Carolina Trekker

Rocky eating his breakfast

2010-05-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Birds in my Backyard

2010-05-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is Leaving

2009-08-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is blooming. There will be Fall Trails to wander down and sweet sheep faces will greet us at the South Carolina State Fair.

Morning Fledglings

2009-08-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

This morning I took a cup of hot tea out on the deck to sit awhile in the nice breeze and noticed not a wildbird or squirrel was moving about. My thots were there must be a Hawk in the area.

Four Hummingbirds were sparring over the feeder on the kitchen window. Their teenie poops land on the squirrel house sitting on the deck railing below the feeder. Interesting...never seen that before!

From the trees on the next street over I could hear two baby Hawks screaming and hiss-growling to be fed. It was uncomfortable to hear them sound so distressed. After awhile their cries started moving from tree to tree when here they came gliding silently right above me over the house.

One landed in a tall pine tree in the backyard neighbors yard. He was a huge fluffy adult-size juvenile with little control over his floppy wings. He sat there and continued to scream. His nestmate answered each time and came soaring over the house and landed on top of the Red-headed Woodpecker's tree. A few years ago the wind blew the top out of the tree and it gave the young hawk a nice flat ledge to sit and rest on. The Red-headed Woodpeckers sat in nearby trees bobbing their heads and growling. They have babies in a hole in that tree.

Both young hawks continued to scream and hiss-growl. Not in unison, but back and forth, maybe a way to keep track of one another. I understand the parents continue to feed them for many more weeks after they fledge, but they never appeared.

The young Hawks made their way clumsily from tree to tree and finally soared soundlessly away.

My Very Orange Day

2009-08-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

This actually happened to me today and I sent this Email to my neighbor. Her husband Floyd was mowing and when he's finished he puts the mower in the barn.

Libby, You won't guess what I did.

After I visited with you I came home & dabbled on the computer for awhile and decided I needed to shut it off and do something to move around. So I decided to get the trash together and take it out to the dumpster.

Over the weekend I cleaned out one of the lower cupboards & found a 3# can of Fiber Therapy. It's Wal-mart's store brand for Metamusil. I had bought orange flavor..it was powder. It was FULL. It had sat in that cupboard for several years, so I had set it by the trashcan to be thrown out.

When I was getting the trash together I had a brilliant idea. Dump the powder down the sink, because it would make the trash bag heavy, right? then I ran the trash out to the dumpster & waved Hi to you.

When I came back inside I ran alot of water in that kitchen sink & tried to run the disposal. Nothing. That Fiber Therapy had set up and wasn't going anywhere. It had become a 3# ORANGE BLOB.

I had to scoop that slimy clumpy stuff...three pounds worth...and all that orange water out of that sink & disposal and into my bucket. My hands turned orange. I kept scooping forever...it was like scooping out a slimy lumpy Halloween Pumpkin. I got the giggles like we got in church when we were girls and the adults were frowning. My hands are orange and I have a Dentist appointment at 10:15 in the morning. This can't be happening. The kitchen smells...orange.

I now have a five gallon bucket FULL of orange fibertherapy & water sitting in the kitchen sink. I HAVE to get rid of it before Larry wakes up for the midnight shift.

I am waiting till almost dark to run out in the backyard and dump it. Floyd is back there mowing. I'm waiting for the barndoors to shut. Whew. Ok, I start downstairs to do the deed and FALL on my BUTT and SLIDE down the stairs. It happened in a Flash reminding me of a Bobsled. I thot of you. I was so stunned. I was carrying a half empty cup of celestial seasoning lukewarm tea & it went everywhere & on me. I am ok. Just some rugburn on the left little foot. I was amazed at how it knocked me senseless...i sat there for awhile & finally got up. It is almost dark out, I gotta hurry.

Oh no, the phone rings. It is my brother calling to say he just got a call & is going to be a great-grandpa. We hang up. Now it is REALLY dark outside. As I head to the backdoor with the five gallon bucketfull of orange my thots were...oh please don't let the handle break. Ok, now I'm outside & hurrah...the barndoors are shut.

