X'D off Another Week.

I think the weather is about to normalize, it's been whacky tho...Heat in the morning open the doors mid day then run the fan in the late afternoon, windows shut and heavy blanket at night!

Been mostly local this week...spotted this unbothered Gr Blue Heron catching a Sunfish..

He swallowed it whole...



In  one gulp

Then he climbed up out of the water onto the shore...he stood 5 feet tall if he was in inch!! That railing is waist high on me, 

I crept down along the creek's edge to spy on this Louisiana Waterthrush  singing  in a tree...I love to catch a video of a bird singing,  so here he is...

Normally I only see them on the ground so this was a rare treat. 

I have at least 50 bird song videos...so catch a listen sometime when you got nothing to do!

The Eastern Bluebirds are getting SO BLUE it's stings my eyes to look  at them! Just Gorgeous!

They are not camera shy this is why I have a shot of one every week pretty much...

And on this day I got a shot of the elusive Female Common Yellowthroat...I showed you a male last week with his black mask...

Caught some interaction between a pair of adult Bald Eagles, they landed across the river, and I made a video of them interacting and calling to each other...I will share that video next week...its taking too long to upload for todays post.  

Wednesday I was able to get out to Sandhills, and had several First of  Year birds...like the Prairie Warbler, 

The Eastern Kingbird, and I found one on a nest as well...

The Orchard Oriole...

AND the Bachman's Sparrow..

Still considered rare, but I am finding them every year in about the same area of the refuge. There was two of them one singing by the road this one, and then another answering off in the not too far distance. 

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Meanwhile back at the homestead...the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds have arrived, I didn't catch him in the right light to get  his ruby throat to display but I will keep trying...

And my Doe Friend Tulip, paid a visit she is going into her 2nd summer. 

She has a malformed or healed injury to oft hindleg, but she has managed just fine, a little limp always but she can run jump and do anything the other deer can do.  And she is sooo lovely. She will probably have her first fawn next May...Because she does not appear to be with Fawn, but she could be.  Females chase away their male offspring after the spots are faded, but female fawns sometimes stay in a family group up to two years....Tulip was with 2 others on this day one was a young yearling female and an older doe, maybe that was her mother and sister. 

See ya next week! 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Weeks Highlights...

The weather has been very fall like this week...in fact it's down right chilled to bone!  I visited a few of my favorite haunts, just in time for a sit round the campfire with friends...

Lee State Park

LOL, here is some other things that caught my eye...

The Canoe Trail at Goodale is pretty Orange right now..

The Fall Yellow Bellied Sapsucker is busy

And under the tree is a Brown Headed Cowbird, looking a little bit lost..

Hope she wasn't raised by a Sapsucker! 

Back at Lee State Park, 

I bumped into an Eastern  Comma, he was up a little high but I was able to get this shot.

This is the Loop road goes through the swampy area of Lee State Park, we have a dry spell and things quickly dried up so I took the drive which is sometimes flooded and not passable. and closed...it was lined with White Heath Aster (tiny flowers) and a lot of bees and some butterflies were very interested in that..

Here's a Checker Spot..on the Asters

And a Silver Skipper was on the Blue Ageratum 

The Drive loosely follows the Lynches River and is a the flood plain

This little Eastern Phoebe with his belly a nice shade of lemon, hung out over the water for a shot..

The trees along the river seem to already have dropped their leaves...must be colder by the river..

I stopped at his Artesian Well to fill my water bottle..

Very cool and clean...the sign says the well is 100 ft down..This park has 5 still in use wells dug by the CCC in the 1930's.  

After the loop road, I went to the HQTRS area and made use of another CCC addition, this cool picnic shelter, I had a quick snack..

Then a stroll on the Boardwalk...

Yellow Rumped Warblers are back in the trees now...

Homestead Happenings this week Tulip came to visit, 

And brought her first Beau with her...

Thru the window so a little wavy....but isn't he a beauty?  I think they make a great couple...

And then the Sun went down and the Moon was huge ..

