Meanwhile, Back in Carolina...

 Somewhere, back in there are a few Wood Ducks and a Great Blue Heron!

 Ah, another beautiful day in Asheville with birds singing and wonderful sunshine to start my morning walk around Biltmore Lake. I had a quick walk in the morning and a much longer walk in the evening with Caron and Brian. I'll tell ya, it's really rough having to visit the boss...and spend time wandering around looking at nature...I mean talking about the inner workings (this short video shows what REALLY goes on!) of Clearsonic Mfg...yeah, that's what we talked about...all day...honest...

But anyway...

 The American Goldfinches have it made down here!

 With all of the lush greenery and juicy worms, this American Robin was still cranky!

Must be all the obnoxious tweets he hears...

 

 I had a few nice shots of this Brown-headed Nuthatch, but this one was just a bit Nuttier...

 I rarely get a nice close view of a male Northern Cardinal. 

For some reason, this guy was very patient with me...and I thanked him.

Caron and Brian kinda ignore me when I talk to birds...smart...

 Something up above really got the attention of this Chipping Sparrow.

Maybe and evening snack?

 Pfftttt.....

 This is very rare photographic evidence that Green Herons do the Hokey-Pokey.

"You put your left wing out..."

 "You put your right wing out..."

And then you vote the bums out of office.

Sorry...had to do it....I have a bad case of Trumpitis... 

Sad, very sad...

 This guy loves looking at himself too...

"I'm so handsome, I'll make Heron great again..."

 Anyway, it's getting dark out(not unlike America's future) and the birds are getting harder to photograph. This juvenile American Robin took once last look around before bedtime.

 BIRD OF THE WEEK!

Brian is getting good at spotting birds!

This Black-and-White Warbly was skulking in a darker corner of the trail when Brian saw it.

I just shot quickly without adjustments, you never want to dawdle when a warbly is involved!

We'll have to make a "Warbly Award" for him!

 I saw House FInches that were more on the yellowy side in Florida once. 

I was surprised to see them here as well.

 One of my last shots of the evening was this Eastern Kingbird surveying his realm.

Somewhere behind us we could hear a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling.

I went back to the area the following morning and heard him calling again, but could never locate him. I guess I'll have to go back...

 While we were watching the sunset, the moon rose and gave us an equally lovely view.

 One butt for the road...and I dedicate this ass to the republicans that believe everyone should have a gun to shoot their neighbors, and Right to Life is only important until you're born, then you have no right to live a healthy life.

Only in America...great...

Until we meet again...

Moths and More!...

 This is the fantastic meadow at Wood Hollow Park in Hudson, Ohio.

Seeing that it's National Moth Week, I thought I would go out and get more moth pics to share. I headed to Wood Hollow. This is a wonderful little park used mostly by joggers and walkers and very few birders. I've seen all of our common woodpeckers here, along with a few warblies, bluebirds, my favorite song sparrows and more. In the summer months when the wild flowers start to pop, you can find lots of insects buzzing all over the place!

Today I found dozens of Clearwing Moths, a few butterflies(their numbers seem to be way down this year) and dragonflies eating those pesky little biting insects. The bad news is the Deer and Black Flies were trying to eat me alive...and we won't get into ticks...where's my Deet?!

Oh...I saw a couple of birds when I finally looked up...

 MWAHAHA!

Actually, this Imperial Moth was a visitor at work, a couple miles away this week. 

But, being moth week, I had to share it!

 This guy was as big as my hand!

 Not the greatest shot of a Clearwing Moth, but I love how it curled it's tongue as he zipped off to another flower.

 1/1600th of a second shutter speed to slow down those wings!

Love that fuzzy buddy!

 Bugs From Behind!

These are wonderful pollinators. They look like a cross between a hummingbird and a bumbly bee.

 Speaking of Bumbly Bees!

 I looked up long enough to see this Chipping Sparrow. 

He was giving me the crazy eye while I was swatting flies and clicking pics...and trying to chase bugs...the non-biting ones...

 I had a staring contest with this Common Wood Nymph.

He won...my attention span isn't very long...

 I saw a few Common Wood Nymphs, they all seemed to be working through the lowest flowers.

This one has a few nips taken out of his wings...life must be safer lower in the scrub away from the hunting birds.

 This Eastern Amberwing posed nicely in front of a mass of wildflowers.

 This is the female Eastern Amberwing...looking for her man...

 Eastern Pondhawks are fierce hunters! Lucky they aren't bigger or we'd be in trouble!

 This was the lone Halloween Pennant I spotted. Lucky find for me!

 The Honey Bees seemed few and far between.

I wonder when they'll find out what's causing their crash?

We need to cut back on the use of chemicals in our gardens and farms!

Those pesticides kill more than pests!

 I chased this Spicebush Swallowtail all over the meadow. 

I had better luck getting ticks than his photo...

 I believe this is a species of Sweat Bee...maybee...ha!

 There's lots of thistle around to feed the American Goldfinches!

 When I looked closer I found this tiny spider and his crazy web works in there!

Any ideas what kind of spider?

 You can tell this is a Twelve-spotted Skimmer because of the pattern on his body.

(Did you think I was going to say "cause he's got 12 spots on his wings?)

I leave you for now with a pretty flower...still don't have a field guide for them...one day.

Until we meet again!

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!