I sneak around by the big shed and dump the bucket & there on the ground is a five gallon-size lump...on the ground. I'm Horrified. Good Grief. So I run for the garden hose, but now my thots are...Oh, where is that Mr. Hiss the Gray Rat Snake Constrictor who is nocturnal and hunts at night? I first saw him by the deck & that is where the water faucet handle is. I got the water on & hosed that LUMP for awhile, but it's not going anywhere. If you see squirrels or birds tomorrow with orange faces you will know a nice morning snack greeted them to the new day.
P.S. I will sneak out early in the morning & maneuver it into a bag.

Whew. I'm getting too old for this. -Lynn

American Grey Squirrels

2008-08-24T04:12:00.000-07:00

Summer has been busy for the squirrels. During a storm the babies nest blew out of their tree & I found it in the front yard. I carried it around back & laid it on the deck by their tree. It was fun to watch them carry it all back up the tree. Some of the nest material was the coco mat lineing of my flower planter. I peeked inside & they had pinecones stored in there.

The two babies continue to look for peanut butter sandwiches each day and stretch out on their bellies like a dog to nap on the deck railing. A favorite of theirs is apples. We enjoy it when they look in the kitchen window to let us know we are slow with our offerings. On a cool morning I took my coffee out on the deck. Bits of peanut butter sandwich were landing around me.

A reminder that the squirrel kids had taken their breakfast up the tree.

The tailess squirrel continues to forage on the ground around the birdfeeders. He can still be mistaken for a Guinea Pig and it is always fun to spot him.

The squirrelboys are starting their mournful Yowling to attract squirrelgirls & will do a jitterbug in front of one that comes near. Their jitterbug looks like they stepped into a pile of ants & they have the heebejeebies. It's comical to watch.

There are a good number of their Summer Leaf Nests high in the trees where they sleep in the summer. Sitting out in the early morning I have enjoyed watching them leave their nest, stretch & yarn and begin jumping from tree to tree to find breakfast. They throw themselves into the air and when you think they surely have missed they grab the tiniest branch & rescue themselves at the last second.

One summer I was sitting in the yard reading. Loui the cat was under my chair napping. Squirrels were running through the treetops, tree to tree, and one missed. He came straight down & landed at my feet. I was shocked. Loui was electrified and pounced, but the little guy got away. Squirrels are fast.

Nest

2008-04-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday The Rabbit was nibbling grass on the front lawn.

Weeks later a rabbit burrow appeared on a bank near the garden. It's next to a small brush pile of twiggy branches. In this pile the wild mother rabbit dug a hole and lined it with her fur.

Early one morning a tiny rabbit was hopping around in the branches and later in the morning he was tucked back into his nest for a nap. Other mornings found him in the burrow with fur blanketed over the opening. We wonder if there are Nestmates.

Now just a few weeks later two junior size rabbits and their mother were seen in the backyard and garden area playing chase, leaping, standing tall to reach flowers on the shrubs and nibbling new grass followed by tender-to-watch washing of ears and face.

September Sunrise

2007-09-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Baby Nibbles and his Mother our "Wild Rabbit Visitors" continue to come together at Sunrise to nibble grass and forage in the Birdseed under the Feeders. They have enjoyed the Red Sage & Black Eyed Susan leaves and in exchange produce small piles of brown rabbit droppings for the garden.

Baby has grown quite large now and bursts into sprints & leaps around Mom when she's feeding.

They have become somewhat tame and move to a comfortable distance and continue feeding when the flowers and birdbaths need a drink. A loud noise or the Warning Call of the Blue Jay will send them dashing for cover.

Wondering if they are the owners of the Den dug into the Compost Pile by the Garden.

Nibbles

2007-07-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

A very large wild rabbit has been magically appearing on our lawn for the past year.
Living in a housing development, we welcome the squirrels and birds that come, but a wild rabbit is a treat and especially welcome. It wasn't unusual to hear someone say. . .
"Hey, did you see the big rabbit?"

