Summer Safari

I headed out early this morning to one of my favorite haunts, Nayanquing Point Wildfife Refuge.  I decided to walk a trail I have not visited before.  It was a perfect morning…the only sounds were the breeze and the birds, the sun was shining but it was not yet hot.  And the birds were plentiful.  Here a some shots of the birds, and the flowers, and the critters……..

Here is a catbird…

And a ring billed gull.  Not that they are uncommon…

Not sure who put the bees here

Staghorn Sumac…

And a cute little bunny wabbit.

Crown Vetch

Maybe my favorites of the day, the Belted Kingfisher.

Thanks to lovely wife, the wildflower guru, I can now identify this as Birdsfoot Trefoil.

Ok, maybe this is my favorite of the day.

Never turn down an opportunity to take a picture of a Great Blue Heron.

Several Tree Swallows perched in, well, a tree.

Uh oh, maybe THIS is my favorite of the day.  A Common Tern in flight.

I never did identify this pretty purple wildflower.  I did not ask Wendy for help with this one.

Lets end with a Great Egret flying overhead.

It has been too long since I have gotten out for a quiet walk and safari.  I am glad I made it today.  The beautiful cool weather made up for the scorching heat of later in the day.  I am glad you stopped by.  Please tell your friends, and let me know what you think.

Some Random Images

It has been quite a while since I posted, so I thought I would get caught up with a few random subjects.

Camping With The Chips

If you have followed my postings over the last year, you will know that whenever I take my family camping, we are followed by Chippy, the cute little chipmunk.  Well, a couple weeks ago was no exception.  The only difference this trip is little Chippy seems to be getting bolder, and decided to visit our campsite.

That trip we had another chip in our site as well.  A bold little chipping sparrow spent most of the weekend foraging around our firepit for crumbs and seeds.  So allow me to introduce….Chipster:

Visitor To Our Front Garden

Recently my wife and I were puzzled to see some of the flowers in front of our house moving in a strange manner.  It looked like a tiny raptor escaped from Jurassic Park and hid in our flower.  Eventually the culprit came out and made an appearance.  Turns out it was just a baby sparrow that had just fledged and left the nest.

A Couple More Random Pix

Here are a couple more just for fun.

Found this little butterfly while on a walk during the camping a couple weeks ago.

On the same walk, I came across this wonderful bit of fungus on a rotting log.  Even fungi can be beautiful!

Thanks for visiting.  I will try harder to post more frequently.  Thanks for you patience, and please come back again!