We managed to get to the observatory for a short walk before lunch. We were able to park in front of the familiar buildings, the house and the old bird-banding shack. Now there is a much larger building on the property for reception and banding.
The first thing we looked for was Cliff Swallow nests. In the past, we had seen swallows collecting mud to be used in nest-building. Almost immediately, we saw food being delivered.
We had always visited during spring or fall migration when the paths to the nets were open and there were lots of migrating birds. Now we felt lucky to see a few American Goldfinches.
We started on the road past the parking lot to get a look at the water and the lighthouse.
We heard a few birds in the trees and finally got a look at some of them.
Until we could see the first photo enlarged, we could not identify the catbird. We can see its cinnamon undertail coverts.
We have learned to look for insects on the blossoms and the ground. This swallowtail is new for us. In fact, only recently have experts decided it is not a hybrid of two swallowtail species, but is actually a separate species. One such expert corrected my iNaturalist observation and sent a link to an interesting (for butterfly enthusiasts) article.
While the butterflies are usually on blossoms, we found some interesting bugs on the ground.
Music Videos
In our previous post, I included a version of Love Hurts done in the style of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. But the song was written for The Everly Brothers. I found that The Coffis Brothers made these excellent live recordings of a few songs of The Everly Brothers.
To finish off, a duet.