This summer the "big rabbit" left us a sweet gift. Out back in the flower garden with the white picket fence is Nibbles, a tiny brown rabbit. He looks like a kitten with a tiny white powder puff following behind. One early morning sighting found him creeping out from under the big shed, stretching each back leg and yawning. Then he stood up and washed his face and each ear.

The young squirrels are curious about him and get close for a sniff and once over, but seem to be disinterested and go back to foraging for birdseed. He ignores them and nibbles away at a long blade of grass. His high speed sprints and leaps on his short baby legs are comical to watch.
He can be sitting in a spot and in a flashing split second disappear from view or he practices the "freeze" and sits there staring with not a whisker moving.

Sunrise trips to the backyard to fill birdbaths are now rewarded with sweet "Nibbles" sightings.

Baby Robins

2007-03-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

Two fluffy baby Robins
with bright orange beaks
sat on the deck railing birdbath
this morning.

One was dipping
to get a drink
and his nestmate
was drying out
in the golden morning sun
after a nice bath.

Brown Rabbit

2007-03-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Sunset a large brown Rabbit
was poised standing on his hind feet
next to the garden's birdbath.
He investigated a sprouting onion
on the brush pile and hopped
around the perennials in the
garden, stopping occasionally
and standing tall and alert.

This evening we will put some
Alfalfa from the pet shop out
for him. Sweet.

Newly Hatched

2007-03-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I was just turning on the faucet to put water in the birdbath
and something dropped to the ground.

It looks like a newly hatched
Female Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

It was black and sky blue
with dots of orange and gold
around the edes of its wings.

It was crumpled and soft like a newly
unfurled leaf and crawled onto my hand.

I hurried around to the Lithodora Groundcover
just recently planted. It has blue flowers.

It crawled across the plant and up onto
some pine straw hanging off the railroad tie
above. It hung there drying out.
When I returned later it had flown away.

Balogny?

2007-03-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I noticed that there wasn't much bird or squirrel traffic at the feeder. This morning as I was getting gardening gloves out of the big shed i heard a loud buck-buck-buck-buck noise come from our largest pine tree. It kind of sounded like a chicken.

Up high on a branch was a Hawk. I remembered recently finding a clump of bird feathers near the birdfeeder and another day the young squirrel had shown up missing his tail. Have I created a Smorgasbord for the Birds of Prey?

Bird's and Bloom's Magazine says not to worry,,,Hawks have to eat too. OK, I'll just have to quit naming my favorite songbirds, so when they come up missing I won't be so crushed. But what about Greenbean, Dove, Thrasher, King, and Rocky?

Maybe if I hung Balogna from the tree,,,

Baby Squirrel's Tale

2007-03-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

As I waited this morning for the first cup of coffee I spent some time looking out the kitchen window to see which birds were first to the backyard feeder.

Just outside this window a large pine tree stands. It is home to Rocky the Gray Squirrel and her two babies. It's fun to watch them come down the tree stretching and yawning to find breakfast peanuts and seeds left for them. If the peanuts and seeds are late arriving they stand up tall and stare at the window. Occasionally they'll come right up to the window and look in.

This morning found them parading down the tree and my head began spinning,,,something amiss. They stretched and yawned as usual, but were in the company of a third baby and it's missing it's TAIL! Not even a stump left. He looks rather like a Guinea Pig.

Throughout the day I watched for him in the yard and he seems to not be bothered by his loss. I would love to know his "Tale of The Lost Tail."

Note: A week has gone by now and today the young tailess squirrel
was searching in the grass below the birdfeeders for seeds. He seems fine.

"Winter Honeysuckle"

2007-02-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

On our latest Trek to Riverbanks Botanical Garden we found "Kiss-Me-At-The-Garden-Gate" and "Sweet Breath of Spring" sitting among the plants that were for sale. These are two names for the winter-blooming shrub "Winter Honeysuckle" that supplies nectar for Hummingbirds arriving early in the Carolinas. We bought one and proudly brought it home.

It has a stiff form and jiggles in the wind. The flowers are white and frilly with bright yellow anthers arching out from inside. They smell like Lemons and their fragrance drifts on the breeze. The early spring bees have come to do their pollen dance on it.

