I'll be back....

While visiting Wisconsin at the end of July we took a few hours one afternoon and visited the Horicon Marsh located southwest of Fond du Lac. This marsh is huge!!!.. 32,000 acres in size, the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the whole USA. It provides a habitat for endangered species and is a critical rest stop for thousands of migrating ducks and geese. Needless to say with only two hours we didn't get to tread many of the hundreds of trails around this marsh. What we did get to see was beautiful..the board walk was a welcome site after tramping around aircraft all day...so quiet and peaceful...

We saw two white pelicans..who seemed inseparable...floating by..giving me plenty of time to snap their picture. What a nice walk . We slowly made our way back to the car...and as we were leaving...

along came "that" bird... you know the one!! HEY, look at this guy...ohhh, I've never seen one like this before..stop the car.. let me out!! Tina, rushing up the side of the road..camera in hand.....click click click...
I walk a little faster and so does he.....I'm now power walking and so is he...
Click click click!! Stop and turn around...pleaseeee.


Nope, I'm not making any progress.. as I move closer he waddles farther away...click click..gosh how many pictures have I taken of his behind??
I never did get a great shot of this bird but I'm guessing he is a Yellow-headed blackbird. I felt like I followed him a quarter of a mile along the side of the road. I think he was playing me....

and that's alright.. I took it as a future challenge.. and as Arnold would say, "I'll be back" and then I will get a photo of this bird in all his colorful glory.... ;-0 okay, he did get the best of me. bird/ 1 tina/ 0 next year.. buddy, next yr..

Lucky me!!

I'm so lucky... I was a winner on Shelley's give away of Northern Mich. Experience. I can't believe it...I never win anything. What a nice surprise upon returning home to find a package from Shelley!! Yippee!
This mouse pad is dust and stain resistant with a non-slip backing .....and is the perfect size for my little computer desk!! I just love Shelley's butterfly picture. Her photos are always so detailed and colorful. In fact, I just ordered a mug from her Nature Store website.... to match my new mouse pad! Thanks again Shelley! I love it!!

Baraboo..

Stunning isn't he?? This is an African Grey-crowned Crane. One of the 15 species one will see if you visit..the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin..

This is a 225 acre preserve and the only place in the world one can view all 15 species of cranes.
We spent a few hours here during our trip to Wisconsin.
The Grey-crowned crane below is showing off his stuff...notice the clipped feathers on his left wing..obviously to keep him from flying the coop...but oh, what a coop it is! Acres and acres of marshs, woodlands, wildflowers, etc..to keep these birds protected and happy!

This young man was really playing the crowd the day we were there..he knew he was being watched and gave us all quite a dance and a grand show of his beautiful plumage!!

In another area of the preserve we saw the Sarus Crane..This is the tallest of all flying birds, 6 FEET TALL, and is usually seen in South East Asia and some times in India.

This pair of Sarus Cranes was being kept in a smaller confine..and as you all know taking pictures through a wire fence can be tricky with the light and the patterns of the fence showing up on their plumage!! It's the new white checker board look!! :(

I am only featuring a few of the cranes we saw. Of course, they were ALL very nice and sharp looking creatures! Such height and such color!! I learned some amazing facts about cranes and even remember seeing the snippets on the news about the ultralights that were helping the Whooping cranes migrate from Fl. The Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America and of course, is so named for its whooping sound. They live to be 22-24 yrs old!! One can also visit the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wis. to witness the return of the cranes in March.
All of the returning Whooping cranes are now offspring of the ones who were lead here by the ultralights between 2001 and 2005... Pretty cool story.. pilots and their airplanes helping birds!!

It was fun and educational to see all the cranes at ICF in Baraboo, but I still love seeing birds in the wild..away from all the wire, fences and crowds of people staring...so late the next day as we were returning from the airshow in Oshkosh, we happened to come across these Sandhill Cranes feeding in a front yard along the road....
The lighting wasn't in my favor for seeing all those neat colors or facial details..but knowing their wings weren't clipped and they could come and go as they pleased was satisfying enough.
...and a little new knowledge for this Pennsylvanian...Parsnip..does what??? Aren't they the "other" carrot-type veggie we used to pull out of the ground and eat? lol!! Thank goodness we read this before we went off trail....didn't want to walk on that wild side!!

plump and chubby!!

The day before we left for our trip I happened to catch Daddy wren sitting on my fence with a big juicy green bug in his bill for the juniors..I couldn't believe that this tiny little bird was going to actually be able to gulp down that huge green bug...it looked twice his size!!


I thought for sure he was going to gag as he was having a really difficult time getting that creature in his mouth...but Dad knew what he was doing and kept shoving harder into that little one's bill...good thing for Jr. that he had a stable grip on the inside of that nest hole opening!!

