Assorted Birds

This morning I saved a baby bird from certain death. I let Findley out first thing and as I waited for him to finish his business, I saw him smelling something in the grass and then jumping back. I thought he had unearthed a toad or something. When I went out to check, I saw a baby sparrow trying to hide. I picked him up and put him down on the other side of the fence where the dogs couldn't get him. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me, so I'll post a sparrow pic I took yesterday.

As I pulled in the drive after a trip to the grocery store, I saw this very noisy sparrow sitting on top of the birdhouse. Pic taken out my car window.

As I took pictures of the sparrow, this Mourning Dove flew over my car and landed in the tree above me...

...and then flew onto the roof of the shed so he could see me better. He was backlit by the sun, so he is a little hard to see. They are beautiful birds.

Bet you thought I wasn't going to post a goose today. Wrong!

Garden? What Garden!

On my way to work yesterday, I drove by to check on the geese. Lucky me! 

Not only was mom, pop, and baby swimming closer to my side of The Rez...

...there was one...

 ...nope, make that 2 geese visitors. And this one was honking loudly. Perhaps he was warning the others of my approach.

Baby Goose is getting bigger!

~~~~~

Last evening, we decided to try to get our garden started. We have tomato plants that need set out and seeds that should be in the ground. So after supper, we loaded up the truck and headed down to Bro O's. 

His catalpa tree is in full bloom—pretty. However, the sky was turning darker and darker. As we prepared to unload the truck, O checked his weather app. Rain was imminent. So, we didn't unload the truck, opting to go home and see if we could find a movie to watch.  Guess we will have to try, try, again!

On the way home, we saw a wild turkey—way up ahead on the road leaving Bro O's house. He was at the top of the hill near where Sonny Bri's old rusty car is stored. 

Took this shot through the truck's dirty windshield.  As soon as the camera clicked, he flew up into a tall tree where we couldn't see him anymore.

Wildflowers and a Dragonfly

More from my drive down River Road. I must get ready for work, so I don't have time to look these up in my wildflower book. I'll do that later when I have more time and post the names.

 I know this one is Bee Balm.

Ox-Eye Daisy

Ox-Eye Daisy

This is a White-Tail Dragonfly. The ones I most commonly see. I took this shot from the car. I was on the right side of the road and this little guy was perched on some dead leaves in the ditch on the left side of the road.

Covered Bridge

A drive by the covered bridge.

The vegetation below the observation deck is getting so tall it blocks the view of the bridge and the river.

The pink flowers are a nice addition to the shot.

Southern view from inside the bridge.

Northern view from inside the bridge.

More Birds

More from the Ryan Bridge area.

 Another Dickcissel. I swear I have never seen one of these guys before and now I see them all the time. They sure do like to sing.

Gross shot of a buzzard eating a road kill raccoon. 

I happened to be standing out on the porch with my camera when this guy whizzed in for a drink. Not a good shot, taken through screenwire.

Horses

Sunday I drove down the road north of the Ryan Bridge where I saw the quail and a pheasant.  I wanted to get a better picture of Mr. Pheasant, but he was nowhere to be seen. 

On the way, I saw these two horses grazing on a piece of land my dad once owned. It was farmland then. Now it is a pasture. 

Then yesterday, Memorial Day, I took a drive down the River Road south of Greenup. I saw this horse. His eyes looked odd and he didn't look at me. Makes me wonder if he is blind.

Geese Update

Last evening I had to go out to the grocery store, so took a drive past The Rez to see if the geese were out and about. Sure enough, they were.

Papa Goose was resting, but on guard.

 Mama Goose was grooming.

At first I didn't see Baby Goose, but then I saw him/her—sleeping on a slope, just down from where Papa Goose was perched. 

Glad to see they are well.

Flowers and a Cow

Saturday night, I met up with Bro O and D. Bro has been remodeling a house in Palestine, so we drove down to see it. He still has lots of work to do, but it is much improved from its original state. 

I didn't get to take any pictures. We saw a hawk, a deer, and several other birds, but I wasn't driving and didn't want to ask them to stop. We drove the back roads through Annapolis and Hog Town. I don't know where Hog Town got its name, but fortunately for those who live there, their mailing address is Casey, not Hog Town. Can you imagine writing your return address on an envelope...Hog Town, Illinois. Nope! Wouldn't move there. It has one house and about 5 mobile homes, so not much to see in Hog Town.

We ate dinner at a restaurant in Robinson. The food was awful, so I won't mention the name. 

It was too dark for pics by the time we got home, so no photos. I hope to get out sometime today. For now I will post a couple gladiolas found in a ditch last weekend.

Those are the flowers...

...this is the cow.

Another Bird on a Wire

I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but I think it is an Eastern Phoebe.

What do you think?

The Losers

Last Wednesday was Camera Club night. The assignment was FLOWERS. These are the two pictures we submitted.

My pic.

Hubby's pic.

Neither got a vote. Losers!

Below are my other options. Wonder if I just chose to enter the wrong picture. But the winners, especially first place, were pretty awesome, so doubt a different shot would have helped.

Oh well, better luck next time. The assignment is JUNK. I have tons of junk pics. All I have to do is look in my archives!

The Leaning Tree

Remnants of my Sunday evening ramble.

 As I drove down this old country road, this tree caught my eye.

 As did this old barn.

I like this old outhouse placed at the edge of the woods. I have several shots of it through the seasons. Nice reminder of how life has improved over the years. Grandma had one until the early 1970s.

 This is a shot of the Embarras (pronounced ambraw) River taken from the Ryan Bridge. 

A Pleasant Pheasant

And still there are more critters from my Sunday night drive.

When I first saw this gorgeous guy, he was heading west across the road.

 When he first saw me, he made an abrupt u-turn and headed back east. 

He ran faster and faster through a nearby graveyard and over a hill into a field beyond.  Where I couldn't see him, of course.

Road Runner

Continuing on with my Sunday evening drive. 

I skidded to a stop when I saw a critter running alongside the road up ahead. 

He veered off the road as I edged closer.

I guess he was running over to protect the Mrs. Meet Mr. and Mrs. Bobwhite Quail.