Alone Again, naturally...

 I'm Home Alone...

 Well almost!  Just me and 7 of my closest friends...3 grouped up for photos..




After 4 days of drizzle, the sun came out!   

 

       

 the path has returned along the banks of Twenty Five Mile creek

               the flooding situation receding...

 

I think it's down by about 5 ft? This is the top of the sign from last visit, and the sign now...

        
    

Funny how I never really wanted a cell phone now I feel lost without one...
I broke my phone this week...Blame Murphy! Murphy Gas that is, I was trying to download the APP so I can save a few cents per gallon, in that process long story short my phone was destroyed so I'm waiting on a replacement and Im already fretting about how hard it will be to get it up to snuff! OMG not looking forward to that.  Can you recite anyone's phone number? I can't!! But I used to have them all stored right in my hippocampus. 



I hope this is the last load of firewood I have to split...IM really tired of it at
this point..urggg. 

 Friday, I went to check on the Wisacky Beaver Dam 

 Y'all know I have a vested interest in this particular dam, and all looks good.  It was a cold blustery day a few birds were around... enough to make me smile!  This little Song Sparrow  was standing right on the dam...

I scared a couple of wood ducks upon my arrival all I heard was them leaving in one great swoosh of wings beating on water...The road going up to the cemetery, Broad Branch Cemetery is right by this wetland that's how we found this spot...we photo'd that cemetery last spring if you recall the one where the snake came out from under the stone?  I spun through the 2 big mud slops that seem to never go away and found a dry place to park and do a little exploring..

This view of the pond is from the side that borders the cemetery...I walked down, the bank is pretty overgrown lots of brier, and such...

I'm happy for that, no good for fishing off this bank...so better for the environment to keep fishermen and the trash and line they leave behind ,OUT; I wish I could slip a kayak in and paddle up stream tho...

Think I found a beaver slide area...this spot...not only is it in use, there's evidence of active cutting taking place for dam material..

Very happy I explored because when I checked the Eagle nest from this vantage point I found it occupied!  THRILLED ME. 

last year this nest fledged 2 chicks if you recall my visits to it...  (postings by month/year on right side bar)

I checked found nothing in January, so maybe they were a little late getting some eggs laid or I just didn't see them.   But I def saw one chick's face  poking up from the nest today in this shot..and the adult was feeding a fish..

And from another angle...

The dirt road takes you through the cemetery and out to another black top that straddles this wetland...and on the opposite side I disturbed the nesting of a Red Shouldered Hawk...

A little video of the ruckus...I didn't hang around cause I didn't want to upset the family more than I already had I wouldn't have even known the nest was there if the bird hadn't started screeching.

Before I left I scanned beyond the trees and I think I have spotted the Beaver Lodge,,,he/she is pretty far away from the dam, and is in a protected area opposite the highway...hope you can make it out in this shot...look beyond the scrubby stuff that is in the foreground...it's big!

Now I know where to scan for the beaver! But unfortunately there is a house almost directly across the road from this vantage point up on a hill...I hope they are clueless about the beaver.  Most people seem to be clueless about wildlife right in their own backyard.

Saw other birds around, and another big flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds in the field, the wild mustard plants are starting to bloom, so pretty! 

And on the way home the Timber Creek Wild Turkey flock is back together again!  There was about 30 of them scattered around this field...and I found one hole in he trees to get a look through at some of them...

This day started out being a sad and lonely day where I was missing all my loved ones...I'm so glad I decided to go to Lee County and found some special friends to help me get through it.

 PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

March Madness?

"You don’t need to be a doctor to immediately realize how we feel better when we are outside, in nature."

and it is so...



finally got some Toms displaying...love is in the air for sure.



Just as figured I got my yellow throated warbler in the 5 mile the very next day after seeing it in Lee County at the Wetland by the cemetery...found it in my hotspot Goodale SP.


if the Video does not play you may click here https://flic.kr/p/T6TwKW

I've had black n white warbler right here in the yard no photo dang it he caught me when I was outside with no camera with me...also had a prothonotary answer my phishing! No sighting yet but I'm hopeful...If I don't see him by end of March I'll add it on the heard only. 

