A Summer Southerly Migration...

 Beautiful Biltmore Lake in the early morning mist...

Once again, I made the ramble through the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina. I made my first visit last fall to visit this guy that thinks he's my boss(Brian) and his wife Caron(she's really the boss!) and wander the woodlands of their beautiful area. I had such a great time...and I didn't seem to annoy them...too much...I needed to go back when the breeding birds could be found. One thing led to another and I postponed the trip for a few weeks, but the birding was still great!

Brian is even giving in to the brainwashing I've been performing on him! One of the next posts I'll show you the amazing find he had one evening! I was stunned! In the meantime, here's a few photos from the first couple of days down south...y'all.

(I just have to get him to invest in binoculars a little newer than the 50's...)

 They had Chickadees, Nuthatches, Wrens and more nesting behind their home.

There were LOTS of Eastern Bluebirds looking for Pops to fill their gullets!

 There's always one kid that's a little odd...not that there's anything wrong with that...look at me!

Well, on second thought...

 Poor Dad...just a little frazzled....

 I found him a little later hiding behind this tree...smart guy.

 There were Eastern (South Eastern?) Towhees hiding and singing all along the lake trail.

This one actually came out to say hello!

 ...well, out for a second anyway...

 Lots of good eating down there!...and for me as well...but not bugs...BBQ!!

 The butterflies up here in Ohio have been far and few between...I think they're all living it up in North Carolina!

This is a Gulf Fritillary.

 This is a Painted Lady...that's not what my dad told me a painted lady was...but that's for a different blog...

 No otters, no bears, no deer, one squirrel and one chipmunk...the only mammals.

One day...

 We also hiked on Mt. Pisgah...a name that makes me giggle because I'm so immature...if you haven't noticed by now... Anyway, this is the view of Looking Glass Rock. When it rains the rock becomes very glossy and reflective. No rain. Much better for me!

Oh look! There's people over there!

 

 Yoiks! There's crazy people hanging from ropes up there!

No thanks...too hard to take pics of birds like that!

 

 Caron and Brian leading the way!

We hiked along the Mountain to Sea Trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway. What gorgeous woodlands! They told me the trail led to "Skinny Dip Falls!" I saw lots of folks heading that way and back...and I thought, "Wow, there's a lot of folks that like skinny dipping down here!" This will be fun since it was so hot.

 Imagine my dismay when I discovered "Skinny Dip Falls" was just a name...

No skinny dipping allowed...no sense of adventure!

Oh well, back to hiking and looking for a bird. It was the awkward time of day when the smart birds are chilling out...skinny dipping in puddles and creeks staying cool...

 Back to reality and butterflies...almost like the sky on this day...a Cloudless Sulphur.

 A bird at last!

I could barely hear their calls in the woods...this one was close enough to really get my attention!
A Dark-eyed Junco! We don't see those often this time of year in my neighborhood.

 I'm lichen this tree!

That joke never gets old...maybe.

Lots of lichens and mosses covered these trees.

 

 We even saw a few, very few, Monarch butterflies while hiking in a few different places.

PLEASE! If you have a garden, don't use pesticides or chemicals. Those chemicals don't know the difference between helpful and harmful insects. They will kill them all. Bee and butterfly populations have dropped dramatically in the past few years and our overuse of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals are not helping things.

No pollinators means no food...

 

 Imagine life without beautiful flowers like this Rhododendron growing wild in the mountains...

 We'll see you soon with more memories from North Carolina soon!

We Went Cuckoo...

 Yep, we saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo along the shores of Lake Erie!

 I'll bet you thought I was going to make some sort of political wise crack! Ha! I would NEVER stoop so low...so, anyway...back to the program...

I managed to wake Phil up early again(he wasn't quite so cranky this time.) We went to an area near Lorain harbor west of Cleveland commonly known as the Lorain Impoundment. There's always something good to see out there and worth the drive. Lately, a Northern Shrike and a Cattle Egret have been spotted...and there's always a few ducks and coots to keep you occupied as well!

We never did see a shrike, but the cuckoo was a great find! My friend Ernie let me know about where it had been seen last..."Look for the crowd!" Out there a crowd is 4 or 5 birders...it's not very busy, just a few birders and fishermen on most days. All in all it was a great warm and sunny November day, quite a change in the climate from years past...hint hint...
 
