A very Blustery Day...

Im continuing to unearth many of my old post photos and made a wee bit of progress...It's a way to deal with the combo rainy weather and cold air.  Texas is under a deep freeze we just dodged the bullet on that one, our temps hung at a balmy 39F while they got the icy cold temp drop and it sent them straight to hell no power, frozen water, slick treacherous roads. But for the grace, there go I...so I must not complain because you guessed it, could be WORSE. 

What it does mean is I have been housebound for 5 straight days!  I birded from the back porch trying to photograph rare birds, at least now they are rare; 8 days ago they were not...and even with clear photos no confirmation from ebird, yet lists with no photos confirmed.  Are US Senators now ebird reviewers? 

it was taken thru the screen wire and the pouring rain but you can clearly see what it is.  

Any reason for not confirming this as 2 Purple Finch has no merit.  So the Purple Finch and Pine Siskin, didn't get the memo to leave on time.  Probably due to the cold wet weather, they said no thank you to heading north and who can blame them?  On the 6th day I drove.  Finally this happened...

clouds lining up to get the heck outta here,,,

My favorite Vernal Pool took a beating when the owner decided to cut down and bush hog the edges...there used to be trees all along that far side, now gone....don't think the Green Herons that nested there last season will appreciate that but a couple of killdeer did...

 We are now promised 4 days of sunshine, if we don't get it well lets just say the local tv weather guy is gonna be getting a lot of hate mail...lol "do something" well the thing is we need to stop calling it global warming, and just call it weather change.  The birds don't leave, the sun don't shine, and the deep South freezes.  Is it possible we are in a cycle that is taking us to a new Ice Age?  It is highly possible, since in 2012 we finished up a 26,000 yr cycle.  We are clueless about what could be on the horizon.  

a farm field, full of water...

Then the wind blew HARD and it pushed those clouds outta here!! 

                                   share croppers cabin Lee Co, SC

The flashing yellow light town of Patrick, SC. along my route today...under a chilly blue sky. They have a cell tower!

Since the wind was not going to allow me to scan trees looking for birds, scanning water may be easier was my thinking so I went back to Paul Wallace Lake, 

A brisk wind continues...so I parked right here and opened up my lunch pak and had snack...I arrived just before noon, after the snack I went for a walk, before the chill drove me back to the van to warm up I found a few things to report...

One was a Yellow Rump pumping this tail?  NO It's a Palm Warbler, FOY on that one...

This Mallard Female, showed me  her pretty eye,

T his Ring Bill Gull was not flying he was riding a current in the air...

After this I moved the van to the other side of the lake, just in time to see a huge flock of Common Grackle fly over...

Hundreds of birds....

Then my attention went to the water Ring Necked Duck still around,  

I spotted an otter about that time one quick look and he was gone, I could not relocate him in this choppy water...got one really awful photo of him when he gulped down some air before diving...

The lake was also full of American Coots 

And more Bufflehead than my last trip...this one allowed me to get close...

On the way home I stopped at the site of Dizzy Gillespie's boyhood home...the house is gone so it's like a small park surrounded by small humble homes...he was born in this town of Cheraw, pronounced Sure-Raw. 

 Standing water so I didn't walk around and  get my feet wet. I will stop again on a dryer day. 

Back toward home I stopped to show you the Great Pee Dee river in flood stage...

for your viewing pleasure...

And a Kestrel on the wire is always fun the wind had his feathers in a ruffle. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Latest Patch Finds

After a slow start the first week in February things did pick up!  In January I finished up with 55 species.  (my Feb tics are in Bold) I had 3 new species at the beginning of the month the Wild Turkey and the Loggerhead Shrike..and the Hairy Woodpecker I almost forgot to list! I haven't done too well with taking photos for the challenge, but I sure have enjoyed the search.  I have sought out the soggiest, swampiest, and wettest areas in my patch and it helped get my numbers up...also got some gnat bites...and soon it's going to be mosquitoes as we have standing water everywhere thanks to the wet winter we had.  

I have been taking nature walks about every day...and that's because I need the exercise, and to clear my head of rust.  Im about half way through the month...and I know that migration has already begun here in my area...it's not in full swing but it has started!  Got the Cooper's Hawk he flew right across my path as I drove down the road, then 2 Great Egrets were spotted in one of the private wetlands where I have found a decent viewpoint from the highway, along with the Ring Neck Duck!!  He is not real close to the edge so not a great photo...But I will take it.  And he was there everyday since.  That marked up 6 additions since Feb 1st, then another wetland that straddles a road got me some great birds and some really fine behavior.

This wetland is created by the Thoroughfare Branch...and this spot is about 1 mile north-west of me.  I heard a bird calling and although it seemed familiar, I just couldn't bring to mind what it was so I phished out and got a look though the binoculars of the Common Yellow Throat...
I did not get a photo of him stay tuned to the video at the bottom to hear him....he was too quick for me. I pulled a photo out of my archives for the video...and  Literally hundreds... no thousands of Common Grackles!

I also heard a chip call and on the other side of the road and found...

the Swamp Sparrow.   He really blends in with the reeds.  

The next species I found in my 5 MR was also a common bird but one I rarely see since Im in such a rural area and this bird tends to like more populated areas, but I found the House Sparrow! Got one really awful shot through the windshield of the car, since I was pulling out onto a highway when I spotted the bird.  

I headed back over to the wetland on Memory Lane...parked, got out and started phishing.  Didn't take but a moment to get 2 Blue Headed Vireo's chipped at me...one took off immediately and one let me get some not so clear shots of him UP so high in the tops of the big trees...

And at first I thought I had white eyed...and my photo is not too good, but when I finally got it up on the screen... I saw the little dark patch below the wing bar, and no yellow on face.  And today passing by a private pond just down the road, a pair of Wood Duck drake and hen...love is in the air! 

I've been trying like crazy to find a rock dove! Hope to see some around cattle but so far; nope...yesterday almost got the turkey's displaying...

Really hope I can ride by at just the right time...

down at the clear cut area there is a yellow eyed Eastern Towhee...so that's been fun to find, and he has a mate with him...she is very aloof so have not gotten a decent photo of her so I can study her up close.  

if you enjoy videos, here is my morning at the Thoroughfare Branch.  

Oops I missed an O in the video title spelling ...I will do a month wrap up at the end...hope to add several more species. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.