Some New Critters for Me!

When I first saw three squirrels off in the woods, I assumed they were grey squirrels with something white in their mouths.  However, they are Fox Squirrels which I figured out even before blowing up the pictures  They are really too cute for words with those little mouse-like faces.  I have seen them several times now.

I had headed out to these woods at Carolina Beach State Park in search of a Great Horned Owl as I had seen some pictures on FB from birding friends.  I guessed it would be in the same place it had been reported a couple of years ago and headed to the path.  Sure enough, in only a slightly different place this very large owlet was sitting on a branch but no mom was nearby.  They are hard to miss as they are so large!!  They are  22 inches tall according to my bird book.

I went back the next day to hopefully show my sister and her friend March and sure enough, he was about in the same place with the sun shining on him

Just another angle but you can see his bright yellow eyes staring down at me -- he is turned here.  This was the first time I have seen a large owl in the wild.
the only other owls I have seen in the wild were the Burrowing Owls down in Florida.  Next year I will search for a Barred Owl!

I have also diligently for quite some time now been searching for Painted Buntings which I know are down here.  They decided to come out the day I took my sister over so we were all thrilled with this sighting as well!

Even though he is at the feeder in the park, you can see all his colors here which
are spectacular -- like seeing a tropical bird.

I went back the  next day and the male was at the feeder with a juvenile (I think).  What a thrill!

Catching Up!

One of our pretty fall sunsets here at the beach!

I have been down for the count the past couple of weeks with a nasty chest cold that has left me hacking away.  It isn't gone but I am definitely feeling better and finally got out for a walk yesterday.

I don't know whether this is the same Tricolor Heron I have seen before at Carolina Beach Lake or not.  He is really quite striking I think.

Just another view of the above heron.  There was a kingfisher there that day as well but I didn't get my camera in place before the dog walkers scared him away!

There are still pitchers on the pitcher plant down at Carolina Beach State Park but not the beautiful flowers there were in the spring.

This beautiful Orb Weaver spider was building his web in the woods.

I was surprised to find a new butterfly (for me) down at the park - a Grey Hairstreak -- a common butterfly but I hadn't seen one down here before.  

Hopefully I will be getting out more frequently again.  
I have actually started to sew a little finally!!  I have just feel too lousy to do much of anything for the past ten days.  I am beginning a piece I have planned for along time.  Basically an abstract depiction of the beach, water and sky.  I was gifted a packet of fat quarters by a guest last year and the colors just reminded me of the beach.

 This is a different view of the above where you can see more of the orange on the back end of the wing and also the light orange on the front part of the wing.

In another month my ducks should start returning to the local waterways.  I always look forward to that!!  

A Walk in the Park -- Carolina Beach State Park to be Exact!

As most of my ducks have gone back north and my sea birds have disappeared also, I decided to take my walk today down at Carolina Beach State Park.  How cool is it that I live on an island that has state parks at either end (Ft. Fisher is at the other end where I walk about half the time)!!  

Within a 70 mile radius of Wilmington NC, are the only native Venus Flytraps and one of the trails in the park is supposed to have these plus other carnivorous plants.  The soil down here is very poor and acid.  As usual I didn't spot any Flytraps but did see this gorgeous Yellow Pitcher Plant (another carnivorous plant).  The picture does not do it justice as it is about two and a half feet high and the flowers are brilliant yellow.  I had seen the plant before but never in bloom anywhere!  What a treat.

Not a very good picture, but this is another carnivorous plant -- the Bladderwort which is just tiny tiny and grows in the water.  Flytraps are very small as well and hard to spot.  It may be too early in the season as well.

This was blooming all over and I think is Fetterbush but may be wrong.  There were two flowers that looked very much alike but some were white and these were pink. 

This is the white version and I believe this is Staggerbush..  Their leaves looked very similar.  I am getting a wildflower book which will hopefully help me along here. 

I haven't seen ferns before that have these brightly colored spikes of orange.

I couldn't resist taking a number of pictures of the swamp area at the end of the path.  After a couple of days of pretty awful (for here) cloudy windy days, it was back to our expected gorgeous days!  I loved the juxtaposition of light and dark in the swampy area.

