What's Stirring on the Homestead

This week has been a little less rain but still hot...I was able to get my outside chairs painted for another season of use...but honestly I rarely use them.  Sitting is not one of my hobbies, unless Im not feeling well.  This week I had a few days when I was LOW as could be...Getting outside is the only thing that  helps me keep close to the sanity line.  

I used the left over paint from the deck painting earlier this year... chair resides in front of my container garden...on the old shed slab

I painted the 2 chairs and the bench...SO who knows if I decide to sit down I will have a place to do it...I can't leave my cushions out or the squirrels will destroy them.  So I keep them stashed in the shed.  

Walking around the yard taking care of my plants some things caught my eye...like this Thread Waist Wasp on the wild flower I was able to get established in one area..

                 Deer will nibble the tops if they get a chance...but they are pretty east to keep otherwise.

I have butternut squash on the vine...hope the squirrels don't find these....I'm trying to keep the little gourds hidden...

I had an Eggplant on the stem but look what happend to it..

And they didn't even eat it, just stripped it off the plant   GRRRR
 A couple more blooms are forming, So I put the plant in a wire cage hope it doesn't get attacked again. 

Some California Poppies did open...they only last a day or two but more buds are there.. 

And I love to grow pepper so I have several plants and they are doing good so far...I over winter  peppers in the sunny utility room.  They come back  really good when once they go into the yard I also over winter the Bell Peppers.  

Jalapeno 

I eat them raw, I cook them, I freeze them and I pickle them!  They are easy to grow and easy to preserve.  I also grow Banana and Bell Pepper.  

Last night for dinner homegrown Courgette, or Zucchini as we call it. With a pepper on the side...oh it was soooo good.   I am also growing onion, cilantro, parsley, green beans, yellow squash and I have 2 pumpkin vines so far only bloom and no pumpkin, tomato, and Asparagus keeps giving me a stem every now and then. 

Up in the trees are the new Eastern Bluebirds, looking gorgeous at this point..If you recall the nest box blew down and I had to reset it for them....that was before the eggs were laid.  

And this large member of the Tyrannidae family

the Great Crested Flycatcher, they breed here and it's always fun to watch them catching food to feed their family.  They are cavity nesters and they like to nest in my fake gourds. 

The beak size is amazing eh?  

One of the many Carolina Wrens that make my yard home...

The sweetest bushes in the yard are in bloom now, the Gardenia

Just walk outside and you can catch the sweet aroma..

A Blue Darner? Not sure..

Hard to get a shot of the Ruby Throated Hummers, this is a female, a young one.   Thru the window of course...

I don't have to go far to see all kinds of wonderful things...just walk out the back door. And even at Night...

Crescent on the 15th 

What's stirring in your world?

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Random stuff...

I spend a lot of my free time these days trying to match up old photos with old blog post...so IF you see any weird posts pop up and then disappear that's what is happening.  I recently said Summer is Flexing her Muscles and so the heat is rising, afternoons are good to be inside with the AC on while I do my photo replacements...I almost have it down to a scientist, ALMOST...

Eastern Towhee at the Cemetery 

 We need some rain so Im watering the plants every day that is a chore but we have not had humidity so it dries out very fast, the last 2 days we had some humidity and even a tiny shower.  Then last night it poured...so my plants are happy.  Saw this today when I went out, 

I was happy to see they put up a blinking light and these cones to slow people down and they had 4 signs at this intersection...I hope the cows are home safe.  

The Vernal pool was busy with Green Herons all busy looking for frogs...last yr they nested nearby and I think this year they nested here again, I saw 6 in total today..in fact a few of them could have been young ones, they fledge at 30 to 35 days after hatching.  

Im trying out a new to me camera.  I was about ready to give up and relist it, because I need a bigger view finder.  I Love my old camera but now it's giving zoom motor problems.  SO if I don't keep this Nikon B700 I will sell it on ebay and purchase the same Panasonic again, I really love my old camera. (Panasonic Lumix FZ80) It has a huge view finder, it's easy to use, the buttons are all in a logical place...its fully manual if you want, and it's pretty tough and stands up pretty good to my abuse.  I think it's the sand and pollen that has ruined the zoom motor as that lens feeds out it picks up contaminates, especially in spring. I do try to clean it off. 

This was taken with the FZ 80 Carolina Wren in my yard

This was taken with the B700 Chipping Sparrow at the Cemetery 

The B700 is 20.1 Megapixel, the FZ 80 is only 18.1...they both have 60X zoom, and 4 K video.  

I dont want to rush my decision, because I like it better now than the day I first started using it about 3 weeks ago.  Because of the smaller view finder I'm not able to spot birds up in trees as quickly so that is a Big Minus.  It  has taken me this long just to become familiar with the menu of the camera.  And I still don't understand all of it. 

This I took with the B700

This one below with the FZ 80

Quality wise it's about equal but ease of use the FZ 80 is much faster, easier to find the buttons in a quick grab, and just overall I enjoy using it more.  Even with the zoom motor failing it zooms faster. 

