AUK TOE BURR

My "first week of October" got off to a really slow start! Seems I just couldn't get myself in gear.  I had a birthday I'm another year older...so there's that.  Aging makes everything harder...compared to my younger self.  Not comparing me to anyone else just to myself, what is hard for me may be easy for you, what is easy for me may be hard for you, that changes with time for us all...

what's missing in this photo?

Yep it was a challenge to get that line down...but now it's gone to the trash I wrapped it up in a brown bag so hopefully when it gets to the landfill no bird will get into it there and I also found that piece of weed eater line, and tossed that in too.  And notice spider's web still intact!


How many ducks? click to enlarge

I have yet to see the first arriving sparrow! Saw some low counts reported on the lists of coastal county residents but none here. We had this scorching record braking heat wave this week and it is now it has come to a close...Thank goodness, really hope that's the end of it, we have 8 months now before it comes again in 2020!




See the kayak stands on the far left of this shot?  Park employees put these up about 4 yrs ago...BUT the distance is too far apart for the kayaks they rent...the kayak will fall off... they never came back and to change to the proper distance apart...Question? When you make a mistake do you just shake your head, walk away, and never try to rectify it? 

Eastern Phoebe

Took this at the new County Park last week...this is the Wateree River...and I just noticed the arm of a guy (far rt) who was metal detecting...in the water! Never saw someone do that before.  This rock should be full of cormorants or gulls, yet---?  I see some white wash wonder who made that?

Had this immature Bald Eagle at my radius  hotspot today,  pretty far away

And last week when I checked the Racetrack pond, the volume was low, looks like a young a Red Shouldered Hawk on the ground hunting frogs, insects, and who knows what else...

red shouldered hawk, based on the reddish patches at the shoulder

Im digging those leg feathers...

Cattle Egret hang out with cattle, but mules really should not be put in pasture with horned cows!

Notice huge gash on mule's rump...and the sharp points on his pasture mates horns!  Strange bedfellows sometimes can be dangerous.



We're fostering 2 youngsters they come every day to the field and they overnight here too...they graze, play, and sleep...I didn't go outside to try for photos, thru the window shots is what I have..this is today's nap time. They still have spots and my research tells me they lose the spots at 3-4 months of age so these are brand new creatures taking their turn at life on Earth.  Each one having their own personal experience...as I look at the little deer he is experiencing the smell of the grass, the warmth of the air, the rustle of nearby birds, and they hear me walking around in my house with their big ears.  They are having thoughts and they are here with intention not by accident...they know who they are and where they are and what they are doing. They are living beings with family and friends, and a purpose in life. 

Sometimes an adult is nearby.  I have some old horse watering buckets.  A cool drink would be a good thing and I think they would appreciate it.  

Wood Duck Quizz = 6 one just visible on the far right in front of the shrub

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Field Trip

I'm trying to stay connected to my 5 Mile Radius.  In order to become more familiar with the outlined area I divided it into quads to make it easier for me.  It' still hard to know when IM in or out of my Radius..lol I need one of those ankle bracelets to sound off when I drift out of bounds. 

OK without further rambling, my Field Trip. I call it a Field Trip cause it centers around some fields.  I have found 3 major sorghum fields and the birds found them too! Nothing rare or even unexpected but fun to find out where everyone is hanging out! 

If I had to describe my area it's very rural, and if the words tobacco road mean anything to you then you sort of have an idea, although there's no tobacco being grown here now...cotton yes. 

an HDR filter added to this gives the barn a pop. 

I wanted to make a movie of my week...and I actually started it but I got so distracted with the "stuff" of life I lost my focus...and I never finished it so I will try to highlight my week here with a mixed bag of media.

There's 3 big sorghum fields are in Quad 2, 3, and 4.  

This is Quad 3, I scared about 50 dove outta this field...

Flock of Mourning Dove and one sitting in a China Berry Tree

and then down another dirt road...

another old home place...

^Eastern Towhee & below female n male

The fields are surrounded by woods so the birds are in and out of the field and back to the trees to rest and take cover...

Eastern Phoebe 

and many Song Sparrow 

Mostly chipping sparrow by the 100's! But getting them on film is almost impossible, they rarely sit still...

here is one resting

ALL the Sparrows blend in so well it's difficult to see them in the field..here's a song sparrow to prove my point...

