Viceroy Butterfly

My favorite butterfly! Did you know The Monarch, Queen, and Viceroy butterflies all have similar color patterns to keep predators from eating any of the three species? This is an excellent example of "Mullerian mimicry" because these species have toxic chemicals making them undesirable to predators because of the bad taste and horrible stomach pains that follows eating one. The Viceroy is found throughout most of North America, from Southern Canada into Northern Mexico and from the east to west coasts. You usually can find them in floodplains, canals, riversides, marshes, meadows, wood edges, lakeshores, deltas, and roadside ditches.. Just about anywhere!!  Unfortunately it is listed as endangered within the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys of British Columbia, Canada.

Retro Birding

Another Film adventure with the Nikon N70 35mm

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Ring-necked Pheasant"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Ring-necked Pheasant"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Canadian Geese"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Great Blue heron"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Female Belted Kingfisher"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Black Volture"][/caption]

New Girl at the feeder!

At this time of year I often try to convince myself that there’s really no need to get up so early. It’s cold out there, and so warm under the blankets.  It was a little warm last night so we decided to open the window a bit. I woke up this morning to the usual chirps of the Yellow-rumped warblers that have taken over out back...all of a sudden I heard this very odd sounding gull. I got out of bed and walked to our bedroom window and checked, like I do every morning.  "OH!!! BRIAN! THERE'S A SAPSUCKER ON OUR TREE!!" I run, literally, downstairs and grab his camera and run back to take its picture. Still half asleep! oh it was so funny! I could barely hold the camera straight. I told Brian  "I hope it comes back to the feeder!"  We get up and sit to watch the weather channel with our cup of coffee...but of course I'm not watching, I'm too busy looking at the feeder, all the trees, and our little Yellow-rumped warblers foraging for food. Then, in the blink of an eye, It was back! This time Brian saw it heading straight for the feeder! Hopefully that little Yellow-bellied Sapsucker comes back ;). Oh and By the way this is a Lifer for me I've never seen one before!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Yellow-bellied Sapsucker"][/caption]

To hear the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers call, click here and scroll down a bit

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="371" caption="Yellow-rumped Warbler"][/caption]

Drive-By!

I have a really bad habit of Searching for birds while riding down the road...Especially when we pass ponds, rivers, or any type of body of water! I usually just shout out "Hey look! (even though I know Brian can't actually look while driving) It's a...." and he say's "Oh! cool! Want me to go back?" Most of the time I say no and I just keep a mental note and look it up when I get home. Well, today when we were riding home from a CB Shop on Military Highway I noticed Hooded Mergansers swimming in the pond on the side of the Highway. I couldn't believe I had looked for only a second and knew what it was. Well, he asked and I answered with YES! You know.... just to make sure I seen what I actually thought I'd saw.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Two Male & Two Female Mergansers"][/caption]

Butterfly Friends

In winter months I sure do miss seeing all the beautiful butterflies fluttering about on all the fresh wild flowers. I miss chasing them just to get their picture almost as if I were the nature paparazzi. It was always fun to get a butterfly used to you, and then sneak your finger in for them to catch a ride. My favorite time was down in Waterlily, NC. We keep a permanent camper on the sound. and there's a little area down by the dock where you can ALWAYS find butterflies. This day, there was an interesting little Red Admiral. He was a little worn, but had so much personality! He followed me everywhere, watching what I was doing. Finally he landed...and said hello ;)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Good Afternoon Lady! "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption=""Oh this is a nice shirt Crystal! By the way, you smell pretty!""][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption=""Has anyone ever told you, you have the most beautiful eyes?""][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Ta Ta!"][/caption]

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."  - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Ever since last year when I decided to start doing photography, I've managed to capture 12 different butterflies on my finger...and get a picture of it too! I love butterflies. They make me so happy! :) hopefully this post brings a little bit of happiness your way!

Day Trippin on Film

Today was a gorgeous fall day! Brian and I decided to take a trip to visit my Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle on the Eastern Shore (part of the delmarva). Since our Nikon 8800 decided to crap out a couple of days ago, I've been interested in his Nikon N70. It's a 35mm film camera, and I decided what the hell- I'll give it a shot! We Visited Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge and also Kiptopeke State Park. Here are some of the shots I got. Keep in mind, I haven't shot film in over 10 years!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Northern Mocking Bird - Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Bottlenose Dolphin - Kiptopeke State Park"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Downy Woodpecker - Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sunset over Concrete ships from 1948 - Kiptopeke State Park"][/caption]

Our semi-homemade bird feeder!

Brian and I have done a bit of bird watching lately. Usually I'm chasing butterflies and other insects, while he sits in his chair with an adult beverage and enjoys watching. I decided we needed a bird feeder at the condo so we could see what kind of bird friends we get, and have loads of fun trying to figure what the heck they are! We headed up to Home Depot and grabbed a few odds and ends and this is what we got!

This rinky dinky bird feeder is so awesome! It's perfect for our sorry excuse of a deck and plus we can't drill holes. Everything we bought ended up costing us around 7 dollars! Heres how you can make your very own!

