August in the Rockies

The new norm!  My camera won't allow tight zooms much anymore! So....

western wood peewee

At least there is an interesting background to this distant shot...and this was on the fence when I traveled through the valley, so they were close enough, shot through the windshield...

western kingbird and an a female Baltimore oriole birds of a feather don't always flock together...

black billed magpies if you wanna see the yellow billed magpie you gotta go to Southern CA, my sister said that would be the only "reason to go there"...lol she was kidding of course, but I think she was thinking of how hot it is there. 

certainly was not hot when we got up on a rainy morning...

I have enjoyed watching these juvenile ospreys.  

One day when I went one of them was exercising his wings...

and when I returned the next day he was gone...

I haven't been to check the nest since last week so I'm sure this one is in the air too by now...Did see another adult with this huge catch nearby...

this little pond is at the rest area I mentioned...

view to the east

and to the west...lots of habitat for insects too

a kingfisher flew over I snapped and this is the result....not a great look at one but he had his wings back in perfect formation...

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that was last week...Monday we went on a family picnic and a tube float in the Reservoir.  No Photos of that as I was in the water!  here is our site, what fun although we found a lot of mud at the put in area so next time we must find a mud-less put in, the swimming area is probably better but dogs not allowed in that section.  THE girls and Jimmy loved the swimming. Casey slept in the van while we played. 

Yesterday I drove up Castle Creek Road for a peek at what was there...found LOTS of awesome.

it's stunningly beautiful up there....I had planned to bird  at ACES, (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies) in downtown Aspen...omg Aspen has changed since the world found out how awesome it is...not my cup of tea any longer.  I recall us going to junk shops there in the 80's and finding street parking right outside the store NO MORE that was the good 'ole days.  So happy I found this awesome place of solace.  Once tourists find a place it is ruined forever, ie: Myrtle Beach. 

 since the Western Flycatcher was split I found  the Cordilleran Flycatcher.  It's counter part is the Pacific Slope Flycatcher. 

these violet green swallows enjoyed being on the ground 

finally got a decent look at the plumage on these birds, that's an immature bird on the right 

And here is the Rufous Crowned Sparrow.

the mammal of the day was this coyote, he had a lovely thick coat 

This is one extremely pretty spot...I was the only person up there that day...

today I went for a hike....next post the Grizzly Creek Trail, and more. 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Mattamuskeet NWR

I think it was writing about how I get sea sick that made me wake up Saturday morning at 06:30 with Vertigo!! OH boy everything was spinning...I dragged myself out of the motel, no way I wanted to pay for another day so up and out I went barely able to stand up straight..I headed East on 264 slowlyyyy from Wilson I didn't get far till I Had to stop.  I found Goose Creek State Park that sits on the northern shore of the Pamlico River ... the sign said sites 1 & 4 are open (small 13 site primitive campground)...so I parked in 4 got in my bed and fell instantly asleep.  Awoke 2 hrs later feeling much better! Got up stirred around had some lunch and then drove up to the Ranger station to pay...

Them..."Site 4 is reserved"

Me..."Sign says its open"

Them..."Oh it must have been reserved last night, and the Ranger didn't mark it as Reserved"

(the online reserve thing won't allow a reservation unless its 24 hrs in advance, so there is no way it could have been reserved the prior night it had to have been done 24 hrs ago) 

Me ..."so I will take #1 then"

Them..."sorry someone just came in and took #1"

Me..."So you got nothing"

Them..."we're sorry"

This reservation system, for me personally is a PIA--can't they keep at least half for walk ins? So its like this: if I screw up and don't reserve, Im screwed, If they screw up and don't mark it as reserved,  Im still screwed..either way Im screwed?

I was feeling too poorly to argue so I left.  Glad I took this photo of the campsite when I woke up... it was a pretty site...

site #4 Goose Creek CG

LOTS of red headed woodpeckers this one surprised me, not a great focus but look at the perfection of red, white, and black.  

red headed wood pecker

So getting sick sort of messed things up, I had to rearrange some plans, I ended up not going to Pungo Unit of Pocosin NWR, or Alligator NWR Must go back as Black bear and Red Wolf are in those refuges!!
Mattamuskeet NWR was not too far up the road, I thought I had a 45 min drive from the motel I was wrong!! I had mis-calculated and it took me an hour and 45 mins to get there from the motel, and counting the 2 hrs I stopped and slept, and all the other messing around I got there at 3 pm. Mattamuskeet is located on Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in Hyde County, NC.  Mattamuskeet Lake is NC's largest lake and located in the NWR.  Hwy 94 divides the lake into 2 bodies of water.

