Butterfly in the Sun

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Dick

On our recent visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, our hosts took me to a very beautiful area. What I found quite interesting was a small area on one of the lesser-traveled roads where massive numbers of butterflies congregate to sun themselves – right on the road. I was told these butterflies will – at times – completely cover a portion of the road from curb to curb.

Some motorists actually stop, get out of their cars, and try to shoo the butterflies off the road. Others don’t. This particular butterfly was fortunate – at least at the time we were there.

Their colors (the butterflies – not the motorists) are just fabulous in the sun. It pays to get off the main thoroughfare. As you can tell from the background in this picture, we were not on a paved road!

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Smoky Mountain Rain

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Dick

No, not the song by Ronnie Milsap. These storm clouds formed over night in the Smoky Mountains and provided quite a site for breakfast! Our hosts said we were about 4500 feet in elevation on their deck looking up at mountain tops of around 8000 feet.

The morning I took this picture – actually an HDR composite of 5 pictures – the storm clouds were moving through the valley and clinging to the tops of the mountains. Sometimes the lower clouds would move horizontally through the valley and other times they would rise almost straight up.

It was an incredible sight to watch as the sun would peak through the clouds and light up a portion of the landscape, then disappear, and reappear somewhere else. The only sounds (not counting my Rice Krispies) were the ocassional rain showers going through and the variety of birds that inhabit these woods. Still no bears to photograph…

Posted in Places | 3 Comments

Can You Say, “Ugly Bird”?

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Dick

While out-and-about the other day we happened across a “committee” of Turkey Vultures feasting on some dead fish that had been left on the bank of a pond whose water had receded. After watching them feast on the fare for a while, one of the birds (seen here) flew off to be alone (Couldn’t stand the smell? of the fish or his compatriots?).

These have to rank right up near the top of the “Ugly Bird” list. When the wind blows or the afternoon thermals are strong we see large “casts” of these birds soaring overhead. Amazing…

BTW… “committee” and “cast” are collective nouns for describing a group of vultures.

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And the Thunderstorms Came

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Dick

When I wrote yesterday’s post I mentioned the lightning and thunder that was around us. Well, shortly after posting that statement our weather radio started an almost non-stop series of “Severe Thunderstorm Warnings” for our area and much of the surrounding area.

The graphic posted here is a screen capture off a weather radar app on my iPad – Yes, there is an app for that. The purplish-blue “boxes” each denote n active Severe Thunderstorm Warning area. As you can see there was quite a line of storms. We were fortunate to only get rain (gauge said 1/2″), wind, lots of cloud-to-ground lightning and the resulting thunder, but no hail. Many around us were not so lucky and hail golf ball size and larger was reported.

So much for our “quiet” Saturday afternoon! Thank goodness there no tornados spawned from these storms.

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A Typical Afternoon in Nebraska

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Dick

As I sit at my computer and watch the lightning and listen to the thunder, I thought it appropriate to post this picture of an afternoon cloud build up. These resulted in thunderstorms and some hail, but not around us.

These build-ups are nothing like the ones I used to see in in southwest Texas in the summer, but they’re impressive enough. Time to power down the computer and check the shelter supplies.

Have a great weekend, ya-all.

Posted in Places | 1 Comment

I’m a Black Sheep – er Duck

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Dick

It is baby waterfowl season at the lake. The Canada Geese and Mallards are having babies. It is great to watch the little ones as they learn. They will move away from mom to go exploring only to suddenly realize how far they have gone. They return to the safety of mom as fast as their feet will take them.

One such Mallard family appeared on our beach the other night. Mom and four ducklings. One of which was rather unique – as you can see in the picture. He (she?) was black – quite different from his brothers and sisters. I thought maybe another species had laid eggs in this Mallard’s nest, but I found no indication of another species’ babies looking like this little guy. So…

I went to the expert. I emailed the Nebraska Nongame Bird Program Manager in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. He was kind enough to respond and told me this…

“it is just a melanistic duckling and I would not suspect nest parasitism by another species.   The local Mallard population has some feral genes floating around and this could be the result of some of that genetic mixing.”

Can’t wait to see who comes by today. Enjoy your day!

Posted in Birds | 3 Comments

Be Prepared

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Dick

I love to be outside searching for that special photo opportunity. The weather that we have had this spring reminds me of the need to stay constantly aware of changing weather conditions – especially when I’m out in the field a distance away from home.

At a recent campout a friend of mine showed me his Acurite Portable Emergency Weather Radio. (See www.acurite.com for more information.) While their we received a severe thunderstorm watch alert. It was nice to have this information. I have 2 weather radios in the house, but have now ordered one of these portables.

This is not a sales pitch. I do not work for Acurite, nor do I get any compensation. I just want to make the reader aware of another option to keep track of weather changes. On line, the price I found was $39.99

Just to make you aware… It’s the Boy Scout in me. “Be Prepared!”

Posted in Things | 1 Comment

Teal we meet again …

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Dick

I had a couple of new visitors to the beach this week. Two Blue-winged Teal stopped by. They definitely were not habituated to humans. Normally whenever I walk out on our deck the birds either head toward me in search of food, or they pay me no mind as they continue feasting on the day’s delicacies.

The Teal would fly off to the other side of the lake whenever one of the other birds – usually Mourning Doves – would fly off. They didn’t even have to see me. After a short time they would come back to the beach. I haven’t seen them for several days. I assume they have continued on to their breeding area.

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