Friday through Friday, November 1-15, 2024—Life is Good, Except for Sports Injuries

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.

Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee

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.

Brown-headed Nuthatch
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.

Dainty Sulphur
Common Checkered-Skipper

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.

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Downy Woodpecker
Red-belllied Woodpecker
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco

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

House Finch