10.12- Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpecker hunts for bugs in a Persimmon tree next to Oriental Harbor.

I heard a very noisy bird call as I was riding past the Dinghy Dock this afternoon (returning home from sailing in the Bauer 10)...

I stopped and listened until I finally spotted the source up in a Persimmon tree.

I got a few pictures of the bird, which I did not recognize, but suspected was a woodpecker due to its' behavior (pecking at the tree bark and pulling bugs out).

Back at home I found the bird, officially Melanerpes carolinus in one of my bird guides. The bird in today's picture is a male.

I'm not sure where the "carolinus" in the latin name comes from, but this bird's habitat extends across the U.S. from Atlantic Ocean into the Great Plains (excluding most of New England)...

It is a fairly common bird, but it is a brand new addition to my own life-list.

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10.10- Rumors of Mimosa's hibernation are greatly exagerated (Skywatch Friday is prior posting, below)

A Mimosa tree near the Dinghy Dock is sprouting new leaves while seed pods from its' last cycle still hang from its' branches... Three "snow-bird" cruising sailboats lie at anchor in Oriental Harbor in the background.

My favorite reading tree, a Mimosa next to the Dinghy Dock on Oriental Harbor, is sprouting new leaves just about one month after it dropped its' last batch on going to seed. (See picture of same tree gone to seed in my posting of September 9)

I was afraid the tree had shut down for the winter... According to Wikipedia:

"In the Northern Hemisphere (the mimosa tree ) blossoms and produces fruit from November to June or July...In the Southern Hemisphere it blooms primarily from September to January."

Looks like this tree isn't sure which hemisphere it is in, so it is blooming twice just in case.

I'm glad of it, and look forward to the branches being full of leaves again... bare branches offer little shade, and shade makes for a better reading spot.

See more of my pictures of this same tree as it has gone through its' cycle this year:

• 9.09- Mimosa leaves falling off
• 6.02- Mimosa Flowers
• 5.29- Mimosa Flower buds
• 5.22- Mimosa leaves
• 4.13- Mimosa Tree Budding

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9.09- Mimosa leaves falling off

Brown seed pods and drying, falling leaves of the mimosa tree next to the dinghy dock on Oriental Harbor.

Yesterday I was browsing through my favorite "City Daily Photo" blogs, and I came across an August 29 posting from Brian's "Terrell Texas Daily Photo" blog showing bright green leaves of a mimosa tree... Brian noted that he "can't wait for the pink blooms to come out on my mimosa tree - it usually gets them in the fall."

My favorite reading shade tree, the mimosa next to the dinghy dock, has shed most of its leaves since tropical storm Hanna came through a few days ago.

I think some leaves were already turning brown, and the tree's thousands of seed pods went brown some time ago, but I was surprised to see it losing its leaves completely at this time of year.

Seems like last year this mimosa, like Brian's Terrell TX mimosa, was in blooming mode, though I can't remember if it was still flowers from the summer, or if maybe it flowered in spring and again in early fall.

Anyway, I offer today's picture as a contrast to Brian's Terrell TX mimosa, and as another in a series of pictures of my favorite mimosa on the waterfront. My other pictures, located on my "Dinghy Dock" blog, can be seen at the following links:

-- 6.02- Mimosa Flowers
-- 5.29- Mimosa Flower buds
-- 5.22- Mimosa leaves
-- 4.13- Mimosa Tree Budding

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9.02- Trees Trimmed & Cats Rescued

From 090208

While in New Bern, NC, running some "big city" errands (buying a book), I passed this bucket truck going over the Trent River.

It made me smile.

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8.17- Smoke 'em if ya got 'em

Tobacco plants in a field near Arapaho, NC (a couple miles from Oriental).

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8.9- South River

Today I took a trip across the Neuse River to South River with a neighbor in his Mako power boat.

As we crossed the Neuse, a squall moved in over Oriental and the Neuse River behind us, coming in from the northwest. While we were enjoying sun in South River, things were getting pretty hairy along the route back, as the storm was spreading and moving our way. Things can get very nasty on the Neuse in a very short period of time: many a boater and fisher has died out there in surprise squalls.

Not being in a boat built for weather, we decided to tie up amongst the branches of a fallen oak tree along the shore (not the tree in this picture) to see how the weather developed... as lightning and thunder started moving across the river in our general direction, we decided to step ashore and rig a lean-to with a tarp, just in case we got stranded in the thick of it.

I took this picture from the bank, looking back towards Oriental and the threatening skies.

As it turned out, we only got a little sprinkle for a while, then the weather cleared enough for us to get back in the boat and head back across the Neuse to Oriental.

Oriental had indeed been hit hard by rain and high winds during the squall, so it turns out we picked the right time for our trip and our return.

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