Week Ending July 13, 2014

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Another hot, hot, hot & humid week this week in Hampton Roads! I spent Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday out in the field at work again doing this gas main survey up in Newport News & in Norfolk so once again, no hiking after work those days since I was purely drained by the time the day was over. On Wednesday evening, we had some pretty intense storms move through the area, dumping heavy rain, which I fortunately got to watch from the safety of my home after work. Had I not already been in my comfy, household clothes, I would have run down to some of my engineering project areas to see how the drainage systems I designed at work did at handling the huge amounts of rain. Fortunately for me though, I got another shot the very next day, as we had a huge line of storms move through again on Thursday afternoon/evening. This time, I left work early specifically to photograph some of the effects of the heavy rain. I won't go too into my sever weather outing in this supposed-to-be-wildlife-related-blog since I actually wrote up a whole other article about it for my job (can be found at www.rbnature.com/articles). But, I will say that while I was out near the oceanfront taking photographs of how the ditches were handling rainfall, and where the roadways were ponding and things of that nature, apparently an EF0 (lowest scale) tornado formed and blew down the same corridor I was at on Norfolk Avenue. The tornado actually snapped a few power poles in half, threw the steeple off a church, and pulled the roof off of a school gymnasium. I was not aware that this had occurred til I got home and put on the news, only to find out that I had only been a couple blocks away, but was unaware since the rain & wind were so bad everywhere around me. 

Mallard family along the East Dike Trail at Back Bay NWR!

On Friday morning, with all the nasty weather having subsided, I got a nice surprise on the way out to my car to head to work. A little gray kitten was sitting in my front yard, and it ran off under a parked vehicle upon me opening the door. I called for Ruth and she ran down to see it, and actually fed the little thing after I went off to work. We have talked about getting a pair of cats for a long time, and apparently seeing this little furball was all Ruth could handle. When I got home from work, she had talked to someone she knew about how we might be able to catch it, since it was obviously a stray cat. They brought a trap and a carrier over in case we could get it. Well, after going to dinner that night and coming home, the little kitten was back out in the yard and a neighbor was able to get it into a crate with some food, then close the door behind it. We took it immediately up to our screen porch and transferred it over to our borrowed cage, and got to welcome in a new member to the family! While they technically refer to strays as 'feral' cats, I'm saying this little kitten was a wild one, having survived a category 2 hurricane just the week before, and two back to back nights of intense thunderstorms, I'm amazed the it survived. Saturday morning we took the kitten to the vet to have it checked over. We found out that it was a boy, and quickly named him Buster! After his stint in the wild, Buster unfortunately had a bad bacterial infection and had worms in his belly, which was quite bloated. He also, not surprisingly, had fleas & ticks in a few spots on him, so the vet was nice enough to give him a bath (after he had some unexpected belly issues). We got the little guy on antibiotics which will hopefully clear up the bacterial infection, and he got a shot for the worms, and a spray for the fleas. Cleaned up, we brought our new little buddy home and set him up in the apartment. Most of Saturday was spent just keeping an eye on him, and holding him & petting him all day, so again, I didn't get out for any wildlife photography. 

Adult male Red-winged Blackbird singing along the East Dike.

On Sunday though, we felt a bit more comfortable leaving him alone for a couple of hours, and since we hadn't gotten out all week really, we went down to Sandbridge so Ruth could go to the beach, and so I could hike at Back Bay NWR. We arrived before the crowds, a little before 9 AM, so had no trouble getting to the parks (go at 11 AM sometime and enjoy that fun). My first interesting sighting at the park was an Indigo Bunting singing from high up in a tree along the Loop Road's west side, very close to the visitor center. Shortly after I saw a Common Yellowthroat, then another, also singing from treetrops. I was finally able to see them & hear their song together that I think it's now stuck in my memory, so I can add another warbler to the list of birds I just have to hear to properly ID. They sound like they're saying "What-did-you-do!" very quickly, though most website say it's a "wichety-wichety-wichety". Since the East Dike Trail opened up, it'll be open until fall-time, so I'll be on the opposite side of the park from where I enjoyed seeing so many species this spring. The East Dike feels a little more desolate than the other side does, since there is really only a small amount of water on one side of the trail, the marshes on the west side aren't visible this time of year due to how tall the vegetation has now grown. After entering from the Loop Road to the East Dike I could see a number of white birds off in the nearest marsh to the observation building.