The field in the Quad 3 had Field Sparrow in the mix...

Im always happy to find them in the flocks...

And out on the road a Hermit Thrush hops around...

Some of the birds stand out a little bit more...

And not all were after the seed heads, some were after insects that were out there...

A really fine week of birding, I did visit my one hotspot weekly, and although there was no grey box in January to fill up (June & August need work) I made a nice green line on my own Jan bar graph and my 5MR Patch species count is up to 50 since Jan 1 and I hope to add more by the end of the month. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

SO, What's UP?

Okay October went so fast, and now it's November already? I've been laying low...doing what has to be done and resting when I need want to. I recently told my sis that I live a very exclusive life, meaning many things are excluded...haha...to me it's a luxury to have a couple good meals a day and a comfortable place to lay my head.  Simple is what I strive for, sometimes the outside world draws me off and destroys my tranquil existence. For now I have restored hozho, balance. 

 Here's what's up in my little world...with some photos of a recent soul soothing walk around my local State Park, Goodale.  My version of the Navajo's Blessing Way. 

                                           calming water

After dinner Laptopping:

Most of my net time is spent creating a blog post, reading and commenting on your blogs, uploading photos to Flickr, arguing politics on Facebook, reading and responding to email, and visits to Find A Grave, Ancestry, and eBird. That and a few searches sums up my interaction with the outside world! 

          

             good reflections 

daylight hours:

Are mostly used up doing chores around the homestead, chopping wood for the nightly fire, keeping twigs picked up  out of the yard, and doing some painting at Mom's, getting her screen porch spruced up a bit, so when she returns home she will be super surprised!  Speaking of Mom she is doing very good, still in good health and recently celebrated her 93rd birthday!  There's  the occasional trip to town for supplies, I always have bins full of twigs to drop off at the trash dumpsters and occasionally I bump into people I haven't seen in a long time. 

                                        Bright cheerful colors

New Toys:

A new angle grinder is now in my shed! (thanks Mom for the birthday money) Very handy for sharpening tools, and I'm sure I will find many more uses for it.  Got it for 20% off at Harbor Freight.  It is an inexpensive one but I don't figure to be using it on a daily basis so it should serve me well. 

AND:

For my birthday I received: the complete box set of all 6 seasons of Breaking Bad! Absolutely loved/love that series...it is fun to go over it frame by frame. The fact it was filmed in beautiful New Mexico is a bonus too.

AND: a new portable DVD player to take along when I 'm out traveling...if you recall I blew the other one up in a charging mishap.  The new one has blue tooth earphones! SO if that jerk (you know the one I'm talking about) is running a generator I will still be able to hear my DVD of the night!

                                     a peaceful Eastern Phoebe 

 Some recent evening activities:

Watched almost the entire PBS series on the Vietnam War.  I knew classmates who were drafted and sent away to Vietnam from my high school back in '69 and '70.  I wore my POW bracelet, and I just wanted the war to end.  This documentary put the entire era into sharp focus... conclusion: It was a complete waste of life on all sides.  :o(

Currently watching the PBS Frontline Report on Russia and Putin I hope this can help me understand that issue more. Being informed is important to me.  

AND just for the hell of it....watching The Walking Dead new season (8) has begun!! YAHOO.  It's a wonderful hour of mindless mayhem, where one can cheer for the good guys even tho the line between good and evil is very blurred.   Our heroes are fighting back  against Negan and his authoritarian regime.  

The leader Rick made a speech.  

"those who would kill, take, steal, and carve out the world only for themselves, we will destroy"

Wow, we need someone brave enough to say that in real life!  I'm wishing for a super hero? 

                                           a  quiet still cormorant 

 I'm having a visitor! It's going to be wonderful, my baby sister is coming for the whole weekend!! I am excited! It's kinda quiet around here these days just me and the dogs...so some laughter, and some chatter and to actually have someone speak back when I'm talking will be kinda nice! We have planned a day trip for Saturday so hopefully I'll find something of interest to put in this blog!