This is a closeup of the Yellow Pitcher Plant

Oystercatchers at Low Tide

 Still in search of the Great Horned Owl, I headed back to Carolina Beach State Park the other day but didn't even hear him this time.  However, it was late afternoon on a sunny day and I thought the vegetation was really beautiful so snapped a couple of photos so you can get an idea of what a nice walk it is.  It is wooded and swampy in areas with little bridges to take you over the swampy part.  I am always amazed that I don't hear more bird sounds though as it is such a nice patch of woods.

 Lots of reflections in the swampy area here.

 The Lake remains drained and more so than I saw it two years ago.  I am sure that every Ibis in southeastern NC has congregated there as I have counted at least fifty the last couple of days.  There are always egrets and herons there now as well.  A few Scaups remain but even the Hooded Merganser has deserted.  The Coots are all making do though I think the population is about half of what it was last year.

I try to stop down at Ft. Fisher each day to see if there is anything interesting.  The Red Throated Loon was down there diving in some pretty rough waves so it was difficult to get a good picture -- just enough to be recognizable.

I also head down the end of the island to see if I can spot the Oystercatchers on a nicer day.  I am still having to look into the sun as it is late in the day but was pleased to find not only Oystercatchers (one of my favorite birds with their bright red bills) but several other birds as well.  Some I didn't see  until I reviewed my pictures when I got home.  They are all pretty far away so it is hard to see what you have!

I was very pleased to see my Marbled Godwit again although he was really far away and flew off pretty quickly.  One day I will get a good picture!!

I noticed this Yellowlegs in my pictures when I got home! Too bad I didn't take more pictures.  I don't know whether it is a Greater or Lesser but suspect it is a Lesser Yellowlegs.

I was taking a picture of the gull in the middle here which is a Herring Gull but noticed a Red Breasted Merganser in the background!!

There were lots of Oystercatchers yesterday when I went down there.  Low tide was supposed to have been a couple of hours earlier but I suspect it is quite a bit later here in the sound.

What a handsome bird!!

One facing forward and one the rear view!

In Search of the Great Horned Owl

I headed down to Carolina Beach Lake again to see if anything new had shown up.  I couldn't help taking a picture of these beautiful female Lesser Scaups as they were quite close and the weather was beautiful.

The nice Tricolor Heron was there again posing for pictures and getting dinner.

I ran into Bruce and another gentleman at the Lake and they were doing the Christmas bird count.  This Turkey Vulture and two friends came to the lake right after he left -- do they deserve to be in the count?

When talking to the birders, I indicated that I hadn't seen any owls except for the Burrowing Owls in Fl.  They told me that there was a day roosting Great Horned Owl in Carolina Beach State Park.  After a couple of wrong paths, I found the path they had described and did hear the owl (where it was supposed to be) but alas I didn't see it and I didn't hear it again to determine exactly what tree he was in.  It was very late in the day. I was, however,  treated to four deer crossing the road in front of me in the Park and one stopped to pose.  I will be back.  I also talked to a woman in the park who indicated there is a special area that has been set up where the Painted Buntings congregate.  They probably aren't there this time of year but I will have to investigate before I leave!  I knew there were these buntings down here but so far haven't seen any but now I know a better spotting place!

In Search of the Venus Flytrap!

Well, Betsey and Sue left on Sunday and Mari and I decided it was time to visit Carolina Beach State Park. We are about five minutes away from this at our beach house. We were truly amazed by the size of the visitor center and the many paths throughout the park. We, however, were on a mission to find the Venus Flytrap.

What I hadn't known before this trip, was that the Venus Flytrap is only found within 75 miles of Wilmington NC. In fact, there are many carnivorous plants within this same geographical area! They like the very acid sandy soil. We were told the Venus Flytraps could be found growing in spagnum moss areas.

Well, we saw lots of mushrooms (which seemed really weird in a very sunny, sandy soil) and cactus but no Venus Flytraps. We even called back to the visitor center to make sure we were on the right path (the Venus Flytrap path) and they told us they were very had to spot as they are so small. We tried the path 2 1/2 times and then gave up! We did spot the yellow pitcher plant in the above photo which is also a carnivorous plant.
We will have to come back in the spring when the Venus Flytrap actually has a flower. I am going to try to coerce Lisa and Warren into walking one of the longer trails in the park also.

This I believe is Orange Milwort which I thought was very pretty. It was hiding behind the pitcher plant.

I don't know what this flower is but suspect from its shape that it is another carnivorous plant.

This I think is a Virginia Meadow Beauty.

One of the many pines in the park with the bright blue sky behind.