Blue Jay

Yes, I know that blue jays are loud, annoying and very common.  But aren't they beautiful?

Catbird

The Catbird is annoying with it's cat cry that sounds like a cross between a baby crying and a cat.   But it also has a beautiful trill that's sort of like a Mockingbird. You can hear the the calls here.  I think they have a nest in one of our trees, they've been hanging around a lot.

Blue eyed Grass

I would have walked right past this tiny little flower, but my sharp eyed granddaughter saw it.  It's Blue Eyed Grass, which is not a grass at all.  It's in the iris family.  It's a native wildflower.  See here.

Enjoying Memorial Day

What better way to spend Memorial Day than with the red white and blue boat ride at Pullen Park.

Ms. Anole returns

She was NOT happy with me.  I followed her across the driveway, into the holly hedge with my camera.  She scampered along flashing her dewlap.  She was brown on the driveway, and started to become more green on the holly.  She's a she, because she has a pinkish dewlap, and a white stripe on her back. See here.

Parsley Hawthorn

I had the hardest time trying to figure out the name of this small tree.  I searched for white flowering tree, lobed leaves, spiky trunk...nothing.  Finally I found it - A Parsley Hawthorn.  It's native to the southern states.  (see here)  It does have a very scary trunk.

Little Snake

This little guy was about the size of a large worm.  But he's definately a snake.  I think he's a Red Bellied Snake, native to North Carolina (here).  His favorite food is slugs, snails and rolly pollies.  I hope he's hungry.

Arrowhead plant

The Arrowhead is a wetlands plant.  We found it in an area that is sometimes flooded and sometimes dry.  I thought it looked like a houseplant that escaped, but it turns out it's a common plant native all over North America in wetlands. (See here.)

Swallow

This Barn Swallow took a break from eating mosquitoes and just enjoyed the lake.

Ugly duck

This has to be the ugliest duck there is.  It's a Muscovy Duck (here) They start out cute as ducklings, but turn ugly in adulthood.  Kind of the opposite of the story of the ugly duckling.  This one is no swan.

Snowbell tree

This tree suddenly burst out with fragrant blooms.  They look like little bells, and they hang down on all the branches.  It's a Snowbell tree.  There are American Snowbells (here) that are native to North Carolina, and Japanese Snowbells (here) that come from Asia.  My guess is that since this is a landscaped tree, it's probably the non-native plant.

Tulip Poplar

The Tulip Poplars are blooming again.  You'd never know it from the ground, the flowers are way up on the tree.  Luckily, our second story looks across to a very prolific tree.

Hawk's nest revisited

We went out on the greenway to check on our family of Red Shouldered Hawks.  Dad was in a nearby tree watching.  Suddenly Mom swooped in and sat in the nest.   (you can barely see her in the picture below.)

We haven't seen any baby heads sticking out, but I'm sure they wouldn't be taking such good care of an empty nest.

Brown Headed Nuthatch

The Brown Headed Nuthatch has a smallish range.  Only the Southeastern states. I learned about them just a few months ago, and now I see them everywhere.  They're really tiny and their call sounds like a squeaky toy.  But they're brave.  They'll chase off other birds at the feeder if they want food.  More info here

Mom and Pop Goldfinch

The birds have finished their courting and are all paired up now.  We saw a pair of goldfinches at the feeder at Wilkerson Nature Preserve.

Wild Raspberries

The wild Raspberries are blooming.  They are all over under the power lines, and on the side of the roads.  The berries are disappointingly small, and the bushes are very stickery.  Good for deer and other animals, not worth the pain of picking for humans.

But the flowers are pretty.

Seaboard Building

The Seaboard Building is one of the oldest surviving office buildings in Raleigh.  It was originally built in 1861 for the offices of the Raleigh and Gaston Seaboard Coast line, a railroad (see here)  It's now the department of Military and Veterans Affairs for the state of North Carolina.  It sits on Salisbury Street, in the midst of large official looking state office buildings like a stately old lady with her lace shawl wrapped around her.

Red Hat

The Red Hat building peeks over the state legislative  building looking like a real red hat.  The PNC building stands guard over all of downtown. 

Happy Mother's Day

Of course Mother Nature drives a Prius.

Sweet Shrub

This is a native North Carolina plant called a "Sweet Shrub".  It has other names: Spice bush, Sweet Betsy, and Carolina Allspice.  It is has an odd flower.  It looks and feels like a fake flower you would buy at a craft store, a little bit dull and dry.  But the leaves are very shiny.  It can have a very sweet scent, but this one didn't smell at all.

Owlets

The Great Horned Owl's nest at Wilkerson Nature Preserve has two very large owlets.  Mom doesn't sit on the nest, but she'll be close by.  

One of them was on the edge of the nest ready to jump.

The nature center has roped off the area under the nest, and put up warning signs.  The Naturalist is worried that the owlets will fall from the nest, and Mom will attack anyone that gets close to them.  The nest is right over the children's play area and picnic area, so it could be pretty ugly.

Hawk nest revisited

We checked back with our Red Shouldered Hawk nest to see what was going on.  Mom was sitting on the nest.  Dad was flying around.  We could hear him, but he was hard to see.

Good Morning

  It's hard to find a good spot to see the sunrise without houses and trees in the way.

But who's counting?

This little guy is a five-lined skink.  The blue tail tells you that he's a young skink.  (more info here)This one hides under the siding of our house.  I'm hoping he likes to eat mosquitos.

Another Red Shoulder

This one was sitting on a tree near the play area at Eastgate park in an older established neighborhood.  He watched for a while and then flew away flashing his striped tail.

Anole

This long tailed visitor was in our bushes.  She posed for quite a while for me.  

I know she's a she, because only the females have a white stripe. They are native to the south, so she could be a native.  Or she's an escapee since a lot of people keep them as pets.

Black and white warbler

This little (and he is little) guy was hopping along a tree trunk just like a nuthatch.  But his bright white and black stripes were something else.  Turns out to be a Black and White warbler. See here.  He spent most of his time behind the tree trunk.  I think he knew I wanted his picture.

Carolina Silverbell

This small tree was just getting ready to burst into bloom.  It's a Carolina Silverbell.  (See here)

Heron Rookery

Along the Abbot's Creek Greenway is a Great Blue Heron Rookery.  The nests are off of the trail where they aren't visible but the Herons are very busy coming in and out building their nests.  This guy was overseeing the activity,

Crayola Spring

There's a color in the crayon box called "Spring Green".  Growing up in the west, I never really understood the color, until now.  Here in North Carolina the newest leaves on the tree are a bright glowing green.  The color just makes your eyes happy.

Spring Rain

It's been an up and down spring, rainy and cool, and then sunny and warm.  It makes a nice relief both ways.