On the Wildlife Drive, which is only a couple miles, it was windy! Some Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, and Canada Goose,  all present  in the canals  and in the mud.

Great Egret

                                        snowy egret, little blue heron, glossy ibis, female grackle

Snowy Egret 

                                                                       Immature Whiter Ibis 

 Fosters Tern, Red Winged Blackbirds, Eastern Kingbird, lots of common and boat tailed Grackles, and Osprey, are a few more of the birds I saw and was able to catch a shot of...

                                                                             Foster's Tern  

                                                                      Red Winged Blackbird

                                                                               
                                                                               

                                                                               Osprey 

DEER 

The wind got worse so I headed north on 94 to find Pettigrew State Park and hope for a camp site! Found a note on the board, site #10 and 12 are open SO I took site 10...

                                                              more on that in next post!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Some videos in the Everglades

I made a tiny change to my blog page did you find it? The Campground at Flamingo sure could use a makeover...IF it was fully functional it would be easier to get a reservation.  My  reasoning is when I tried to reserve 2 days I had originally wanted to be there on Sat & Sun, it showed a Full campground on Saturday, I know weekends are not the best time to arrive, but it just worked out that way so I ended up booking for Sunday n Monday...instead Its a reserve only campground..AND yet when I arrived, I discovered there is only ONE loop out of the 3 in use for Tents and small set ups and one loop for the larger RV's. Loop B & C are not in USE and being allowed to grow over!!  And these loops didn't even show up on the reservation page yet they stood empty when I arrived....SO sad to see our National Parks system fallen into such a state and only 100 yrs old, We the People have been sitting with our mouths shut far too long, and the constant threat to us of having our Public lands destroyed, sold, given away its the FOR REAL American Tragedy if we can't turn this around!! 

There is a walk in area and its quite large but it was closed due to soggy flooded ground...  There's solar heated showers in Loop A and in the Walk in Area, I showered in the walk in area, and I got a site in loop B where NO one was camped...except one host who did not follow the rules of keeping his dog on leash nothing like having a huge Golden Retriever completely ignore his owners shouts to come back as he Barrels straight at me and Casey...you never know what a dog will do Casey wanted to attack which could have drawn an attack back I shouted at the dog and he finally left us alone, I went over and told the fellow I didn't appreciate his  breaking the rules he said sorry  heck I just wanted to embarrass him!!  Sorry really doesnt cut it.

The Florida Bay...

The park needs a good restoration, it could be brilliant again with just a little investment... MOSQUITOES were very active and would eat you alive if you stood still for more than 15 seconds and I hear summer is worse so best to go when a good chill is on.

                               

There was at least one Royal Tern with the black skimmers...he was napping in the warm sun

The Bay is really beautiful with lots of aforementioned black skimmers and white and brown pelicans..

The White Pelican and the Brown Atlantic Pelican with a brown neck

Other browns have the white neck non breeding is the way I understand it. 

LOL I really like this capture a cormorant with a FISH in his beak with a brown and white pelican in hot pursuit!!

Right by the walk in area and the first shower house is a snag with an active Osprey nest in it...a pair maybe  has eggs, I didnt see any hatchlings...

Here is a shortie of the pair, the male has a fish, he won't share tho...she tweeted a couple times asking for a piece when he ignored her she took off to find one of her own...

I took a few videos on this trip and I havent shared any!! This one I like wish you could hear the sound of him splashing....

And another video of the white fishing...

Also on the grounds of the walk in area is a coconut palm tree just the one 

This is another Osprey I found by the marina, he also had a fish for dinner, 

You can just see it in the right side claw...

We went in as soon as the sun made its first dip due to mosquitoes, I don't normally make a fire cause I don't like the smoke, but I did make one to try and chase away some mosquitoes it didnt work, Casey and I were swatting skeeters all night!!  It got cold and I had to use my Mr Buddy heater but then it got too hot so had to turn it off...after a not so sound sleep we awoke to this sky outside our window...

Lucky tho it did not rain it cleared and we had another sunny day with a strong wind..

Next our second day in the Everglades. 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.