Hope your week had some highlights...

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Fall Fodder

Another slow week, and I think this is the new normal for me.  Im sharing some of the interesting things I saw this past week. We had a few rain days. 

The Cyprus trees at Goodale Park are changing, I hope to catch them when they get to peak...

I scared a Great Egret off his feeding spot...

This pic is not too sharp but I really like the curled proboscis so Im sharing, a Palamedes Swallowtail...

Golden rod  provides food to so many insects this time of year

And more creepy hairy things to avoid...

The colors are changing pretty fast, one thing I love about fall is all the full swaying field plants  lush with seed heads and providing food and shelter for all sort of insect and wild life.  

It's layers and layers of food, color, and cover.

These Tall Sedge tops  are a shimmering shade of blush it really sparkles...

Fall produces lots of great flowers for bees, wasp, butterfly and when these flowers fade, the seed heads appear and migrating birds will be looking forward to this as they make the big fall trip.  

Blue Jays love acorns...this guy has plucked 2 at one time.

I got the attention of a Pine Warbler

And Tulip is visiting, she is one of the regulars to my yard... this is the young doe who I saw early in the spring with a rear leg injury...somehow she survived, it looked like a broken leg to me, and she walked with great difficulty and up on the tip of her toe, that is why I started calling her Tulip...NOW she is walking with confidence, and she can jump as good as any deer, she really overcame a huge disability. 

its the back leg on this side, you can see the old scar ...she is so familiar with my yard she comes right into my flower beds and nips the top off the flowers...but how can I not welcome and love that sweet face...and a strong will to survive. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Focus on this...

or almost into focus....

Guess who has a cold...HOW'd you know? Oh well at least its Saturday and I can sneeze at will and cough and blow my snoz without grossing people out.  I HAD planned to do so much  today and IF these  meds will kick IN and do what the BOX claims they do I should be out running sprints in a few minutes...but while I wait..Ill wrap up the last weeks nature notes... I have tons to say on other fronts, but trust me you wouldnt want to hear most of that!!

LAST night we almost had FROST. I KNOW scared the bejesus outta me...all my plants were out and at risk! Ive enjoyed FINALLY getting a couple of tulips to bloom...I put them in pots this yr and that was a good idea-- I bet Ive spent 10s of dollars on bulbs that never come up..



and here is the welcoming committee when I arrive home from work each day, I always swing by and get the mail before heading down the drive..and this guy was NOT too sure he wanted me to get it...look at that daring stare he is giving me....someone is always watching every move you make!!!

HE finally did move on and let me open the box....and  a flock of Cedar waxwings dipped into the yard to comsume the berries on the cedar tree!! Here they are picking up the ones that hit the ground..

Ive seem some large flocks of turkey, but this one was all alone...

Last weekend I had my friend over to celebrate her birthday and we went to Goodale Park and had  a nice walk around 2 geese seemed to be partnered up....here they are taking a stroll at the edge of the pond.....they blend in pretty well!!  

AND need some help from the readers...I looked at my small butterfly field guide and online, and I cant zero in on this butterfly...at first I thought Black Swallowtail, then I thought female Eastern Tiger Swallow, but that orange line on the base of the hindwing---is keeping me from making a postive ID..what do you think?

WE def saw a pair of northern parula's in the trees got a good look too, but that was when I decided to leave the camera in the car as we hiked the backside of the lake... IN a case like that I was repsonsible for recalling 2 marking ID's and she was repsonsible for 2 and between the 2 of us and our 4 clues when we got back to the bird book, it was the White eye markings that nailed it-as the Northern Parula.

Here's a parting shot of another waxwing who waited in the pine tree for his turn at the cedar, they went into hiding when I came over to try for close ups..

Hope you all have a fun weekend whatever you are doing  Im planning a Doggie Biscut hunt with the girls since Im alone this Easter...I think they would like that!! Here is Annie as she demonstrates the stop, drop and roll in the field, ENJOY your weekend.

SOMEBODY NEEDS A BATH----



PEACE