Coopers Hawk

The other day the Cooper's Hawk cam to visit. The smaller birds did not want him around, so they  made him go away.

He landed on one of the lights in the parking lot  across the way.

I was able to get these pictures.

Looking good!

Hawks don't seem to appear out in the open as much this time of the year.  The trees are in full  leaf, nests and babies are hidden.  This hawk does frequent my yard. I must provide the treats he likes.
Mary

Great Egret

After having dinner out this evening, we decided to take the long way home and go along the Fox River to see if there were any egret's getting ready to bed for the night.

We usually find at least one tree were they roost.  This time, when we went past this tree, I thought  there were 2 plastic bags hung up in the tree.  Wrong!  We turned around and this is what we saw.  I got out of the car so I could get a better look.  I have never seen them with their feathers sprayed out like this.

Several of them were doing this 

They do nest in colonies of up to 100 birds.  

One was just landing.

The egret is a protected bird.  They were hunted to near extinction for their long white plumage.    The plumes are grown near the tail during breeding season.  They make a platform nest, and both male and female build it.  They have one brood a year  They are beautiful. Interesting to watch when they are looking for small fish to spear with their long bill.

Spring is here

According to the weather report, there is a strong possibility of storms coming through tonight.  I decided to take a few pictures of what is blooming in my little yard.  The first and maybe only poppy.  It is a beautiful orange.  Love those ruffled edges.

The first rose of summer.  It is not the most gorgeous looking, but I will take it.  In the past we have tried to have a small rose garden.  I did all the things you should do in the fall to have them come back in the spring.  I kept loosing them.  Two years ago, I decided the heck with it. I just leave them alone in the fall.  I don't even dead head them!  I now have 4 bushes that keep coming back.  Trust me, I do nothing for them.

Columbine is in full bloom.  I have these deep blue ones, that I love.  See I have a hummingbird feeder, in the mad  hopes that one will come to my yard.  I have some a couple pink, a white, and a wild columbine blooming.  None are the beautiful ones with the tails and multi-color. I have planted the, but for some reason they do not come back.  

We transplanted these four peony bushes from our old house in Roselle. They never grew as big there as they do here.  We have had a lot of rain, and they have bent over.  All four bushes are at least three feet or more tall.  Two are a beautiful peach color, one is two shades of pink, and one is white.  The white has not bloomed yet.  You can see some are already shedding their blooms.

This one is a peach color.

Here is the two tone pink.  I love this one, as  the flower comes in several sizes.

This is the other peach one.

Look at all the different sizes of blooms on this plant.

Here is the rhododendron that we bought in Elma, New York and  transported it  to this house.  It is so nice to be able to drive to visit family.  Then I can bring home just about any plant I want!

Mary

Robins

The robins nest in our
neighbors pine tree will be getting ready to take flight soon. You can see one head peeking out  This nest I have to move a branch to check out the nest.

You can see the birds.   There are 3 babies in this nest

You can see it is farther in the tree then the doves nest.

The four pictures above were taken on the 28th of May.

Mom is sitting on the edge of our roof watching me.  She lets her presence known  when I check on the birds.  She flies  a small distance away and chirps at me the whole time I am checking them out.

Here's Mom!

Today I wanted to get a picture of our rhododendron be for the rain storm hits.  Look how startled me.  It is one of the babies from my neighbors nest.  (Well I am pretty sure it is.  Two babies have taken flight.) These next pictures were taken on the 30th of May

You can see he is well protected by the bush.  Mom, by the way  is sitting on my  mailbox, letting me know she is near by.

He is sitting so pretty.  See the baby feather still on his head.  I had to go get my husband to  come see this.

I just could not get enough pictures of this.  He was so patient with me.  He is still pretty small.  Definitely not as big as the doves.

Too cute!

Here is the nest now.  Only one more baby left.

Mom, I am waiting patiently for my lesson!
Again, I feel so happy that I am able to see this miracle up close.  It is wonderful
Mary.

Mourning Doves

It is amazing how fast these birds grow, from the time the mom lays the eggs until they fly away.  Our dove has two babies, there is a pine needle sticking up by the babies eye.  I could not get a picture without it there.

It is here too, but you get to see Mom in the back.  They look so small.

They are sitting just inside the spruce tree.  They actually are eye level for me to see them.

This picture was taken on the 29th of May.  Look how big he has gotten.

They are both still on the nest with Mom.

Here we are. It is almost time for our first flight!

This picture shows more of the setting they are actually in.  It is a spruce tree on the back of our property. I can walk up to them, and actually see them eye level.

Here they are yesterday. the 29th.

All gone!! They flew their nest today.  The nest is actually flat, sitting on the tree branch.

I am pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out of the doves. It has been a beautiful experience being able to follow them.
Mary

Babies

Baby robins that had just hatched.  The nest is by the quilt shop where I sew each Thursday.  I cannot see in the nest, but hold my camera over it to take the pictures.  There were 3 eggs in it, but at the moment only see the 2 babies.

Here is a robins nest that I have been watching in our next door neighbors pine tree.  Three babies have shown up in this one in the last week.

In our spruce tree in the backyard is a doves nest.  I think she has sat there forever.  I finally saw 2 head peeking out.  There is a piece of the pine that appears to be a part of the one babies face.

Doves again.

Deer

If you look closely you will see a speck of a deer standing in this creek.
We were on the barn quilt tour in Marshall County, Indiana in July 3,2012 and came across this scene.

I had an older canon camera at the time and these were the pictures I was able to take of the deer.

I could not believe he was willing to stand there, while I took the pictures.

It was cool that he stood there, and I got his reflection in the water.