During February as I sat on the deck, "Greenbean" the Hummingbird zoomed around me and then sat on a Crepe Myrtle branch above watching me. I quickly hung out a nectar feeder, but the baby squirrels played a game of tip it and run below to lick the nectar off the deck railing and finally they just chewed it apart, so I threw it away. When "Greenbean" returns, Winter Honeysuckle will be waiting for him on the deck railing outside the kitchen window. I can't wait.

A Verse written by Joyce Hemsley of Sunderland, England:

"The Seasons have just drifted by,
many moons have graced the sky.

Whilst Winter's Honeysuckle bloom
has filled the air with sweet perfume."

Puzzle

2006-09-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

Four-thirty in the afternoon.
The Neighborhood Rooser is crowing.

Acrobats of Dusk and Dawn

2006-09-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

I wandered outside to sit and watch the Moon at 6:30 am. Birds are sleeping.

Suddenly a flash like when you catch a glimpse of your eyelashes under certain light caught my attention.

What was that? There, quite near my face.

This is breathtaking,,,it's a bat.

The yard is full of tall pine trees and the bats twirl and spin around and around. Their wings make no noise. They are catching insects.

I enjoy stealing out to the deck at dusk to watch their acrobatics.
Here they are at dawn.

Song of Solomon for Gardeners & Birders

2006-06-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

"For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds
is come,
and the voice of the turtle
is heard in our land"

Five Squirrels?

2006-05-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

There have been four Squirrels combing the grass for weeks underneath the hanging Bird Feeder in the backyard.

Above them the Carolina Wrens have been shelling seeds and singing a happy spring yodel song. One a distance away answers. it sounds like an echo. When the Squirrels get too lively the wrens chatter and hiss.

Just now watching from the Kitchen Window, i counted two wrens and FIVE squirrels. The new small one has a hairless tail. I smell a Rat. Four squirrels begin running around in circles, ricocheting off trees. The rat runs up a tall pine tree, then walks slowly right down it defying gravity. It disappeared thru the Red Tips and over to the neighbors.

Note: I bought some traps, but only got the courage to set one once. The rats disappeared. My neighbor must have been braver.

Oh Rats

2006-03-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Have those Iowa Rid-a-Rats #1 and #2 found their way to the Carolinas? Rocky the Squirrel has enjoyed a piepan of birdseed this winter with the company of Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice, Snowbirds and Chicadees and one Dove named "Dove".

Tuesday morning found two big Rats grazing beside Rocky along with three additional Squirrels. Oh Rats. Rocky lost her most prized possesion, her piepan of seed. I can see her now sitting next to its spot on the deck railing shaking her tail and looking toward the kitchen window. She loved it so, but it had to go.

A Suet feeder hangs from the wire that's strung between the big shed and a pine tree. Today a very exotic looking gold dome-shaped bird feeder was added next to it. A circular perch hangs below the port holes that have a little roof to keep the rain away. It's very light weight. nice.

Holy Cow, a look out the window to see which bird found it first finds China the neighbors tiny Red Dog laying under it. Ha! Who would of guessed,,a Chinabird.

Wind

2006-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Wow,,the Winds of March have found us on a Sunny day in January. As the day marches forward it is accelerating and causing one to hang out by a window to see what it is churning up out in the yard. Out come binoculars. There's Thrasher swinging at dizzying speed trying to get a bite from the Suet Cage.

Squiggly musical notes sing out as it sneaks thru the attic and around windows. It makes a game of finding new things to twangle, rattle, clap and snap. Your hackles rise when it comes rushing and makes a deep rushing-roaring that howls and whistles and builds until you fear for the house and then just like a wave in the ocean it plays out and gets quiet. After a Rest, the whole Wind Drama begins once again.

What a great exhilirating game for your ears. Wind.

Cassandra Seedlings

2005-08-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

The garden and several pots were sprinkled three times with Cassandra Flower Seeds back in the spring. Just when i had given up on them here they are,,little bright shiny green plants. Three pots of them!

