Everything comes in 3's

One thing I'm learning is we must keep our minds and bodies busy to move past tragedy.  I've had 3 straight years of loss, I will say I'm a little bitter about it, but it is something I have to come to terms with somehow....This blog was scheduled to post the day Casey's life ended, so It's getting to be really old news by now.  I am trying to come to grips with not having my little friend, I hear him snoring, and I hear  his nails clicking on the floor, and yet he is not there...he is in my psyche and it's just gonna take time to adjust I still say, "come on you three." That's how I addressed my canine family, not its back to just the two...

 
                                                          My little family of 3

So 3 weeks ago....
GO HOME.....

 That's what the Text I got last Tuesday at 5 PM said! It was sent as an Emergency Alert, like an Amber Alert...it was from the State of SC it said GO HOME, AND STAY THERE, THE STATE IS UNDER A MANDATORY ORDER TO STAY AT HOME.  Can you believe that??   And half the people are walking around with bandanna's covering their lower face...so it looks like Dodge City. (auto fill tried to type banana's covering their lower face)...I think that would be way cooler what say you?

Before we went on lock down....I went here:

That Sunday we were not under any orders so I drove down to Santee NWR the Pine Island Unit, which I had not visited before.   It's a big place and a great place.  It was sort of crowded so I had to cross to the other side of the trail a couple times, and once a dog got after me, it was a Chihuahua so I wasn't scared, but the owner informed me that he thinks (the dog) that I am carrying a stolen backpack...OKAY some human traits do cross to other species.  The thing was the ankle biter made me miss a good Swamp Sparrow shot and honestly should they allow that small dog to run off leash?

this guy is at least 8 maybe 9 ft long he could take out a normal human  a small dog would be no contest...

 There was good birds and lots of walking I put in about 7+ miles mainly because I got on the wrong trail on the way back to the parking area...DUH...I think some signage would be helpful..the handout had a not to scale and completely useless diagram of the trail.

Santee Lake

This could be an Osprey feather...

I took the woods trail in, and got my FOY Prothonotary Warbler along the way...

And before the day was done I had spotted or heard 3 more...

I got very few birds in my viewfinder that day but I had a wonderful hike

 and ended up with 50 species of bird.  There was a large colony of nesting Tree Swallow...so since I have all this time on my hands I put together a quick piece of Media of the Tree Swallows...

Many of them have leg bands Red and White and one other had an aluminum band on one leg...They put out many nest boxes and the Swallows are busy moving in.  I enjoyed a rest by this area where bull frogs were doing what they do and Wood Ducks were nesting one spooked out of a box when I approached she went into panic mode and her partner came to check on her...





There was 3  Common Gallinule in this one area...

This guy decided to drive his boat through a flock of 300 double Crested Cormorants...

Poor things had to fly for their lives...

All in All it was a good day, I ended up meeting a guy whose name I see almost every other day on our Rare Bird Lister...he is #1 in our State according to Species seen, I think I'm 69 At least in the top 100.  Harold is a really nice person, and I remember emailing him once to ask where exactly he found a bird he reported and he gave me exact good directions  and was just really helpful.  That was a long time back and as soon as I saw him on Sunday he right away started sharing what he had found and where on that day.  I really can't deal with snooty birders.  Thankfully he does not fall in that category. 

Anyways as I said I didn't get too many birds in photos this Turkey Vulture allowed a snapshot of his backside.   So you'll be glad to learn I found a short supply of single TP rolls at the IGA limit 4, so I  grabbed up 3 single  rolls.   I think in this time we all need to show some restraint! 

Whats Blooming in the yard??



The knock out roses are opening up...



I have 4 or 5 bearded  iris that will bloom this year, and each one will have 3 or 4 flowers on when they open I hope they will all open together...

These butterfly will enjoy visiting

Red Spotted Purple

Painted Lady

Aquilegia

Black Swallowtail 

Clematis Henryi 

What's blooming in your neck of the woods??
Happy Earth Day and Happy Birthday John. 💙


                                                                   

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Heartland to Home!

Continued from last post.....

June 4th
Jackson Lake State Park, near Orchard, CO

SO yes we got an electric site here under this big Cottonwood turned out to be so buggy! And we had these gypsy moths hitching a ride with us for days!  They crept into every crease between the doors and the door insulation strip....hundreds of them!!  If I had investigated a wee bit more we could have gotten a site by the water that had more sun but less bugs....A trade off of sorts.  But we had our fans to keep us cool, and the screen kept the bugs out the moth attack happened after the sun went down I assume. Remember that COE campground in Kansas where I saw all those butterflies, I had to move to a different site cause they were getting in the van.