So that's something I have to decide.  

I have my very own Blue Jay, he sits in my window tree so I call him my Blue Jay, 

There is racoon visiting my yard again...I tried to photo him thru the window glass and it's at last 50 ft away so not a good shot but I saw movement and zoomed in and that's what I saw...

I know Annie has been going out for barks lately...I guess she saw him. 
I did relocate 4 squirrels outta my yard over the weekend.  3 males and one non nursing female. There's 4 more that are making me crazy so they may be going soon.  This time of year the forest is full of food.  

Solitary Sandpiper at the vernal pool...


A couple weeks ago I took my bike to McBee...the sand is deep there but I had a go at  it.  And I have been trying to figure out how to access a pond that shows on the map in the management area...it looks interesting, I found a service road but the area is fenced and the gate is locked so I need to speak to one of the rangers and see how to get in there...While I was searching I found several  Hooded Warbler, the males would not sit still for a photo but this female did...

If the males hadn't been singing I would never have known this was the female...

So a quiet week in my world...next week is supposed to be cooler so I hope to get out and explore more.  I had my final shot last Thursday.  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Doomsday Prep part 1

Can you believe my town is the epi-center of the outbreak in our state...and no one can figure out the source of the contamination...an elderly lady who had not traveled tested positive and was hospitalized.  And now we have 16 cases in our town...(as of publishing that number has risen to 25 29 45)

So I know you're wondering where is the doomsday prep? Well we stopped at Dollar General and grabbed a 4 roll of Scott toilet paper...JIC.  Now I'm happy we did I went for supplies Wednesday afternoon, and no bread, and no TP on the shelf. 

We went about most other things as usual, but we are avoiding crowds for sure... we're outside and doing what we enjoy! A virus dies once it's outside and can't find a new host to infect so outside is the best place to be! I don't know the shelf life of this CV-19 but getting outside sure can't hurt. 

Saturday we got back on track after we took it a little easier on Friday.  And left right on time for the 3 hour drive to....

We had hopes of seeing something cool...and we did! The best way I could think of to spend a scary day on this Planet is by enjoying this planet. 

 

Wait, what duck is that just poking out of the grass on the left?? It just happens to be one of the ducks my sis wants for her life list the American Black Duck...

Yes! And we were the only ones who listed that one  on that day so I guess no one saw it but us! He was in a good spot to hide in this grass...Anyways it was CONFIRMED by ebird, which is more rare than the sighting.  

Got reptiles?

A Laughing Gull, American Avocets, and Black Bellied Plovers...

It is really beautiful here!  They just opened for the season.  

Bald Eagle

Blue Winged Teal 

tons of shorebirds

immature Little Blue Heron 

We had such fun!  She looks this way I  look that! lol

tons of Dunlin...

We found a Marbled Godwit! Haven't seen one in a long while so this was nice!  

We had rolling in and out clouds but mostly it was sunny!

American Avocet..mirror mirror on the ground... who's the prettiest Avocet around?

Shorebirds!! Galore!!

Greater Yellowlegs 

Blue Crabs!

Another Lunch view! We eat the same thing everyday this way it's simple to figure out what to take! 

 

Glossy Ibis in single file...

Boat Tailed Grackle...on a blue sky.

We had a full day of birding, and great sister conversation!  Sunday we took the day to stay home, took some new flowers to Mom's burial site, and had my son over for "linner".  Caught up on what he is up to...and Monday we were right back out there in Nature Doomsday Prepping!

Yes the Park was Open we were happy to know since everything seems to be coming to a halt all around us.  If you recall the last time we came here we brought Mom with us...*sigh* and she was not herself and asked to go home so we didn't get to do much of the boardwalk loop which is 3 miles.  We were not going to push her for 3 miles, but we took her for a short stroll on the boardwalk, this was her last outing in Nature besides sitting on the porch at home. 

Migration seems to be coming on strong and we had good numbers of the early arrivals...like Northern Parula...I was not lucky with a good photo of one they are normally curious enough to come right down...

But they stayed up against the dull sky we had on Monday.  

It was cold so I was bundled up in layers...no I'm not trying to be weird with my hat on backwards, it's easier to get my binoculars up to my eyes with the brim facing backwards..lol

Hey sis wait up!  The swamp was greener than normal from all the rain we've had...

Hermit Thrush were not scared to come eye to eye with us...Hi there. 

Yet another backpack lunch with sis and a view of Weston Lake from the boardwalk...

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

My feet were hurting by this point as we were on the homestretch of getting back to the Visitors Center.  Of course we stop every other minute so it takes us hours to go 3 miles.  The Carolina Wren enjoyed a frolic  on a mossy log. 

 

We had some beautiful warblers to swoon over like another Yellow-throated Warbler...

So I think I need to chop this post in two, part II will follow in an extra post tomorrow!  With the virus literally breathing down our necks sis made the decision to fly home early before they possibly shut down the airport! They already put in an 11-6 curfew in Columbia, so who knows what is next...stay tuned for part II of our type of Doomsday Prepping. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.