Flowers & vegetation are at full growth across the region. 

It turned out to be a mixed group of Cattle Egrets and immature Little Blue Herons. Both species are first on the year for me in Virginia Beach, though I've seen them in the past, and elsewhere in the state this year (Chincoteague). After continuing south for probably a half mile, I got a good look at two White-tailed Deer that were far out in the marshes, before they quickly disappeared into the tall grasses that is. Next up was a group of seven not fully adult Mallards, that were all tucked into the bank and barely visible, except for all their heads sticking up just slightly enough to give away their position. I photographed them for a bit but ended up leaving so I didn't scare them into flight, something I'm working harder on all the time, trying to get good photos, while not disturbing the animals. Just to the south, the dike trail takes two 90 degree bends to the west, then to the south. At this spot, a pair of nesting Red-winged Blackbirds provided great photo opportunities as they hopped from shrub to shrub, flying short distances and almost hovering in the air for me. I grabbed a quick drink of water here (yet another hot & humid day out), and then stumbled upon a midsize Eastern Cottonmouth that was resting in a vehicle tire track that had partially pooled with water. The venomous snake slowly slithered off into the grass alongside the pool and then disappeared from view, even though it was only a few week away. This time of year the snakes are a lot harder to find since it is so hot everywhere, they don't need to focus on laying in open areas to control body temperatures, any place will suffice. Having said that, I was glad to have seen this one, since the last outing I didn't see any.

A Golden-winged Skimmer, who was kind enough to pose with a nice background at Back Bay.

Now that I'm writing this, I didn't really notice any turtles in the park either, which now seems odds to me since the canals are usually full of Yellow-bellied Sliders. I kept on heading southward til just before the False Cape State Park sign, then turned around and headed back up the dike trail northward. The southernmost marsh, east of the dike, had a Great Egret & a Great Blue Heron wandering around in it, but I didn't see any Prairie Warblers in this area this week like I had the last time out. I did however hear more Common Yellowthroats, helping to solidify their song in my head for the next trip out. On the way back, there was more folks out riding bikes and walking as well, so it wasn't as eventful wildlife wise. The blackbirds were still present, and I again took some more shots of them, and also, the 7 duck family was still hiding, though this time I didn't take any shots since I didn't want to give their hiding spot away for the next group of people walking behind me. Hopefully they went unseen, as they did with the group immediately in front of me, who clearly had no idea they were even there. Near the ducks I also saw a Northern Watersnake swimming up the canal, the second such sighting in my last two outings. 

An adult female Red-winged Blackbird calling along the East Dike with her mate, pictured above.

It quickly darted to the side though and went up into the grass where I couldn't spot it again. When I got back to the Loop Road, I opted to take the boardwalk down to the beach to see if any interesting sea & shorebirds were visible. The usual gulls & Brown Pelicans were all over, but I did get to see my first Sandwich Terns of the year, with their black head & bills with just a little yellow at the tip. I saw several as they coasted down the shoreline picking off stray fish at the waters surface by diving quickly down from the sky. What I thought to be an approaching duck of some sort, actually turned out to be my second Whimbrel at the park this season, and this was probably my neatest sighting of the day. Seeing it flying fast by me with its massively downcurved bill out ahead of it was very interesting. Lots of folks were out on the beach shorefishing this time, which I'm not so used to the rest of the year, especially in wintertime when I love going to the park birding. I cut back up at the north end to the parking area, and did a quick loop on the Bay Trail. No King Rail or Green Treefrogs hiding along the Bay Trail today though unfortunately. After getting back to the car, I was pretty beat from the heat, so I picked Ruth up instead of going down to the beach like I usually do. That and we both wanted to get to see how the kitten was doing on his own. When we got home he seemed more upbeat, and was even starting to play a little bit by Sunday night so things were hopefully looking up for him. The infection still worries me though since the vets wouldn't place him on a care plan since they weren't sure if he'd survive long term yet. Hopefully he keeps getting better each day, now that he has a nice place to live & a steady stream of food & people to cuddle up to!

