I have moved and gotten settled into my cozy new apartment, so it’s back to business! I got my etsy shop open again with all the prints I have in stock and will work on making new stock  in the coming weeks. Check it out…

And here is a little Tufted Titmouse fledgeling I saw in the midst of moving a few weeks ago! There were a few chicks with the parents carefully looking over them and continuing to feed them as they flew from tree to tree. Absolutely adorable!!

Here are some photos I took during my week in North Carolina of the backyard birds.

Lovey-dovey Doves mating.

Brown-headed Cowbird. A couple frequented the feeder and this male would go to the top of tree and do his mating call and poof out all his feathers.

House Finch.

Goldfinches galore! At one point there were 10 at the same time.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Eastern Bluebird. There were two pairs feeding babies in nest boxes.

Besides the birds I photographed, I also saw Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Mockingbird, Indigo Bunting, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

My last full day in North Carolina we decided to do something exciting, at least exciting to us! My Mom and I went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway, through Craggy Gardens and up to Mount Mitchell.

First we stopped a trail that said it had ruins from old buildings at the end where it meets up with the Mountain to Sea trail. The ruins were just one rock chimney as far as I could tell, although pretty cool! The trail was gorgeous, with a small waterfall right off the road, and the creek along most of the trail that you had to cross a few times. My favorite part…chipmunks running around everywhere!

From there we headed to Craggy Gardens.

Glassmine Falls as seen from overlook at Craggy Garden.

It is weird going up to Craggy Gardens, where it still looks like Winter. Weirder still to keep going up to Mt. Mitchell. It had snowed the week before and they mountains where transformed into waterfalls of melted snow, while little patches of snow still remained on the side of the road. I could believe it, I’m from Florida and here I was seeing snow in May! Crazy!

Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of Mississippi. Cool air and beautiful views. Smells like Christmas up there. Pines! And lots of moss. Very cool place.

Also very friendly Dark-eyed Junco’s up there!

Day 6 in North Carolina was a stay in day. Well, not so much staying in! Luckily not going anywhere in North Carolina is pretty exciting with beautiful flowers, butterflies, interesting insects, and birds just out the front door, and a short-ish walk down to the river.

Fancypants Wild Turkey

Day 5 we went to Beaver Lake, specifically for the Bird Sanctuary but it was under construction! In a serious way that involved construction vehicles and trees crashing down!

We did have a long walk around the lake and part of the sanctuary, and there were some shorebirds, Green Heron, Canada Geese, lots of Cedar Waxwings and Catbirds, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, an adorable bunch of Mallard ducklings, etc… but I didn’t end up with really any good photos at all!

Catbird

Wild strawberries.

Awesome nest!

House Wren

On the 4th day of my trip we went up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Pisgah, Graveyard Fields, and then down through Pisgah Forest. Stopping at several overlooks, birds could be heard everywhere but are nearing impossible to locate! I started feeling very discouraged about mountain birdwatching, the way the sound travels on the mountains the birds could be on another mountain for all I can tell! We spotted one person out there with a parabolic microphone to amplify faraway sounds. This is clearly a whole new world of birdwatching.

One bird I did see everywhere were Indigo Buntings. That flash of blue was all over the place!

Indigo Bunting

Young male Indigo Bunting

Canada Warbler on Mt. Pisgah

Dark-eyed Junco at Graveyard Fields

Sorry for the delay, super busy unpacking and settling into my new apartment since I got home from my trip to NC. Here are some more photos from day 3 taken around the homestead.

Day 2 in North Carolina was spent with visiting, backyard bird watching, and a jaunt to Asheville for supplies. So skip ahead to Day 3, a beautiful day spent at the NC Arboretum! Butterflies galore, and many other little critters too.

I am currently enjoying the beautiful weather and SPRING of the North Carolina mountains!

I arrived on Friday afternoon. I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday and I am halfway through this trip! Sad! Spring is in full swing here… flowers, birds, butterflies, and all sorts of things buzzing around…

Lots of Northern Parulas around this week.