Seeing "RED"

Earlier this year

I was overjoyed with the prospect

of having a Bluebird family

nesting on our property.

As some of you may know,

the nest box was raided,

probably by raccoons.

Although I have continued to

to see a Bluebird occasionally,

I do not know where they are nesting.

 

HOWEVER,

we have been blessed

with an abundance of RED birds.

The Cardinals and the House Finch

seem to be raising some pretty

big families this summer.

 

As soon as the sun peeks

through in the morning,

they are checking the feeders.

 

 

Their bright, red feathers

glisten in the sun.

 

Cardinals, must have really good eyesight,

because they seem to notice me

on the inside of the window

and quickly fly off.

 

 

But this is certainly one, handsome guy!

 

The Finch and Cardinals often eat in large groups,

and I have enjoyed watching the young ones

begging their parents

to put that seed in their mouths

when all they need to do is bend over

and pick it up.

 

 

Breakfast is served,

so dig in!

 

 

God bless your day!

 

 

 



Feed Me! Feed Me! Feed Me!

Such a commotion!

Loud, noisy screeching!

 

This youngster wanted to be fed.

 

"Hey, Mom and Dad--I'm Here."

"Aren't you ever going to feed me?"

"Oh, that was good."

 

"How about another bite?"

 

 

"Son, we need to talk.  You can do this for yourself."

 

"Mom--Dad, where did you go?"

 

 

"Well, here goes--I think I can."

 

 

"I did it!  I did it!  It tastes so good."

"Mom, Dad, did you see what I just did??"

A House Finch Invasion

 

Last Friday there was a lot of fluttering

going on at the feeders.

 

 











A flock of House Finch must have been flying through.

They were obviously dressed in their
Christmas attire.

The Mr. and his Mrs. were
even sharing one little feeder.

Such welcome color on these cloudy, Winter days.

Later in the afternoon I heard some loud squawking.

 

A herd of Wild Turkeys were strolling down in the valley.

 

Towards evening, everything seemed really still.

I looked out and saw why...

 

 

He was hard to see and the light was not good.

Isn't it amazing how he blends in with his surroundings?

 

 

 

 

 

Some Handsome Redheads

And their Charming Mates

Mr and Mrs House Finch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

  

Mr and Mrs Cardinal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr and Mrs Redbellied Woodpecker

Her husband sometimes looks like he has a butch haircut,

but she is always so sleek and neat.

I guess it is because she is a "lady."

Accidental Lifers at Eagle Marsh

Most of my birding pictures have been taken right from my own backyard. Since not much new has been happening here,

I wanted to expand my horizons.

Yesterday morning my husband and I went to an area south of

Fort Wayne that has been recently reclaimed as a wetlands area.

It is called Eagle Marsh and the picture below tells some of it's story. 

This valley has in the past been very important in the transportation history of our area.  At one time the Wabash-Erie Canal ran through here and after that the Interurban Railroad.

The first thing you notice as you enter this area

are the beautiful wildflowers

growing in the meadows and along the marsh.

 

The first waterfowl we saw were these ducks.

The sun was so bright, I could hardly see them in my viewfinder.

I thought they were probably just some mallards,

but I'm not sure.  They are kind of dark on the tops of their heads.

What do you think?

We worked our way around the end of one marsh,

and walked on a narrow path with marshes on each side.

We then saw a Great Blue Heron flying over

and watched where he landed.

It was so far away I really could not make out

what I was taking pictures of,

but just tried to point my camera in the right direction.

I did manage to get some Blue Herons

What I didn't see until I got back in our car

and started looking at some of the pictures

was the white spot hiding in the cattails.

Can you imagine my surprise to discover

I had actually taken a picture of a

Great Egret without even knowing it!

(Because I was so far away,

I thought it was just another Blue Heron)

Our attention then shifted to the marsh

on the other side of our pathway.

There was a lot of spashing and birds flying everywhere.

This sweet deer somehow ended up on one of the

drier places in the middle of the marsh.

There were also some Killdeer and other birds

that I couldn't distinguish out there.

Further down towards the end of that marsh

were more Great Blue Heron.

However, one looked much different from the other.

He seemed to have his neck tucked in

and also may have had more plumage.

Maybe he was an older adult.

If you can shed some light on this, let me know.

This one stood more erect and was walking around.

As we headed back between the two marsh areas,

we saw these ducks---at least I thought they were ducks.

After searching the internet for ducks with white bills,

I discovered they were American Coots.

(Another bird I'd never seen before.)

But the biggest surprise was yet to come!

We saw a Blue Heron fly into some water in a channel

next to where we were walking.

I though just maybe I could get a closer picture

or at least one of it in flight as it took off.

Well, the heron did take off,

and I aimed my camera in the direction I thought it was going.

When I got back to the car and checked my pictures,

there was not a heron flying in a single one of them,

but there was this picture below.

(My second big surprise of the day!)

A Belted Kingfisher sitting up above

watching everything.

Our walk back to the car was through a meadow

that was bordered by electric wires.

I really couldn't tell what most of the birds were,

but I just took their pictures.

Here is what I ended up with:

A Redwinged Blackbird

A Couple of Bluebirds

A pair of House Finch

And this sweet Tree Swallow

More Beautiful Wildflowers

And my husband's back

heading back to the car.

(Did I mention I had my camera on full zoom.)

He did really good for his first day of birding.

I think...he can't wait to go back with me.