Bbear7's Blog

Zebra Swallowtail

bbear7 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:16:46 +0000

I spotted a zebra swallowtail by the lake a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t have my camera. My mama was with me, she had never seen one, other than pictures. When we got back home we done a little research and found out that the Paw-Paw trees that grow in our area was their host plant.

So the hunt began. I started looking for greenish caterpillars with yellow and black stripes,as well as the butterfly. No luck.

Then the other day I saw a zebra swallowtail near some clover, ran for my camera

and I GOT IT ! ! !

Zebra Swallowtail on clover

I hope I see more of these VERY FAST FLYING butterflies.

Elk at Cataloochee

bbear7 — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:49:55 +0000

Recently my family went to Cataloochee Valley to see the Elks.

When my family were there the Elk Bugle Corp was very nice.

In the back of their jeep the had a lot of different things from animals that live in the valley.
They let me take a lot of pictures.

My sister and I even got to hold a set of elk horns. I really enjoyed our trip.

We got to see some elk and turkeys in the fields.

Black Bear Skull

Wild Boar Skull

Hopefully we’ll go back there soon.

holding elk horns

Here Comes the Snow

bbear7 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:38:55 +0000

Even in the heavy snow I got to see many types of birds

visit the porch for food.

The Cardinals really stood out in the snow.

A Blue Jay, Song Sparrow and Red-Bellied Woodpecker

took turns on the feeder.

Eastern Bluebird – Tufted Titmouse and Junco – Towhee

Goldfinches

Morning Doves

Song Sparrow

bbear7 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:12:40 +0000

This is a Song Sparrow. It is 5 to 6 inches in length and has a whitish breast with brown streaks. It got it’s name because it can sing as many as 20 different melodies. In early spring the male sings all the time and defends his territory.

The Song Sparrow lays 3-5 eggs. The eggs are brown with greenish-white spots.

The female does all the incubation of the eggs. Incubation last 12 to 13 days. The young will leave the nest in around 10 days, barely able to fly.

The parents will continue feeding the young for another 20 days.
These birds may raise up to 3 broods a year.

Nature’s Artwork

bbear7 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:35:25 +0000

Here’s some more pictures from our drive.

“Ice Falls”

bbear7 — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:04:21 +0000

This is a gigantic “ice fall” close to where I live.

Blue Jays

bbear7 — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:25:42 +0000

There has been a Blue Jay on our porch all the time since I started putting some food on this side of the house.

It gets close and acts like it has no fear when I go to the door.

Fearless Blue Jay

These birds are around 9 to 12 inches.

Their crown and crest are gray-blue.
The wing and tail feathers are bright blue with white and black stripes or bands. They have a narrow necklace of black feathers across the throat and around the head.
The lower breast, and belly are off-white. The bill, legs, feet, and eyes, are black. They can raise and lower their crest.

They eat a variety of foods. These birds are smart and adaptable. In the winter they mostly eat acorns, beechnuts, seeds and berries. In the spring and summer they like vegetables, acorns, beechnuts, seeds and berries. They have also been known to eat bird eggs and baby birds but not usually.

Bluebirds add some color

bbear7 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:34:03 +0000

I’m starting to see more types of birds around lately. I started putting some bird food on the other side of our house, where it is more open. Hopefully this will bring in many more birds. This is an Eastern Bluebird. They measure around 6 1/2 inches in length.

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Female Bluebird

Male Bluebird

The males have bright blue backs,wings and heads with a reddish breast and white belly. Females have lighter blue wings and tail, brownish throat and breast with a gray crown and back.

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Bluebirds eat mostly insects and worms during the spring and summer. They really like meal worms. They also eat berries and fruit. They seem to go to tray feeders that have bits of dried fruit, nuts and meal worms a lot. During the winter they eat dogwood berries, sumac and hackberry seeds.

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I hope the Bluebirds stay around for the summer.

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Female Bluebird

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Male Bluebird

The “Red Bird”

bbear7 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:32:55 +0000

The Northern Cardinal male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull red-brown shade.
This bird has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female.
The “Red Bird” is 7.5 to 9 inches.

The Cardinal diet consists mainly of weed seeds, grains, and fruits. It is a ground feeder and finds food while hopping on the ground through trees or shrubbery. It eats beetles, cicadas, grasshoppers, snails, wild fruit and berries, corn and oats, sunflower seeds, the blossoms and bark of elm trees.

The Cardinal was once prized

as a pet, but its sale as a

cage bird is now banned in the

United States by the Migratory

Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

Junco (Snowbirds)

bbear7 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:02:33 +0000

The Dark-eyed Junco commonly called snowbird, because of its sudden appearance around winter bird feeding stations. It is often the most abundant bird at the feeders. It is a member of the sparrow family.

Adults generally have gray heads, necks, and breasts, gray or brown backs and wings, and a white belly.

The Dark-eyed Junco is 5 to 6 1/2 inches long.

They feed on the ground, eating weed and grass seeds.

In summer they feed mainly on insects.

Together they build the nest that will house both of the two broods they produce in one season.
The nest is cup shaped and built using grasses, moss, and twigs.

The female lays 3 to 6 gray or pale bluish eggs with dark blotches that incubate for 12 to 13 days.

The young leave the nest about 9 to 13 days after hatching.
Both parents will feed the young until they leave the nest.

Our Christmas Tree

bbear7 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:57:16 +0000

After Christmas we decided to “recycle” our tree outside, as a bird feeder.

It’s also a good place for the birds to take cover at.

I added a suet feeder and me and my little sister put peanut butter on some toasted bagels and pressed bird seed onto the peanut butter. We put one bagel in a suet feeder then “decorated” the tree with the rest.

Then I spread some bird seed under the tree to help ” bring in” the birds.

It wasn’t long before we starting having visitors around our tree…

These Juncos come to our tree everyday.

Hornet’s Nest

bbear7 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:35:03 +0000

Hornets make large nests you can see in trees after the leaves have fallen in winter. In the summer, nests are often hidden by leaves. When the weather gets cold they leave the nest, or die of old age or freeze by the first frost. The bees that are left will build another nest next spring in a different spot.
The paper-like covering of the nest is made from chewed up wood and paper that the workers will form into the outside nest. Nests can also be colorful because the workers will gather nest materials from different places and types of paper.
Hornets will attach their nests to trees, bushes or sometimes even the side of a building. Some nests are high up in the trees.
This nest was beside my mamaw’s house.