Sorry I haven't been posting at all.  I am so slow at resizing & uploading pictures, and I've barely been out birding anyway.  I've finally got this entry ready from a month ago

May 29 - The Cottage

"The Cottage" is a house on the water that my dad's parents bought over 50 years ago.  We usually get down there for holidays, although I wish it was more often!  There has always been good nature down there, and this Memorial Day weekend (which yes, I do realize was practically a month ago) was no exception.  Ospreys were nesting on the platform in front of our house, so I got to watch them for a while.  There were a few Barn Swallows flitting around too.  They used to nest under the dock but I forgot to look for a nest this year.  As usual we heard the Chuck-will's-widow calling from the woods.  I think I need to ask Ryan & Phil about going to look for these.  I will be sure to wear bug spray.

I am convinced there were Pine Warblers there.  I heard trills that sounded like Pine Warblers but all I ever managed to see were little blobs of yellow once in a while.  I will hunt them like Bigfoot if I have to   I also think the grackles down there could be Boat-tailed.  I'll have to study the ones at home really hard so I can see a difference, if there is one.

Here are some "Birds and Bugs" pictures:

One of the ospreys nesting out front, carrying a fish.
I probably should have sharpened this up a little.

Could this be an owl pellet?  The only problem is, it was over on an island that doesn't exactly have extensive tree cover.
Maybe some other birds-of-prey make pellets as well.

Great Blue Herons on a fishing net.

Ladybug

An interesting bug.  The closest thing I could find on BugGuide.net was Checkered Beetles or Soft-winged Flower Beetles.

A fuzzy caterpillar on the porch screen at sunset.  BugGuide seems to suggest a Tussock Moth caterpillar.

From underneath, I just liked the fur.

And a few landscapey pictures.  There are more on my "regular" Xanga.

Sunset

On the island

More sunset, but I am pretty sure I messed with the white balance when I took this to make it so blue.

Previous Cottage entries are listed in my 2005 Travel and my 2004 Travel, and there are more pictures here.

I haven't been birding at all in June   I miss it!  I am going to The Cottage again this weekend for the Fourth of July so hopefully I'll have some pictures then.  I will try to bird down there as well.