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.

Week of Moments

When we think about life and the entirety of it, it seems so short this is why we must reflect on the moments...that is where the reality is The sum of ones life can't be measured in years but must be measured in the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds, and the moments and when that moment is too short we hold onto a memory...my salvation is the time capsule of moments I carry inside. 

Mom and I went to this poll many times together, and when it got hard for her I took her to early voting, and then I got the mail in ballot for her... Super Sad Tuesday for me. 

We had a week of almost solid rain! It totally sucked.  On the good days I went on little short trips to look for whatever moment in time would put a smile on my face or even a twinkle in my eye...or bring back some wonderful bittersweet moments.  On this day that place was a Sewage Pond! Doesn't take much to make me happy!  A Surf Scoter had been reported at a Water Treatment pond so I had to go see for myself.  He is way over in that far corner.

The man who worked there thought me strange, I don't think he has too many women come to stare at this cesspool he overseas, so I explained...and he was impressed, for at least a moment!

I don't know what "clams" this sea duck pulled out of this but he kept diving for something...Since I was in the area I went to Lee State Park and checked on things there had the place to myself ... 

NO wait a moment, I stand corrected. 

high bush blueberry 

 Sometime we have to look for the silver lining even when it's hidden in plain sight...

...and then something moved....

see the Song Sparrow?

can you spot the Swamp Sparrow?


They sure do blend in1  Both very similar but it's those subtle differences that separate them.  An old friend came by to say hello, for a moment, this FOY
White Breasted Nuthatch.

A sweet sleepy Field Sparrow takes a moment to nap out in the sun...im sure it feels wonderful after all the damp cold days we've had and are still having, it's raining and cold as I type this. 

Remember dandelions are our friends...let there be Bee moments. 

..yes they do and some times they leave a little something behind....two cases of the "virus" are reported in our state and one is in MY county! Scary stuff.  

Red-shouldered Hawk fly-by took less than a moment.
I have some some good moments on the horizon. 
Cross your fingers NO RAIN!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

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.