The pots were moved to the shade and the Cassandras are happier. The blooms will be peach colored and against that wonderful shiny green they are a beautiful sight.

A Humminbird perches in the tree above them,,hoping these flowers become a favorite.

ARGIOPE SIGHTING

2005-08-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Early in the summer a young Argiope Spider made a good sized web by the butterfly bush. He disappeared and the web was in disrepair, so my thought was a bird had eaten him. A second web appeared with bundles lined up down the middle, but there never seemed to be a spider near it.

This morning a third good and sturdy web with a Zipper down the middle has appeared with a very large Argiope Spider on it all dressed in bright yellow and black. My thoughts are he is the young one i saw early on and has been well hidden. Maybe morning is a good time to catch a look at him.

SURPRISE VISITOR

2005-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was spreading Cypress Bark around a Butterly Bush I rounded a corner and collided with something that was making alot of humming noise like Hummingbird wings. We both jumped back and i could feel the air from its wings on my face. Wow,,the hugest Bumblebee i have ever seen was my first thought.

I froze so it wouldn't fly away and discovered it was a Hummingbird/Hawk Moth. It spent alot of time going from one tiny purple flower to the next on the bush. It's head was fuzzy yellow with moth markings and he had short fat and stubby black antennae, black wings and a black body. His tongue was long like a butterflys.

I've only seen these at night on the front porch, so this was exciting.

PONDER THIS

2005-06-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

IN ONE YEAR,
A SINGLE EARTHWORM IN YOUR GARDEN
CAN DIGEST
36 TONS OF SOIL.

THAT'S THE WEIGHT OF
36 PICKUP TRUCKS!

Butterfly Nectar Recipe

2005-05-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

1 part White cane Sugar
20 parts Water

Boil Water several minutes before adding Sugar.
Cool and fill feeder.
Store excess in fridge about 2 weeks.

Clean feeder with hot tap water and change nectar every 3-4 days.

info: birdcam.backyardwildlife.com
Ft.Worth,Texas

LAST MAN STANDING

2005-05-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

Talk about so tired you are "sleeping on your feet". 3:42AM and checking on the owls at theowlcam.com and see Frida has moved away and the little guys are STANDING and dozing off. their little fluffyheads are nodding nodding nodding,,,their beaks almost touching their toes. dreamingdreamingdreaming,,,mousemousemouse.

Woodpeckers, Nuthatches & Wrens

2005-04-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

The warmer weather brought the May flowers, but also melted the suet. The cages were washed and stored under the sink. I really miss hearing and seeing those suet lovers.

This morning I bounced the truck over to Wild Birds Unlimited and pounced on two blocks of Woodpecker Picnic and No-melt Dough for nut-eating friends.

What a great store. i hurried out,,the grocery money was burning a hole in my pocket,,how to justify spending it on the birds!! I will have to save up a nest egg for another trip there.

I can hardly wait for morning coffee and loading up those cages then sit back and watch. Hope the string tether on the Red-headed's leg was short enough,,,that fence needs to be higher,,,,with net,,,,

RAT RACE in the BIG SHED

2005-03-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

For the past week on my Sister's Iowa Farm it unfolded like this:

Something has dug a pile of dirt at the Big Shed Door. We're puzzled. Badgers??
Two large brown birds in the Birdbath. Run for the Binoculars. It's Rats!! Bathing!!
Next day Rats are in the Big Shed Rafters looking down singing "nah-nah-nahnahnah".
They ate all the Field Corn including the Cobs. Burp
Five packets of Rid-a-Rat are placed tenderly in the middle of the Big Shed.
No results. P-nut Butter is added to the packets and given a shake. No results.

Yesterday the Packets were moved behind things and along the walls. One was being dropped behind the Recycle Barrel. Behold, a Rat in the Barrel in "freeze and stare" position and looking up.
Today it's time to clean up the Garden and Rake the Yard. Every WorkGlove taken from the Wooden Box in the Big Shed has the Thumb chewed off. Rats!
Not to worry,,
Listen,,,,,
All is quiet in the Big Shed.
Oh No! What is that under the John Deere? Why it's DirtyRat I and DirtyRat II.
There they goooooo up to the Rafters! You DirtyRats!

