April Fool

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. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

A place to call home

What a difference...with the lower temps of the approaching fall I have been outside doing chores, walking, birding, and  relaxing some too!  

The change is already in the air.  I see birds chasing each other...hmmm this means Get out of the Nest! I'm done feeding you, go find your own worms and your own home...lol. 

 

This looks like 2 dragons meshed into one.

Annie was raising a ruckus in the yard a couple days ago a snake was coiled up under one of the shrubs and she had cornered it! My son to the rescue he was for a while into herps so he grabbed it..(don't do this if you don't know snakes the way my son does, he is sort of an expert)

Even tho this snake looks  menacing he is a big faker.  The hog nosed snake has many defenses..one is to hiss and flatten his head to look like a Cobra...if that doesn't work he will lay on his back and open his mouth and play dead...If that doesn't work, he has a musk gland and he will let loose an odor...he will open his mouth wide like he is going to swallow you whole...he did all that but he never offered to bite even when my son tossed a towel on him and got a hold of him to get him out of the yard!

When I checked these photos is when I saw the scar in his scales this is the same Hog Nosed Snake I had untangled a week ago. See right there is his mid section that is where the garden mesh had  tightened around him and held him in place they get caught they struggle and that makes it tighter and if they don't get rescued you will find a skeleton eventually.  So happy we were able to save this wonderful creature!  I got rid of all the Garden Mesh!

So even tho we keep taking him off the premises he returns, this is his home too!

Lots of Pine Warblers are back home agian in the trees this week.   I watched an episode of Expeditions with Patrick McMillan.  He is sort of a local hero here in our state with his own nature show on PBS.  In this episode he answered my question as if I had asked him directly..."why did we have so many Prairie Warbler, and Yellow Breasted Chats this year?"  I was on the right track of the "re- growth" from the clear cutting.  This is what these birds need....disturbance...in order to breed and raise their young.  Unfortunately the way man disturbs is not the way nature intended so these birds are having a hard time...

Its hard to tell the Imm Pine Warbler from the Imm Prairie Warbler, only way for me is to hear them. 

summer tanager

The Summer Tanager has always come to my place to live and the surrounding area I think they are happy to have the little open area of my field and the surrounding woods to provide them with the food and protection they need to raise their young...see the dead leaves?  That's why I got so upset when they sprayed the clearcut with some sort of herbicide.  It kills the plants the insects need, that in turn destroys habitat and food the birds need. 

a secret pond I found home to many frogs

 I know the clearcut will regrow and the birds will use it at least another year or two then it will become a "fake forest" again...Like McMillan  explained how the Oven Bird, that I never hear anymore around here, needs old growth forest to survive...at least 8 acres of it per bird.  Since they planted the surrounding area in yellow pine there is never any old growth forest, and the Oven Bird wants dry not wetland habitat...Keep these things in mind if you are managing a piece of land...maybe one day the wooded part of our lands will be mature enough to host Oven Birds. My trees are now 42 yrs and older.

We took a short drive to the Carolina Sandhills NWR to go birding and have a picnic.

Sis, this does not count as a picture of you...so my promise is not broken. :o)

And for my sis this lifer we found in the old growth Longleaf pines that the refuge has worked hard to conserve....these Red Cockaded Woodpeckers cavity nest in live mature LLPine. We saw 3 this day. Thanks to all us Liberal Tree Huggers and a pre Trump era Department of the Interior!

Red Cockaded Woodpecker

...still makes the rare sighting list on ebird...considered endangered since it was almost eradicated by the planting of the much faster growing yellow pine, a cash crop...

                                       3 in this shot they live in small family groups  

 We found at least 2 species of Pitcher Plant growing there...here is one growing low to the ground..see the water inside?  And note the flower...

And the taller variety...click to enlarge!

These plants need a "bog" situation to survive...we didn't see many around, only a few remaining as funding to manage habitat is not happening! The water level of the pond nearby has fallen to such a level the bog has dried up...if there is no Money in it what good is it...(the current political attitude toward the Natural World).   Understanding how and why nature works is one of the most important pieces of life's puzzle that we need in order to continue to survive...The burning of the Amazon Rain Forest is a huge tragedy...yet no million dollar homes are in the way so what's the big deal?   

Female Blue Grosbeak

No hurry cause now there is more room to grow Palm Oil...that nasty mess that is in everything we consume these days....This is a big deal...habitat loss is the biggest threat to the birds and animals we love; without them what would our lives be like? I just can't imagine.  Use your voice to scream out
I'M NOT OKAY WITH THAT!  

But Im okay with this.....fall color is springing up all over the place...love it!

 the Plant that announces fall the Goldenrod! 

This plant is called "Rattlebox" due to when the seed pod dries it  can be shaken like a rattle.  It is poisonous to livestock...

Who knew a Disco Spider lived on my place? Wow what a work of art..

Oecobiidae Spider Web

So when our birds go to South America this winter will they have a home to go to?  The Yellow Billed Cuckoo goes all the way to Northern Argentina What a shame some will face a dire situation.  Is there anyway we can tell these American Corporations we don't want PALM OIL in our food?? Maybe write letters! I stopped buying mircrowave popcorn, due to palm oil...but it's in almost every product that is processed...like the coffee creamer I love.  

There is no place like home...

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Sunny Sunday 2

Welcome back!  After driving past the Peach Orchard I arrive at Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge...Im fortunate to have this awesome place close by...We have rambled it's roads for years.  

A Bachman's Sparrow was seen here a few days ago...I have no hopes of seeing it as this is a huge place 45,000+ acres!  I strain my neck backwards and find the singer...a House Finch!

or two...

Everybody is pairing up time to replenish the supply of birds! 

Eastern Bluebird

I walked around the area listening and looking and found White-throated Sparrows, and Chipping Sparrow, but no Bachman's showed.  An American Kestrel soared over, heard and saw a Red bellied Woodpecker and then a not so familiar woodpecker chip chirp and rattle...

The Female Red Cockaded Woodpecker! And..in a tree nearby the male, 

First time I've ever gotten a photo of one of these and first time seeing one in many years...

note the big white cheek patch this is the main diagnostic to look for...

This male has a band on his left leg...I can't read it, I can make out it's like aluminum....I only reported 2 birds but I'm almost 99.9% sure there was 3 birds...as they left I swear I saw 3 swooping shapes.  I stood still and was no bother to them they took their time, I took a bunch of photos...these are the best from the distance I stood away.  The Male was on a big tree on the right and the female on a small tall tree on the left so I saw them both pretty good, the 3rd bird came into view as they moved off...he was probably behind me.

I was thrilled! Not just for me for these BIRDS!!
This is an endangered species,,,,it's only alive due to being protected and provided for in places like Carolina Sandhills!   There is hope.  Of course we have to get Trump out of the White House or all our endangered species will lose their protection! 

 

rice n beans with cilantro and cold coffee

 After eating my sack lunch I drove over to the Oxpen Lakes...on the other side of the refuge road.  They have recently burned this area...I saw one Canada Goose, and one Pied Billed Grebe in the South Pond, 2 mallards flew off the North Pond when I drove up....

More Song Sparrows hopped around in the brambles...

A tree line of American Robins formed...

Then I realized my Sunny day had turned sour...

Clouds rolled in the wind picked up and it began to drip rain...A Yellow Rumped Warbler peered down  from a budding Maple tree...

And that was the final bird of the day...it was such a primo day even the rain didn't seem to matter, it was a fitting end...and a gentle reminder that home was waiting.

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.