Another Change!

After much thought and after changing my blog several times for no good reason over the last few weeks, I have decided to go back to the original format!  I love birds, I love orchids, I love carnivorous plants... and so many other nature related things that my heart just won't let me run them all together.  So, I have decided to keep my birding blog a birding blog and have created another blog that will allow me to write about my friends in the flora world.

Have you ever seen anyone so indecisive?

Feel free to check out my new blog at http://floracrazed.blogspot.com

Random Thoughts!

I changed my blogs up a little so that I could (at times) write about some of my other interests that I routinely obsess over!  I often wonder how healthy these obsessions are?  Not that it matters much either way!

Recently, I added two new birds to my life list - Chestnut-sided Warbler and Nashville Warbler.  I am always excited for the new additions but never content as I know there are so many left to see!

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been at the backyard feeders in record numbers for my place... migrants I suppose, taking daily breaks to get charged up for many remaining miles of travel.  The American Goldfinches are beginning to increase in numbers at the feeders as well... now that the young are on their own, days are shorter, nights are cooler, they are ready to eat thistle vs. the insects that they have been eating all summer.

Three Orchids blessed me with blooms this week... all Lady's Slippers (Paph's) - White, Green, and a Yellow.

I planted some Venus Fly Trap seeds a couple of weeks ago from my plants outside so I now have about 50 Flytrap orphans!  Most people prefer not to mess with Venus Fly Trap seeds since it takes the plant about 3-5 years to mature but I say "why not" I hope to be around it 3-5 years so I'll take another 50 Flytraps!  The first picture is the newest sprouts and the bottom pictures is seedlings that are about 10 months old.

Well, that's about it, I turned 33 today so I guess I will just take it easy, eat some Red Velvet cake that my family bought me and watch my feeders all day.  What a life!

Warblers!@!@??!

FINALLY,  this week I was able to take some time off from work to go birding!  As mentioned prior, time has not been on my side lately - between work, football, soccer, etc. most of the birding I have done lately has been through the windshield of my car!

Anyway, I have been to Eagle Creek Park 2x, Salamonie Reservoir, and Southwestway Park only to find that I have been more frustrated than relaxed mostly because of the one group of birds that we ALL love to identify - WARBLERS!  Now, I know that many of you tenured Birders might find this humorous, but these hyper little creatures had me cursing far more this week than any confession could attempt to neutralize!  

My typical Warbler sighting went something like this...  Look!  There's one! Where did it go! Up there! Behind the leaf! No behind the branch! The next tree! Got it! No I don't, it moved! It has some yellow on its... SHIT!  I can't find it!  Its gone... and, of course, the process repeats itself!

So, thus far this week, my confirmed Warbler sightings were - Prothonotary, Blue-winged, Common Yellowthroat, Black and White, Yellow, and Yellow-throated.  Unconfirmed sightings would be somewhere in the millions!

On a less frustrating note, I was able to add at least on  new lifer this week - Common Nighthawk.  I also stalked what I believe was a Winter Wren for sometime on the north side of Lilly Lake.

This takes me to my new life list total of 215!  I love birding!