Nest Time

2005-03-24T02:12:00.000-08:00

We were hearing a riot of birdsong here in the mornings. This week Pairs are appearing at the feeders. Yesterday I observed a female House Finch hungrily pulling Niger from the feeder. Her mate finished eating and rested on a branch to watch her. They were followed by a pair of Nut Hatches and Wow,,,a pair of Carolina Wrens at the Suet. First time ever a House Sparrow has appeared and he sat a while on the birdhouse. Black Capped Chickadees flew like passengers on a Roller Coaster to the new Seed Block. Little cuties.

The birds are policing the yard and garden for stuff to stuff in their nests. The Grackle wanders the garden carrying flower leavings around and looks like a harvester sorting and putting them into piles. Some ends up in the Birdbath.

One year the Cocoa Doormat on the front porch was getting bald spots. We discovered a Chickadee twizzling at it and flying away with beakfuls. Another year I discovered a long plastic push-up Popsicle cover in a Brown Thrashers nest. I like the Owls nest cleaning routine,,,just push it all out the front door!

No Snakes on The Emerald Isle

2005-03-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Fifth Century Legend has St.Patrick standing on a hill using a staff to herd the slithering cold-blooded creatures into the sea.

Cold-blooded? They become the temperature of their surroundings.

Why no Snakes in Ireland? The Ice Age. More than twenty times Glaciers advanced and retreated on Ireland and only let it thaw out 15,000 years ago. Those snakes reaching Ireland would have become Popsicles. Hence, Ireland has 12 miles of icy-cold water in the Northern Channel separating it from Scotland where several snake species abide today.

There are no snakes in Ireland for the simple reason that they can't get there.

Luck of The Irish!

Info: www.fonz.org

March Parades In

2005-03-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday found me working around in the front yard cleaning up and getting ready for Spring. The brisk March Wind made quick work of getting the debri into piles and out to the street. I was sweating Icicles. Raking around the Acuba Bush I found a Tunnel under the fence. My thoughts were on how I miss that little Black Dog, when a Mirage sprang up out on the street.

No Mirage, it was Black Dog, with his Curly Tail and Head held high leading a Parade. In his wake marched a Large Black Lab. I almost stepped to the Curb and joined in.

Black Dog Vanished

2005-02-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

Yes he did. Black Dog vanished and no one saw him go. All is quiet. His new owner, our neighbor, informed us yesterday that "he doesn't have a dog!"

Well, we thought so didn't we. A closer inspection of the backyards found Tunnels. Black Dog was a tunneler. He had Tunnels into all the backyards. Bingo,,,now we know. He didn't fly but tunneled his way,,,,away.

The Shortcut Down

2005-02-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

Crowders Mountain, N.C. found four of us climbing up it's trail yesterday.

Passing fascinating rocks in size and sculpture,,,,we reached the top happy and hungry.

While we ate lunch Black Vultures and Hawks drifted above us. You can see for 20 miles and are 1,625 feet up. Two in our group were brave and climbed the 150 foot vertical cliffs with ropes on an earlier visit. They still felt the horror of the rappel down.

We looked out on a small nearby mountain called Booger Mountain and also Kings Pinnacle (1,705 ft. high).
We could see Charlotte, N.C. through the haze.

So, we met a member of our groups Challenge to climb down the rocks instead of hiking the trail. He grew up in these parts and climbed down many times with his brother. What a climb down. It was exhilirating to stand out on an outcropping and look out and down.

Finding hand and footholds was like a game. These rocks were car size,,,house size!

We found "Garrett" written on some rocks. Garrett took " The Shortcut Down!"

Red&Green leaved Galax wildflowers were here with the variegated leaved Wintergreen. The Rhododendrons were crowned with large flower buds. Mosses, Funguses and Lichens clung to the ground, rocks and trees. One tree stump we named "The Fungus Tower."

Crevices under rocks were like small Lost Worlds.