June 5th 

Jackson Lake 

The Lake was ocean like huge, with waves!  Lots of DC Cormorants, White Pelican, California Gulls, 

White head, dark eye, orange dot on lower mandible with a black smudge near it, dark grey back, black wing tips, yellow legs, 

Ring Billed Gulls, Barn Swallows, 

and Lark Sparrow 

Lark Sparrow is one of my western favs, the ones in Colorado are plumper and look more refined compared to the ones down in TX and AZ, they are leaner and more rugged looking. 

Just gliding by... 

On the way out we stopped off at the dam where sometimes Curlew Sandpipers have been seen, not today we had more Yellow Warbler in the trees, and White Pelican in the air...

In the morning we left after taking our time, and traveled along Hwy 6 that loosely follows the South Platte River.  Along the way we took a quick look at Prewitt Reservoir...and the fun thing I saw there was a distant Heron Rookery with awkward looking brand new herons trying out long legs.  

And more White Pelican

We picked up Hwy 138 in a North-easterly direction to just west of the town of Crook, and Tamarack Ranch State Natural Area.  It is mostly set aside for hunting but this time of year it's safe to enter!  We took a road into the riparian area of the South Platte.  Lots of Redheaded Woodpecker, like 8 we saw. 

Along with the Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, I found this Philly Vireo that ended up being just a Red Eyed,....danggit! 

I really didn't see the line as that strong, till I reviewed a different shot of him...and the lemony belly distorted my thinking. I've never seen a red eyed back home with a lemony belly they are always English Linen Tan!

...this one below is definitely a  Dicksissel singing out on the millet spikes.  I love the ones that there is no question on what it is don't you? If it's an empid, sparrow, or gull you can bet I'm wrong 50% of the time.
(add vireos too) and we won't even go into all those dang yellow warblers.

Eventually the heat drove us away...we made our way northeast to Nebraska via I-76, and to this lovely boondock by Lake McConaughy.  I imagined I was  Robinson Crusoe, but this was Nebraska not Mas a Tierra.  

 

Our Robinson's Crusoe Camp on Wednesday the 5th. 

Still if felt like a deserted island, we could see an organized campground about 5 miles away on the Western Shore of the lake. The dogs and I took a dip in the water to cool off, and then sat out to dry off before turning in for the day...when the no see 'ums began to feed on us. 

The morning the 6th kept us moving East and though the farmlands of Nebraska and into Iowa, all we did all day was drive, and stop for more gas to drive some more...gas on this return trip ranged from a high of $3.09 in Walden, per gallon, to $2.45 in SC.  We rolled through towns large and small.  I-76 had emptied into I-80 back along the CO/NE state line, so we followed 80 East.   Thursday we stopped at Anita Lakes State Park in Iowa, (pictured below) for the night...we got an electric site for $16.  A really nice park and later a terrific thunder storm cooled it off so nice we didn't even need the fans, It was a little scary when one of the park rangers came around banging on our door and said go to the bathhouse if the winds got any worse there was a tornado warning till 8:45 pm!  I should have taken photos on the next day about 9 miles east of the park 2 semi's had been blown off the road and each one lay on it's side...pretty scary stuff...

We had a Common Yellowthroat in our camp.

  

And more Dicksissel 

And some tree swallow at the nest box, 

 We stayed a bit late that morning, but eventually back on the highway.

The heartland is dotted with alternative energy sources these days...

And some old fashioned things too!!

This big barn begs for a Quilt Block don't you think?...near Davenport, Iowa I took I-74 south and east past Bloomington, IL and to Le Roy, Moraine View State Park, in Illinois Where we stayed on June 7th our final camp on this trip, just before our southerly turn onto I-57, no photos of that camp as we arrived just at dark, we walked, ate, then it was lights out and sleep.

Friday June 8th we left early like just after dawn...and it was hammer down time, which I despise, but what I do while all these miles roll over my odometer is to recap all the awesome sights I have seen and relive the best moments!   (sort of go into a trance, like a Fugue State) I drove all the way home 827 miles, south via I-57 to Nashville,  

Nashville Skyline

picked up I-40 East and then I-26 East at Asheville, NC  then later onto I-20 East at Columbia, and arrived home at 2 am  Saturday Morning!  Long drive but I was ready to be home!!  By the time this posts Mom should be back in her home right next door to me, and sis should be there too I expect a long hot summer and have no current plans beyond taking it all one day at a time! I had a very busy spring with lots of travel and I'm ready for a long "staycation" now. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.