A Moment of Nature

Our hibiscus is still blooming like crazy down here in this gorgeous fall weather we are having!

Our resident Ibis were right in the yard yesterday as I went to my car and posed so that I could see them up close and personal.

You can see his blue eyes here contrasting with the pink beak.  He is really a study in patriotic colors -- red, white and blue.

I went for my walk down at Ft. Fisher and first saw this sparrow which I tentatively identified as a Savannah Sparrow which has been confirmed.  He was very white underneath and he had that tuft on his head from the wind.

There were a lot of Bluebirds hanging out as there usually are.

Several Palm Warblers were hanging out as well.  There is a lot of construction going on so was surprised to see any birds at all!

This was my best bird of the day -- a juvenile Cooper's Hawk.  I had at first thought it was a Merlin but was conflicted when I saw pictures of the Cooper's.  My FB friends helped me here!

I had to include this picture!!  I knew my father had named a shell after my mother (he was 
a zoologist specializing in land snails) and my clever nephew actually found a picture of the shell in the University of Michigan collections.  My mother's name was Bernadine but she was called Bunny.  It seems that it was not only a new species but also a new genus as well.  My father had a snake that he discovered named after him -- Baker's Cat-eyed Snake.