We drove back to Bluewater Lake yesterday morning and tried out a new campsite that lots of people seem to like. It's right on the corner of two roads, a main road and the end of the loop I was in last time. For me, though, there was too much traffic, and every time a car drove by, I had to look up. Very distracting for me. Also, I like to have a tree close so I can hang my feeders and watch the birds. These were a little too far, and since I had other options, I decided to move at the end of the day.
At around 6 pm I looked down the road and our campsite from last time was still vacant, so we drove over there. I really like the campsite we're in now and we'll stay here for the next two weeks. I was lucky that all the the sites I like were vacant yesterday, so I really had a choice.
I put out my hummingbird feeder this morning and have already had one hummer. And look what I saw when I looked out the window a few minutes ago:
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| Female Hairy Woodpecker. Now, that's a horrible name, isn't it, for such a beautiful bird. |
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| I took this one through the screen and was surprised it is so clear. I was afraid if I moved to get a shot through the other window, she'd fly away. |
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| I don't see a red cap of feathers on her head, so I think she's a female. |
I saw this guy last time I was here, he is a male - see the red cap on his head?
I have to show you this photo of a big rig that parked on the street where I was overnighting a couple of days ago. I went over and talked to him. He said this set up is 100 feet long, and when he adds all his trailers, as he did last week, the rig is 120 feet long. How would you like to drive something this long?!?
I was talking to volunteers here at the park, Kathy and Don, yesterday evening, and they told me that El Morro, which is about 60 miles from here, is now fee free to enter and/or camp. Hazel and Cari and I drove there last year and walked all around the visitor's center and took one of the short walks. I don't remember driving through the campground, but since it's free now, I'll be heading there for my next six days out. It's a beautiful area with lots of things to see and do. So now I have what I hope will be an even better plan than Grants for next time.
Katie and I were walking after a heavy rain during our last visit and there were three large mushrooms in the dirt that had sprouted. On one of them was a beautiful blue beetle. I did some research and found he is a Pleasing Fungus Beetle. He was about an inch long. I've never seen a blue beetle before, and found him very interesting. The black dots are actually depressions, and from what I read, he is black with a blue wing cap.
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| Pleasing Fungus Beetle - and what do you know...here he is on a fungus. :) |
I don't usually post photos from other sites, but this one really shows this beetle and the black dot depressions, and the color is so much brighter.
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| Photo by Jeff Mitton. |
A big Welcome to our two new Followers:
Ramble Ann has only been blogging for a couple of months. She and her husband have their house in escrow after only a month on the market - WOW - and they are going to be hitting the road in an RV. Ann is into photography, so I'm sure her blog will have some good photos of their travels. She didn't post much about the sale or their RVing future, so I hope I have that right. Check out Ramble Ann's World - it's interesting and varied and I've enjoyed reading it. (Ann, your first post didn't mention that it's your first, am I correct that you are a new blogger? I love your header!)
Eileen from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of our blogging neighbors to the north. She actually has two blogs, a little of this, a dash of that and Kitty Korner. Eileen has been blogging since 2011 and keeps up with her posting on both blogs. I have trouble keeping up with just one! Check them out, the Kitty Korner blog has lots of photos of her three beautiful cats, and a little of this, a dash of that covers lots of subjects.
Welcome aboard to you both! Katie and I are happy to have you along with us! :)
From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone! :)
