New River Birding and Nature Festival~day 1

Howdee all,

Here we are …first timers at the New River Birding and Nature Festival.

Its beautiful here…

We have met The Flock..(A great group of birders and bloggers that met here several years ago and continue to come to this event each year)

We are getting to know this part of West Virginia…the flora and fauna..

The first day Jeff and I signed up for Birding by Butt.

We were all served a wonderful Gourmet Breakfast then after a little chatting and digesting….we took a walk to see what we could find.

I was so very excited to meet Jim McCormac of Ohio Birds and Diversity..

I have been reading Jim’s blog for quite a while now. If you don’t read his blog you should scoot over there and check it out…If you enjoy reading about anything nature, birds, bugs plants..You will really enjoy his blog. Full of information …Jim has a great sense of humor and that shows thru in some of his blog posts.

Jim is just as I has imagined him…and Jeff and I really enjoying going on these nature walks with him.

Going on these nature walks…I bring no pad and pencil. When a plant or a bug is Identified…I hear the name..think I will remember …and, well, you know how that goes…

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Thanks Jim for helping me with the ID

Jim tried to convince me change the way I place my captions or wording for my blog posts…he feels that the captions should be at the bottom of a photo.

I know most people like to post that way…for me it seems to flow better reading a caption or words and then the photo…

There are just a few bloggers that I come across that also write the words above a photo like I do, one that comes to mind is..Julie Zickefoose ..Check out her delightful blog.

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A fern unfolding…

Listening and looking for birds..

Yellow Lady’s-slipper found by lovely Nina of Nature Remains~Nina is a wonderful writer and photographer.

Beech TreeHere are a few discoveries our first morning

Spittle bug..

Blue CorporalCommon Buckeye

Wild GeraniumWheelbugDevils Urn ~Witches cauldron

Common Whitetail~maleCommon Whitetail~femaleJim told me the name of this moth~

and it mysteriously disappeared

Blending into the wood…Leaf-footed bugCrane fliesUnidentified spider FleabaneUnidentified mushroomsAutumn-olive~this smells so sweetTurkey tail! I chew on this when I find it.Moss covered tree base..Bird Banding time…Cuckoo WaspBlack rat snake skinListening for the Hooded WarblerUnidentified bug on Geranium

Wild ComfreyMillipedeA Giant Tulip Poplar

With a Hobbit Home…

Dark Fishing Spider

You wont see any bird photos from this trip..My point and shoot cameras just couldn’t get to the birds…Thank goodness for Plants and Bugs!