"Thanks" and a red-headed lifer

Two blogging friends up north in snow country, Trixie at Trixie’s View in Alaska and Ruthie at Nature Knitter in Minnesota, told me I make their day. They make my day, too. Now I have an opportunity to present this “award” to others who make my day. Can I stay up all night and list everyone I know? No. Can I decide who deserves an award? No. Actually, I don’t consider this “You Make My Day” as an award. I think it’s a nice affirmation that everyone needs sometimes. I appreciate and admire everyone in my little blogging community here and I want to tell all of you that YOU MAKE MY DAY. Everyone likes to receive nice surprises, so if you have the time and are inclined to give a pat on the back to those you appreciate and multiply the smiles, please do.

Cathy at Looking Up. She’s has a lot going on right now and I miss her poetic charm and beautiful photos.

David at Leave Me Alone I’m Digging. He lives to dig and transplant his gardens. His writing style is hilarious!

Donna at KGMom Mumblings. I admire her patience with her English 102 students. Donna can write. She's a good book.

Jayne at Journey Through Grace. Jayne inspires me with her optimistic outlook on life. She is the definition of grace.

Julie Zickefoose. I feel good vibes, learn, laugh, and cry when I visit her.

Larry at Brownstone Birding. He hunts down the birds and finds 100,000 a month. His dry sense of humor makes me laugh out loud.

Laura at Somewhere in NJ. You can feel her softness and charm in her writing. Now and then, she rants and curses a little bit and we all love it.

Lynne at Hasty Brook. Sweet Lynne has a lot on her plate right now and I’m so happy when she takes time to post. She always makes me smile.

Nina at Nature Remains. Nina is so in touch and in love with nature. Her beautiful words and photos make me swoon.

Sherry at Q’s Corner. When I feel stressed and out of control, she is able to calm me down. A good friend.

Susan at Susan Gets Native. Susan’s blog is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get :-)

For a real treat, visit them.

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I want to share something that happened yesterday. Around noon I saw an e-mail in my home inbox from the county Audubon listserve:

I took my ornithology class to the wetland behind HHGreg this morning and had a ton of waterfowl. Northern Shovelers, Pintail, plenty of Woodies, a Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, 20+ Mallards, some Canadas, and Hooded Mergs. Also a Red-headed Woodpecker, 2 GBHs on nests, 6 Rusty Blackbirds, an immature Coopers strafed the lake, and a dozen female Redwings down in the phragmites/cattails/whatever.

Oh, my. I just couldn’t stand it. I had heard of this spot before but hadn’t visited. So, an hour early off from work, I made the short trip to Concord. I parked behind the shopping center near the dumpsters and quickly changed from high heels to Crocs.

This is the wetland. Birdless. No waterfowl. Disappointed. It began to rain on me but I thanked the heavens. See the construction clearing behind it at the top left of the photo? I took a deep sigh of sadness.

It’s not a scenic place but it’s a hot spot for cavity nesting birds. On second thought, yes, it is scenic. I can appreciate it. I regretted not having my binoculars.

My off-white Crocs sunk into the red clay when I moved closer to the fence to see a beautiful red, black and white flash against the grayness.

My first sighting of a Red-headed Woodpecker was worth the trip and discolored Crocs. I’ll visit again, very soon.