My first Sandwich Tern of the year. Note the yellow tip to the bill, this was seen over the Atlantic Ocean just offshore of Back Bay NWR.

Week Ending July 6, 2014

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This week, the full fury of summer's heat hit the area. All throughout the week, weather reached high into the 90s with dangerous heat indices over 100 several days. On Monday, I wrapped up my big project at work that I've been designing off and on for the last six years. Since I finished it up and got it submitted to the City of Virginia Beach, I needed something new to switch over too. Right now my company is working on a job for Virginia Natural Gas, where we are designing new gas mains through a few hundred miles of older neighborhoods. In order to do the designs, we have to have crews go out in the neighborhoods & take measurements to all objects that could end up being in the way (trees, fences, poles, water/sewer/storm mains, electric lines, etc.). Since I needed work, I spent the remainder of the work week out in the field performing these tasks. I had done some of this work earlier in the year when we had temperatures in the teens coupled with snow, now its exactly the opposite, and about 85 degrees warmer. So after working outside all day in the heat it was a little tough to get out hiking. On Thursday, we wrapped up pretty early in the day, and I went up to Pleasure House Point after work just to see if I could photograph anything interesting. It was close to 100 degrees though and I only stayed out for an hour or so because of it. I also managed to hit the park at high tide, like I usually seem too.

Great Egret & fresh caught fish at Pleasure House Point!

Unfortunately, when the tide is high, there aren't as many shorebirds since there is no visible mud flats for them to wade around and feed. I did see the typical birds though, Great Egrets and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. Also, there was Ospreys up in the air high up, and I did hear some Clapper Rails screaming out in the tidal grasses offshore. I ended up parking along Marlin Bay Drive this time and walked west to east first, a reverse of my typical route. But as I said, it was so hot out that it was pretty unbearable, so my hike didn't last all that long. Thursday evening, Ruth's sister Heather & her nephew Christopher came into town for the holiday weekend. Also visiting the area overnight was the first hurricane of the Atlantic 2014 season, Hurricane Arthur. They first started tracking the storm on June 30th late at night, when it formed off the coast of Florida. It slowly moved is way north to northeast up the east coast and on Thursday evening it made landfall across Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks as a category 2 storm with winds clocked at 100 mph. The Outer Banks had some severe flooding, but because the storm came in from the southwest, the storm surge wasn't what it could have been and therefore there wasn't any loss of life. Route 12 which runs down the Outer Banks didn't get fully knocked out as it has by past storms (Sandy, Irene, Isabelle, etc.) and folks were allowed back in the area on Saturday. Friday morning I woke up about 6 to see if we were getting any bad rain and wind, and then Ruth & I went down to the oceanfront to see what the sea looked like. We also drove through Shadowlawn (the area where I just completed my design project) to see how the roads were handling the rainfall.

Mallard Ducklings swimming up a rainwater stream produced by Hurricane Arthur.

Everything was fine, and we found a family of Mallard ducklings swimming in one of the roadside ditches in a fast flowing rainwater stream! At this point, the storm was already tracking out to sea, and we were getting strong north winds so it wasn't as choppy as it probably had been earlier when the wind was being directed right at the coastline. There waves were still churning pretty good off Rudee Inlet, and I'd hoped to maybe see some less common bird species due to the storm. I did see one adult male Black Scoter in the inlet, but other than that it was just the typical gulls & terns along the coast. After leaving the oceanfront, we went up to Shore Drive, where the wind & rain were really squalling. There was almost no beach visible along the bay due to the strong north winds that were piling up water along the shore. This north wind also pushed a lot of water from the bay into the Lynnhaven River, where it flooded inland higher than normal. We drove around our neighborhood so I could check out some areas to see if they had bad flooding but everything in Kings Grant seemed to have done fine with the weather, just a lot of leaves and small branches littering the street. There is two main reasons why I'm interested in these strong storms, 1). because they can push rare birds to areas that don't typically have them, and 2). because I'm a drainage engineer and I like to see the systems I've helped to design be put to a real test, which is only possible during tropical weather & nor'easters. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron & a freshly caught Blue Crab at Pleasure House Point!

The storm moved through the area very quickly and by afternoon it was actually a beautiful, non-humid, sunny day across the area. We grabbed a late brunch with Heather & Christopher at Panera and then I decided to head to Pleasure House Point again, just hoping to maybe see something rare from the storm. This time I parked in my typical spot off Dinwiddie Road and walked from east to west along the water. The water was again extremely high, flooding into all the freshwater ponds of the park and bringing in a surprising amount of jellyfish. The Yellow-crowned Night-Herons were really active today, and I photographed one that had just recently caught a huge Blue Crab. It was perched in a tree with it & unfortunately I think I spooked it into dropping the crab. Hopefully it picked it up off the ground right after I left it though. There was a number of Osprey & Great Egrets just like the day before. I also saw one very large Cicada perched on a small pine tree. It was buzzing continuously and I finally was able to locate it, but I'd never have seen it had it not been so noisy. Clapper Rails weren't calling at all this time in the marshes, but after having passed the area I like to crab, I did catch a quick glimpse of a Black Skimmer as it flew past. This is the first one I've seen in Virginia Beach this year, bringing my city total up to 144 species of birds in 2014. 

An unusually still Least Tern about to take off from the north end of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

On Saturday, we took Heather & Christopher to the zoo in Norfolk, so I didn't get out on a typical walk. However, after we left the zoo, I saw a Cooper's Hawk sitting on top of what was probably a starling in the parking area, so I did get to see some wildlife out of the trip. I did also see a few geese in the Elephant area, and a couple of Gray Catbirds in some other exhibits. Also, there is a small pond that flows in from the Lafayette River, and it was loaded with turtles and Canada Geese that weren't part of the zoo. After the zoo, we stopped for a pizza, and then came home and Ruth & I fell asleep for a couple hours. Saturday night, though it was the 5th of July, was the night that most of the local cities were shooting off their fireworks, since the approaching hurricane caused them to be postponed from the 4th of July. Ruth had tickets for us at Town Point Park in Norfolk to be in the VIP area where they had free food & drinks for everyone so it was nice to watch the fireworks from there for the first time, after having spent the last 5 years watching them from my apartment at the Hague. Before the fireworks started, a beautiful half Moon was visible in the southern sky, and I used the star map app on Ruth's iPhone to confirm that the star very near it was actually not a star, and was the planet Mars. So when we got home after the show, I went out and shot a few photographs of the Moon & Mars with my camera, the first time I've photographed a planet with my wildlife lens! 

Ring-billed Gull seen over the Oceanfront.