Next thing you know it's gonna be Thanksgiving, and then the silly season and then a new year. 2018 wow.  In February I will celebrate the 10th anniversary of this blog! I must do something mindblowing to commemorate that milestone. 

How's your daily grind going?

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Fall, Revisited

When I arrived home it was cool and blue sky, marvelous....then BAM...it changed,  had a couple weeks of sucky weather,  fall out from Nate. It gets really crazy during Hurricane season in the south...you never know when the weather will turn on you...I'm only just now getting a handle on all the dead wood and over grown shrubs and hedges around here.  I have been making busy with lots of  trimming of branches and other stuff...and even the gate is overgrown...

                                                      filling up the trailer with trimmings

Another chore: a large limb fell and smashed a section of my aging yard fence.  I headed to Lowes for supplies to fix it up...found out it was cheaper to buy this damaged section than to start from scratch so that's what I did...one broken picket made this 8 ft section half price...fine by me cause it will blend in better,  other sections have broken pickets...

                                                   once it's weathered it will blend right in

                                                             eastern bluebird

       I can tell from this shot the new door panels I put on the bird houses have been squirrel chewed!! WTH??

Here is another hunt n seek shot for you, the Northern Parula I mentioned,  they summer here so it's not rare to see one...but rare for me to catch a photo of one...do you see it?

                                                                  Northern Parula 

A DIY project I'm glad to have behind me:

The storm door that enters the screen porch had to have a doggie door.  There was an old doggie door missing the flap in the shed...my X removed the metal bottom panel of this storm door and got rid of it...so I put screen in the bottom and that worked for keeping bugs out but the dogs couldn't get out without me coming out to open it, I used to keep it slightly ajar, but then a bird got in and that was bad...so that didn't work out.  I made a new bottom section of scrap wood...and fashioned  a flap from a vinyl place mat! It works!  Another $80 saved, more like $180 in this case you can purchase a storm door sporting a doggie entrance but it is not cheap. I did it for $1 for the place mat at the Dollar Store.

                                                  dogs can get in and out and no birds and no mosquitoes 

Hard to get a crisp shot anymore with my ailing camera...even a still bird close as this Northern Cardinal is blurred! BUT for now I'm still using it! With all the car repairs I had this past year, I'm trying to wait as long as possible to replace this camera...and that means the one I want to get is getting older and cheaper :o)

                                Three deer sneaked into the pasture the other day I sneaky shot of one. 

                                                               white tailed deer

So after almost 2 weeks of HOT humid horrible weather, it improved, chilled down in fact I've had to use the heat!  I'm  outside again tending to chores and cutting up firewood.  

                                                                 I have a lot in common with beavers 

 I saw this Yellow Throated Warbler,  Got this  photo but at least I can add it to my yard list.  

                                                   Yellow Throated Warbler

                                                       

It was so backlit I ran it through an editing program just to see what it was...glad I did cause I thought it was a yellow rump which is pretty common here, but after the editing I could see the yellow throat, the wide bright white wing bars, and the black face line including the eye...so a new yard bird for me. Normally I see these when I walk around Goodale State Park in the spring. 

Picking birds outta the twigs is hard with any camera! 

                                        

                                                             White Throated Sparrow

See that dogwood tree trying to bloom? That's how warm it got; the buds that should wait till spring started to open...

I've enjoyed reconnecting with my yard birds....here's our Carolina Chickadee...looks like a Coal Tit to some of you I'm sure!

I get daily visits from our State Bird the Carolina Wren.

...here is one I don't have to go far to find, just check my feeder and he will be there the Tufted Titmouse with his ink black big eye...so much more colorful than the Juniper Titmouse I was seeing in Colorado...but not as cool looking as JO's Bridled Titmouse down in Arizona!

Another common bird (but not in large numbers in my yard) is the Eastern Phoebe...a couple have been hanging around fighting over the best mosquitoes...

e phoebe

The Eastern Phoebe

Today I was chasing Ruby Crowned Kinglets around the yard I counted 5 in the Holly bush out back...they can hover almost like a hummingbird and they are super small...

Then up on the dead limb the Red Bellied Woodpecker was knocking quite loud...pecking out bugs..this shots shows why it's called Red Bellied!  

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Good yard bird friends!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.