Nature is a big part of our lives, living up here at Camp MACOBA! We absolutely love it -- in fact, we foster it by putting out seed and feed and mineral rocks for the deer/critters. Todd & I love nothing more than to sit at our picture window in the morning and sip our coffee, watching the multitude of birds fly in and out and their antics. We keep a list of each different bird and animal we've seen. Until this last week, we'd never seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but now we've added them to our list!
We first noticed the female, who took up residence on the feeder just outside our window.
She literally camped there for quite some time -- just made herself at home! This was before we'd figured out what she was.
It wasn't until we saw the male that we were able to figure out what they were!
Above is him from the back . . . below is him from the front. Easier to see how they got their name, when you see the male from the front!
It wasn't hard to spot him anywhere he went within our view . . .
He's alone in the platform feeder here, but at one point, the whole family of six or seven were camped out in the feeder!
It's been so dry lately, all the birds are appreciating the bird baths. I watched a dove drink and drink and drink the other day!
Now that we've got the golf cart, I'm able to get around the camp a little better. Until the cart, I was limited to where we could go by car, and where I could comfortably walk. The trails were out of the question, and I really missed being able to walk them.
In particular, I missed being able to get down to this spot, one of my favorites! It's just below the pavilion -- about seventy-five feet down the hill. It's a sweet little secluded spot, sitting on the edge of a little creek. You can just make out the little bridge. It's the perfect area for a quiet picnic. There's already a grill down there, and we'll get a picnic table or two down there before long.
Todd had done a lot of clearing work on the trails over the past couple of weeks, and while we were out and about yesterday, we took the Nature Trail. I dearly love ferns -- they so remind me of the woods behind my Grandma's house -- and so this little gully of ferns caught my eye immediately.
They were so delicate and sweet! The late afternoon sun just danced it's way through the trees, making it all very pretty and almost fairy-like.
I was amazed at the amount of wildflowers still around, even though the leaves are changing and we've had temps down close to freezing.
I'm not sure what this is, but on closer inspection, it looked a lot like baby's breath.
It was delicate and white. I wanted to pick some, but until I figure out what it is (and what it's not), I decided to wait.
We also stumbled across these pretty little purple flowers . . .
And several in yellow, too. I took pictures of the ragweed, as well. It's never bothered me allergy-wise, and despite it's name, I do think it's a pretty splash of color in the fall!
Heading back to the RV, a little color in the hedges caught my eye:
Honeysuckle! In October!! There were several little patches of it, surrounded by the fall berries. I've never seen honeysuckle out this late in the year, and so it was a sweet surprise!
Just some of the images that are a part of my life, up here at Camp MACOBA this fall!
:)
Aren't these fun?!? It was their second anniversary yesterday, and my darling daughter made these bacon rosettes and had them delivered to Jason at work. She got the idea from here, and pinned it to her "Yum Yums" board on pinterest, to save for the appropriate occasion.