After seeing Heather & Christopher off on Sunday morning, Ruth & I went down to the north end of the Oceanfront & parked on 88th Street. It was extremely nice to get into the water after being boiling in the heat all week long. A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins was playing around just offshore as well which made it even better being out. Like I usually do at the beach, I got bored after an hour or so & decided to walk north along the beach onto Fort Story's property hoping to catch some birds with my camera. Since we were at the north end of the public beaches, it was very nice to just walk a bit and be able to again see some wildlife. Right away, a pair of Least Terns was seen sitting on the beach, and its the first time I've been able to actually get clear shots of them, since typically they are flying around and performing aerial acrobatics. I took quite a few photos of them, and then a lot of the Ghost Crabs that inhabit the beach also. They were very active, running all over the place on the beach. A number of Brown Pelicans were seen as well, and the typical Laughing, Ring-billed, Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls & Royal Terns were all in the air as well. Unfortunately I never did find any rare birds as a result of Hurricane Arthur, but hopefully we get another good storm sometime this summer that could bring some in. It'd be really neat to see some true pelagic birds like shearwaters or petrels inland after a storm. After walking the beach for probably a mile, I got back in the water again, then walked it all over again with Ruth. This time, we saw a Great Black-backed Gull feasting on what looked like a massive dead fish out on the water. I got some more shots of the Ghost Crabs, some showing off their camouflage in all it's glory, which looks very much like the sand particles of the beach so that birds flying overhead can't see them. The Least Terns weren't on the beach this time, but we did see several of them flying out over the water. When winter comes around again, I'll have to get out along this beach to see if any migrating birds make it a stopping ground. In the past I know that folks have seen Snow Buntings on the beach around Fort Story, so that would be very neat to see. Hot weather is expected to continue all week long, and I will again be working in the field so after work hikes probably aren't going to happen since I'll already be burnt out from the day in the sun. Hopefully next weekend though I'm able to get out for some longer hikes, though I did at least get some interesting shots this weekend & I had a great time with Ruth's family as well.

An Atlantic Ghost Crab showing off it's beautiful camouflage that keeps it invisible to birds overhead.

Week Ending June 29, 2014

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This week was a tough week for photography with me. After arriving home from my 16-day trip to the midwest, and after shooting about 1500 photographs, I didn't have any motivation to get out with my camera during the week after work. By Saturday though I was ready to give it a shot again and my buddy Chris & his fiance Shawnna came down to go hiking with me & to go to the beach with Ruth. We got down to Sandbridge around 9 AM and dropped off the ladies at the beach, then hit Back Bay NWR for a morning hike. In the 3 weeks I was gone from the area, it sure heated up, and we'd had 80s & 90s all week long. Back Bay is notorious for being a difficult place to hike during the summertime just due to not having much shade in the park, and on calm days it can get excruciatingly hot & humid. For the first time this year, the West Dike Trail was now closed off and the East Dike Trail had opened up sometime while I was out of the area. I had hoped the West Dike would still be open since I'd gotten a good idea of where I could find certain species of birds along it after having hiked it quite a few times in the spring. Since this was my first trip down the East Dike, I really didn't know what to expect. One key difference between the two dikes is that there is a lot more surface water visible on the West Dike, with the waters of Back Bay visible to the west and the freshwater impoundments of the park visible on the east.

A Variegated Fritillary seen at Back Bay NWR among some Dandelions.

From the East Dike, there are a series of ditches to the east, but the western side is dominated by overgrown marshy areas which hide most of the wildlife with ease. The marsh grasses are fully grown this time of year and are probably 8 to 10 feet tall. Even a Wild Horse could hide comfortably within the marshes from view. On the way to the East Dike down the Loop Road we got a good look at a Yellow-bellied Slider crossing the road, then hiding in it's shell as we approached. Most of the bird activity along the East Dike was that of large flocks of European Starlings, most of which looked like young birds. Also, a fair number of Purple Martins were present, most of which were perched up the power lines that run along the trail through the marsh that eventually feed power to False Cape State Park's facilities. I missed out on seeing Orchard Orioles for the first time in the park since about early April, but I did see a couple Indigo Buntings, so birds of color are still present along the trails. Also, one Snowy Egret, one Great Egret, and one Great Blue Heron were tallied, much less populous than a couple months ago, especially for the Snowies of which there was tons of them in April here. Along the walk, Brown Pelicans could be seen cruising just over the duneline near the beach to the east of the trail. Flocks of them continued north to south throughout the day. We walked as far south as the False Cape State Park entrance sign & then turned and headed back northward. Just before turning though I caught a glimpse of a long-tailed bird with reddish accents on the side, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. This wasn't my first of the year in the park, but since this is a bird I had only seen one time until this year, its nice to keep seeing them at different parks. The breeze kept the heat at bay on the way back north to the parking area, until we walked the Bay Trail. The Bay Trail, surrounded by tall vegetation on both sides was protected from the breeze and therefore hotter than the other paths.

The extremely small & fast Six-lined Racerunner!

Also, because of the lack of wind, hundreds of dragonflies were present and feeding on whatever aerial insects that could find. Everywhere you walked you could actually feel them all around you, its definitely summer when this starts to happen. Thanks to the scores of dragonflies though, there wasn't a single biting fly anywhere to be found. I kept watch for snakes & treefrogs along the trail but never did find any, and even the Bayside Trail's boardwalks didn't provide any wildlife, so it must all just have been very well concealed. I think on days that are hot like this, the coldblooded animals don't necessarily have to be out in the open to maintain their temperatures, so they have the ability to hide from view much easier. After we took off from the park we went up to Little Island Park and got in the water to cool down. The waves were really rolling in with the northeast winds buffeting the shoreline so it was near impossible to do any swimming before a lifeguard would whistle you back to shore. As always, the Brown Pelicans and Boat-tailed Grackles were the numerous species along the beach, but I did see a pair of birds that could have been Great Shearwaters, like one that had been spotted up near Dam Neck's beach earlier in the week & posted about by Karen Beatty. By the time I could have gotten my camera out of my pack though they were gone so I may have to investigate these further next week. 

One of the thousands of Dragonflies that have taken over Back Bay NWR with the warmer weather moving in to the region.

Week Ending June 22, 2014

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This week got off to an early start. At 4:30 AM on Monday I had to get up, and I was headed down the road from Ely, MN at about 5 AM towards Indiana. Of course, the weekend's dreary weather had gone away, and been replaced by beautiful sunny weather for my day in the car. I drove down Highway 1 & Highway 2 to the North Shore of Lake Superior, seeing what I believe was a Long-tailed Weasel on the way that ran across the road carrying what appeared to be a small bird. This was the extent of the wildlife I saw til I reached the shore, where I did see a couple of White-tailed Deer along the roadway. I decided not to stop at the state parks nearby, just so that I could get a little more driving done early. However, when I got into Wisconsin, it was still so nice out that I stopped at Amnicon Falls State Park for the first time. I got here about 7:30 AM, and just parked along the river that flows through the park (the Amnicon River). The falls & rapids are all very close to the entry road so I didn't have to walk very far. Seeing it for the first time, it was quite a beautiful section of river, very similar to the rivers on the north shore that also flow into Lake Superior. I walked along the rapids and falls for a half hour or so, hearing mainly Chestnut-sided Warblers but not actually seeing any. I left and got back on the road, and did eventually make it to my mom's house in Indiana by about 4 PM after traveling I-80 instead of I-290 to avoid the 15 odd dollars in tolls there. 

Wild Rose at Plum Creek Nature Preserve!

On Tuesday, I was pretty exhausted when I got up. We had wanted to get down to Turkey Run State Park, about 100 miles south of Munster, but the weather didn't seem to be warranting the drive, and my mom had to be back early evening for an appointment. So I used this as an opportunity instead to get my oil changed since I'd already put about 3000 miles on my car since I'd left Virginia. After getting that taken care of, and not wanting to burn a day, my mom & I went for a hike at nearby Plum Creek Nature Preserve just across the Illinois border from Dyer & off of Route 30. The last time I was at this preserve, I was pretty young, but I do remember it being in either the fall or spring, with little foliage, and I remember vividly sitting still in the woods while my dad walked a large circle around me, and chased a Ring-necked Pheasant right by me, one of the few I've ever seen up close. This time, I didn't see or hear any pheasants, but my mom & I did see a surprising amount of wildlife that I wasn't expecting. When I go to Minnesota, I expect to see a lot of wildlife, just because it is very forested, and very uninhabited. When I'm in Indiana, I don't, just because of the number of people, and the environment being very suburban. But I have to say that there was actually plenty here this trip. Right away, we saw a Common Yellowthroat, several Eastern Bluebirds, some Black-capped Chickadees, and also my first of the year Rose-breasted Grosbeak (a female).