And here is another sign of Spring...the E Tiger Swallowtail the plum tree in the pasture is blooming and bringing in the pollinators. 

Had a really beautiful fox squirrel in the 5 mile radius...his tail was so amazing!



I didn't get him and his entire tail in this shot!

He was sooo lovely! 


if the Video does not play you may click here https://flic.kr/p/24CvCg8

Had an Anhinga at the hotspot also this gives me 6 with the Prothonotary that I have not reported yet as I want a photo...since ebird says it is rare, but truthfully it is NOT rare in this park...saw the first one ever in my life right there many years ago.  So to be sure it was the Prothonotary I played the call and got a few answers in 3 different directions...exact replies...but up so high in the pines I could not get my eyes on it under bleak skies...Hopefully the sun will return and I can get a photo. They will be moving on to swampier digs when the spring moisture dries out...I really gotta try for this one.  Maybe I can get a recording if not a photo.

BEFORE


AFTER



 so simple eh?

Today was another gloomy cold day and I tried one stop to refind the Prothonotary and no go...must keep trying.
I really need a string of good weather to get my March Bird Brackets to move up!  Here is my kind of March Madness. 

This post is defying all my attempts to format so who knows what the end product will look like.  ON A weird note, the prism in my binoculars suddenly came loose...it was rattling around inside the left side.  I was able to disassemble it and reattach the prism...but now the focus wheel is out of whack as I took that off and have not been able to get it back right yet! I will keep trying but it could be that I have NO Bins that are in good shape...my old ones have a blur to them so they're no good.  

Peace
Everyday 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.

Game Plan

My February birding is off to a slow start so I plan some sort of strategy .  Got my Wild Turkey flock...right where they should be...BAM and the next day another flock....ebird said that's a large number for this time and location, BAM photo showing all 27 take that!! First new add for the month!

 followed by the Loggerhead Shrikes, 3 to start with then BAM 2 more for a total of 5 so far this week.  Two of them only 2 tenths of a mile down my road!

..and even got his call on video, not the best due to the distance he was away but it's the first time I've actually heard one call! Very hard to hold the zoom still...

Spring has hit us and I hope the rest of the plants and flowers will hold off because we know it's only a tease, ANY kind of weather could arrive without warning. 

  

This month our Challenge is a photo.  That's a tough assignment with my camera in it's current condition! (focusing issue) BUT I will submit 2 of something end of the month.  

got this pine warbler n BLUE sky pretty decent

So my strategy is to make a list of what is coming via the migration and to look at my past sightings that were within my radius and hope I can find it there again, and I could check other birders lists by species to see what they are finding.  

This is one my locations...the road was freshly graded, but that makes it soft and easy to get stuck "knock on wood".  The Throughfare Branch runs here so it's kind of birdy...be a good spot to check for Prothonotary Warbler soon.

Here is the branch if you listen carefully you can hear the rushing water, it is swampy so many warblers love this type habitat...only saw the Pine in there on this trip but more will come (I hope)

I came across this old cabin in Quadrant Two of my 5 MR...looks like it has been here a while eh?

One contender put it this way, a 5 Mile Big Year and actually that is what it is! Wow.  Some of my def reliable birds will come nest right here in my yard so that will be easy.  Others will be sheer luck if they show up again where they have in the past.  So a game plan is in the making.

This Blue Jay was having a shouting match with one on the other side of the road don't know if you can hear the whole squawk fest, it's so wonderful to be a witness!! 

I decided to make my photos bigger since you can't click and enlarge, so a bit sticks under the edge of the right margin, but I think I like it.
Until next time... 

. 

All things come to an end....Tioga George passed away and David of the Direction of Our Dreams lost his long battle , and last May Lynn of Winnieviews lost her battle also....I respected each of these bloggers who didn't give up on life just because it got tough.  RIP and my condolences to the families.   

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.