I would have thought that after this huge meal and all his work to swallow it, he would tumble to the nest to take a nap..his tummy being so full!! but no....both he and his brother stuck out three quarters of their hairless little bodies.. yelling. ME! ME! ME!! Dad seems to be feeding all by himself...we have not witnessed both adult wrens at the nest box for a while...I have a feeling something happened to Mom :( .... but Dad is quite the worker..and feeds and feeds...
The photo, below, really shows you how naked their little bodies still are...minus all those little feathers, a lot of fuzz here and there. One of those faces that only a mother or father would describe as "isn't our baby the cutest you've ever seen"...??

...and love them they do... he provided take out delivery.. right to the door everyday and all day. I put out some meal worms near the nest box hoping to help in his quest to find yummies but I'm not sure if they eat these types of worms or not.

By the time we returned his babies had fledged but they are remaining in my White Lilac bush near their nest box. How fast they grew those feathers...we weren't even gone a week and look at these two plump and chubby babies!! How much fun it is to see nature work its miracles so near my back porch.

Notice that tiny little tail!! Today they have been flying more and more from the Lilac to a near by larger tree. Soon, I'm sure they will leave ...on to another adventure with Dad, I guess. Being a single parent sure is a lot of work, my hats off to this little male. I think he did a wonderful job!

Summer Flings..and their off-springs

Who isn't enjoying seeing all the baby birds? There are those that sit and wait quietly for their breakfast, lunch and dinner, while some contend to scream all day for their daily bug!!
I found this young female Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting quietly in a cedar tree near the nature center...she looked really shy and timid and I'm afraid I might have scared her as she climbed into a thicket of leaves trying to hide....

but the soft clicking noise of my camera soon caught her curiosity and she turned and gave me a peek-a-through look..saying, Hey lady..I'm trying to lay low here, be good and wait for Mom!!

...mean while Daddy Common Yellowthroat is busy finding those nice juicy worms...What a beautiful bird he is... as he perched in front of the silky threads of several spider webs.

...and baby Red-bellied Woodpecker has finally been successful at extracting a whole peanut from the feeder...Yea!! He worked so long to get this peanut!!

but the most exciting parents I saw this breeding season were the Yellow-breasted Chats...

I'm not sure which one is the Mom and which one is the Dad..but one was perched on my left and the other on my right with goodies for their off-spring!! Very cool birds, hard to catch with the camera as they are forever diving into the tall grasses....this particular morning they were extremely busy getting goodies for the screaming crowd in the nest so I had plenty of opportunities to get some shots. Oh, how I wished for a peek at those chirping babies.

and.. speaking of babies...ours is celebrating his 12th birthday....he's definitely not a bird but he is a bird-dog!! A Brittany Spaniel....seen here at 13 weeks...way back in 1997

Happy B-Day Sydney and may you have many more!!....and lastly we have a Daddy raptor...well, no, not a real bird raptor but definitely a cool one ( the F-22) one I love to watch. We are off to, yet, another airshow, full scale this time.. and I won't have my computer with me..so I will be catching up with all of you when I get back. Good birding and enjoy the week!!

That ole 100th Post...

This is a blogger moment for me. It's less than a year since I started blogging and I've come to my 100th post. A mile mark most of you have already surpassed, probably quite a while ago. Blogging has become a very enjoyable part of my life..it is one of the reasons I reach out to try and capture a shot of that hard to find bird like the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The few times I have come across this guy he is ALWAYS, at the top of the tree, usually hidden among the leaves..but hey, it only takes ONE good shot, right...and then maybe I could post it!! Well, it's not that great of a shot but I posted it, anyhow...Such a blogger thing to do!!

Blogging gets me all fired up to take pictures, but then there are times, I'm as slow as you know who, to transfer my photos to my computer, edit them and post them...ahhhh
Sometimes, for a post, I skip the bird yarn thing and want to show you how I play away the day...like when I spend all morning painting "my own version" of the wooden ducks.. that I purchased at a thrift store...just so I could put them in my garden. (couldn't resist putting Wellingtons on my one duck..tee he)


and then there's the posts where I ask questions of my blogger friends...like why does this Hairy Woodpecker have an orange spot on its head...where a red one should be? No, really.. why??
but most of all I just want to sing my praises to all of you---who visit my blog and leave me the most enjoyable and nice comments. Words that inform, words that share and words that just make me smile!!
Looking back, I really had a fun time putting together 100 posts... Thanks again for being such nice cyber friends.

Goldfinches amid the colors of Summer!

So much work for such a little tiny seed!
I found this pair of American Goldfinches seeking those tiny little thistle seeds. Fields of Canadian thistle beginning to seed...taking to the air like flocks of tiny white birds...

He, on one side of the path and...
she on the other...a perfect place for lunch!


It was a nice to see the finches feeding from Mother Nature. I usually see them hanging upside down on my nyjer feeders..
Such a lovely contrast of textures and color...on such a nice day!