Birds of the mid-Atlantic (and other critters too)

Ric and I will be heading out to Alaska in another month, so looking forward to seeing Moose.
DDJen and her family are in Canada this week, staying at a cabin next to a lake. She sent me a text this morning said "She could stay up all night long listening to the cry of the loons".

NORTH...to Alaska...go north, the rush is on. !! have to sing that now

My brother and SIL are gong on an Alaska cruise in August

OH yeah, loons, another bucket list item!

Bucket List - me too! Loons were in the movie "On Golden Pond" with Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Jane Fonda. It is an old one, but was one of my favorites at the time. Not sure where it was filmed, but wherever it was, was beautiful. Always wanted to see loons in person ever since that movie.

The movie was filmed in New Hampshire.

Holly--

My sister in Homer AK has finally decided to sell her house--along with
some acreage that goes with it. She feels she is getting too old to deal with
all the snow and upkeep.
I am sure it won't be hard to sell it--it is a beautiful, compact house with a patio
and shed. It is on a hillside just outside Homer overlooking snowy mountains
on both sides as Homer sits on the very tip of Kenai peninsula. Right by the water.

Holly--depending of where you go--you will see plenty of yearling moose (size of a horse).
At least in the Spring--they wander the streets and highways and parking lots
as the mother moose abandons them to fend on their own as she is ready to
have babies again.
It is like deer around here--you wave to watch it--or you may run into one.
Then--YOU and your car will be the casualty!

I imagine, if you are taking a cruise--you will not get down as far as Homer.
Anchorage is a 6hr. drive north of Homer. It is a beautiful, little town
full of places to visit and see, Lots of history there too--as the 1964 earthquake
was very destructive and changed a lot of the land around there.

There is one bar outside of Homer that still sits at a slant. If you want a beer--
they will slide it down the bar to you.
Another fun tradition is to always leave something behind if you visit these places.
The inside of these taverns/bars are totally covered in anything and everything
pinned to the walls and ceiling. Lots of bras and underwear. Also lots of $1 bills.
Anything and everything....This tradition covers many places.

My sister is a very good guide and has taken us and anyone else on a lot of
sight-seeing trips. She knows the area very well....I have been there 3 rimes.

1--Salty Dawg bar on the Homer Spit

2--Our cousin and her huaband that traveled for 2 days fron latvia to see
my sister and this part of AK.

3--Yes! Homer has a beach--more for wading than bathing. Lots of rocks.

4--My sister, valda, with fresh caught Salmon for dinner.

5--They call this the "Sitka Rose". Very thorny--but thr fragrance is to die for.
I so fell in love with this Rugosa Rose....

OK....Did I go off topic again? Oh, well--it was for Holly and Ric.

Alaska's definitely on my bucket list, as well!

I don't really enjoy cruises, but I wouldn't mind taking an Alaskan cruise.

Barn Owl box cam from Cornell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAa0_Sf3Tgc&feature=youtu.be

Kind of freaky!

I enjoyed that TV show set in a small town in Alaska. What was it called? Northern Lights? A moose wandering the streets was always a part of the opening credits,

My daughter was overtaken by a moose running full speed ahead on the bike path she was riding. It wasn't charging her but fleeing something. Not usual in Burlington VT city limits.

maybe the moose has joined the fitness craze

Silly Sally - your sense of humor cracks me up, and now I have the Silly Sally moniker stuck in my head because it fits you all too often

That was a cute owl video! I kept expecting one of them to jump up and get the fly. Their eyes are kind of spooky.

I just watched that video again. I do not see a fly anywhere...
Looks like the owlets sure do--the way they are acting.

I have been wanting to get around to getting a few pics of all the Hummers we have here. Not the best pics but here they are.
We have another new hatch of baby bunnies, they are so little and cute this one has a real interest in coming inside. I swear if the door was open he would hop right in. It has been back several times looking inside today.
Ric says I should post a caption
"Guess who is coming to diner"
or maybe
"I heard you were serving salad for supper"

so cute! He sees all the greenery you have inside, or heard about how green it is in winter in there.

Those are great pics, Holly! Hummers don't make it easy on us to take photos, do they? They don't usually sit still for photos - although it looks like the one in the first pic is coming close - so it's hard to get any kind of photo at all of them.

