OH! What a Day it is!

My birthday flowers from March are so pretty as they sit on the front porch, attracting bees and reflecting marvelous glow due to the sunny day!  Cut Alstroemeria last a very long time! They are commonly called the Peruvian Lily and grow from a cluster of tubers. They come in many assorted and lovely colors. 

James is wearing his forsythia garland and is waiting for the daffodils to bloom. They promised to do just that soon.

These last couple of days had been exciting to see nature fly by and into places. I ACTUALLY saw a bald eagle fly over the lake, dip his claws into the water, and scoop up a large fish! I was in the kitchen and was so shocked that I didn't even have a minute to grab the camera as he flew over the dam into the woodland below carrying his trophy. THEN...this morning a huge red-tailed hawk flew into and right through my neighbor's double pane window, causing shattered glass to be blown indoors everywhere.

On the way to the laundromat this morning, the Mister saw a hen turkey coming up out of another neighbor's driveway and then on the way home two deer were walking down another neighbor's driveway. 

But best of all.....A big hearted neighbor, noticing our sad front lawn, brought his Bobcat to the rescue and smoothed it out, no charge! He just wished us Happy Easter! 

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Bring on FULL SPRING! We are ready!

 

Just Nature

The first thing I saw at 6:45 this morning when I looked out while enjoying my coffee was these two doe and their fawns. What a beautiful sight! They saw me and scooted away but I SHOT THEM!

We have a mushroom farm here on the beachfront under the old and large Douglas Fir evergreen tree. The varied fungus feed on the roots. If you know me you know I am fascinated with mushrooms and fungus.

And...on the way back across the road to the cabin I spotted several of these White Admiral butterflies alternately flapping and gliding and sitting in the carport. These butterflies start out life as a caterpillar that looks like a bird dropping with horns! The blue is very iridescent and lovely.

 I LOVE where I live! Yesterday I saw the large blue heron and an eagle fly over, a little green heron was on the dock and, later on in the day I saw five - yes FIVE Kingfishers fishing from the dam bridge railing.

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A Mixed Bag

Who knew there would be so many valves, switches, piping???
The Generac man is coming to fire her up today. That will validate the warranty and cover all components for two years.

I "might" offer him a slice of my freshly baked lemon cake.

All birds roost here

The Bald Eagle flies over and the Great Blue Heron goes fishing this morning.

The Joe Pye Weed at the lake's edge is blooming very early this year. It was late August in 2014 before it opened in its full splendor.

And the wet grass is full of bees pollenating small flowers.

Sometimes I forget to look both high and low! Straight ahead and left and right views aren't all there are. I'm surrounded by nature's wild beauty.

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Joe Pye Weed Info. LINK

Ah! Nature at Work.

And, man at work killing. Yesterday the mister brought in two small wasps that fell out of a hole in the porch post log after he sprayed into the opening. He brought them in to me for identification. They were only about 3/4 inch in size.  He must think I'm magical. I searched for hours and couldn't find the exact one. I hate to loose but did in this case.

Today I made up for it by sitting on the porch and taking pictures of living things. At first I thought the bird on the dam rail was a kingfisher because it kept swooping down into the spillway and then coming back up to the rail. When I uploaded the photos I see it isn't a kingfisher after all. Unidentified and not a good picture with my zoom shot from the porch.

* Thanks to Gail for identifying this bird! EASTERN KINGBIRD

The next thing I saw was a plant I had written about last year - the JoePye weed. 

Last year's pictures were much better because I actually got off of my lazy duff and ventured down the bank at the water's edge. (see below)

I suddenly heard a hum and looked up to see one of our tiny friends at the feeder. There doesn't seem to be the same number of them feeding here this year and I suspect they prefer natural nectar from the multitude of flowers in the area.

THEN! I looked down and see that there is a Japanese Beetle invasion on the 50+ year old ferns! And there is a wasp on my seedum! 

I'm going to get up and off my lazy backside and go indoors now. I've seen enough nature at work for the day.

Don't forget, if you'd like to view any image larger just click on one.

If you would like to learn about the Joe-Pye flower weed, read on. Seeds are actually available and many plant them in their gardens for beauty. The following link gives detailed information.

Eutrochium

For the Birds...

Plovers are fun to watch. They bob up and down and hop along the bank of the bay. They seem to be friendly and don't fly away when big lady with camera approaches. Neither do they beg for crumbs. Big lady doesn't ever bring crumbs for birds.

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Spring! Yeah!

Today I took nature ride around the park in my golf cart. I don't seem to have any endurance to walk in search of interesting things to shoot; besides, my camera gets heavy after a while! It was much too windy to go on the beach and get sand-blasted! That doesn't feel good.

The birds and bees were all busy, but I found a few to capture. 

See the turtle?

Now see the turtle.

 See the swimmer?

When he climbed onto the bank his light tan fur was fluffed up and not slick like a muskrat, but he beat me back into the water before I could shoot him! Darn! 

I have seen many muskrats here, but he was very different.

Great White Egret

South Carolina State Flower – Yellow Jessamine

Hopefully, more blooms will be bursting soon!