2011~The year of the turtle

According to the Chinese zodiac the official animal for 2011 was the rabbit~but for me it was the year of the turtle. It seemed everywhere I went I'd have an encounter with one or more. Red-eared Sliders were found both close to water where they like to be but also one made its way through my yard which was a mystery as my yard is high on a hilltop. Eastern Box Turtles were found both in my backyard safe from vehicles, but a handful needed to be rescued out of the highways as well.

Here are some of my favorite turtle photos of 2011, I couldn't list them all as there were so very many. I hope you enjoy this collection.

Wishing all a very happy and healthy 2012. I'm very excited to find out what my animal for the coming year will be.

A little bit of time for some exploration

With the record heat this summer, its sad to say but I have not had much desire to go out exploring.  Sure, I think about it and that's as far as it gets.  I know I have missed so many wonderful happenings out in nature.  When I knocked off working this afternoon I was just itching to get out, even just for a few minutes.  That's about all the time I got, soon after arriving at a local county park thunder was heard in the distance and rain started heading our way.
There were lots of lovely water lilies close to the shore.  I was glad to see them--they have been doing an extensive 'clean up' of the brushy areas in the park--the places that I love to explore.  Good to know they didn't touch the lotus.

I just can't help but think of ET whenever I see one of these seed heads from the American Lotus.  From the looks of broken off stems, somebody must like them and have picked them to take home.

Lots and lots of dragonflies flying about this afternoon.  These two stop to take a break and seem to be sizing each other up.

Butterflies and more butterflies.  This Spicebush Butterfly has definitely seen better days.  Huge chunks of its wings were missing, but it didn't seem to have a problem flying from one buttonbush bloom to the next.

Last year, they had cut back these lovely buttonbush plants to the ground.  Thankfully, they had let them grow back for this year~~the butterflies were all over them.  Here a Tiger Swallowtail feeds alone...not for long.

This second one thought that the first one had an extra special flower and wanted a taste of it as well.

Such a short visit today~as it was time to head out I spotted this Great Blue Heron feeding close to shore in the shallows--looking for a tasty meal~~~maybe a small fish, maybe a frog.  It stayed in place for a while--but not long enough while I fumbled with the settings on the camera.  Just as I was about to take a shot at it, it decided to take off--it ended up being a pretty cool shot anyway.

Wings and things

I've tried for many, many years to get photos of hummingbirds, but they always move much to fast for me or leave the feeder just when I'm ready to get a shot of them. A few weeks ago, I got lucky. Right before I was to take this feeder down and switch it with a clean one, I took a break on my front porch-camera in hand. On this evening the activity at the feeder was pretty good. Here are just two of the half dozen that were flying around the front feeder~the activity at the back feeder was also good.

These are juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the most commonly seen hummingbird east of the Mississippi River. They come to North America for their breeding cycle and I've been lucky enough to find one of their tiny little nest a few years back. The adult males with their shimmering red throats have already made their journey south to their wintering grounds. I'm jealous of the folks out West, they get a wider variety of hummingbirds. Strictly a "New World" bird, its always a pleasure to see these flying jewels. But these cute little jewels have an aggressive side to them and are extremely territorial.

The hummer on the left kept trying to get a drink of the sugar water mix~meanwhile the one that's in midair kept trying to get it to leave. A few times the midair hummer would actually try and land on the other's head to get it to go away.

After a little while things seemed to settle down and they realized that they could enjoy some 'juice' together.
As of today, we still have a few of these juveniles hanging around the yard. Soon, they too will be gone for the season. For the 10 years that I have been tracking their arrival and departure dates from three different locations in Middle and West Tennessee, the second week of October is when they usually leave for good.

Speaking of birds, here is my next project that I need to get started on. Its a Snowy Owl suncatcher and a custom order. Once its completed, it will measure nearly 14" diameter. The owl will be sitting on a snow covered log with snow on the ground around it. The background will be a deep cobalt blue with a full moon split in half by the trunk of a tree. I've been excited about building this piece for some time~but my customer requested that they did not want it until November at the earliest. I can't wait until its done, depending on how things work out I might build one for my Etsy shop.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, peaceful Sunday.

A good week for some big beautiful bugs

This past week has been a wonderful week to find some big beautiful bugs around the neighborhood. Sunday started with the visit of this amazing Monarch butterfly. I was so excited to see it! Its seen here feeding on a plant called porterweed, an annual in Tennessee. It seems to be a favorite of butterflies.

I found this wonderful colorful grasshopper a few days later. He's quite large, probably 2-3 inches long. I don't know the name of this guy, but I like him anyway. Great color combination of red and yellow with black. It almost looks like he's been lacquered.

The neighbor's garden has bloomed some wonderful mammoth sunflowers. Some big bees were enjoying the tiny blooms of this beautiful happy flower.

Friday's beautiful bug was a Green Clearwing dragonfly happily resting on some iris leaves. I love dragonflies but they always seem to get away from me as soon as I try to photo them. Luck was with me when this guy stuck around for a bit of relaxation.

Barn Swallow Colony

There's a culvert right smack in the middle of town that I've been wanting to check out for a while. From the activity on the outside of the culvert I knew that there must have been some good things happening down below. Hundreds of swallows would be flying around on the outside of the culvert and then flying to the inside. Sure sign of an active Barn Swallow colony.
So, I brought my camera with me when I had to run some errands and I was not disappointed with what I found. Above is a view of the outside of the culvert with lots of tall grasses and other native vegetation that acts like a giant magnet for the flying insects that make up the diet of swallows. The name swallow is interesting and pretty descriptive. These birds fly and catch their meals on the wing-that is while they are flying and swallow them. Sorry that I don't have any pics of the adults in action-they are much too quick for me.

Above is a view looking out from the culvert. I'm quite happy that the city has left all of this to grow wild and not sprayed it down with poisonous chemicals to kill it all off.

Here is a view of the inside of the colony, half of it anyway. Both sides are lined with nests. These birds are pretty social in the fact that they build their nest relatively close to their neighbors. The nests are located about 6 feet apart from each other-the brown spots up in the corner that run the length of the wall. There's also evidence of nests that have fallen off the wall, but on the day I visited I couldn't see that any newer nests had fallen to the ground.

I've come to the conclusion that these birds are pretty darn smart in nest building habits. First, these nests are protected from the elements~no heavy rains beating down on the nests, the hot summer sun not broiling the babies, no high winds to shake the nests loose from tree branches. Second, nest predators like snakes and squirrels would have a hard time scaling the smooth concrete walls to get at an easy meal.

The nests are built from mud and grasses that the nesting pair collects with their little beaks then attached to the wall. Hundreds of trips are made to collect the mud and shape the nest and when they are finally finished they let the mud dry for days to harden like a brick. Then, they will line the nest with soft grasses and any other soft materials that they find, like the molted feathers of other birds to make a soft cushion for their eggs.

Its learning about stuff like this that has made me a true freak of nature.