Birding at Fort Ancient
...continued from yesterday's post.At the South Fort, just before the North Lookout, I found a lovely meadow filled with wildflowers, bees, butterflies and
hummingbird moths...not to mention a bird or two!
Thistle is always willing to sit still for a photo
...unlike the little brown birds flitting around.
The tiny little spider on the right is yellow-green
and very pretty with reddish stripes and a red
head band. I have no idea what type he is...
(Click to enlarge...)
Note: Maree of
Art & Creativity just wrote in and thinks this little fellow is a crab spider. She said crab spiders take on the color of the flower they are sitting on
(see her comment in the comment section). A chameleon-like crab spider...how cool! I need to get a book on spiders and read up, but I have to admit they sort of give me the willies. I had a nasty little black spider live in my ear for about 12 hours one day, and it was truly horrible. I didn't know he was in there...I thought it was water. By the end of the day I had a fever and the crackling was driving me insane! I jumped up and down, shaking my head sideways while lightly pounding on my head to dislodge the "water." I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror. Eventually, a black spider crawled out of my ear canal and into my hand. Needless to say, it freaked me out, and I've been wary of the fellows ever since! I went to the emergency room because I was afraid he was a she and may have laid eggs. When you go to the ER with a spider in the ear, they jump to. Apparently if they bite you, since it's so close to the brain, it can be bad. So.....that's the reason I have not bought a spider book. I think I need to get over that!
Another lovely sign! Yeah...the meadow is being
maintained! I don't know if they are worried about
non-native invasive species, but they
are keeping it cut as a meadow...
Do you see the bit in the sign about Bobwhite quail? It's been years since I've heard one, and the last time I saw one was in 1991 at Clifty Falls in Indiana. When I was a kid we had a slew of them in our backyard. I grew up hearing their lovely song all the time! The horrible blizzard and severe winter of 1978 decimated their population, and their numbers have not been restored to those of the 60s and early 70s. I can't wait to hear them again (Bob...Bob....White!).
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