After Christmas Visits

After a quiet Christmas Day at home, Bill and I got back into our new red car and headed north to South Carolina and a super wonderful (but short) visit with son John, much-more-than-a-girlfriend Megan, daughter Pamela, hubby extraordinaire Orlando and three of my very special (and active!) grandsons. They gave us a four-leaf clover to hang in our car - to keep us safe - and a newfangled Keurig coffee maker. While there, the boys visited yet another Aviation Museum while baby Leandro and Megan napped (she is a nurse and works nights) and Pamela & I visited. Short, but very, very sweet.

We left early on Friday and headed to our next adventure - a visit with my sister Beth (http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/), her husband Warren, and four cats. They winter on Kure Beach, just south of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Port Fisher is on the south end of the island and we did a little birding in the area. Beth claims she saw Oystercatchers and a Marbled Godwit earlier in the week, but we saw no evidence of either on our chilly walk. The Southport to Fort Fisher Ferry chugged by.

This Mockingbird was the only evidence of bird life.

Carolina Beach Lake was another story! We saw Bufflehead Ducks...

this gorgeous female Lesser Scaup...

a silly-looking White Crested Duck (a domestic variety)...

lots of Mallards...

and this FABULOUS Long-tailed Duck!! (Don't tell Beth, but seeing this duck was our real reason for the visit.) Our first new Life Bird of the trip.

He entertained us by flapping his wings.

I think I like him ALMOST as much as my Wood Ducks!

The next day we again tried the southern-most part of the island, but instead of birds, we found a flock of wind-surfers with their colorful wings flying over the chilly water.

Since Beth had failed to showed me the promised flock of Oystercatchers and the lone Marbled Godwit, she decided to share her "Secret Beach." The access was washed away by Sandy, but we walked to the end of the wooden path where we met another birder, Bruce Smithson. He was a wealth of information and pointed out species we would have never otherwise noticed.

The first was a lone Red-throated Loon way in the distance, my second Life Bird of the trip.

Another view of the Red-throated Loon.

We also saw this larger, less elegant Common Loon swimming near-by.

I know, terrible pictures but I have lots of excuses - they were far away and kept diving for fish and since it was late in the day, the light was terrible. I just hope I have them properly identified!

Bruce also pointed out the Northern Gannets flying above the surf - my third new Life Bird!

Beautiful birds!!

I wish they had been closer, but am pleased they came in as close as they did.

While I was watching the Northern Gannets, a flock of Brown Pelicans flew by. They were beautifully highlighted by the fading sunlight.

A small flock of Bufflehead Ducks (mostly all male - one female) played in the surf - riding high on the swells and diving under the breaking waves.

My fourth new Life Bird of the trip was this large seabird - a Razorbill. Lillian Stokes (Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America) has been reporting a rare invasion of Razorbills off the coast of Florida and has some amazing pictures on her blog (http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/).

The sun was setting on Kure Beach as we chatted with our new best friend, Bruce Smithson. He was a fabulous find and a great teacher. Thanks Bruce!

And very special thanks to Beth and Warren for being such great hosts. We really did come to see both of you - but the FOUR NEW LIFE BIRDS in TWO DAYS was extra-special. As Arnold is famous for saying - "I'll be back!"

Duck, Duck, Duck, GEESE!

It's too cold. We've had snow flurries and frigid winds making it even more miserable - but we've still kept busy spending time with family and friends and managed to get in some great bird watching and duck hunting adventures along the way. We visited Kettle Lakes at the Air Force Academy, Fountain Creek Regional Park just south of Colorado Springs and Denver's Washington Park.

This is mama Mallard - common as mud, but still beautiful in her own way. She is often under appreciated because the male Mallards are so striking. She swam over to us as we were walking in Washington Park - a wonderful, upscale and well-used urban park in south central Denver. I've never been there when I haven't seen dozens of strollers, joggers and dog-walkers enjoying the outdoors in this active, well-kept neighborhood - no matter what the weather is like.

In another smaller, more secluded pond, we found a group of Northern Shovelers. The male has the broad black bill while his mate looks more like mama Mallard - until you see her large, spatula-shaped bill. I took dozens of pictures of headless birds - tails in the air - as they spend most of their time with their heads in the water straining out small organisms with the comblike edges of their bills. This is the first time I've identified Northern Shovelers in Colorado - maybe because I've never seen their heads before!

Mama Mallard and her handsome mate. This pair was swimming at Kettle Creek - a secret group of small lakes and noisy open spaces nestled between the traffic of busy I-25 and glider practice at the Air Force Academy. This time of year, we don't see more than the occasional fisher-person during our walks. This is the same place we saw the Brown Bear last June (see blog entry, June 1, 2009).

There was lots to see at Fountain Creek Regional Park - a real gem with well-marked trails that weave through rustic open spaces and small lakes. There are viewing blinds to aid bird-watchers while not disturbing the wildlife. This magnificent pair of ducks are Hooded Mergansers. The male is on the left and one of his ladies is on the right.

It was interesting watching this flashy male as he stayed close to the opposite side - hidden in the brush. He only occasionally swam out far enough for me to get a decent picture. My camera was on full zoom and this image is cropped more than usual - but he was certainly worth the wait!

This is the female Hooded Merganser, who would swim back and forth from the male to the open water usually in a small group of sisters.

Another gorgeous duck - a Green-winged Teal. There were several at Fountain Creek.

This, along with the next two pictures, are of Common Goldeneye - obviously named for their bright yellow eye.

The male Goldeneye has more white on the body, darker head and a white spot between his eye and bill. The placement of this spot is important in identification.

The female is darker overall with a white collar and brown head. We saw Common Goldeneye at all of the lakes we visited.

A lone Double-crested Cormorant at Kettle Lake. He's there every time we visit. I love the golden colors of the sun reflecting on the water around the Cormorant.

This is a female Bufflehead. Notice the white oval-shaped spot BEHIND the eye. We saw her at Kettle Creek Lake - and would have loved to see her mate - but he was nowhere to be found.

The ever-present Canadian Geese. I see them - lots of them - mostly in urban parks and open spaces. They are nice to look at but where ever they are - they leave mounds of slimy, ugly green droppings - everywhere! But, to their credit, they are amazing to watch when flocks of them fly in and land together on the water. They announce their arrival with loud honks and seeing them is, to me, synonymous with the upcoming Holiday Season. I almost expect to see red ribbons around their necks - until I step in yet more poop - when I want to see something else around their necks.