Kealia Ponds 11-5-2013

Black-Necked Stilt
They like to nest on ponds. They find little island in these ponds and build their nests. They are about 16 inches tall, and both males and females look alike. They are found in groups, pairs, or singly in ponds, marshy areas, and mudflats.

I found ducks, but they were farm enough away that I did not get a great picture.

They feed on fish, crabs, worms and water insects. 

Pacific Golden-Plover

Black-necked Stilt

This is what one of the Black-necked stilt nesting areas looks like.

Red Junglefowl
It is said that the wild ones are only on Kauai. Feral birds can be found everywhere. Not far from our resort I spied these "chickens and roosters".

The junglefowl have long sickle-shaped tail feathers, and the females are drab brown.  This sure looks like a pair to me.

This one looks like a feral rooster.

The males are quite colorful.

It is said that truly wild junglefowl are retiring birds of dense rain forests. They feed on leaf litter, scratching for seeds and fruits. 

Here is a little bird sanctuary that is being developed.

There is quite the variety.
The one in the front is a muscovey. 

This is the same pond where I saw the NeNe.

There are a lot of mallard hybrids.

It is hard to tell what kind of ducks all of these were.

Marshall County, Indiana, July 2 and 3

When we went for a stern wheeler ride on North Webster lake, this female mallard was part of our send off committee.

This family of 3  came to visit as we were having dinner at the Frog in Syracuse, Indiana.

See how the male arches his wings.  It is beautiful to see.

Here is their baby. Check out the size of that foot.  The babies do swim with one foot on their backs.  This is the first time we had seen swans in the wild, and with babies too.  They were much bigger then the ones we see where my Father lives. The adults have their wings clipped so they can't fly away.  These wild swans were liking the handouts they were receiving at the restaurant!

Rose of Sharon was in bloom. It has been years since we have seen these. They are not so popular where we live, but seemed to pop up all around where we were touring in Indiana.

This was so pretty, too.  Another color of Rose of Sharon

While we were traveling the back roads of Marshall County, Indiana, I had to make my husband back up to get this picture.  She was so nice to stand in the water while I took her picture.

I love how her reflection was in the water.

As I have said before, these pictures are ones I thought turned out pretty good. They will win no prizes, but are a great reminder to me of the beautiful things we see in nature.

Mary