birding | Dunngone's Photos and Blog

The first week of November was one of intense rainfall, which was much needed. However, pickleball courts were closed and golf courses were cart path only; guess one can’t have everything!

I did manage to take photos five different days. A switch to bird photography was made on Saturday, November 2, as butterfly flights were far and few between. Only a couple of birds, the regulars at the feeders, were photographed, and it’s obvious I’m out of practice.

Daylight savings time ended on Sunday, November 3, and it now gets dark so quickly, and the older we get the longer it takes to adjust to the “new” time. More birds were photographed during the day, including a couple of “new” species: Brown-headed Nuthatch and Pine Warbler.

Kay’s social calendar is becoming quite full with various clubs and groups meeting weekly. This is in addition to her pickleball play several times a week.

I photographed birds again on Tuesday, November 5, but only the usual birds showed up near the feeders.

Middle school basketball has begun in earnest, and grandson Ridge plays a couple times a week. We watched him play on Thursday, November 7, but he only logged a few minutes because his team is so dar good that they were blowing the other team away. We watched him play again on Saturday, and it was the same with hime only playing a few minutes. He left at half time of the second game to play soccer, and his team won handily.

Unseasonably warm weather on Sunday, November 10, brought a few butterflies out, and two new species to our garden were observed. These were numbers 39 and 40 of the species visiting this year.

During pickleball play on Monday, November 11, I re-pulled the left hamstring, so no more pickleball for a while, and golf only 9 holes at at time.

Wednesday, November 13, was a busy day for us as we both had cardiology appointments, and Ridge had a basketball game. I did manage to take a few photos, finally switching over to the big lens, a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS. Needless to say it requires a steady hand which I no longer possess.

Another new seasonal bird appeared on Friday, November 15—House Finch.

The first half of September 2024 was filled with many of the same activities as the previous few weeks, except it seemed that the calendar was on steroids—something going on almost every day and every evening. We need a vacation from retirement. Despite the hot and humid weather, social activities dominated our weeks. And of course, there were weekend soccer games.

First, we began playing “Sunday Afternoon Couples Golf” with friends living in HSV that also spent winters in Arizona. These are really enjoyable outings followed by happy hour at one of the couple’s houses. Kay and I were responsible for scheduling September, and true to form we (I) made up some awesome (read that satirical) games. Photo by Bev Graham.

Second, Kay was busy with added social activities with respect to Naomi Circle, Pickleball with Lori (training sessions), PEO, and The Book Club.

And third, we attended a neighborhood potluck, and met a lot of “new” neighbors, most who were much younger that us, but very, very nice.

I squeezed in four days of photography in the backyard gardens, and new butterflies are still being observed.

Sunrise at our place in Hot Springs Village

However, the star of the show on Saturday, September 1, was our resident Green Heron.

On Thursday, September 5, a beautiful Blue Dasher dragonfly posed for photographs, while a “new-to-our-yard” Phaon Crescent butterfly appeared out of nowhere. The Phaon Crescent was the 32nd butterfly species to be observed in our garden/yard this year.

And, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have begun showing up in fairly large numbers as they migrate south for the winter. Most are immature males who put on quite a “testerone” show of defending their feeder!