And That's How Plants Spread

I spotted this Hermit Thrush out my office window. And watched as it was singing.

Which I thought was kind of odd, singing this time of year.

Turns out it wasn't singing. It was puking.

I watched as it spit out red berry after red berry. 

WTF?

By the time I realized what was going and grabbed the camera it was over. I had seen it spit out six (!) berries, and it had been there 'singing' for a while before I looked through my binoculars and saw what was going on.

Alas, it was spitting on the rock path around the Fish Pond, so these will not sprout (or they'll be yanked up).

Meet The Neighbors

I woke up Sunday morning, had a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, and then decided to go for a walk. It was a bit chilly, in the thirties, but no wind. Perfect.

And I was not the only one who thought so.

I heard* them before I saw them, as I approached the road down our back driveway.

These birds:

Helmeted Guineafowl. A species native to Africa, but one that can be found on farms throughout the US, including now the horse farm next to our place.

Which is fine by me, as they are known for consuming ticks. Lots of ticks. I hope they visit our yard, plenty of yummy ticks here!

Why did the Guineafowl cross the road?

To bask in the morning sunlight of course.

~~~~~~~~~~

* They are known as good "watch birds" and will make quite a racket when something is amiss. Like a stranger approaching, or a fox in the yard. And they seemed both alarmed and curious about me as I headed toward them.

Yard Critter of Last Friday

A Red-tailed Hawk.

I spotted it from my desk as I was getting ready to have lunch. Of course the wrong lens was on the camera, as it was still configured for the eclipse shots earlier that morning.

I then had to find an angle that did not hide the bird behind one of the many branches. The first shot was taken from the dining room, to get a shot before it flew. The rest from the kitchen.

And I was just in time.

As flew it did.

The right place at the right time.

A year round resident in these here parts, this is the hawk most likely to be seen in our area. And often seen while driving, roosting on telephone poles. 

We often see these birds soaring overhead and occasionally, like this bird, in the trees in the yard. Although, again like this bird, they don't stay put for long. Or at least not for long after we notice them.

🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

Banquet by Fire and Moon Light

The average temperature for this week was 42.3 °F. Chilly.

The high on Thursday was 74.7 °F. Nice.

So we sat out on the deck, fired up the fire pit, poured some wine, and enjoyed the evening.

Just like our cave dwelling ancestors used to do.

And as we were enjoying, the full Moon rose to the east, on a path to intersect the Earth's shadow later that night into morning.

The iPad sure has quite a few more smudges at this angle.

And the iPad was there so we could enjoy the DVOC virtual banquet, and although while the weather report was wrong about rain during the eclipse, it was right about rain that night. So we enjoyed the keynote speaker from the dry comfort of our living room.

Ironically, the talk, and it was a very good one, given by Holly Merker, was about Ornitherapy, one of the main tenets of which concerns the benefits of spending time outdoors in nature.

She was preaching to the choir.

Look, Up In The Sky ...

... There be stars! (You may need to bigafy the images.)

Usually when there is a pesky full moon the stars are hidden by its brilliance.

But tonight, the Earth conspired to hide the moon, and the stars were there for all to see!

🌕  ⭐️  🌕  ⭐️  🌕

Last week my friend Jerry asked what I was doing for the upcoming Lunar Eclipse. "Probably sleeping" I said. At that time the forecast called for rain. 

And even when I went to bed Thursday night, the forecast was still calling for cloudy skies. The forecast was wrong.

So Patty and I woke up just before 4 am Friday morning. But I had screwed up the time. I had read 4:03 am as 4:30 am. And thus I was scrambling to get set up and get some pics as I had missed the point of maximum eclipse. 

I did see it. I did not photograph it. The two shots above were taken around 4:15 am. The first an exposure of .25 sec, the second of 2 sec. Taken from my deck. We watched a bit more and then went back inside to sleep some more. I was tired when I woke up and I'm still tired now.

But I was worth it.

Daily Screech Owl Picture

Bonus two day edition!

Thursday the owl made an appearance, after not being seen for several days. 

And it was back again on Friday.

Very cool that it is still around.

🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉 🦉

This past Thursday was the DVOC annual banquet, held virtually for the second year in a row. And during the informal portion I mentioned about the owl and how it comes and goes. And at the meeting a member, Dr. Richard (Rob) Bierregaard,  who studied such things, explained that owls often have multiple roosts and they pick the one closest to where they finish hunting for the evening. So there must be good hunting around here.

