6.17.2010

A Little Behind

 
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Sorry for the lack of posting...I'm a little behind on a whole lot of things, plus I am guilty of spending too much of my on-line time on Facebook these days. In addition, several months ago someone implied that in one of my posts a while back I was disloyal in some way to an organization that I have supported with my entire being for my whole adult life. Needless to say, it pissed me off to a tremendous degree. So much so that I nearly pulled SwampThings off the web for good...but I reconsidered.  Let me just say that if the individual(s) in question do not like what I post, they are free to go elsewhere to do their reading.

Enough of that.  Now on to other things...

Things are hopping in the yard and in the swamp. The photo of the bear (above my rant) is from the swamp and was shot through a dirty windshield at a pretty good distance, so don't give me too much grief for the poor quality. I do what I can with what I have ;) That being said, here is another photo through the same dirty windshield...
 
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In case you can't tell, it's a fawn with its mom. We have been seeing lots of fawns this spring/summer.  They are quite cute but they are very demanding nursers - constantly nudging their moms whenever they stop.

We've also been seeing loads of rabbits, both in the yard and in the swamp. One afternoon, just shy of my driveway, I had to stop my car and shoo a little bunny out of the road. Apparently cottontails are not intimidated by your vehicle if it happens to be a Prius. This bigger bunny was hanging out near the bridge at work. He kept a watchful eye on me but never slowed down on his munching.
 
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Turtles have been busy laying eggs and kingsnakes have been equally busy burrowing into the nest and eating the eggs. This snake was just outside my office window. I watched him work on turtle eggs for three hours (no, I didn't watch the entire three hours. I did have work to do!)
 
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I took some video of the snake eating one of the eggs it dug up, but it's about as exciting as watching paint dry so I won't bore you with it.

Things in the yard have been busy. The butterfly garden is attracting butterflies...
 
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Birds are nesting here and there...
 

 
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We have had indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks, summer tanagers, Carolina wrens, prothonotary warblers and several others nesting on the property. Treebeard and I have coffee on the porch every morning just so we can greet the day with birdsong.

There are other things going on as well but I'll save those for another day. Later...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Swampy- Don't know who the idiot was who said you were disloyal but I'm glad you're back. I've missed your wonderful photography and notes on what is happening in your neighborhood. Found a nest of garter snakes down by the dock. Saved a rough green snake at the post office yesterday. Looking forward to your visit. Maineiac

swamp4me said...

Hey Maineac,
Boy have you come a long way -- saving snakes at the PO! I am very proud of you ;) Can't tell you how much we are looking forward to seeing you. I may have some quilting and knitting questions to ask when we come - just thought I'd warn you.

biobabbler said...

woah, I can hardly bear all the amazing shots in one post! That first shot of the bear is lovely-such nice composition and it's so beautifully dark! And your nest is gorgeous, every thing is GREAT.

DON'T STOP BLOGGING PLEASE!! Cranks can be blocked from commenting. They need more to do, clearly.

I REALLY enjoy your blog and it's SO exciting to see swampy creatures 'cause I live in SUCH a dry place; you have so many things I never see. Delightful!

KaHolly said...

Glad you came to your senses, Swampy, and continued to post. You've been missed. Are you making a journey to Maine? ~karen

swamp4me said...

biobabbler,
Not to worry, I won't stop blogging. I started SwampThings in order to share the beauty of the swamps and woods in my little corner of the world in the hopes that others might develop or sustain an appreciation of them. I will continue to do just that! Thanks for the encouragement.

karen,
Thanks. And yes, we are headed to the wonderfully exotic north woods later this summer. It will be our third trip to Maine -- plus, we plan on spending a couple of days visiting a friend in Vermont. There will be no visit to Canada this trip, however -- we don't have passports :(

jason said...

I'm glad you're still around, Swampy. Don't let idiots change your ways. You'd be terribly missed if you did.

swamp4me said...

Thanks, Jason.

R.Powers said...

Oh now I have to scroll back through months of posts and find that offender.
You know, anytime someone uses "disloyal" as a criticism I get the creepiest 1984ish feeling.
Don't you?

Damn that Facebook.

This post and these photos were wonderful, I hope you stay.
Here.

woverman said...

Now I know good and well if I could sit for over two and a half hours watching a turtle lay eggs, you could sit for three hours watching a snake eat turtle eggs. Work can wait! :-P

Ellen Rathbone said...

I'll join the masses with an "I'm glad you're back" comment. I was just thinking yesterday that it had been a while since I'd see a post from you and I hoped you hadn't had a relapse of some dreaded disease! Fi on the discontented reader(s). The rest of us really appreciate your work. Keep it up!

swamp4me said...

FC, you can look but you won't find any comments -- the comment was made to me directly.
I'm not going anywhere and I promise not to spend too much time on Facebook (even though I am addicted to one of the games!)

woverman,
You made your old science teacher proud by watching that turtle. And yes, while I could have watched for the whole three hours, I didn't. I was the only ranger on duty that day.

Ellen,
Yes, it has been a while since I have posted but I intend to get back into the groove again. Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!