Monday, May 25, 2009

New Wildflower Meadow

Don't be fooled by this whitetail deer, most of the critters in the new meadow are on the small size, like the insects shown below.
Orange sulphur

Peck's skipper


male eastern tailed blue



tawny-edged skipper




Dragonflies and damselflies




female common whitetail





Bluet

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Afternoon bird walk

Bluebird
Red-winged blackbird

Pewee


Acadian flycatcher



We had an afternoon bird walk led by Ruth in honor of our late Ruth. There were birds seen and birds heard, and some of both. The photo of the bluebird was from an earlier date.




AHH Spring!














































There are flowers appearing all over the Foulkeways campus. Here are just a few I saw this morning.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Willisbrook Preserve

Today we went on a field trip with the Natural Lands Trust to their Willisbrook Preserve near Malvern, PA.
This area has outcroppings of serpentine rock.




Flowers such as this rare chickweed and a serpentine phlox grow there.



We were too early in the season for fameflower, but saw this Pinxter blooming in the woods.










Monday, May 4, 2009

Cape May

We visited a friend in Cape May on our way home from the elderhostel. The weather was dismal on Sunday, so we came home early in the morning, No more birds to be seen.
Beach plum

tern flying


Carolina wren singing



Gadwall




Mockingbird singing





Swans and cygnets






Birding the Capes - Gordon's Pond

Here is the group at Gordon's Pond (Cape Henlopen). This is the last day of an excellent birding elderhostel that four of us from Foulkeways attended last week. The group saw over 115 species of bird, and I was able to photograph a few of them. We stayed at Rehoboth Beach and travelled by bus to each of these locations.
Brown-headed nuthatch








Pine warbler, male and female Green heron




Willet in a tree





Common yellowthroat male






Goldfinch







Snowy egret








Birding the Capes- Cape Henlopen and Prime Hook

American copper. I could not resist showing just one butterfly, though this was a birding elderhostel.
Common yellowthroat female

Eastern screech-owl


Tree swallows



Black vulture in flight




Purple martin house





This killdeer was sitting on eggs, safely behind the fence.






This field sparrow is my only bird photo from Cape Henlopen.