Theme Day - Power

The theme for February is Power.  Tall power lines are a common sight crossing through Raleigh.  Where do they come from? and where are they going?

 

A different view

Another picture from my granddaughter.  Kids have a much more creative viewpoint.

 

Explorer

I handed my phone to my granddaughter as we explored around the pond.  There were some interesting angles.

 

Moon set

As the sun came up in the east, the almost full moon sank in the west.

 

Hitchcock

It looked like a scene from The Birds-robins everywhere.  They gathered in the trees and poked around on the ground looking for worms and bugs.

 

Hooded mergansers

A lone pair of hooded mergansers swam and dove in the pond.

 

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

We heard a different kind of call, and there he was.  A yellow-bellied sapsucker working on a tree.

 

Made in China?

At first glance this guy looked pretty spiffy.  On a closer look I could see that the scarf was only a piece of felt, the hat looked like a cheap costume and the nose was a plastic  carrot.

I think someone bought a snowman kit.

 

 

Sledding

Everyone dusted off their sleds and found a hill.  Every little bit of snow became a playground.

 

Snow on the Magnolias

Don't laugh, but we got 2 inches of snow!   All the kids dug out their sleds.  

The city shut down! 

 

Towhee

The birds might fly south to us in the winter, but sometimes it gets cold here too.  This towhee found a sheltered spot in the bird feeder.

 

What is that?

This cardinal looked like he couldn't believe what's falling from the sky.

 

Winter pond

Everything is brown except the duckweed on the pond.

 

Dried flowers

I never understood why people want dried flowers in their house.  I still don't, but they're beautiful in their natural place.

 

Red belly

The woodpeckers are back, checking out trees for a nest and reigning over the bird feeder.

 

Icy sparrow

During yesterday's ice storm the birds were busily eating every seed they could find.

This little white throated sparrow and his friends were hopping under the bird feeder.

 

Geometry

It's just a cart, but I liked the lines, circles and triangles.

 

Symmetry

Nature has symmetry everywhere you look.

 

Picture post

Prairie Ridge Ecostation has several opportunities for citizen scientists.  This is a post for people to take 8 pictures around and one up to help monitor the prairie.

You place your camera at the eight directions on the platform and take pictures.  Then upload them to the Ecostation website.  Scientists can have a record of the area through seasons and years.

Here's one of my pictures.

 

Lone leaf

Is it the last leaf of fall or the first leaf of spring.  Either way, it was all by itself.

 

In the sky

Watching a hawk making big circles, we started to see other things in the sky,

a helicopter landing at the nearby Reserve base ...

a waxing crescent of the moon.

 

Sky

The clouds were moving fast.

 

Mr. Heron again

This time we found Mr. Heron skulking around a small pond in the neighborhood.  

 

Grasshopper

He seemed like a happy guy.

 

Squeezing in

On a wet day this mushroom grew between logs in a planter.

 

Squirrely

This squirrel was one of the few creatures moving on a cool winter day.   

 

Mockingbird

This guy was brave enough to let me get close to take a picture,

 

And also hiding in the leaf litter

Stepping off the trail to get a closer look at the creek, this guy suddenly slithered out and into the creek.

Not a copperhead, he's a Northern Water Snake. But that didn't stop our hearts from racing at the surprise.

 

Angry Birds?

Well, maybe not angry, maybe only grumpy.

The weather changed overnight from 70 degrees to snowing.  The birds just hunkered down in the trees.

 

Also hiding in the leaf litter

If you look closely, the forest floor is not just leaf litter.

Little brown jug (see here)

Spotted Wintergreen. (see here)

 

Hiding in the leaf litter

Orchids!

The crippled cranefly orchid. (see here)

The Adam and Eve orchid. (see here)

Both of these put out their leaves in the winter when the overstory trees lose their leaves letting light come to the forest floor.