That bunny is so cute ....and odd! It looks as if it's pawing at the door!

Funny the number of animals and birds that are fascinated by my sliding doors. I am not sure if they see their reflections or just want to thank us for providing food, water and habitat for them. LOL

Come to think of it, I've had Blue Jays and squirrels peering through my patio doors, and I think they knew there was food inside and were hoping the humans would realize they wanted some.

This mornings wildlife, she walked down past the flower beds looking like she was thinking about coming closer and taking a bite. After Ric got a few pics he opened the door and told her to get back to the woods, off she went.

those PA deer know how to mind their manners!

LOL

Holly, that baby bunny is too cute, "hear you're serving salad" LOL... Send that to Melody when you get a chance; she's always looking for something fun for the Sunday "caption this" photo.

Really????

How would one go about submitting a photo to melody for the "Caption This"?

Any guidelines what the photo should be? Who do i send it to?

I do like this feature better now. Nice assortment of pictures--and I like
the caption idea too.

Gita

Great photo Holly and Ric! I can tell that deer is just terrified of you two LOL.

Gita, critter's talking about the DG Sunday funnies. If you look at them this Sunday, I think you'll find all of the information you need about how to submit contributions.

I'll check it out. Thanks

A few pics of the Hummers this afternoon.

Holly---

Is that red canna the one from "wind"--with the massive roots system?
Looks like it.....
I did not plant any of it--dealing with the massive root clumps for a couple
years nor was enough for me.
I just planted the dark-leaved ones. G.

No I have a ton of Red Cannas, They are really big, too.

If anyone ever needs to get a hummingbird out of a barn or house or green house...they will follow those red canna blooms anywhere.

Love the bunnies and deer Holly. Yesterday I saw the tiniest fawn I've ever seen. I think it stood up to look for mom and then quickly rebedded down in my neighbor's grass.

This morning I was greeted by this visitor crossing my back yard.

good hummer pix!
We have had a sighting and a 'hearing' of a hummer here this week, around the Black and blue salvia or tropical milkweed.

Nice Holly! Thanks.

coleup, is that an opossum?

Yes, with two babies clinging to her back! I got as close as 2 feet. Both babies stared at me but mom didn't seem to notice me. Do possums have a 'home' where they go every day? Or do they just move from place to place?

Oh, I was wondering why its fur looked patchy! I couldn't zoom in with this computer. I see them now; cute!!

To (not) answer your questions: I have no idea! I will google later...

While sitting on the ground today weeding I heard tree branches being jostled nearby. I looked up in time to see a red-tailed hawk swoop down and nail some small critter such as a vole on the driveway no more than 50 feet away. Despite my continuing to work, the hawk stayed and consumed its catch, remaining for a good 10 minutes. So unusual to have a hawk plying its trade in one's presence. It was obviously aware of my presence as it checked me out repeatedly during its dinner.

That hawk probably has seen you often enough to be able to predict that you're not going to try to steal its food, greenthumb!

About opossums: "The dens are most often temporary but if a food source is nearby may be occupied for several weeks. A single opossum may have several dens that it will use periodically. Females with young tend to be the exception to this behavior and use the same den site for several weeks at a time." http://www.wildliferescuerehab.com/all-about-opossums.html

wow David, really cool sighting!

Muddy, I think your jay was here today. Putting up all kinds of fuss in the tree by my deck, and I know the cats were in the basement at the time. I did NOT go get peanuts!

Oh, so have you started to spoil the Jays of Maryland by giving them peanuts on occasion?

I haven't seen as many Jays lately; I think a hawk got one and spooked the older Jays ; - (
The younger generation is still hanging around, though.

This message was edited Aug 2, 2015 9:23 PM

Wow, what a treat, David!

Spoil my Jays? Hay ell no! I barely feed my family these days.
X^D
I really don't know what set him off. Maybe a black snake was cruising across the yard unbeknownst to me!

We only have Jays in the winter, come spring time they move on I won't see them again till fall.
So I got a few pics (not the best) of the Wren and it's nest. She built her nest inside my lamppost, if I get out the ladder I might be able to get a shot down inside and get a few pics of the babies.