Followers

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Old Friends

 

Our friends Laine and Colleen at their house

We started Day 2 of our painted bunting chase in Southport. We drove to Fort Anderson which is an old historic site. On e-bird someone posted they saw a blue grosbeak there, and that was another bird on our target list. We pulled into the parking lot and immediately picked up a blue grosbeak on our Merlin app. We walked around trying to see it. You would think a bright blue bird amongst all the green would be easy to see, but NO! However, we did pick up the painted bunting again here. We kept looking for the blue grosbeak and the painted bunting. Eventually we saw the grosbeak fly away from where we were hearing it. It wasn't a great view, but there was no doubt it was a blue grosbeak. Meanwhile, the painted bunting was singing his heart out and we got to watch him for a good 15 minutes or more. Watching him never got old. We walked around and saw some beautiful scenery along the Cape Fear river and a couple of other birds including the great crested flycatcher. After an hour or so of walking around here we headed towards Oak Island to spend the afternoon with our friends Colleen and Laine.

Painted Bunting at Fort Anderson waiting for his mate

We ate a quick lunch with an ocean view before heading over to Colleen and Laine's house. There is nothing like enjoying an ocean view while eating on vacation. It always elicits total relaxation for me and Connie. We took a short walk on the pier to watch a young man struggle to pull in a large fish and then we were on our way. Our friends have a beautiful home on a canal that leads into the intracoastal waterway. They took us on a beautiful 2 hour boat ride to Calabash for a yummy dinner at Oyster Rock. The food, atmosphere and scenery was truly delightful. We definitely felt vacationed! Our boat ride home was supposed to be leisurely. We even talked about checking out the ocean a bit. However, a big storm was blowing in and we had to nix that idea. Instead we had a seriously fun ride back to their place. We weren't storm chasers, we were storm escapers! I think I might have preferred the fast boat ride home over the leisure one, but who knows. We will have to go back next year to take the leisure one I guess, so we can compare.

You can't fake those smiles! Look at that storm front behind us!

We made it back to their place just in time. We could see the rain falling behind us as we pulled into their canal. We hung out in their beautiful home for the evening and played games. It always does my heart good to see old friends and get reacquainted. I hadn't seen them in about 17 years, but it seemed no time had passed. Of course they became instant friends with Connie as we all got along splendidly from the get go. In the morning we enjoyed some coffee on their back patio. Connie got to enjoy their two lovely dogs one last time. In the meantime, we were also treated to sightings of an eastern bluebird, which is my favorite bird, and a red headed woodpecker which is Connie's favorite bird. Seems like it was all meant to be in the end. We said goodbye to our friends with promises to come back soon. I am certainly looking forward to exploring that area again, seeing my friends and chasing the painted bunting some more. 

Say goodbye Connie, we have to leave the dogs at their home! :0)


                 Now Go Out and Hug an Old Friend Today!!!




No comments: