A New Setting for a Stroll

A new place has been added to my daily perusals of potential birds down here.  It is the Air Force Recreation area which is right in Kure Beach.  Recently they  have upgraded all the housing and it looks just beautiful.  They actually hold festivals down here a couple of times a year.  Late in the afternoon, I can often find birds flitting around and quite often a number of deer.  A couple of days ago the latter was the case!!  They seemed to be does and many fawns and in several separate places.  They were curious and I thought they might come right up to the car as several were headed that way.  I see deer down on the island a couple of times a week and am very cautious driving at dusk!!

Here is one of the cute fawns although he  no longer has his spots.  He and a couple of others were literally playing in the field which would have been better with video!  You can see his size from the fence behind him.

I did catch them mid-play here.  They were dashing all over the field.

Just a closeup which didn't even require a telephoto lens!  She came right over to the car to see who was there.

I was surprised at how good a picture of the bluebird I was able to get.  There always seem to be a lot of them at this location.

There has been quite a bit of rain both this month and last month down here and this has created ponds where there weren't any before and this was true of the recreation area which housed two newly created shallow ponds.  Here are a Dunlin and the much smaller Least Sandpiper.

This is one of the Dunlins.

This is a closeup of the Least Sandpiper.  Would have been hard to identify if it hadn't been the size comparison with the Dunlin.

This is a slightly blurry Semi-palmated Plover.  I see these down at the basin fairly often but hadn't seen one yet this year.  

There were lots and lots of Killdeer and thought this was a particularly good picture of one.

Down by the shoreline, I caught a glimpse of this Great Black-backed gull.  We see this frequently down here.

I am still gimping around down here.  It has been two months and the elevator despite vast infusions of cash is still not working....I'd get angry but not sure it would do any good...  It is driving my husband crazy as he is pretty sure he knows what is wrong, but the guy won't listen to him -- my husband is literally gifted at mechanical things which this guy is not...

Just Some Walks in This Beautiful Fall Weather!

I think that the Boat-tailed Grackle males are really pretty with all the iridescent hues. It was a cloudy day so you could really see them.

My daughters were both here last week and here is Aunt Lisa with my granddaughter Amelia who is getting bigger and bigger.  Luckily we had some great weather for most of the time she was here so she got to swim in the ocean (yes, the water temp is still about 70 here in the Wilmington area) and go fishing with her granddad.  We also had her other grandparents here for a couple of days!

A Snowy Egret was fishing right next to the pier.

A couple of Ruddy Turnstones down at the pier at Ft. Fisher.  First I have seen this season.  They really are prettier in the summer with their more distinct coloring which can be said for a lot of the birds.  Luckily a lot of the ducks look better in winter!  Starlings are another bird that is much pretty in the winter time.
  

There were also several Royal Terns and this one was banded but I couldn't see a number of letter on it.

The common Forster's Terns were also down there.

In among all the Ring-billed Gulls and Laughing Gulls, there were a few Herring Gulls and I am sure I will see Black-backed Gulls soon as well.

As I headed to the Museum grounds at Ft. Fisher, I saw several Eastern Phoebes so they must be migrating through.  They and the Yellow-rumped Warblers are the last to go through.

There were lots and lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers skittering around through the trees and on the ground.  I didn't see any Palm or Pine Warblers though.

My biggest surprise was a small flock of White-throated Sparrows that were foraging right in front of the parking space I had in the lot!!  I hadn't seen one before either here or up north so new life bird for me!

Just a closer look at his very distinctive markings.

A Walk at Greenfield Lake

A week ago now I headed to Greenfield Lake which is almost in downtown Wilmington.  The trees were not as colorful as previous years but still but on a bit of a display.  

You can see the beautiful blue skies through the trees.

There were beautiful azaleas blooming but few butterflies as it was probably a bit late in the year.  There are  azaleas that bloom in the spring and fall down here.

There was a Red-bellied Woodpecker as well as another of the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in my first stop in the park.

There were lots of Palm Warblers near the azaleas.

There was a Grey Catbird who only briefly showed me the red spot under his tail!  He was foraging on the ground but stopped for a couple of poses.

One of the Sulphurs posing on one of many flowers.

Back in Kure Beach!!

Well, I am back in Kure Beach and was greeted almost the first day with 22 Ibis grazing across the street!  Here are two of them, a mature one in the background and a juvenile in the front.

Before we arrived down here, they had several days of rain and more rain and this Killdeer was making himself comfortable in one of the newly formed ponds that met me in many places.  He wasn't by himself either!!

There were quite a few Monarchs feasting on this bush down at Ft. Fisher.  There were many bushes like this but this seems to be the one that attracts the butterflies as the next day it was covered with Buckeyes!

I am continuing to see quite a number of Monarchs so am assuming that they are migrating through still.

I have been seeing lots and lots of Bluebirds down at Ft. Fisher as well Palm Warblers.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are pretty common everywhere!

I was very surprised to see a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers down at Ft. Fisher.  They were really quite far away and I didn't identify them until looking at the pictures when I got home.

Here is the pair of them who nicely posed for me!  I haven't seen this woodpecker for years and it is a first down here for me.  I have since seen them in a different place!

A Visit to Chihuly Museum - Part II

 No narrative is necessary here.  These were the gardens at the Museum and the weather (slightly overcast) was perfect for picture taking.  The fall foliage was in full color as well,  So will just post the pictures.  At the bottom is the Space Needle and the Museum literally sits underneath it.

 My beautiful daughter who accompanied me to the museum!

Looking up at the Space Needle, a leftover from the Worlds Fair in Seattle.

If you look closely at the ball, you will see the reflection of the Space Needle!