May Day!

I'm happy  to get this week out of the way.  The SHOT I will let  you know later in this post how it went.  

my Earth Day pick up was an entire bag of cans dumped on the road in one spot!  ALL picked up and recycled now! I pick up trash every single time I go out in nature not just Earth Day.  Im tired of  some lazy ass who thinks Nature is a place to trash?? GROW UP!

I had a quiet weekend at home I worked on my bike rack put new straps on it, because a squirrel did a job on it when I had it stored in the old shed....for a cost of $7 I bought strapping replaced it, and it works fine, but I have anxiety with it even tho... I don't want to worry that the strap comes loose and it falls off so after my shot tomorrow I will  see if they have one at Harbor Freight, the website says they do but I will see.  

The Pink Moon from my deck

I did replace the bike front Gear shifter did not make a video because I just didn't want to mess with the camera and I didn't feel like speaking.  Some days I do not speak to another human in fact most days I do not speak to another human, I do talk to the dogs, the birds, the squirrels. 

And even dragonflies, and Im perfectly fine with that...

It took a lot of fine tuning to get the bike to change gears properly...tweaking the high and low screws and making sure the cable was the right length.  What a dinosaur piece of engineering...lol BUT it works.  So I took it out today.  Put it on the rack and hauled it out to Sandhills.  

Perfect day the sun was warm but the humidity is low.  

I had planned to ride thru 2 areas, so I parked and off loaded my bike.  I am having problems with putting my binoculars and camera around my chest like in a sling manner.  They press on my neck I think of poor George Floyd as the pain becomes unbearable...I think I want to find a Velcro attached  tote of some kind, so I can whip it on and off of the front handlebars.  I want something soft but with a foundation I may end up making one myself.,,so a bump can't send my stuff flying,  I want to be able to whip it out fast. 

While getting things ready I heard this....My ears perked up!

And I was so very excited, the Bachman's Sparrow! Not just one but many calling to each other.   I found one close enough to get a photo.  

Bachman's Sparrow

It was nice to hear so many and to know they are flourishing, I hope they have a successful nest season. 

And then off down the trail...Almost immediately there is a tree across the path..

  had to bush whack around that and then eventually I arrived at the back of Pool D. 

SO many birds were singing  A Great Blue Heron took off, along with a Wood Duck, Orchard Orioles were already protecting territory and Eastern Kingbird was really belting out a song!!

"OH I just love Spring Breeding," I think that is what he is singing.   

I parked the bike and went tromping around I scared an Eastern Towhee off her nest...they nest on the ground or in/under a short shrub, I had no clue I was so close to a nest...but once she flushed I moved away. 

 Common Yellow Throat scolded me and stayed mostly hidden...there was a pair. 

Back at the van I moved to a shady spot for lunch this is one of my favorite spots to sit and listen to the pond,,,

I enjoyed listening to Great Crested Flycatcher whistling up high in the pines, and the Frogs calling,.,

A blue Grosbeak showed up to take a quick dip in the pond,.,

I moved the van to the photo blind parking area and rode the bike down to the blind,,,

I didn't expect to see much but I was wrong, the Dutch Iris was in bloom...

I stirred up a couple of Grey Catbirds, they seemed to be defending a nest site as well

And an Osprey sailed in to see what he could find from his perch,  

On the way back I had wanted to pedal the road by the lake but there is no way to get from the Blind to the road with the bike, it's been plowed and where it's not plowed it's briars.   By then it was hot so I made my way back to the van and packed it up for the day.  

The  butterflies love the Spring Thistle

I am enjoying incorporating the exercise of the bike into my nature and bird  outings.  

So I had the shot, it was crowded but they had their process down pat so once my name was called I had the shot then 15 min wait n see they made an appointment for my second dose that will be 3rd week of May. I have my white card with one check mark, and after that I stopped and got the bike rack will have to show it to you when I get it assembled. 


Since I was on that side of the river I went up to the Lake and Dam...

an Imm Bald Eagle soared over the river 

Singing up in the leafy tops was the White Eyed Vireo..

The Cliff Swallows found a couple of mud puddles to help shore up their Adobe Condo's lined up under the edge of the generating station...

Some birds had more luck on solid ground...like the Brown Thrasher...

AND with all the skeeters and gnats we need every Blue Grey Gnatcatcher we can get

A splash of Red is always welcome...

Northern Cardinal...

Wilma sent me on this short cut from the river to the lake, turned out to be a good short cut 

I heard Bob Whites singing, as well as Field Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager and the Prairie Warbler..

and a good thing for me got my FOY Indigo Bunting and the Yellow Breasted Chat...

And he was singing his heart out...I just listened to Joe Biden's address to Congress...a real President laid out a wonderful plan for our future; I only hope the GOP will realize we are  in ALL OF THIS TOGETHER not just the pandemic, but all of it, what holds one down holds us ALL DOWN. The economy will only flourish when we feed it, by giving a decent wage to those who don't get it...that means more spending and more spending means more bottom line GDP.

WiN WiN 

 IF that is not the truth then why did the Republicans  support the TRUMP stimulus? ?????? And tax break to the rich?? ANY break for individuals mean more spending in shops, eateries, and saving for a rainy day so how can giving people more money to spend put a business out of business?? ITS trickle UP people,,,we all know that is how it works, You give me more I spend more then I need more services keeping my new Home up etc...

