Find a warm spot

After the big drop in temperature, I am finding frogs tucked into the zinnias. This looks like a nice warm choice.

Spider Lilies

Seen in the yards of older homes, this fall bloomer first sends up a slender stalk, followed by an airy bloom, and later, the greenery. A shovel full of bulbs from a neighbor long ago has given me plenty. Common names are Pink Ladies and the fun Naked Ladies, as the flower resembles a fancy ladies hat atop a bare stem. Ooh la la!

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

I used to wonder what was making that odd call coming from the woods. After a little research and a few sightings, I learned it is the cuckoo. This is a large bird and although I hear him regularly, to spot him is a real treat.

Saturday's Frog

Hmmm, does this leaf still fit?

Another Sunday Sunrise

Large houses mark the pre-dawn skyline over the 4 wheel drive section of the northern Currituck Banks.

The Tagged Crab

A couple weeks ago we picked up this female crab in one of our pots, obviously recruited for a study of blue crab movement. We sent in our information to the collector in KDH and hope to hear back about her release point and the study itself. We clipped her tag and set her free, as we do with most of the females we catch ... doing our little part in trying to keep the numbers up.

The Early Morning

Trying to  catch some of the beauty of the watery landscape here. This is a view of the pre-dawn horizon north of Corolla.

Garden Spider

She's a beauty. Her web is spread between two trees. She will leave her eggs in a sac near the edge of the web. Last year one made a web right at the back door. I set aside my jumpiness and let her be; she left behind 3 paper bag colored sacs.

The Pileated at Work

This woodpecker spent some time on the the rotting branch lifting up chunks of bark. One beautiful bird, no?

Looking for some Sunshine

It's been a long week of wind and rain. In a weather break yesterday I stepped into the garden to see the sunflowers and zinnias. This morning is quite cool and the sun is still hiding. Maybe this little flower will coax him out.

Sandpipers Visit

In an earlier post, I mentioned the new grass growth in the sound. As the grass breaks and the wind blows it collects into thick mats along the shoreline. Flocks of sandpipers have found the grass and are feasting on the entrapped critters. We rarely see sandpipers this way; we have a few pairs of plovers and the killdeers but flocks of sandpipers are a bright spot to the grass explosion.

Leopard Frog

Another leopard frog, this one out of the pond and displaying the gold lines down his back.

Stormy Monday

I thought I would check out the morning sky again. It's pretty stormy out. White foam kicked up by the wind piles up along the shoreline stopped by piles of grass. The grass has exploded in the sound. It will take a few storms to thin it out.

Sunday Morning Sunrise

Our sound and sky is usually a large expanse of blue. Just before sunrise, it can be a palette full.

Sharing the Parsley

Of course to have butterflies, I need to share some garden goodies. Parsley is a fav for the swallowtail caterpillars.

Giant Swallowtail

I love having flowers in the garden. They bring in beauties like this one I found yesterday afternoon.

Pot 'o Pink

Let's brighten up this grey day with a pot of electric pink portulaca!

The Grasshopper

The detail on this fellow could only have been made by the finest draftsman.