Saturday, April 30, 2011

Tulip Poplar flower

Howdee all,

When I go looking for Morel Mushrooms, one of the trees I look under are the Tulip Poplar trees..

Water droplets and flowers_104The trees have these beautiful flowers

Water droplets and flowers_106Most people don’t see them because they are high up in the trees.

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Sometimes wind will take a few down to the ground

Water droplets and flowers_109…and then I can enjoy how beautiful they are.

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Morel near a Tulip Poplar

Sickstas g_033Today is our Bittersweet departure from dear Sicksta and Craigys..

We are on our way to West Virginia

New River Birding and Nature Festival

May not have internet,or much time to blog..

…So if not…See you after the festival!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Water droplets on yellow

Howdee all,

Guess what?

Water droplets and flowers_085

Yep

Water droplets and flowers_086More

Water droplets…

Water droplets and flowers_101This time on Yellow..

This below is a Cytisus flower

Water droplets and flowers_102And a yellow Iris..

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Drippidy~ Droppidy

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Liquid jewels

I think of earrings when I look at these droplets  below..

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A fuzzy orange tongue

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Lapping up the droplets…

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Terrible tornadoes again….Luckily none in our area.. 

I was up most of the night as the weather radio went off about every hour with an alert.

My heart goes out to those who lost their homes, businesses, family and friends…:(

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Jeff and I leave North Carolina on Saturday….

always Bittersweet…

We are heading to West Virginia for a week to attend the New River Bird and Nature Festival…then onto Ohio for the Biggest Week in American Birding.

Warbler Heaven:)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Cassin’s Sparrow, Scotland County, NC

Howdee all,
When I read online on Facebooks new ABA Area Rare Birds group created by Chris West that a first record for NC Cassin's sparrow was seen just a half hour drive from where we were~~I wanted to see the bird.
Jeff and I have seen Cassin's sparrows in Texas, but this bird was way outside its range.
When I mentioned seeing the bird to Jeff, he wasn’t so thrilled. The Cassin's Sparrow is a rather plain looking bird.
There was a Fork-tailed flycatcher seen the same morning the Cassin's was discovered, but hadn't been seen since… I thought idea of seeing a Fork-tail flycatcher might be more appealing to Jeff as it is a Gorgeous bird and would be a life bird for the both of us…
Cassins Sparrow in NC_003
I knew the chances were pretty slim on seeing the Forkie…but..it got us out there to the Cassin's. :)
Clouds near Cassins Sp_001 We followed the directions from The Carolinas Birding List and put in the GPS coordinates..
They were spot on..
Clouds near Cassins Sp_003The second we drove to the spot we heard the Cassin's..
Clouds near Cassins Sp_004There was one other car there…a father and son.
They told us that two Cassin's were singing earlier…
Very interesting. The talk on the listserve is that the droughts in Texas etc..could have them deciding NC is a good home.
Subject: Cassin's Sparrow range
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:03:49 -0400
Cassin's Sparrows have long been one of my favorite sparrows.  I have 
fond memories of waking up to their songs while camping in western 
Oklahoma. Thanks again to Gil for finding and bringing everyone's 
attention to them.

It is always risky to speculate why a rarity has shown up, but with two 
Cassin's Sparrows in the state, one has to wonder.  Cassin's is native 
to short and mixed grass prairies with some larger plants - shrubs and 
yucca - from which to sing.  This area is mainly in western Texas, 
Oklahoma, and Kansas and eastern Colorado and New Mexico.  Populations 
tend to fluctuate greatly, often in response to drought.  The drier the 
year, the further east they nest.  Interestingly, most of their normal 
range is in one of the strongest drought in years. Of course, "further 
east" is usually central Oklahoma and eastern Texas.  Who would have 
thought North Carolina!!

