Day 273 - 30th September 2015 - Deer and Sunrise

Day off and I'm up earlier than usual. Rain on the way for the rest of the week, but the morning may stay clear. Think some birding is in order - probably won't get out much in the next couple of days. As much as we need to rain, I'm afraid there won't be much left of the leaves on the trees. Fingers crossed, I love the fall colors and have been waiting patiently to do some photos. Thought this year I'd get across the lake and take pics from that side.
Another lovely fall day.  Really warm and mild, bit of a breeze - tropical feeling. Good day at work, few people around and making some headway on a couple of research requests. Unfortunately they are moving slower than I would like. Got a couple pieces of the puzzle that just don't seem to want to fit. That's kind of what genealogy is like - a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Not sure who was more surprised yesterday morning. 

I've seen her tracks on the road lots of times, but first time I've run into her.

It was a morning of golden hues and silhouettes.

Enjoy your day!

Day 272 - 29th September 2015 - Sunrise, Cobwebs and Boats

Temperature says +16 this morning - definitely warmer than the last few days.  Lots of rain on the way later this week, but looks like Wednesday morning maybe clear (fingers crossed - want to go birding). This will bring up the water table and fill the swamps if we get what the forecast wants. I won't mention what that means, I think it's a tad bit early yet to mention the big W word!
This Monday went off much better than last. Busy morning at work, lots of people through, quieter in the afternoon, just a few and I got some work done. Sun was out and warm but really windy. All I saw on my walk were the ducks and one Black & White Warbler. The trees were very quiet. Not even a Chickadee in sight. Exercise class last night - sure there will be abs that hurt tomorrow. Lets just remember no pain no gain - or that's what they say.

Well I missed the Blood Moon the other night but the Sun looked pretty good yesterday morning coming through the fog.

There were lots of cobwebs around. Hard to believe something so intricate can be spun overnight.

Beautiful morning on the Harbour with a few boats.





Enjoy your day!

Day 271 - 28th September 2015 - Seaweed, Shorebirds and Wild Roses

Here we are back to Monday, temperature is +7 and a work day. Going with positive thoughts that is is a good week and not a repeat of last week! Lots to do, I'll be off by the middle of October so want to clean up a lot of loose ends and finish off some research. Exercise class tonight, hoping to get back into that schedule again.
After a chilly morning, the day did warm up. We spent the morning making spaghetti sauce (25 lbs of tomatoes) and tried the canning method as the freezer is quite full. Not keen on that - seemed like a lot more work. After doing a few things around the house and getting the sauce done, we decided to go birding in the afternoon. Surprise, Surprise! When we got to the highway we figured a quick run to Hemeon's Head would be the place. Lots of Gulls around, including a number of Ring Billed ones, a Harrier was in the area hunting, but I never did get good shots of him. Song Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows popped in and out of the bushes. We walked way down the beach and a couple of little Sanderlings ran ahead of us. A few Semi-palmated plovers flew in as well. Checked out the lake and there were 6 Shorebirds together - my good luck 3 lifers in that group. Nothing can perk you up like seeing new birds! Back home, got supper and I thought about the Blood Moon but I knew I'd never make that.

I love taking shots of the kelp and seaweed that washes in on the beach.







Yellow-Rumped Warbler in the hood.

Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher and Stilt Sandpiper. It was a good find!

Wild Roses are still in bloom along the shore.

 Time for take off!

The Ring-Billed Gulls





Enjoy your day!

Day 270- 27th September 2015 - Solitary Sandpiper, Blue-winged Teal and Turkey Vulture

Brrr, it's chilly this morning at +2. Temperatures are dipping a little more each morning. Chance of a frost but I see fog rolling in so that may postpone it for another day. Still a while before daylight, so it's hard to tell yet. Larry picked 2 big buckets and a bag full of tomatoes last evening. Spaghetti sauce in the making.  I've got the craving for a big pot of soup this week, so maybe later today I'll put that on to simmer.  Might squeeze a few hours out for some birding today.
Beautiful Saturday, sun was out, perfect kind of day.  We puttered around in the morning, then headed off toward Barrington to do shopping and pick up the stuff (heat something or other) for the roof to help prevent ice build up/back up this winter that we had ordered a few weeks ago. Of course never to take the straight line, we went via Port Clyde through Thomasville, Baccaro then to Cape Sable Island and back to Barrington.  Doing some birding helps ease the pain of grocery shopping. Not a lot of shorebirds around. Saw a few, plus a Turkey Vulture, Kestrel and maybe a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.

Waiting for the tide.

The Solitary Sandpiper was in one of the coves at the lake, haven't seen much of them lately.

Turkey Vulture at Thomasville

Blue-winged Teal.


















The water at Crow's Neck beach was pretty but cold I bet.

Black-bellied Plover I think.








Enjoy your day!

Day 269 - 26th September 2015 - Black & White Warbler and Sunrise

Saturday morning, stars are all out, temperature is +6. The Owls are more vocal in the evening and mornings now. Nice to hear them again. No idea what plans are for today - groceries, housework, maybe some birding. Will see what the day brings.
Well yesterday morning the pump wheezed it's last breath (after I bathed), our timing was good for that purchase. So we purchased a pump on the way home and picked up my new laptop - with all my photos, documents etc. transferred over to it. Happy, happy! Lately our friend Kenny spends more time at our house helping Larry fix things than he does at home. It was good of him to come over last night after supper and they got the pump installed. Next is the Oil Barrel sometime over the next few days/first of the week. Then hopefully everything will be quiet for a while.

Black & White Warbler.

 Mornings just keep getting prettier over the lake.

He was quite willing to pose.

I'm not sure who this little guy is, quality of photos are bad. I thought maybe a Kinglet, but not sure.

Enjoy your day!

Day 263 and 264 - 20th & 21st September 2015 - Whale Watching

So last Sunday my computer crashed with all my photos, anyway thanks to a great technician, I'm back in business with a new laptop and all my photos retrieved! So here's our trip from last weekend. 
Had a very foggy drive to the Island, made good time with a few pit stops along the way. Luck was with us and the fog cleared around noon, so Dorothy and I were able to go whale watching with the Freeport Whale and Seabird Birds Tours aboard the Georgie Porgie. It was a great trip - saw a number of whales but not many birds. A couple of whales even came right along side the boat.

 The Georgie Porgie! Great boat, Captain and Tour Guide.

Phalaropes. It's hard to take photos of little birds bobbing in the water while you are on a moving boat.

 Gull.

 Gull with a zodiac full of whale watchers.

 Whale Fin.

 Love watching them bring up their tails then splash them back down.

 I'm not quite sure what this is.

When you see this green color in the water, it means there is a Whale there. Pretty cool as it was next to the boat a couple of times.

 Little action - big bodies!

 And the tail goes back down.

Another Gull - most appeared to be immature.

They are covered in barnacles.

It was so hard to catch their spray, but finally have a number of tries I did.

And we got a show of his belly.

 This might have been a Whale named Sockeye, but I'm not 100% sure.

Greater Shearwater.

So that was our Whale watching trip - a great time. If you haven't booked and gone - put it on your bucket list - it's great fun!






Enjoy your day!