Unknown species of butterfly/moth at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

Walking along the well maintained trails, we also sighted quite a few White-tailed Deer, which all appeared to be in quite healthy shape. The ones I'd seen in Minnesota were all very skinny, showing ribs through their hide, either from the rough winter, or just having birthed fawns. Either way, this was not the case in Indiana, a very healthy group of deer must have had plenty to feed on even in this bad winter. Also along the trail, we got another unexpected surprise, my mom spotted a Red Fox running down the trail quite a ways off that I hadn't even noticed. We tried taking a second trail to get us closer to where it looked to have dove into the woods, but we never did get a chance to relocate it. This trail traveled across a meadow where I saw several Indigo Buntings, and even more bluebirds. I also could hear a number of other species that I couldn't identify. I thought perhaps some orioles might be present just based on the habitat but never did see any unfortunately. Walking back along the same trail we saw even more deer, which must be quite common in the preserve. Since the weather was very very muggy and about 85-90 degrees, we kept the walk fairly short and headed back to the parking area, finding some Barn Swallows feeding nearby.

A Blue Jay looking for an easy meal in the picnic area at Turkey Run State Park.

On Wednesday, the forecast was for more rain in northwest Indiana so we followed through with our original plan from yesterday and drove south to Turkey Run State Park. Turkey Run is probably my mom's favorite park in the area, and its a beautiful place. Sugar Creek, a tributary of the larger Wabash River, flows through the park and is usually filled with canoeists & tubers. The trails through the park follow along the river, and the smaller creeks that feed it, most of which travel through deep canyons before emptying into the shallow wash of the larger Sugar Creek. The downside to Turkey Run is that it is about 2 to 2.5 hours away from Munster, so we got there around 10 AM, and grabbed lunch right off the bat. While eating, we had a Red-headed Woodpecker poking around over us, and a Blue Jay & Eastern Chipmunk also came in probably looking for food. When we hit the trails it was pretty hot & humid again like yesterday, but the sun was out fortunately. We walked the trails we usually enjoy, crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge and then heading up the canyon to the Punch Bowl. There was a surprising amount of families walking, I guess because school recently got out, but once past the Punch Bowl it really cleared out, this just happens to be one of the most popular hikes because you get to walk up the creekbed, and it gets pretty interesting trying to stay dry as the creek runs swiftly over sandstone in increasingly tighter spots. Throughout the canyon we saw a number of swallows, and heard some Pileated Woodpeckers, but the crowds probably kept the birds at bay. After we saw the Punch Bowl, which is just a small waterfall where the creek begins its run in the canyon, we headed up to higher ground. Here a family was watching as a rather large Eastern Ratsnake was climbing a fallen tree. Nearby I got some shots of some Chipmunks, which fortunately for them, were far enough away from the snake to not get caught. The trail continues on the high ground, going up and down a lot of stairs before reaching the head of another deep canyon. Here the trail goes down through a series of 3 ladders that are bolted to the canyon sides. It was amazing to feel the temperature gradient change between the top and bottom of the canyon. It had to be at least 20 degrees cooler at the bottom which was a wonderful shift. In this canyon as well, there was a number of swallows flying around, probably Bank Swallows I think. We continued down the canyon until we reached the banks of Sugar Creek again then headed upstream along the shore.

Eastern Garter Snake along Sugar Creek at Turkey Run State Park.