• Hook (preferably with a screw-able end) - I bought one that's rubberized so the chain wouldn't slip -$0.97


• Hollow Pole - I used one that came in the packaging for our flat screen. $0.00


• EZ Fill Suet Basket - $2.79-$3.99


• Wild Bird Suet Cake - $1.59

This was so easy to make! we drilled a hole for the hook, screwed it in, set the cake up, and took it outside with zip ties (no drill holes!) and we've had a few visitors! I can't seem to get their photos on the feeders because I need to move it.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Visit the NPS website for Cape Hatteras

White Tail Deer

Sanderlings

Clearnose Skate

American Oystercatchers

Tundra Swans

Boat-Tailed Grackles

Juvenile Willet

Cannonball Jellyfish

Camping In The Outerbanks, North Carolina

The original plan we had in mind, was camping in Manteo, North Carolina. We chose (what we thought) was a neat campground right outside of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The campground, called "County Line" in East Lake, North Carolina, has no website, or reviews but I figured it was probably a neat campground. It was described online "primitive campsites, freshwater pond/lake, electrical hookups" I also called the owner to ask how her campsites were, She told me that you can camp in the woods, and you're near a lake - there's wide open space and plenty of room to pitch a tent, also she said there are paddle boats and all kinds of fun things to do. So we packed our gear and headed south. Manteo is a really neat town. I hear of a really awesome aquarium and there are lots of old marinas in Wancheese, which is just south of Manteo, Probably a really great place to get fresh seafood and a few old fisherman tales. After driving two and a half hours, we start to pass driving trails of Alligator River Refuge, I just can’t wait to go and check them out! Well, we get to the campground and it looks like its someone’s back yard...but most campgrounds that are private are usually their "backyard" so we get out and read the sign, it tells us to put money in a mailbox and go find an area and leave enough space for a car to get by. We decide to take a loop around to check this place out. We passed one camper at the back of the "pond" and that was pretty much the only site. If you had a one or two man tent, you could probably set up around the water, or maybe back towards the bushes but there was definitely not enough space for our 16x16 tent, let alone our camping trailer and the jeep! So we hopped back online and tried to find another campground because that place was a joke! Too bad there aren't any more campgrounds in the Manteo area that aren't RV camping resorts, because it is a really beautiful area.
After searching the net for a bit under Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge we decided that we would head North a bit and check out two other campgrounds, Joe and Kay's Campground being the first. It's located on the sound, just behind the Wright Brothers National Memorial. This was more like a permanent camper/trailer campground. There were a few tent campsites on the water, near the boat ramp...It was nice, but we wanted something a little more private. The campsites were decent size, but no privacy what so ever. It was starting to get dark, so we definitely needed to find something soon. We just bought this new tent and needed to make sure we could put it up. We had one more campground in mind and were hoping to god this one would be a little better than the others that we had visited. The campground was called Adventure Bound! Sounds fun right? Wrong. It was a big open field behind a hostel/apartment complex. There were a few sites in the woods, but you couldn't park your vehicle near your site. We decided we would make the best of it and just camp there for the night since there were only two other campsites taken up and they were in the back, under the trees behind the bathhouse by the peacock cage, yes I said peacock. The bathhouses were clean and had warm showers; each campsite had a grill and a picnic table. We set our tent up facing the trees in the field near the Jeep and not to far from the community campfire. It was going well, we set our new tent up in less than ten minutes, started dinner and a nice campfire. We talked to a guy who was camping with friends. They were on a bike trip from Boston, Mass. to the Florida Keys playing shows. They have a band named Attica! Attica! We chatted for a bit, then headed back to his camp. We had the "campground" to ourselves - it was great! Then, a boy scout troop came in, they set up all their tents and we no longer had the campground to ourselves. The next morning the boy scouts were up at the crack of dawn and we decided we were leaving to go to another campground, this time to one we had been to before. Frisco Woods Campground! Frisco Woods is on Hatteras Island on Highway 12. They have electric water sites, primitive sites, and one & two bedroom cabins. We got a site that was near the sound and near the bathhouse, that day is was 90 out and the skeeters were so bad! as the day progressed we set up camp and relaxed. We noticed some clouds rolling in and realized that it would rain. We weren’t sure how the tent would hold up in the rain and didn't know how hard it was going to rain...we decided to call the office up and see how much it would cost us to upgrade to a cabin. We ended up taking down the tent and packing into a cabin. It didn’t rain very hard, and we probably would have been fine in a tent. It was windy but we managed to still make a fire. We met some neat chicks staying in a cabin next to us. They were sisters and were very nice! We absolutely love Frisco Woods. I would highly recommend staying in this campground if you ever have to camp in the outer banks. Most campgrounds in that area are wide open, no privacy and mostly RV sites. This one is wooded and has nice bathhouses, a pool, camp store, and a beautiful sound. A lot of times there are people wind surfing or kite surfing. It's fun to watch.



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Brown Pelican - Oregon Inlet, NC"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="357" caption="Bodie Island Lighthouse - Bodie, NC"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="357" caption="Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - Cape Hatteras, NC"][/caption]