When we reached the Forest below we waded through loose leaves in deep drifts.

At last we met up with the trail and found an interesting number of trees that had been hit by lightening. Some were upright black cinders. One in the middle of the trail had a long lightening split down it's length ending in two large holes near the bottom where we could picture a fire ball blasting its way up the trail.

Passing "the almost "M" Tree" we volunteered our tallest hiker to reach high and complete the right leg of the "M" and took his picture. A Dogwood Tree has grown at odd angles creating an "almost M".

There were a large menagerie of dogs hiking the trail,,,two with the bluest eyes and one that looked rather like a dog wearing a Hyena costume. All were having the time of their lives.
So did we! It was a fun hike.

Sumter National Forest

2005-02-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

Today we hit the trail and hiked a long way to find the "Modoc Stash" hidden by Eric Stapleton in 2000. It was the very first GeoCache hidden in the state of South Carolina. Larry found it behind a fallen tree. We settled in to eat a nice snack and three mountain bikers dressed in bright colors sped by and on up the trail.

This part of South Carolina is high on a ridge. We were in "Ridge Country" where you can find popular Country Produce Stands. The drive home took us past Peach Farms with long rows of stately peach trees. A return trip when they bloom would be fun. We saw a Donkey with her new baby. The towns were full of handsome 1800's Houses with big porches and gingerbread trim. We stopped and took pictures of the historical cemetery monuments in the town of Ward. Our favorite? Bubba the Dog.

As we drove through the town of Lexington the trees were full of roosting Cedar Waxwings. There they are my brother Zeldamax,,,the Waxwings you are wishing for. Hope they read my Lips,,,MIAMI.

Rosemary's Babies

2005-02-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

In my Search for Birdnests yesterday
at Riverbanks Botanical Garden
I came across something interesting
fastened onto a Rosemary Bush
by a few strands of silk thread.

It was the size & shape of a large plump Date
covered in soft white material and was just
dangling there & swinging in the wind.

I will keep watching and hoping it belongs to
ARGIOPE, who is an Orb Web Spider.
I have seen them the size of an Orange.
They have black and yellow striped legs
and put a Zipper in their Web.

RoadRash

2005-02-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I almost fell out of my car and got Roadrash.
There standing beside the road was a pair dressed in black,,,
very nonchalant,,,very large,,,elegant.
A large roadkill had their attention
and they were patiently waiting for a chance
to stroll over to it.

They were just up the road, so I stopped to watch.
It was a Pair of Black Vultures.
Sibleys Birdbook also named them
"Carrion Crows or just S.C. Buzzards. You pick."
After watching the little backyard songbirds at home
these guys looked enormous.

There are No Mistakes

2005-02-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Applying the theory "There are No Mistakes" we sat back and enjoyed the Scenery. We had missed our exit to Home and had to Backtrack. What would we have missed if we hadn't?

A Good Laugh (at ourselves)
A Glimpse of Winston/Salem, N.C. (tobacco country,then?)
Sunset that lit up the sky in brilliant fucia colors ,,, lighting up the windswept clouds&heavens.
A mindboggling cloud of lowflying Birds in Migration reeling back and forth to land for the night.
Very old and large Hardwood Trees dressed in black silouette against the Evening horizon.
Cows and Horses
and three Hawks Roosting for the Night.

Birthday Confetti for MBFS

2005-02-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

It's time to toss Confetti in Chicago on South Cook Street. Happy Birthday Wishes to AnniePTigger!!!
Wishing you Sweet Wet Grandchildren Birthday Kisses, An Extra Cup of Coffee, something Sweet, maybe Cake, but a Cookie or Donut will do; Sunshine and Birds on the Feeder, songs on the Piano by Rich, and a Beautiful Sunset at the days end.
Happy Birthday!! Love, YBFS, Lynn

Oranges, Ponchos & Welcome Thrasher

2005-02-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

He's been gone all Winter. The Brown Thrasher. He's returned with the Robins. I first saw him yesterday scurrying to safety as the backyard Mockingbird gave chase. Glad he's back! Last summer he & Mrs.T. raised babies and they all hung out back running in and out of the Red Tip Bushes and chasing bugs.

