Hooray, I saw him again today!

The Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. I first read of them in a nature magazine (Birds and Blooms, possibly?). Ooo, I thought, that is something I would love to see! A moth the size of a hummingbird! Wings zipping so fast you cannot even see them.

It was probably 5 years before I saw one. Then I was out pulling weeds in my butterfly bushes.....zzzzz...zzzzzzz....I heard a hummingbird. I looked. Nope. No hummingbird! IT WAS HEEM! IT WAS DE MOTHRA!!! :DDDD

How I love to see, in real life, fascintating things that I have read about!

That was 2 years ago. I did not see anymore CHMs. Until about two weeks ago!!!! YAY!....there's another leetle dewd in my gardens. This guy is quite a bit smaller than the first one I saw. But, he is as impressive as ever. He was out happily doing his moth thing tonight while I was watering flowers! Thanks for stopping by, little dewd! :D

Clearwing_moth

Clearwing_moth_c

Photos from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science Museum website   www.naturalsciences.org

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Ok, friends, I want to share some of my backyard buddies with you. I love when the Whitecrowned Sparrows come through every spring and every fall. They winter in the states south of Ohio and they summer up in northern Canada. So, they stop by my feeders for a few weeks at the change of the seasons.
I love the beautiful soft gray of their breasts and their awesome pink bills and feets! Of course, the stunning head stripes are the perfect finish!

White Crowned Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrows

Next are my annual pair of Rosebreasted Grosbeaks. The female is camera shy, but I got a couple of pictures of "Splash" out of my windows. He's a very handsome dude!

"Splash" the Rosebreasted Grosbeak

Rosebreasted Grosbeak and English friend

And, for now, last, this is the very first Indigo Bunting I have seen at my house!!!! I have seen them in the woods of northern Michigan, but never down here! I nearly squeed my pants when I saw the blur of blue in the planter out my kitchen window. Please excuse my hose.

Excuse my hose.

Indigo Bunting

Man, I loves me some birds!!!!!

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Happy Sigh!
What a grand trip!
Friends I haven't seen in 6 years. Much to catch up on. Daylight. SO much daylight...maybe 1 1/2 hours of darkness per night. Not even really dark even then! We never wanted to stop talking and sleep!

Here's a few pics of some critters we saw. What a wonderful critter filled land! :)

Alaska Ground Squirrel

Golden Crowned Sparrow2

Red Fox Close Up

Magpie1

This was the first time I had ever seen or heard of a Golden Crowned Sparrow. They were everywhere in the wilder areas and always singing their hearts out! Lovely little dudes!

Hoary Marmot at Hatcher Pass

         
         
         
            
               
      
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
       Mr. Red Fox was so foxy with his luxurious tail and his calm self absorbed ways. He trotted along the road beside us for at least a mile, absorbed in his hunting. We saw him stop and in less than a minute scoop up a meadow vole and gobble it down. Then he took off at a dignified canter, possibly on his way back to his den to deposit the vole with his kits for their dinner.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    Magpies were all pervasive and probably considered a pest, I found them visually stunning and always a treat to see.   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Hoary marmots were usually heard and not seen.
The noise they made was a wonderful piercing whistle that sounded amazingly like "Squeeeeee". One perfect clear reverberating note.

It always made me smile!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Sled Dogs at the Iditarod Headquarters

  


Sled dogs extraordinaire! They are bred to run and to pull and that is what they want to do. They are a very talkative bunch, howls, yowls, high pitched bark bark barks, when they are excited...hitched up and ready to go!

It's incredible to see them in action. I can only imagine the fun it would be to patrol Denali Natl Park by sled in the winter!
   
   
   
   

Herd of Dall Sheep

  
    Dall sheep....we were excited to see a herd on the cliffs
by the highway. Needless to say they stopped traffic,
especially the lamb. He was a doll! (And a Dall) ;)

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I love my big purple balls!!!

(Alliums, in case you guys want to get technical!) :P

Squirrelly in Gree's Birdfeeder Area

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Woooooo! Every year I think I have probably seen all the new species I am going to! Wrong again, Leprechaun Breath!
I looked out of my 2nd floor bedroom window just a couple hours ago and there, walking around our little leaf filled pond, bobbing his tail like crazy with every step was a Northern Waterthrush! I stared and stared and then ran down and grabbed my bird book and figured out who he was! He was on his way from the very south of the US to the very north and into Canada for the summer!
Now, that is my idea of excitement!

WaterthrushNorthern02

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