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!"

Back in Colorful Colorado

It's been an eventful week. We left Fort Myers early last Tuesday morning to begin our drive home to Colorado. On the way we made several stops.

The Disney Wilderness Preserve is just to the south of Orlando and we decided it was a good place to stop for a walk. There were dozens of wild turkeys near the entrance. This huge Tom Turkey was proud to show off his magnificent feathers.

These two Wood Storks were hunting for fish in a small pond along the trail.

The well-marked trail took us through a variety of habitats. The purple thistles were in full bloom.

The trail lead to Russel Lake with these beautiful old growth trees. Unfortun-ately, I didn't see any ducks.

It was quite warm and Bill stopped to sit for a moment to enjoy the view of the lake.

Further down the trail Bill took this wonderful picture of a Dragonfly. My close-up pictures usually don't turn out as good as his do.

There was evidence of a brush fire in one of the meadows - and the new life that springs forth afterwards.

At the end of our first day on the road, we stopped outside Charleston, SC for the night.

Further up the coast - still in South Carolina - we stopped at the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge - and were eaten alive by all the bugs! This barn swallow was trying to keep the bug population at a minimum - but was not even making a dent. They were everywhere! Needless-to-say, we did not stay long!

It was Spring on Pawleys Island. The Wisteria was beautiful - as were the Dogwoods and the Azaleas.

While we were taking these pictures, a nice young man came by and we asked him if the near-by hot dog place was a good place to stop for lunch. He told us to go a little further down the road to the intersection of Ocean Highway and Archer Road and find the Litchfield Restaurant. We did - and boy was it good! Bill had the liver and onions and I had the fried chicken. I'm sure neither of our meals were on our approved diet list - but oh well.

Our destination on Wednesday was Kure Beach where my sister has a beautiful new home just a block from the beach. We took the Fort Fisher Ferry from Southport to Pleasure Island where Kure Beach is located.

The ferry landed near the Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area. These trees looked like the wind was blowing 100 miles an hour!

Kure Beach is a beautiful residential community with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Cape Fear River to the west. The beaches have very few shells - but lots of nice sand and shore birds. The word is out and the older homes are quickly being replaced with expensive new ones.

This common Laughing Gull is in full mating plumage - his winter clothes.

We had a great visit with Beth and husband Warren, oldest daughter Lisa and their four cute furry cats. I can't believe I don't have any pictures of them!

On Friday, Beth, Warren, Bill and I went to the River Walk in Wilmington NC. Bill took this picture of a Coast Guard Ship as a tug boat lead it to the dock.

Across the river was the Battleship North Carolina. We went over to take a closer look and eat our picnic lunch.

While we were eating, the Jo Oak, a HUGE chemical transport ship came down the river. They had to open the drawbridge for it to pass.

Wilmington is a beautiful city - with lots to see and do - but we had to get back to Kure Beach. Bill cooked a delicious Gulf Shrimp dinner and we played a competitive game of dominoes.

Lisa arrived later that evening and it was great to spend some time with her. She has become a beautiful young woman. Sis did good.

By noon on Saturday we said our good-byes and we were on our way to visit an old friend of Bill's.

Fred and Bill worked together in the Azores and again in Germany. Our visit was short - but very nice.

Even the rest stops along the interstates have something to see. This gorgeous cardinal was sitting in a tree overlooking the picnic area.

The next two days were gruelling. Bill did most of the driving. The winds were howling and it was difficult keeping the car on the road.

This is our first view of Colorado taken while in New Mexico. It was good to see the mountains again.

As we got closer, we saw this sign "Wrong Way" with Colorado in the distance. Was this a message that we were coming home too early? Should we have stayed where it was warm? I guess time will tell!