SkyWatch Friday at the Heron Rookery.....

It's SkyWatch Friday! Look up!

I did some skywatching while checking out the heron nests this week.Just a vulture, but a nice cloudy sky for his flight.
This is the group of Bald Cypress trees where the herons have their rookery. I included this shot to show how far away they are. Unfortunately, my camera isn't really good enough for close shots at that distance!

I was asked how many nests there are in this rookery. So, Mike and I tried to do some counting this time. I counted about 44 and gave up, and Mike says he counted 60+....he has better distance vision than I do :-) It is hard to tell where one nest ends and another starts at times.

A friendly little cluster sort of in the open making them easier to get a photo....about 9 nests.

This is one of the most concentrated area of nests around the old eagle's nest. Last year it had eagles, but we haven't seen them since early spring this year. I think they may have built a new nest. They may be further back and closer to the river. We saw one of them flying over the river when we drove across the bridge.

I like this nest out on a nice easy to see limb. I hope to be able to watch this one closely.

There are always a lot of comings and goings. The area below the nests is a swampy area where the birds fish for dinner and then fly back to the nest.

The nest at the top of this tree is another easy one to watch. I think that most of the nests are occupied. Sometimes they are sitting on the nest, and many times they are standing. I don't know if there are chicks yet....I can't see them well enough for that.

This was one of 6 that we could see wading and fishing below the nests.

The area along the side of the road where we stand to watch the heron is full of vegetation of all kinds and Red-Wing Blackbirds flying around. The Black Locust trees are in bloom and the fragrance is really strong. They are beautiful flowers!

Several of these little white butterflies were dancing in the air and I finally caught one sitting still for a few seconds. I also saw a zebra stripped butterfly but wasn't quick enough for a photo.

A wildflower on the other side of the road....

....and another.

One last sky shot from back at home over the Spirea bushes with a couple insects hovering around.

That is my sky for this week....blue and cloudy the last few days.

What is in your sky today?

For more SkyWatch, click on the icon on my sidebar and see skies all over the world.

On the home front.....

It's been awhile since I looked around the yard and took some photos at home.I have two huge Spirea bushes between the lilacs and they are currently in bloom. I love how the white flowers cascade to the ground.
They are pretty in close-up, too. (NOTE: What appear to be dots on the petals are the tips of the anthers)

There were dozens of bees, flies and other bugs hovering all over them! I tried to capture some of the them, but many wouldn't hold still long enough for a photo. Here we have a busy bee and a little bug below it.

I think another bee....there seemed to be big and little bee type bugs.

Two types of bugs here.

Bee?

Fly?

Mike found this little guy sitting on the handle of a shovel he forgot to put away.

He seemed content to just sit there.

When I tried to pick him up, he decided that Mike's shirt front was a good spot to go. Ha!

We've had quite a bit of rain beating everything down, but I had a couple of irises that still looked pretty.

My white Peony is about to bloom! Always one of my favorites.

A bright male Goldfinch getting a few seeds.

Hmmm...when the grass is "Robin high" it must be time to mow again!

Not a great shot of Mrs. Red-Bellied, but I needed a little bird variety :-)

Anyone need a Maple tree????

If even a small fraction of the ones all over our yard rooted, I could open a tree nursery. I'll be pulling up little Maple trees from all over our property for the rest of the summer. These are all from one tree....we have two other maples, in the side yard.

Lunch time at the OK Corral.....

OK...it's not really the OK Corral, but Mike thought that would be a good title and I agree :-)

We were driving a gravel road in Illinois looking for something else and saw.... .....this cute little critter!
"This is my mom!"

I like the mom's tail action throughout.

I especially like this last shot of the tail!

What a lovely spot to have stumbled on accidentally.

Fort Massac, on the Ohio River near Metropolis, IL......

Fort Massac on the Ohio River in Illinois was originally a French fort that had been taken over by the British. However, they weren't keeping it up and George Rogers Clark was able to easily take it over during the Revolutionary War. If you really want the details....read the sign.
Walking towards a replica of the original fort that has been build next to the original remains.

I really like the fence.

A corner of the fort.

One of the barracks

Looks comfy....right?

I thought this wall looked like it was bowing inwards. You can see where they brought logs together for the length they needed.

Another building

Love the corners!

Yum!

A well in the courtyard.

More fence :-)

Part of the original....with dandelions

Where the original fort stood. I think that preserving this and then building the replica next to it was a great idea. Mike took this photo and some of the others, also. He likes the "factual", and I like the "arty" approach :-) Takes both to tell a story.

Grass and posts

George Rogers Clark

The fort from the river side.

Flowers by the path

Bluebird on the post. He kept moving from one tip to the next. Handy seating....if you are a bird.

Some fungi on some of the posts.

This was outside the fort and I'm willing to bet it was built to give "pioneer day" type demonstrations of the good old days.

I'm glad we stopped....an interesting place.