AND the DEMS supported it also because spending is how our economy works.  THE GOP is the obstruction party they are in a word USELESS to the f this country. Their platform is to keep people down why do you think they don't support the child care portion of the bill?? They think Women should stay home with their kids not go off to work and be independent WHY else would they NOT want to help people with decent child care???? What is the problem with that?? And it's an attempt to keep minorities from having a family and realizing the American Dream. 

Until voters (US) are able to squash this rise of the bigotry and the double talk of the Right, we will get no satisfaction as a Nation. The Right Wing of this nation is the Taliban of the USA!

Hope your week was as interesting as mine was. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

WoW Great Week!

This week started with a trip to the airport..

To pick up my sis who is visiting! Im so happy to have her here with me.  I have become quite the hermit and it's good for me to have to speak in entire sentences again! Not to mention she is just a  fantastic person to spend time with. 

Monday took sis to the sewage pond so she could get her lifer Surf Scoter...Score for her!  Since we were in the area we checked on the Eagle Chick at the Beaver Dam area...he has Fledged but remains in the nest..parents were still nearby so this is good news we saw him in flight.   

And later that same day we hit Lee State Park, we had sun there...

This beautiful Red-Bellied Woodpecker has such beautiful color..

More White Breasted Nuthatch sightings...and we really enjoyed finding this guy.  

A very still Hermit Thrush always great to see....and we had our FOY Blue Gray Gnatcatchers also...I was not able to photo them...

This is the kind of thing we do together.  Tuesday we hit the county park, and the Wateree River Access.  This is the area where all that flooding had occurred a couple weeks back. 

sis in the pines

the river is back into it's banks and the birds are enjoying the aftermath...

An Eagle snags a fish outta the lake, 

And this was Osprey day as we saw them everywhere we went...this one was not wasting any time eating his catch. 

If you ever wonder what a superman looks like here it is...I don't know this guy but I like him!  He picked up all this Fisherman Crap and he is challenging everyone on his facebook page to do the same! 

My kind of guy!!

And of course we always do the same thing...we both picked up huge bundles of this death trap for birds. 

Bonaparte Gulls enjoying the rivers feast...not much sun in this photo it looks almost like Black n White.

Wednesday we drove south on the dreaded I-95 to Santee NWR for the day and we took a sunny hike to the impound ponds. The nature trail leads to the ponds of the Bluff unit,  we ended up with a 4.7 mile hike, kinda kicked us cause it was nearly 80 and sunny!

...lots of duck out there too faraway  for any decent photos.   We met another birder, Julie she is the # 3 birder for this location (sis and I are tied at #7)They just reopened for the Season May 1.  She shared her scope with us....and I realized later that was not smart due to CV-19...Gee living in this day and age is a whole new ball game.  

sis and Julie way down the road...

We had Ring Neck, Northern Shoveler , American Wigeon,  Green and Blue Wing Teal, Northern Pintail, American Coot, and more. 

In the brushy edges dozens of Song Sparrow perched and teased us along with many other species...like Field Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Eastern Meadowlark, and in the canals that followed the path Wood Ducks and one Barred Owl called from the woods.  

Finally got my lifer Sedge Wren thanks to our new friend Juile, who told us this corner was good for them and she used a playback and bam, there it was, happened so suddenly I got an awful photo of him...Until I get a better shot this will have to do we did get good looks but only seconds long. 

FOY---Yellow-throated Warbler...been seeing these everywhere we go.

An immature Bald Eagle was stirring up the ducks...

Blue Wing Teal 

imm B. Eagle

Thursday we stopped by one of my favorite AG fields...had various field birds...and then to Goodale park for a walk around heard the Blue Headed Vireo and after we did our grocery run.

Later I didn't feel well...Pollen is here and I  think too much sun the day before.  We postponed a day trip we had planned for Friday and got a later start so I could re-evaluate how I felt..and then around 11 we went up to Liberty Hill WMA to check on that habitat. 

 Nice and easy stand or sit on the bridge and bird both sides...we had the entire place to ourselves, and found 33 species of bird. 

 Now this is the life!

 Nice to see Great Blue Herons Standing up tall on the nest.  Three nests in all...

Also nesting was a pair of Canadians....

 Red Headed Woodpecker coming out of a nest cavity..

We pulled out our picnic lunch on the bridge and enjoyed a sandwich and watched the wildlife go about their day. 

A Red-tailed Hawk, landed nearby...

And later we took a hike and found Wild Turkey and two FOY Black n White Warbler.  

And with a face only a mother could love the Turkey Vulture! 

The Yellow Rumped Warbler ^ and Another Yellow throated Warbler below. One flew down on the ground and I finally got a look at his back, it's just such an amazing bird, the back is grey with the black and white stripes...its gorgeous.

We have had so many great days of being out and about we birded till we dropped...and tomorrow the day trip of today is rescheduled.  Plan is to be out at 7:30 am when the sun is coming up because I can't see to drive in the dark!!  We had a really great week the weather was awesome, and we made the best of it. One thing is missing tho, that's our other sis...WE miss and Love you!!  Hope to see you soon. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.