesday give you guys a break, and thank you all for your visits.
Have a Happy Valentine's day...eat chocolate, stop and smell the flowers, and feed the birds!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Stardate: 01:15:2021

Saturday I headed out to try out the scope...really exciting.  It works great and is easy to use and not heavy thanks my friend.. 

There was Canada Geese and some Mallards on the far shore, I certainly would not have seen those ducks as they were mixed in with the geese, in fact they were out of camera range, this enriched my birding experience.

way out there on the far side,,,

My main goal on this trip tho was to work with the scope and then take a hike....

my path outlined in red. 

                   

I moved the van to the start point, a approx 3 miles round trip hike.  I've now  officially done the entire Tate's Trail its  not a long trail it could easily be hiked in a about 2 hrs if you keep moving one way,  it's not a loop trail so you would have to turn around hike back all total about 7.4 miles, but if you're like me I stop to bird, to take photos, I cant seem to keep walking lol...so it takes me forever...this 3 mile hike took me 2 and 1/2 hours,,,LOL. 

Im in it for the Journey. 

This trail is also called the Lakes Trail as it connects 3 of the different lakes, in this section I will pass by 2 of the 3...

lake 12, 

An Eagle soared overhead.

Yellow Rump Warbler seen along the way

Back to the map on the way back after my turn around point at the creek crossing, I stopped at the green circle to have a snack and a rest before finishing up the hike..

This bend in the trail has 2 nice benches for a rest so this was my lunch spot just some P-nut butter crackers, a moon pie, and some water...

                        Lunch break back of Pool D, had a ring necked duck floating around...

have spent a lot of down time during inclimate weather going back and replacing the photos in SOME of my old posts that Flickr destroyed.  It's a slow  and tedious process and I think I will run out of data storage on Blogger,,,,so Ive open up a few other flickr's under fictitious names to try and obtain the 1,000 free photos storage limit..but mostly Im uploading right to blogger.  I don't know how much storage they will allow me.  

Red Bellied Woodpecker
 

 The lockdowns along with other factors have put a knot in my tail for a while, travel wise but hopefully I can resume normal at some point in life before I kick the bucket...

Pine Warbler

I have been slowly contacting each Rep member who voted YES to contest on the Electoral College Vote count  because public opinion matters to politicians...we must out shout the other side I guess...I don't know....and I also wrote to the 10 brave Republican's who voted to Impeach. IM doing this via twitter, which I rejoined to use for a political voice...it seems that is where the action is.  I was happy to see Tim Rice of my state was one who voted Yes on Impeachment.  It matters....this is how Unity begins. 

Tufted Titmouse

Red Breasted Nuthatch 

we had  ONE good day of weather this week on Thursday ,,,and the birds were all busy trying to get at the yard feeders so I followed them around trying to get them in candid shots when they waited for their turn. 

Purple Finch female

Male,,,

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Downy Woodpecker

Annie found herself a delicious mushroom to eat...

She dug it up  Is this a truffle?  I know people use dogs to find Truffles, she is always out mushrooming...she is very good at it, but she eats them immediately  and does not share with me or Floss. It had a brown outer covering, but looked bigger than a ping pong ball,,

Pine Siskin (FOY)

American Goldfinch 

Chipping Sparrow 

My Van in finally in the shop to see what this noise is I am hearing,.I hope he can figure it out.  So Im homebound for  now.  

For your viewing pleasure a

Tufted Titmouse whistles a few notes for us,

and Annie eats her Truffle..

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

What I Found Last Week..

Friday seems to be the day I have to get out and enjoy some nature.  Mon to Thursday the stress of life builds and then I gotta get a change of rhythm.  This time it's back to my usual place and I decided to do some  hiking so I picked 2 trails.  The Woodland Pond trail and a section of Tates' trail.  Both are woodlands trails, and the woods felt and looked great. 

I had a little threat on the trail look who is hanging right across the trail... 

A little late Halloween trick!

The Golden Crowned Kinglet has arrived back into the area..

The Forest Plants are all set for next year...

Even the Moss has put out seedspores

This trail is just a little over a mile long...

this is about the 3/4 point...

The trail circles the pond, but there is no good view of the pond from the woods, so once you exit the woods, the turtles are all surprised to see ya! 

Back at the van I need to drink some water and check the time...No worries about getting a call...

My Next Trail was a section of the Tates Trail...Unlike the other trail a loop this time Im doing an In and Out...this is about 3 miles total...

I pick the trail up where it crosses Wildlife Dr and hike toward Martin's lake.  

It's nice to hear the crunch of leaves underfoot...and then seeing the lake come into view...

when I get close to the lake I get a peek of what's out there...I've  heard the Geese as I walked so I know they are there but this was a surprise..

Closer view...

Tundra Swan...my first at Sandhills...I know its fuzzy very far away and he swam across the lake eventually...

So that was a treat, had some Wood Duck, some Mallard, and Ring Necked Duck too...

about 8 in total...

I took my lunch over to Lake Bee after the hike back and there was a nice breeze and I really enjoyed just listening to the wind talk through the trees...then I took a little walk around they have yet to allow Lake Bee to refill so it's just a little stream running through where the lake was, the Killdeer are still enjoying it there...

After  lunch, I drove up to the Oxpen Lakes...it's still very pretty there where it's more open up on Mary's Hill...

Some late flowers supplied food to the butterflies and skippers...

And the Yellow Rumped Warblers have arrived...and all berries beware...

PLAY

It was a FAB day, I went home refreshed and ready to face the election count and was so Thrilled when the vote was called in favor of Joe Biden on the next day...we dodged the bullet here, I hope the 70 million who think Trump is an option will come to understand he was  fueling  hate...and now I hope without his fanning the flame all of us can jump on board and help get the issues we face solved.  Trump will stop at nothing to try and force his way back into office nothing he would do surprises me..

I can't wait for Jan 20th to arrive.

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.