Cute Squirrel has been enjoying nibbling away at the rind of half an orange the birds left behind when they ate the middle (my favorite part). he would turn it and turn it, nibbling, nibbling. It was cute.

Reminds me of the nice new Red Grill Cover we put on our BBQ sitting on the deck out back. One day I noticed teenie holes on the top. Maybe we put it back on when the grill was still too warm? Next day I noticed whole chunks missing.
This was a puzzle until one day I caught a Squirrel RED HANDED. Up the tree he went with a piece of our "new" grill cover. Eventually so many pieces were missing Mr.L. took the cover over and placed it at the base of "the squirrel tree" and said,,,there,,have it all. Our joke,,,,they were making rain coats for babies?

Last fall I saw a flash of bright blue go up the Neighbors tree. A Squirrel had removed a piece of tarp covering the top of their shed, jumped over onto a tree,,,,up the tree,,,,jumped over to another tree and up and gone. That was pretty ambitious!!! Bravo Bravo Squirrel!!

Conclusion: On the next Rainy Day will we see Squirrels dashing for Pnuts in Blue or Red Ponchos???

Getting to Know BlackDog

2005-02-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

I call him BlackDog. On a recent blustery night he was yapping near hysteria inside my neighbors backyard gate. He wears a Blue Collar. Has a curly tail. Lucy the cat was getting wideyed and anxious listening to the yapping from her favorite rocking chair on the frontporch.

The next morning found BlackDog still trapped behind the gate,,,yapping. My Neighbor was out-of-town. He doesn't own a dog. Leaving to go run errands, I opened the gate and welcomed BlackDog to escape. He backed away. Leaving the gate open I left to give him "space" and time to venture out. When I returned later in the day to close the gate, BlackDog was still there. Oh my, welcome to the Neighborhood,,a new kid on the block!! My Mistake. Perhaps my neighbor had gotten a dog after all.

Today Black Dog had a new Adventure. He somehow trapped himself inbetween our chain link fence and his new owner's tall wooden fence. It creates a long narrow "run". He has done this before and I have never discovered how he escapes. Will keep you posted.

Flamingos??

2005-01-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

This morning's Trekk around the National Zoo (www.fonz.org) brought a nice surprise. The Flamingo LiveCam showed their Pond with quite alot of Snow around it. Something that looks like Rye Seeds are floating in the pond. Taking a closer look it's,,,,Migrating Wild Ducks cruising and splashing around. Ahh,,,a nice reststop.

Carolina Sunshine & Ice

2005-01-29T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here in Carolina we have gone from what we call "Shirt Weather" to "Triple Coat Weather" in four days time. We wear Cotton year round, but are wishing for the fancy TripleTherma stuff we passed over in the Christmas Catalogs. So, we manage. Two pair of socks, pajamas under our clothes, a shirt, sweater and the cotton coat and ziplock bags over our sandals.

An Ice Storm moved in early this morning. A Neighborhood Transformer woke us as the lights blinked out then on, making the computer and printer chatter words I won't repeat. Everything's cancelled and we spent the day watching huge icicles creep longer along the eves.

A large flock of Migrating Cedar Waxwings spent the afternoon eating every berry and seed in our tall trees. They were dressed in Carolina Winter Dress,,,three pair of socks,,,pajamas under their feathers,,,ziplock,,,

This evening a new Rain Front has moved in and the ice is sliding off the house making a WHALLOPing Noise that makes the cats wild-eyed. A Pizza Delivery arrived at six. Wrong house. The Delivery person slipped and slid away into the dark Whalloping night.

So there it is. On Wednesday I spent the day Trekking at the Zoo. It was Seventy Degrees and everyone was enjoying Sun Puddles, even the Birdbath- size Turtles on the River. The Bees were doing the "Lost Bee" Dance all over a tall Flowering Apricot in the Botanical Garden. Blooming Helebores! Today it was "Freezing" and the Carolinabees were wearing ,,,,,,