Anhinga

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), aka water turkey or snake bird. Yeah, she's there, but you have to look hard. Not the most cooperative of subjects, but I was determined to get some sort of shot. Considering I was in a canoe and the bird was a good distance up in the tree, I had to settle for a through-the-foliage approach. We don't get these birds up our way that often, but two have been hanging out in the upper end of the pond all season. They have a very interesting flight profile - sort of a flying cross.

Not So Green Treefrog

Tricky little green treefrog - Hyla cinerea - The picture I posted a few entries back seems to have hopped off my page so here is one to replace it. Green treefrogs are probably my favorite frog. You find them in the most unexpected places and their colors can be quite remarkable.

Green Heron

The pond was full of herons and egrets today. We also saw a few osprey and a couple of anhingas. Anhingas are relatively uncommon here so it was interesting to see them and have the chance to get a couple of photos - not very good photos, but still. Of course, when I tried to post them they turned into the dreaded little red x in a box. I was not amused. It seems that Picasa and Blogger are up to no good again, gobbling up my pictures and closing unexpectedly. It's enough to make a person cuss. I still think a large part of the problem is my dial-up connection. Tomorrow I plan to call and make arrangements to have satellite service installed. It'll run us about $5o.oo a month, but at least my blood pressure might return to normal ;)

Lilliputian Feather

While tromping through the swamp today looking for the keys Treebeard dropped on Thursday, we came upon this perfect little feather lying on the ground. Perhaps it's from a hummingbird...or maybe there is some other secret race of tiny birds inhabiting the wetlands ;)

By the way, we found Treebeard's keys -- he was quite relieved. Perhaps I will relate that tale in another post.

Go Slowly and Share the Road

While on patrol in the park I have to be ever mindful of traffic...
If I had one of those speedy internet connections I would have included some of the other travelers on the road. Like the young turkeys, the green snake, the black racer, the black bear (he declined to be photographed), the umpteen butterflies, the marsh rabbit, and the mystery rodent that I just barely caught a glimpse of as he dove into the brush. Life on the road - ain't it grand?

Watch-dragon

When you live in a swamp biting flies are a fact of life and make no mistake, it hurts when those critters bite! So nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than hearing the whir of wings as a dragonfly swoops in to pluck up one of those pestiferous flies before it can bite. The dragon pictured above is a Halloween Pennant, Celithemis eponina, standing guard in the wilds of the side-yard.

Attack!

A black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar on a Queen Anne's Lace seed head.

There You Are!

Green treefrog hiding out behind the door. I don't blame him. It has been thirty kinds of hot around the swamp this summer.

This little fellow was a bit braver than the one behind the door, but he still mananged to find a shady spot. Green treefrogs never cease to amaze me. The color variations are quite remarkable.

Four Eyes

I absolutely love snails. Don't know why. Maybe it's the eyes. Maybe it's the spiral of the shell. Maybe it's just because they are so darn cute...

I'd love to be able to tell you the name of this particular critter but I'm afraid that's outside of my skill set. Think I'll just call him/her Winky and let it go at that.

Hey, Peter!

Yep, it's little Peter Cottontail, but instead of raiding Mr. MacGregor's garden, he's been nibbling clover in our yard. He's a tiny little thing - no bigger than Treebeard's closed fist. It drives my strictly indoor cats crazy to watch him from the window. I know what they'd do if they could get to him...it wouldn't be pretty (which is one reason my cats are not allowed out).

Little cottontails are everybody's favorite treat - from the big old rat snake that lives in the hollow tree in the front yard to the great horned owl that haunts the wood's edge. Lucky for him that our yard offers plenty of hiding places and an abundance of food. With luck, he just might make it to adulthood.

Oh, and many thanks to Treebeard for the photo.

Sweet As...

...well, obviously not tupelo honey! Sort of puts you off your morning toast and honey, doesn't it? I'm not sure what the honeybees were after, but there were quite a few of them working on this otter scat. Definitely gonna have to research this habit a bit...

By the way, if you've never had the pleasure of getting a whiff of fresh otter scat you just don't know what you're missing ;->

Second Chance

One of our maintenance mechanics called me on the radio while I was deep in the swamp. He had seen a snake cross the parking lot and then become entangled in some netting that the contractors had put down to help control erosion. I knew it would take me about 45 minutes to reach his location, so I asked him to shade the snake to try to help keep it from overheating. Much to his credit, for he has no particular love of snakes, he managed to put a protective cover over the very stressed animal. When I arrived the snake was in pretty rough shape but was still able to move its head around. I cut it loose with my pocket knife and brushed off the fire ants that had gathered on it. When I picked it up it didn't struggle - very untypical behavior for a banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata); they like to bite :)

I put the snake down near the water in a sheltered area and hoped for the best. When I checked the next morning, the snake was gone. Whether it recovered and swam away or some other critter made a meal of it, at least it didn't die caught up in that netting. I absolutely hate that stuff! Currently I am trying to get permission to remove the netting but I won't know until Friday. As soon as I get the go-ahead I will gleefully rip all that stuff up.

Oh, and many thanks to the MM for taking the picture of the snake's belly while I held it. Our bandeds are unusally marked, so I try to get pictures whenever I can.

Belly Shot

Sitting Pretty

High above the millpond a female hummingbird incubates her eggs. She built her nest of lichens and spider web on a dead branch in a bald cypress tree. Most people would have paddled by and never seen her, but my eagle-eyed Treebeard spotted her. Have I mentioned lately that Treebeard is a remarkable fellow? Well, he is and I am a lucky woman.

Frog Heaven

The upper end of the millpond is a froggy place. Amid the leaves of the spatterdock you can find bullfrogs, green frogs, carpenter frogs, an abundance of green treefrogs, and a multitiude of cricket frogs to name a few types. Summer nights are deafening.

Herons

A black-crowned night heron keeps an eye on its offspring.

This picture was part of a series of photos featuring a nest building barn swallow and a hummingbird incubating her eggs...Blogger ate 'em. I have spent an hour working on this post - I am not happy. It is my sincere wish that Blogger gets a bad case of indigestion from eating my photos :-<

Happy Mother's Day

A little something from Treebeard's files. With a backyard like this, who could ask for anything more?

Blogger Blues

You might have noticed that I've just about given up on blogging. Between a painfully slow dial-up connection and the perverse nature of Blogger itself (i.e. eating pictures!) I am approaching my upper limit of tolerance. I haven't even been able to respond to comments -- that drives me absolutely crazy. I value those of you who read this blog and I really appreciate your comments. So please, don't think I am ignoring you!

Perhaps a new computer is in order or perhaps a change in service providers would help...we'll see. Meanwhile I'll try to post when I can.

Copper Top

Copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix. This is another of those elliptical pupil guys - venomous.

Eye Spy

The snake in the top photo is a black racer (Coluber constrictor), non-venomous. The lower photo is of a cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), venomous. Click on the photos to enlarge and take a good look at the eyes. The racer has a round pupil and the cottonmouth has an eliptical pupil. In my area of NC that is a sure way of telling a non-venomous snake from a venomous one. The only venomous snake in NC that has a round pupil is the eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) and we are well north of its range here in the home swamp.