Hermit Thrush

I had been seeing this bird in this Beautyberry bush just outside our kitchen window.

Staring back at me not unlike in the shot below.

But every time I went for the camera, and was lining up the shot, a White-throated Sparrow would chase it away.

Every time but this one.

The exorcist bird ... pretty cool that it can turn its head that far.

I wanted a shot of it eating a berry. Maybe next time ...

🐦  🐦  🐦  🐦  🐦

Hermit Thrush and American Robin are in the same family, but have very different habits. The Robin is a gregarious species, as shown in the Robins post, there were probably thirty or so birds in the yard and visiting the Dogwood. The Hermit, as the name suggests, is a solitary species. We've had as many as two in the yard at a time. But the both enjoy berries.

Sparrow Season

In the previous Sparrow Season post I noted that there were two more possible species, and that I would let you know if either showed up.

This one showed up.

A Fox Sparrow. I was under the Beautyberry bush, and I spotted it once a White-throated Sparrow finally chased the Hermit Thrush away.

I managed a couple of pictures, none all that great. And after this brief encounter I've not seen it, or any others, since. Which is unusual, as once one shows up the others are never far behind. 

And Then There Were None

Well, technically one.

This one:

A Cooper's Hawk.

It showed up, and all the other birds disappeared.

🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅

Thanks to Sandra Keller for confirming my ID.

Robins

Just off our deck, we have a Dogwood, which replaced a Service Berry (relocated) which replaced a Sweetgum (taken down), has been a favorite destination of American Robins this fall.

There are at least five in the image above. The image below shows why.

It's the berries.

Very yummy if you're a Robin it seems. The flock pretty much de-burried the tree.

Hood Ornament

On my walk to the Thompson-Wright Preserve I came across this:

And I've nothing more to say.

Hail

I noted the cloud build up in the Thompson-Wright Revisited post. 

I'm happy to report we made it home before the assault commenced.

While at the Preserve I received an alert that severe thunderstorms were on the way.

And so they were.

The report from my weather station. Extreme.

The leaves in the image are about a half inch wide at their widest.

This went on for a good ten minutes.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Crazy.

This was the most significant hail storm I've witnessed. And the wort I hope hits our place. I can't image what a storm with golf ball sized hail would be like.

Although the weather geek in me thinks it would be cool to see. As long as it was somewhere else, and not here.

Thompson-Wright Revisted

I noted in the Thompson-Wright post that that visit would not be my last. And true to my word I visited again this past Saturday, this time to just to explore. And Patty came with me.    

I walked from my house to the Preserve, and while I was waiting for Patty to join me I noticed this sign. Specifically I noticed the nails. Either this is very hard wood, a weak hammerer, or there is play left for the tree to grow out. I suppose I'll need to check back in a few years to find out.

The sign was on a sand road leading into the western side of the Preserve.

But today we explored the eastern side. Note the clear blue skies.

Not sure what this strap/belt is for, but it has been there for some time.

My old Kentucky home .. it looked as if the color had been sprayed on.

We've noticed this pattern in oak leaves before while wandering in the Pines.

Patty drew a connection to the fungal pattern. Coincidence?

Clouds are rolling in ...

Piney engineering.

The roads are surprisingly well maintained. Perhaps because of off road vehicle use? We heard, but did not see, said vehicles during our explorations.

A road not taken, at least not by us. It may connect up with South Firelane Road. 

It was obvious that maintenance had been done on the roads/trails. It was also obvious that it had be awhile since it was done.

Not clear if this was 'maintenance', accidental damage, or the work of some critter.

Along the northern edge of the Preserve is a deep ditch. The bridge built by the Piney engineers spans it, and the Road not Taken traverses it. And the above image is of an old water control station that connects the ditch to the Burrs Mill Creek, the water flowing under the sand road. I wonder the last time anyone used it tp actually control the flow (it was wide open when we passed).

The end of the road (and thickening clouds).

Or at least a gap, the road bisected by the Burrs Mill Creek.

The view from the other side. An approximately mile and a half detour.

The Creek the road I live on is named for.

A nice way to spend a morning. And I doubt this will be our last visit.