Saturday, June 30, 2012

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…

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

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Not sure who put the bees here

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Staghorn Sumac…

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And a cute little bunny wabbit.

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Crown Vetch

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Maybe my favorites of the day, the Belted Kingfisher.

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

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Ok, maybe this is my favorite of the day.

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

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Several Tree Swallows perched in, well, a tree.

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

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

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Lets end with a Great Egret flying overhead.

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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.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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

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