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.

Baby Robins

These first ones were taken last year (2012).   The crabapple in our front yard had this nest.  It was fun to watch the baby birds as they hatched and started to grow.

Mom protecting the nest.

In the Spring of 2012 I found this little guy on the ground by where my Dad lived.

He was not going to go anywhere.

He just let me photograph him.

Double-crested Cormorant

These birds are about 33 inches tall.  They are a large all black water bird, with a long snake like nect.  Long yellow orange bill with hooked tip.  The females look just like the male.

The male and female build the nest together and only have one brood a year.

They catch fish by swimming with wings held at its side.  To dry off they strike an erect pose with wings outstretched facing the sun.   They migrate to southern states, Mexico and Central America.

Mute Swans

This is some of the collection of pictures I have of Mute Swans.  Where my Father lived, they brought in pairs of swans for the residents to watch.

They were so interesting to watch.  Almost every year that he lived there, the swans mated and the residents got the opportunity to watch them hatch and grow before they were taken away in the early fall.

I love taking pictures of them.  As the parents were preparing the nests, then as they took care of the babies.

They are truly big and powerful birds.  

They are beautiful.  All of the birds that were placed here, had their wings clipped. They could not fly away.

This pair had two babies.  We had learned that the gray babies were called royal .  It is not a way to tell a male from a female.

It was so interesting to watch the parents teach the babies all the things they would need to know to survive.

Mom taught them to climb up on the wood ramp and get back into the nest to rest.

They would still be sheltered under her wings, and seem to be hidden.

They did have to learn to dive for their food.

When they are young they seem to play follow the leader.

Mom and Dad watch over their babies.