Gray Catbird

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #149. This is a Red-eared slider from Ashburn earlier this month.

A couple days later, I saw the turtle sunning on the bank:

Also from earlier this month, a Common Buckeye:

I'm also linking to Anni's I'd Rather B Birdin'. Both mockingbirds and catbirds were all over the pokeberries earlier this month, but the catbirds were too shy to let me get a decent pic. Turns out I got one after all.

Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Trumpet Vines and Little Box Turtle

My contribution to TexWiscGirl's Good Fences #127.
Here is a trumpet vine fence along the W. and O.D. trail:

Just to the right of the trumpet flowers is this vine, which is similar (but has smooth leaves). I think it is Trumpet honeysuckle:


A little further down the trail near the Luck Stone quarry, there's a yellow trumpet vine:

The quarry:

And here's a little box turtle:

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Cacapon Resort State Park Critters 9/04/2015

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #90. Here are some critters I saw yesterday at Cacapon Resort State Park.






Last but certainly not least, here are Amelia and Rory:



Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Polyphemus Moth

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #81. I'm also linking to Andyslens' Weekend Butterfly #04.

This is a Polyphemus Moth I found outside the basement door in W.V. early in June. Like the Imperial Moth (bottom of post), it was attracted to the light during the evening. (Still hoping to get Luna Moth pics someday...I've seen them twice there over the years.)

Here are a couple pictures I didn't take. First is from a dive boat friend of someone who comments at Eschaton:

And this is a picture my brother-in-law took off St. Thomas last month:

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Super Bowl XLIX Recap

They call him Twitter

Twitter, faster than lightning

UPDATE: Here's that youtuber I was looking for!

Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Are there hats?

John Oliver: You don’t need people’s opinion on a fact. You might as well have a poll asking: ‘Which number is bigger, 15 or 5?’ or ‘Do owls exist?’ or ‘Are there hats?’

“Are there hats?” — I laughed my ass clean off. - tengrain

TEACH THE CONTROVERSY!

FURTHERMORE:

In other news:

Two teams of scientists say the long-feared collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun, kicking off what's likely to be a centuries-long process that could raise sea levels by as much as 15 feet. "There's been a lot of speculation about the stability of marine ice sheets, and many scientists suspected that this kind of behavior is under way," Ian Joughin, a glaciologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a news release about one of the studies released Monday. "This study provides a more qualitative idea of the rates at which the collapse could take place."

THIS CARDINAL REMAINS UNCONVINCED:

Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Red-bellied Woodpecker and Eastern Box Turtle

Happy Mother's Day!

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Chaotic Turtles

Carmi's Thematic Photographic 291 is Chaotic.

Technically speaking, these sounds come from the swamp across the road from the lake.



Speaking of brightening your day...

P.S. Here's some KAOS from Typepad:

Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Treasured Pets

Thematic Photographic 260 is Treasured.

I see already I'm not the first to think of our pets for this theme. I'm still going with Sophie, Rory, Lola, Theda, and Cato.





PLUS! Lake Siri Turtle

UPDATE: Here's Rory's face.

Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Photo of a photo:

I was hoping to see some alligators on the trip to South Carolina, but I was not as lucky as Pinko. This picture is one I took with a Canon EOS 650 using film back in the 1980s. I've found that even the carefully stored negatives from those days do not yield photos as sharp as the originals, and I think taking a picture of the picture with the G12 gets better results (not to mention, being much easier).

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23 Seconds of Swimming Turtles

Monday's round was back at Myrtle Beach National (the North Course). These turtles were living large in the warm sun and sand around this irrigation pipe. (More turtle pictures may be added to this post when I get around to reviewing them all.)

By Popular Request:

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