HAWK visitor this morning

He is so beautiful!  I am waiting to identify him confirming he is a Red Tailed Hawk from our Raptor Trainer friend.  He does not have a dark belly band so I am not sure.

This is as close as I could get to him with my little camera.  Hubby and I were so excited that we were shaking taking the pictures.  Of course the top picture is best with hubby's more sophisticated camera-ha!  I am always impressed with the power and strength of their legs!  After we snapped these pictures, he did swoop down on our side of the bank and went off with something in his mouth.

While we snapped the photos of him on the bank, our resident Mr. and Mrs. Mallard went very close to him with no fear whatsoever!



All in All, a beautiful way to begin our day ☺

Here is the picture of Richard with the Red Tailed Hawk that he brought to see us this last January 2011.  You can go back to that post to see more.  And below is the Intarsia Wood cutout of a hawk that Bill made for Richard as a gift.



Thank you so much for visiting and come again soon.  If you have time, do visit the other blogs of ours, links are in the sidebar.  You might like the post from yesterday on Kerrie's Home Journal and beautiful song by Bette Midler, From a Distance...

Huntington Beach, SC visit...

STORKS, IBIS, ALLIGATORS, SPOONBILL, BUTTERFLIES AND BEES
Last week the weather was just beautiful and we went to Huntington Beach State Park for a visit.  We have a season's pass and when Bill's sister is camping there, we can visit any time.  We went also to see the flocks of Wood Storks who must have been migrating and have been there for several days.  Also Alligators were out.  I got a long shot of a pink Spoonbill which surprised us that he was there at all as they prefer Florida and seldom come this far up the coast.  I wish I could have gotten closer!  Some pictures we took were okay but my daughter was with us and she took some really great pictures with her little camera.

Here is the Spoonbill out on a tiny island in the marsh at Hungtington State Park.  The bird on the right is an Anhinga.

The Wood Stork only has feathers on its head as a juvenile and loses them when they become adults.  There feathers are beautiful but their head looks more like scavenger birds, though they are not.



Notice the little Ibis with the orange beaks on the right and the little Cattle Egret near them.  They are all dwarfed by the huge Wood Storks.

This photo was taken with my husband's camera by our daughter and she used the Zoom lens.

Here is another taken by my daughter.



This is one with her camera of a bee.

I love this Butterfly she took and I have not identified him as yet.  The underside of his wings were silver.

And this last picture is one our daughter took of a Wood Stork that was visiting our little lake in back of our home.  Great Photo!

I sure hope you enjoyed our outing that we are sharing today with you.  Do come back soon, we love having you and love comments!!

BACKYARD FISHING AND CARDINALS

HELLO SWEET PEOPLE!  Hubby went fishing in the backyard lake this morning after the rain.  I smiled as I snapped a picture of him through the window as he has been too weak to cast the line up to now!

Next time I looked up he was grinning from ear to ear and had caught this little fish the first cast.  His smile was so worth it!!

 The Female and Male Cardinal were frequenting the Bradford Pear Tree this morning
and observing everything that goes on at the feeder outside of our window.

I just love their brilliant colors that blend so well with the turning leaves.

Yesterday, these were the visitors to the 2 birdhouses.  They were wrens and one visited the camper house and one the red roofed house.  I love seeing them checking out the digs!  I am wondering if they night roost there this time of year as it is too late for laying eggs.  Very interesting.

Thanks for visiting as always, we love your company and don't forget to leave a comment!

My heart to yours...

Sunday, Sunday...

October is upon us!!  The chill of Autumn is in the air-hurray!  I love the fall so much!  We had a particularly hot and humid summer here in SC and we were really looking forward to cooler weather so we could enjoy the out of doors.  My morning visitor, the Egret was chilled too, with temp at 52 degrees-ha!  He is hunkered down into his soft warm feathers while watching the lake for fish.



He lifts his head for a moment and then hunkers back down.

   It rained a lot last week and the lake is full once again.  It is a beautiful morning.  The Begonia pot that we had bought for the little patio by the lake was knocked over one day and it rolled into the lake where the turtles were attacking it with a vengeance!  By the time I rescued it, they had eaten a good amount of it's leaves so after convalescing on the back porch for a week or so, I hung it in the tree near the chairs and it is beautiful again.

It's Fall, Ya'll!  Enjoy your Sunday and come back soon!

Raking at my childhood home in Auburn, NY.  Age 7 or 8