My mom got quite a scare near here as she jumped upon seeing an Eastern Garter Snake cruise out from it's hiding spot near the trail. I somehow missed it completely and had walked right by, but fortunately hearing her jump got me a chance to photograph it before it disappeared completely. Moving further upstream you head up about a hundred stairs and top out high over the river, giving a great viewpoint. From there, the trail descends slowly and returns to the suspension bridge area. Here my mom crossed and went up to the visitor's center while I kept going upstream. I made a loop from there to the far east end of the park, crossing the river, and then going back downstream to the bridge before going back up to the parking area. Along the way I saw a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, and American Crows. I also heard a number of woodpeckers but didn't get any shots. At the far east end, you cross on a covered bridge, which gives you a look towards the new roadway bridge not far away. There was a number of swallow nests built up on the underside of the roadway bridge, and after shooting a lot of photos, I could finally tell that these were Cliff Swallow nests, which was the first new life bird I got to add on my trip! I believe I also captured some shots of Bank Swallows, a bird I know I've seen before, but have  never properly identified upon seeing. This should be another one to add to my list. The standard songbirds lit the rest of the path for me walking back to reunite with my mother, Northern Cardinals, American Robins and Tufted Titmice were all over. At the visitor's center, they have a nice wildlife observation room with a number of feeders just outside the glass. We saw Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Goldfinches, and a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as well, which now that reminds me I did see a hummer in the first canyon we walked early on as well. After that we headed back up to Munster, pretty soaked from the heat & humidity, but another 2 birds on my life list richer.

A beautiful little Common Yellowthroat seen at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

Friday was the next day I was able to get out, though Thursday & Friday both were overcast days. Again with the weather looking like rain, my mom & I just did another trip to Plum Creek Nature Preserve and yet again saw an unusually high number of wildlife. Just like the last time, we saw a Common Yellowthroat right away, though this time I was able to get good photographs of it as it incessantly jumped from shrub to shrub trying to avoid me. We also got some great looks nearby of more White-tailed Deer, finding a pair of fawns still showing off their white spots as well. No fox sightings this time, but we again followed the same path as before, and when we reached the meadows area, my mom finally got to see a beautiful Indigo Bunting flying around & perching in a tree. Also nearby was a number of Eastern Bluebirds, and also a very chatty House Wren, both of which were probably the same birds we had seen the last outing in the preserve. Returning to the woods from the meadow, we saw more deer, and had a pair of Turkey Vultures fly in right near us and perch on a long branch about 20 feet off the ground. Its amazing how big these birds look when you get to see their wings spread so close, and I still think they're beautiful birds even though many will state that their naked heads make them offputting. The weather continued its hot & humid assault, making that something like five days straight. We did see some rain in the distance but never received any right over us fortunately. On the route back towards the car I saw an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a number of dragonflies, some damselfies (the same beautiful turquoise & black ones I've seen in North Carolina), and even more deer. By the end I think we saw 5 adult deer, and a pair of fawns for a total of 7 on the day, many more than I'll typically see while out on my typical Virginia hikes. Saturday I did get out for about 4 miles of walking, but just around the neighborhood I grew up in Munster, of which my mom did the first 2 mile loop.

One of the many White-tailed Deer encountered at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.

To be honest I was just all around exhausted from the 2 weeks straight of taking photographs and being outdoors so it was nice to just get back and relax on my final day. Sunday I left at 4 AM from Munster and headed back to Virginia. The 950 mile ride is pretty gorgeous this time of year, with the mountains of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Virginia completely greened up & of course I got a beautiful blue sky to drive under. I opted not to revisit the site of the Purple Gallinule sightings in Waynesboro, VA, thinking that maybe I'll get my shot next weekend with Ruth if we get up to the mountains, but I'll have to see how I feel after all this driving. I made it back to Virginia Beach at about quarter after 6 PM, which with the loss of an hour for time zones, made it a 13 hour drive, much faster than I've ever done it before somehow, perhaps it was due to the 2 stops for about 10 minutes or less each time to gas up, hit the bathroom, and eat more or less simultaneously. Unfortunately with my arrival back home, my vacation was finally at an end, but I was very happy to get home to see Ruth & to enjoy my special welcome home dinner of homemade fried chicken. That was the closest thing to wildlife I really got to see on the day, and definitely the most delicious.

A rather large Turkey Vulture perched low to the ground at Plum Creek Nature Preserve.