March Madness?

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..


Russia PLEASE  just stop!!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

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.

Local Patch checks..

On Sunday  the 21st, another gorgeous day happened a little breezy and cold so I figured my old stand by Sandhills would be good I can warm up when needed in the van.  I decided to spent my time at Martin's lake area...So first I stopped at the far end and walked down to the dam.   Along the way I pass the Holdover Pond, which lately for some reason has not been a pond.  But more like a mud puddle area.  And I found it with this weird stuff on it, no clue what this is. Here a Song Sparrow is perched above it. 

It was very curious....the birds didn't seem to mind whatever it is I hope it's not toxic....it can't be a spider unless its one of that escaped from Jurassic Park. 

Eastern bluebird was successfully finding food on the edges...

They have recently cut the fields back and they may be planning a burn...

Im heading to the lake in the distance but of course I find birds along the way....this little White Breasted Nuthatch was reminding me of what a chattery call they have.

He runs up and down the trunk of the tree gleaning insects from under the edges of the bark...

His back is so blue, a really gorgeous bird. 

I hear the trilling call of the Pine Warbler, they are everywhere right now...just look up and you will probably see one...

Never tire of them 

As I get closer to the lake, and scare off a few Killdeer...

The mowers left some stems  in place and the Eastern Phoebe perches to have a look for insects..

These Northern Mockingbirds, seem to be a couple...defending this one willow tree...

And not far from them in the heavier cover was several Swamp Sparrow, one of my favorite sparrows, they are so colorful out in the sun. 

Then I spied a nest from last year....no clue what bird made it. 

And finally I arrive lake side...Im the only human there, so Im free to ramble, take my time and act as weird as I wish. I can talk to myself, stop and turn in circles, look up at trees, and make weird noises with no one to judge. 

BY the dam there was a lot of action I think the sun reflected warmth back up off the cement spillway.  

The Northern Cardinal looking more Orange than red today...

this little cove area by the dam is protected from the breeze the water was pretty awesome. 

There was a few Canadians out swimming around..

More willows near the lake edge had Field Sparrow another one of my favorite Sparrows, in fact I love sparrows.  

More Song and Swamp Sparrow

Then before you know it a couple hours had passed....so headed back to the van to warm up and had a snack then headed to the Photo blind,  while peering out one of the openings, I heard a little cooing sound...def an Eastern Screech Owl was nearby so I followed the sound to this Wood Duck box.  There was some vegetation in the way but I saw the owl he was sunning in the entrance to the box...

Could just make him out in there with one sleepy eye closed ...what a great surprise,
the red morph. 

My last good thing of the day leaving the park I spotted  not one but 3 Red Cockaded Woodpeckers  up pretty high but I got a shot of one of them...

Had a great time...then on Monday I checked out Goodale Lake before I ran errands in town.  

Hiked the Lake Trail 

It was good to see some Mallard there and who knows, maybe a nesting can happen? 

Along the trail still many Ruby Crowned Kinglets making a fuss as I pass by them..

And the perfect ending to a nice walk around the lake before other people began to stir was seeing this immature Bald Eagle, soar overheard,  

It was a good start to the last week of February. Since the birding is picking up I am making a mid week post so I don't get too far behind with my chronicles.  Have a great week. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.