John Dole
Raleigh, NC
Cassins Sparrow in NC_007Here is what Daniel, posted on the listserve later in the day..and a link for photos..
Subject: Cassin's Sparrows, Scotland County
 Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:35:45 -0400
After finding the longspur at Fort Fisher, Dad and I drove up to Slate Circle to try for the Cassin's Sparrows. It took us a little while to find the right field, but once we did both Cassin's Sparrows were singing as soon as we got out of the car. We got great looks and bad photos of one of them, and heard the other one. Link to photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/WhiteEyedVireo/CassinSSparrow41611#

Daniels dads photos are much better than mine…As the distance was great and I just have a point and shoot with 20x …
See the Sparrow?
Cassins Sparrow in NC_004Here..let me crop the photo…ha..oh there it is! Cassins Sparrow in NC_004
We actually had great views in the scope….theirs, we didn’t bring ours~ mistake…I could have had a nice digiscoped photo of this bird, as it sat quite a long time singing in the same spot.

Clouds near Cassins Sp_005
This Savannah sparrow was much closer …
Cassins Sparrow in NC_023
I did take a video of the Cassin's ~which is much nicer..because the best part of the whole scene was hearing the bird….a beautiful song…and also the displaying.


So here you go…listen to the video…
I had no tripod..only a monopod..and keeping it still was difficult..so bear with me here…
Note~at the end of the video the~ Skylarking
There were some storm clouds coming in from the west ..
Clouds near Cassins Sp_007It started to rain..
Clouds near Cassins Sp_010
It was time to go…
Oh..and no Fork-tailed flycatcher

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Water droplets on pink

Howdee all,

I know what you are thinking…

MORE WATER DROPLETS????

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Yes, more…

Water droplets and flowers_031They are so lovely on this pink Dianthus aren't they?

Water droplets and flowers_034Wet Jewels..

Water droplets and flowers_036With antlers.. :)Water droplets and flowers_039

Be fair warned…More Water Droplets to come..

oh…and lookie what have we here?P1060577

I was walking with Ballie yesterday in Sickstas back yard…and as I always do, looked for Morels, because…its that time of year and you never know…Well, low and behold ~in the woods just a bit~there was a lovely little Morel…a few looks around and a few more were found…I will be looking around a bit more now!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Water droplets on red

Howdee all,

Here is a continuation of my fun morning with water droplets.

Water droplets on red Dianthus flowers.

Water droplets and flowers_043

How many water droplets can one small flower hold?

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I was surprised to see so many..

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The flowers still strong under the droplets weight.

The way that some of the droplets looked reminded me of a strawberry..

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A jeweled flower..

Water droplets and flowers_053

Holding on to its jewels..

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Until the sun dries them…

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Or a breeze takes them to the ground…

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Sunday, April 24, 2011

After the rain~ water droplets on green

Howdee all,

It rained on Friday…
Saturday morning I had fun with water droplets.

Water droplets and flowers_002These are all taken with my point and shoot using the macro mode.

Tiny seashell water droplets..

Water droplets and flowers_004

I took lots of photos…

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This post are my droplets on green

Water droplets and flowers_009

I have four more posts of droplets~yeah..I got carried away..the droplets were so beautiful…I couldn’t stop taking photos..

Water droplets and flowers_054The next four posts will be droplets on flowers

Water droplets and flowers_004 (1)

I enjoyed looking at how the droplets settled on different types of leaves..

Water droplets and flowers_069On a windy day these would have blown to the ground….

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This particular morning was very still and the droplets stuck to the leaves like little jewels..

Water droplets and flowers_075A green hill of droplets..

Water droplets and flowers_082

Water droplets and flowers_083Lined up in rows…

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The next two are similar…I just couldn’t delete either

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Do you see the heart droplet in the center of this leaf?

Water droplets and flowers_060Here is a closer look…Water droplets and flowers_061

Two droplets

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Another angle..

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I love all the sizes of droplets on this small leaf…

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I hope you enjoyed my water droplets…

I really enjoyed taking them…

Come back again to see more….

I wish you all a very

~HAPPY AND JOYOUS EASTER~