I’ve been outside a lot this month, but mostly camera-free… sometimes I really like to enjoy the outside with no cameras or distractions. But I found some photos I never shared from last month at Lake Lotus. It is a little place full of wonder!

This last photo is a Limpkin. The park ranger told me how it got stuck in a fish line and hook, the fisherman told the rangers and they went out to untangle the line. By the time they got to the Limpkin it had untangled itself but it still has a fish hook stuck in it’s side. You can see it in the photo. Poor thing!

Last year The Senator, a beautiful cypress, and one of the oldest trees in the world at 3500 years, burnt down. Now you can go and see the remains at Big Tree Park. I found it rather sad… But, Lady Liberty still stands tall nearby. 2000 years old and 89 feet tall, she is now the big tree of Big Tree Park! It’s her time to shine.

I had the pleasure of visiting Washington DC for the first time during the Cherry Blossom Festival. We spent a full day wandering the National Mall, seeing monuments, and the National Gallery of Art- oh, how I love to see a Monet in person!

But what I will share here is the super cute little albino squirrel, white with red eyes.

I thought, how funny I went to Brevard, NC  looking for the white squirrels that the town is known for, but saw none. And then I randomly see one in Washington DC. But the NC squirrels are white squirrels, and the DC squirrel is an actual albino. I searched online to see how common they are, and this particular guy seems to be a popular tourist attraction in DC! But in my search I also found that DC is known for it’s BLACK squirrels. I wish I had seen one of those- next time!

Birds, bugs, and blooms. Spring!

The last one is Linville Falls. I have seen many waterfalls in Georgia and North Carolina and this was the most impressive, albeit in person and not so much from this photo.

I was in North Carolina a few weeks ago. I did not have too much luck birding on this trip, except for these Tree Swallows nesting at the Carl Sandburg Home’s goat farm. They were awesome!

In addition to all the wonderful little chicks, Spring brings migration! Here are some from a morning at Lake Mills Park.

Black and White Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Vireo

Northern Parula

Only a week in to Spring and here we have more babies!

I was pretty psyched about finding two young Barred Owl unexpectedly.

This was the first one I saw, waaaay up there in a tall tree…

I was especially surprised to find the second one, in another tree, too hidden by leaves and shadows to bother with a photo. But so cute to view with binoculars!

Then, I figured with two babies about, the parents could not be far off. I looked for a long time and eventually found one on the outskirts of the park. Majestic!

We are fortunate to have a Great Egret rookery in a lovely little park in the middle of town. The park is in a neighborhood, with the majority of the nests being in a tree that is hanging over the road, and up against power lines. Sometimes, I’m just like, really birds? This is the best you could do? But whatever, now I get to enjoy them. The park also has a lot of nesting Anhinga, and I noticed one Great Blue Heron nest with chicks in it.

The adult above is in all it’s beauty of breeding colors and plumage.

An egg fallen to the ground. Beautiful color!

The beautiful Sandhill Crane’s are common around here. I love Spring, when the pairs start nesting and turning up with adorable little yellow chicks. Then you get to watch them grow all Spring and Summer. Of course the first few weeks are the best, I could watch these babes all day…

I am working on so much new art! In the meantime, here are a few bird photos from an overcast day at Merritt Island…