A Lucky Ducky Lifer

Our rambling RV'er friends returned to their favorite campground recently, and after a pleasant lunch, hubby headed off to work while I hung out awhile…the three of us enjoyed some relaxation at the beach, needless to say…

While lounging like lazy lizards, we noticed a dark duck shape come bopping along from the north...

….I had to get the photos home and cropped and looked up in a guide book to know that this was a lone female black scoter! Not only a lifer, but she was a bit off course…apparently they are rare but not unheard of this far south of the Georgia coastline…

After several moments, along came two males, cruising south behind the female! This is my second scoter, having seen the white-winged scoter some years ago on the N. Calif. coast. 

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or cottage)…

…the brown thrasher has been making an occasional appearance…

This No. cardinal recently showed up, touting an exceptionally bright fiery red...

An indigo bunting showed up, just when I was lamenting the possibility of not seeing any again…he seemed interested in the bottle brush blossoms...

The squirrels continue to do their acrobatics to reach the blossoms at the end of skinny, flexible branches...

…As do the No. mockingbirds…the blossoms look like a vampire sucked the life out of them…deflated and faded red…

I'm tickled that I continue to see a grey catbird occasionally…managed to get slightly better photos than before.

The anoles are back out, green ones and brown ones…there's always one who claims the top of this sprinkler for an outlook post.

Feathers & Flowers at the New Nest

Whew! We are finally moved into our new-to-us Florida home, since Thurs.Three days of unpacking, cleaning, and shopping trips later, I have tamed the kitchen -- figuring out what goes where is the hardest part; Yeesh! Or is it putting the blasted contact paper down?! Wouldn't you know, the very last sheet went psycho on me...But I do have lots of room to work with, including my very first PANTRY, oh Yay! It only took me four homes and 30 years to have one! We love this area; it has a forest-y feel with all of the pine trees surrounding the homes and area. Love it! The previous owner was a 70 y/o lady, and she left a multi-bird feeder and other yard gew-gaws, yeehaw! We're a bit overwhelmed by the large backyard but supposedly the sprinkler system (also our first) waters all the plants for us too. We have a large maple tree in back, and one in front, and much more...

Here's what I snapped yesterday outside at our new sanctuary.... 

Ah yes, we have No. cardinals! Mr. C is hard to miss....

The feeder has an anti-squirrel gizmo on the pole but

The squirrels have plenty to nibble on at ground level...

We have bright green anoles here, plus some brown ones too...

(We only saw brown ones at my BIL's house)....

This poor No. mockingbird is missing its tail!

Perhaps one of the 'hood cats tried to make a

Meal out of the poor fella...

Mourning doves are plentiful, like the mockingbirds...

This male red-bellied woodpecker is quite a messy eater....

I'll get all sunflower seeds for the other feeder...

Three guesses who's providing the squirrel feed down below...

This jovial toad-topped wind chime sits in the back

Of the back yard...for now....I'll move it closer

To the screened lanai some day so we can hear it...

The neighbors have a real tall magnolia tree...

They are planted all about town too...

At least, we think they're magnolias...

Oh lookie, we have a red bottlebrush tree....

If only it had blossoms...not sure why it doesn't

Unless the prev. owner trimmed it recently...

We have these around the lanai and 1-2 other spots,

Alliums or close to those....

We have the larger purple alliums out front....

Now this, growing wild in the Black Hills,

Is called Mt. blue-eyed grass...

Prev. owner called it something else...

Shirley left us a pedestal and globe...

I'll get a more colorful globe some day

And reposition the whole thing...

We even have two very small hydrangeas!

The other one is white...both appear to

Have been chopped down; I hope they'll grow

And fill out better...

Another shot of the woodpecker,

Having returned to the feeders

After my appearance scared it off...

We've got a couple of these funky split-leaf philodendrons...

They have real large, wavy leaves and "wavy" trunks...

I believe this is a salvia a.k.a. Mexican bush sage...

We even have a peach day lily!

We have a tall queen palm tree out front,

Which has streamer-type flowers....

There's one pine tree by our house,

on one side out front...

Many others all around though...

There's even an amaryllis on the side of the house...

(Below) Mrs. Cardinal is more shy than Mr. C but

I managed to snap her from the guest room window.