 Enough of that...let's look at some birdies!

 A scope would be handy out here...but that would be too much for me to carry cause I'm lazy.

We could make out those Buffleheads waaaaay in the back!

 Ooooo...an American Wigeon trying to escape my view!

...and American Coots and Northern Sleepers...uh...Shovelers.

 I was surprised to see so many Clouded Sulphurs flitting about!

The weather had them confused...like me.

 A lone Dark-eyed Junco zipped through and sat for a second...not very patient...

 Talk about rarities! 

 How often does one get to see a Dock Owl sunning himself in the daytime?

Well?

 Wowie wow wow!

TWO rare Dock Owls sunning themselves.

Oh my, we were lucky boys!

Phil may argue that point...

 I do believe that is a juvenile Gadwall...with a stoopid coot trying to get in the pic...

Phil says I'm juvenile too.

 A number of Golden-crowned Kinglets were flitting faster than the speed of light through the trees.

 This guy was kind enough to sit still for almost a second!

AND he even turned around to allow me my prerequisite dorsal view!

 At first I thought it was Daffy Duck, but it turned out to be a Lesser Scaup.

I'm easily confused.

 No.

 This female Northern Shoveler was eye balling Phil and giving him the creeps.

I told him you get used to it.

I get the crazy eye all the time...never can figure out why...hmmm...

 When ya gotta itch, ya gotta scratch!

 That's a male Northern Shoveler by the way...

They must be rich...they always carry big bills!

Hahahahahaha...or not.

 Another rarity!

They had seen a Cattle Egret a few days prior...well that's nothing!

This is the rare sub-species known as "Notta."

Yep, Notta Cattle Egret.

 Pied-butt Grebe.

 Waaaayyy out there!

A lone Ring-necked Duck.

We gotta get Phil some 10X50's so he can see these things...

 Ruddy Ducks with an American Coot pretending to be one of the gang.

They try so hard...silly old coots.

 White-tailed Deer Duck.

Like I said, there's always something rare to be seen out there!

The nest on the top of the phragmities.

How could I make this stuff up?

 Okay, back to reality(or as close as I can get.)

Love those White-throated Sparrows!

I love their little whistley song!

 Well, it's time to sail off into the sunset until our never adventure in birding...real and imagined!

See ya out there somewhere!

 By the way...this guy wants Mr. Trump to give him his hair back...

Just thought I would help...

I Fell....

 Lots of berries  ready for fall picking!

 I didn't really fall....but I didn't make it out birding last weekend, so you get stuck with me making stuff up. As usual. Not really, I never make anything up...everything here is for real and for true...sorta...in my mind anyway.

So, where was I? Oh, It's autumn. Yep, I always fall for fall...the sound of leaves crunching under foot as you're trying to sneak up on unsuspecting birds, the gorgeous colors(even though I'm color blind, I can still see them, mostly.) And then there's that lovely smell of rotting vegetation! I should reword that...but I won't. You get the picture.

After the slow birding of late summer, we now have all the migrants coming through for brief visits, as I've mentioned earlier. We also have our winter friends coming in to enjoy our mild autumn and the upcoming winter(ick.) White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos are popping up now.  Our seasons are so much milder that where they nest in northern Canada, Lake Erie weather is like a visit to the tropics! At least for them.

We also have ducks coming through and hunting season is on for quackers! Trips along the lake front will afford you views of thousands of ducks and Mergansers flying along the shore line. Soon the inland lakes and marshes will be full of Teal, Mallards, Pintails, Wigeons and more.

So, unlike me, get out there and enjoy the foliage, and I don't mean raking leaves! Visit your area parks, pond, creeks and lakes and see what this seasons colors have to offer! I'm looking forward to getting out this weekend...and not falling down!

 Eastern Chipmunks are getting their nests ready for the coming cold weather.

 I took a photo before I stomped all over them to listen to the crunchy cripsy sounds!

(Yes, I said CRIPSY)

The Chipping Sparrows are gone and the American Tree Sparrows, like this one at Pond Brook, will replace them for the season.

Dark-eyed Juncos are being seen all around our area now.

 I love the pattern on the White-crowned Sparrow crown.

 White-throated Sparrows are out and about as well!

 

Still no otter...maybe this weekend?!

Sometimes those White-crowned Sparrows make me nervous...

Until we meet again!