More from Jones State Forest

After leaving all the activity at the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers' nest on Saturday, I only had to turn around to find another nesting pair.


Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
The Red-headed Woodpeckers were every bit as active as their endangered cousins, and I got several good looks at both adult birds as they flew to and from their nest cavity. As soon as one would complete a few trips, the other would fly out to begin a new round of foraging, leaving room for the first parent to enter the nest and take over babysitting duties.


After watching these birds for a short while, I gave up my prime viewing spot to another birder who had joined me and headed deeper into the pine forest. The trail was lined in several places with wildflowers of all sorts. I can only imagine how beautiful the area must have looked a month ago when the spring flowers were in full bloom.


A volunteer organization has placed a number of bluebird nestboxes around the area, and I saw at least three that are in use.


Eastern Bluebird female (Sialia sialis)
The woods were full of life, from the cawing of crows and the happy calls of cardinals, mockingbirds and pine warblers to the fluttering of a myriad of butterflies and dragonflies.


And while I didn't see any of the other woodpecker species that normally summer in the area, like the Downy and the Red-bellied woodpeckers, the nesting Red-cockadeds and the abundance of Red-headed Woodpeckers that were all over the park were more than enough to satisfy my woodpecker cravings.


All in all, a fantastic morning of birding to kick off the summer season!

Non-Birding Photos

Pulling some more "old" photos out of my hat, this time from last week's lunchtime trip to Woodland Trails West Park.

All the good birding shots made it into last week's post. Here are some of the "rest of the trip" captures.

(Click on any image to enlarge for more detail.)

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
And an action shot...


I was also able to capture a couple of cool autumn-colored dragonflies. (I'm going to have to invest in a decent insect guide to help in identifying dragonflies and such.)



That last one has to be my favorite of the batch.

UPDATE: That second dragonfly has been identified as a Carolina Saddlebag (Tramea carolina). Thanks for the help, Susan!

A Midsummer's Afternoon

A quick post before heading out early for Parent Orientation at the kids' school. Here are a few more pictures from last weekend's coyote hunt.


This ruddy fellow looks so much like a dried chili pepper that it makes my lips burn to look at him. I don't know if he's some sort of Amberwing or something else entirely.


This little butterfly was much more shy than the fritillary I posted before. He only sat still long enough for me to get off the one shot before taking wing again and fluttering out of range.


I loved the little green nose and big green lips on this one. Looks almost like something straight out of a Pixar animation.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about dragonflies or butterflies to even venture a guess as to what kind any of these are. They shore were purty, tho!