Charlie and the Nature Factory [Warning: Stunningly Beautiful Large Photo Images]

Great flowers, SK!

Hard to believe you never got an answer to the text.

swachski said:

PD, that's a great little update on Tidbit. It made me realize that people don't have to post photos to contribute to this thread... we are writers, after all..

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Yeah, I would have liked a photo, but I actually did not expect to see him out and about. That's why I didn't have the camera.

More Tidbit updates - from yesterday afternoon...

[and yes, the photo on the right is pretty much still the actual size of Tidbit .]





Great photos SK!

Cute! Tidbit is smaller than my thumb.

Great pics!

Love the flower shots, SK. Especially the contrast in the last one, the white against black. Very beautiful.

pd, is that the same lil' fellow everytime or are there several of them running around? Can you tell? It's really cool that he chose to stick around.

L. Y. said:

Cute! Tidbit is smaller than my thumb.

Great pics!

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Yeah, he's about the size of a quarter, but not as round. There's a picture of him with a quarter that I posted here on thread earlier this week...

night-flyer said:

pd, is that the same lil' fellow everytime or are there several of them running around? Can you tell? It's really cool that he chose to stick around.

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Yes, it is the same little one. I've only seen the one. He hangs out mostly under the orange tree and charges forward whenever we get too close to the tree He's been there every day for a week.

He's there every day, so apparently there are a lot of bugs about. He eats mostly ants [and boy do we have ants in the yard], and then also beetles and other bugs. I did some research.

parumpdragon said:

He's there every day, so apparently there are a lot of bugs about. He eats mostly ants [and boy do we have ants in the yard], and then also beetles and other bugs. I did some research.

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If you ever run out of ants for him, could he come for a vacation here?

He truly is the cutest little thing!

heyjude said:

If you ever run out of ants for him, could he come for a vacation here?

He truly is the cutest little thing!

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So you have tofuants, Jude?

heyjude said:

If you ever run out of ants for him, could he come for a vacation here?

He truly is the cutest little thing!

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He is cute isn't he? I just can't believe I keep seeing him everyday. He's so little you'd think it would be rare, but he's territorial and curious, and come scuttling along to see who's out in his yard and why - Lol!


*Tidbit update... he came out to say hi and sun his little self yesterday afternoon. Got some really cool photos,and wanted to share.



And then, because mother came over to help me clear the yard, we had to wrangle Tidbit and put him in a bucket for a short while to keep him safe from the garden rake.

It looks like a cop movie where someone yelled 'Spread em!' [laughing]

he was only incarcerated for about half an hour though.

Got a couple more fall shots:

Nice, I love all the pink-ish-red!

Lovely shots, Rhymegirl! Lovin' the fall shots.

Great photos of Tidbit, there, pd. Funny how something so small is so territorial. It's cool how he chose to stay there where you can kind of keep tabs on him. I wonder where he'll go during the winter...or do you even have much of a winter there?

night-flyer said:

Great photos of Tidbit, there, pd. Funny how something so small is so territorial. It's cool how he chose to stay there where you can kind of keep tabs on him. I wonder where he'll go during the winter...or do you even have much of a winter there?

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Yeah, he doesn't know he's that little. It tickles me.

One of the local nature museum sites says he digs himself a 12 inch long tunnel and burrows down for the winter once it gets too cold.

Normally winter here is in the 50s-70s. But occasionally we get something around 30s, usually at night, but not during the day, unless it is because of a quick winter storm.

~2009-2010 though we had 5 days of 15 degrees straight and 30 degrees during the day. It was a record. Hadn't had anything like that here since 1890 according to the almanancs and all the news channels.

By contrast, winter Nov 2011 - Feb 2012 it never dropped below 65, it was one of the warmest winters on record. And lizards were out sunning in December because it was so warm. We even used the air conditioner a couple of times. It was crazy.

So, I am hoping for a warmer winter for Tidbit, so he can burrow, but not be frozen. We lost a lot of plants and wildlife with that 15 degrees in 2009. The hummingbirds practically died off. It was terrible :/

Went fishing today. Several very large groups of pelicans on the lake (part of one flock, but they were spread out, snapping up as many fish as they could). This guy was very curious about us when we walked out to the end of the dock and started throwing lines in the water. He swam by this close several times before finally moseying off.



Here's a shot of one of the groups:



And another part of the flock, on the other side of us:

How cool!

Angie said:

Went fishing today. Several very large groups of pelicans on the lake (part of one flock, but they were spread out, snapping up as many fish as they could). This guy was very curious about us when we walked out to the end of the dock and started throwing lines in the water. He swam by this close several times before finally moseying off.


And another part of the flock, on the other side of us:

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Wait a second. Pecillans in north Daksnowta or wherever it is you live? You got some 'splainin' to do. Where were you fishing. And why didn't you invite me along?

Haggis said:

Wait a second. Pecillans in north Daksnowta or wherever it is you live? You got some 'splainin' to do. Where were you fishing. And why didn't you invite me along?

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Spirit Lake, Iowa. I'll call you next time.

Silver King said:

Did you catch any fish or just watch the birds work the water?

I love seeing white pelicans. They're rare in my area, almost nonexistent. Thank you for sharing the pictures here.

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Hehe, we caught a mess of yellow bass earlier today, but nothing was biting in this spot (we tried here after lunch). So I spent my time watching the birds, who were having far better luck.

White pelicans are a common sight at our lakes, along with a breed of seagull whose name escapes me right now. (No, it isn't Del.)

It was really cold this morning, so all the birds were bunched together. They'll be taking off for winter habitats soon.

I had no idea pelicans would go that far north. I've never seen them above the Mason Dixon line.

The things you learn....

Oh yes, they're a summertime fixture here. I don't know what their full range is, but I've seen them in Minnesnowta, too.

ETA: Heck, they range all the way up into Canada.

And looking rather pleased with himself.

Silver King said:

Those shots are very cool. Seems like you've adopted each other, and it's fun to follow the life and times of Tidbit.

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Chuckling - yes he is so cute. Hopefully he'll get more and more used to us over time [especially as he gets bigger]

The snowy is hilarious! What great shots, especially that first one. I've never seen one so riled up before.

Silver King said:

An alpha snowy egret (if there's such a thing) that means business, taking on all comers and waiting for more:

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I see a "Haters Gonna Hate" caption being appropriate for this.

PD, it's like we're watching tidbit grow up before our eyes! *wipes tear*

Katho, I love burning bushes this time of year! (that's what the vibrant red bush is) They are very ordinary looking all year long, then autumn comes and they fairly explode with color..

Cool pelican pics, Ang.. every time I see one, that silly limerick runs through my mind

Great egret shots Dino... I love those caution-tape-yellow feet and the wispy feathers in the 3rd image.