Signs of spring....

I must be feeling better.....I've taken a few photos :-) However, I'm a bit limited right now to what I can see from my windows or from the car windows while driving around. Sitting in the car for very long isn't real comfortable yet, either. Crocus outside the front door
My first Meadowlark of the year. We drove through the park where we always see them hoping to find one......

....and found two! If we roll down the car windows we can find them by listening for their song. Then spotting that flash of yellow on the breast becomes easy as they pop up and down in the grass.

I always like the Bradford Pears lining this driveway.

They have 5 horses in the side yard.

More pears at the park.

The sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy and we know as we come down this back road that we will see a Kestrel somewhere on those poles or wires.....

....and there he is! Mike took some of these photos. It always depends on which side of the car something is :-)

Rehabing my "bionic knee" and getting better each day. I've caught up with a lot of your blogs and will continue to do so. I've missed a lot of good stuff!

Spring is here, but we are having a week of cold temps to end the month. But it won't be long before the cold is gone for good. God is good!

Hello...I'm alive and feeling pretty good :-)

Well, it's Saturday and I'm home and feeling pretty good! Surgery went well. Lots of pain during physical therapy learning to reuse my knee correctly (seems like it shouldn't be that hard :-) I'm walking around the house well and using stairs without a problem. Still using the machine they give you to work your knee passively. Rehab a couple times a week. All in all I feel pretty good today, but don't expect any photos for awhile of birds. Mike has been so busy taking care of me, he can't keep up with feeding my birds, too. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful caregiver to take care of me. Mike has been super! I appreciate all the prayers and good wishes you have sent my way and know that they helped my recovery. This is the first day I have set down at the computer, but I look forward to catching up with all of your blogs eventually. I hope you keep checking the eagle cam....the baby eagles are so cute! I had the nurses at the hospital looking at it and asking me about them while I was there.

KNEW KNEE!!

Mary wanted me to drop everyone a note telling them that the surgery went well. She is feeling good and to thank you all for praying for her. She starts rehab today and I am sure this will be a little painful but it will get her back out taking pictures!
Mike

Knee surgery: Gone for a few days.....

I'm having knee surgery this morning. Replacing one of my worn out knees with a new one. I'm actually excited about it and look forward to less pain when walking and standing....and maybe more chances to get out and take photos! I'll be in the hospital for 3 days and then on a walker or cane for 3 weeks. I may not post for awhile due to not being able to get out for photos. We'll see.

If you aren't watching the eagle nest cam , you should be! I'll post the link again. Here It's very exciting and the eggs are hatching so there will be young eagles to watch. The first egg hatched Sunday morning! Check out the adorable chick!

Sheep Sunday.....

No squirrels today, but some sheep and lambs :-)

This is the unusual house of the owners of the sheep. Really sticks out strangely in the country!

That's the last of my photos for awhile.

Eagle cam reminder...hatching is close!

I've been watching the eagle nest cam at Norfolk, VA most of the afternoon. The eagle is really looking at the eggs....I think something is happening! I'm betting on a chick tomorrow! Check it out tomorrow......getting dark there right now. Eagle cam link

Last few images from the wetlands....

The last few photos from our last wetlands walk. We were very excited to see Kingfishers, but I couldn't get a good photo. Here is one blending in with the trees around it.
You can see both of them here, but so far away!

One of the boardwalks was flooded, but the geese don't mind. Private swimming pool?

A Red-bellied woodpecker was working on a hole high up in a tree.

We were curious about this large nest of sticks.....Something large like a hawk maybe?

A gray squirrel was scampering along the forest floor.

He was in and out of every spot he found and headed away from where we were.

A reflection I liked.

Mallard female preening...

We saw one pair of Mallards at the wetlands. While the male kept guard, she decided to do a bit of preening and cleaning.
I think it was a little like a "fan dance".

I loved getting to see her pretty blue wing patch so nicely.

The finale

Flutter, flutter, flutter

(applause)

Happy duck :-)

There used to be 7 "manky" ducks.....domestic/wild mixes on the front pond. Now there is just this one lone beautiful greenish/black one. I feel sorry for it. It seems lonely and swims around quacking to itself or at anyone who visits. I hope it finds some companions again.

Flickers, flirting and fighting.....

The day we went to the wetlands, there were 3 Flickers flitting all over the place. One female and two males who were trying to get her attention. She would sit in the tree somewhere with her back turned and the two males would do a lot of tail displaying and chasing each other.
"She's mine!"

"I chased him away....OK?"

He's back again.

Another tail display

Winging away.

You can see all three of them here. She...at the top, and the other two below.

Getting close here!

Out on a limb.

It was interesting to watch this behavior! I'm not sure if they ever ended it before we left. I hope another female comes around and solves the problem.

High water, hawks and eagles......

When we went to Henderson, KY last Tuesday, I tried to get some shots of the high water....not easy when zipping along at 60 trying not to get run over by a truck. Mike did some measuring on GoogleEarth and we estimate the water from the Ohio River is a mile and a half out of the banks on the Evansville side of the river. This is normal in the spring time when we get heavy rains. Most of the land is farm land that will be plowed and planted once the water goes down. A quick shot of high water

In the Henderson Sloughs we took the road to the boat ramp and the water was about a quarter mile up the road blocking it. The river is beyond that dark line of trees. There is a large parking lot in there somewhere :-)

One of several Red-Tailed Hawks we saw along the back roads.

He let us get practically underneath of him sneaking along real slowly in the car.

Our favorite Kestrel. We know we will see him every time in the same general area. This time he actually sat still while Mike leaned out the window and took a photo.

Another Red-Tail with his head looking the wrong way.

This one was all fluffed up and really didn't want to move.

Cleaning his talons? Maybe he just ate.

Another

Coming back towards Evansville we stopped by the heron rookery to see if either eagle nest had any activity. A couple weeks ago we did that and there were none in sight.

But on this day there was obviously an eagle sitting in the furthest nest! It's sort of out in the open and not as deep as the old nest, but at least 500 yards from the road. We can watch with binoculars, but not get good photos.

Hanging on the side doing something. Maybe she has eggs and is turning them or just working on the nest?

Afterwards, she/he settled back down on the nest.

We went back a couple days later and that road was under water and we couldn't get to the nest to see if the eagle was still there. We will keep checking. Won't be long and the heron nests will begin to fill up, also.

A couple Mergansers out in a flooded spot between two roads. This spot is low and probably the cause of the closed road to the eagle. We have had more rain yesterday and today, so who knows when all this water will start going down.

******

My posting schedule is going to get more spread out and then disappear for awhile. I am having total knee replacement surgery on the 14th for my right knee. We have a crazy schedule for next week and then the surgery, which will keep me in the hospital for 3-4 days. Won't be getting out for photos for awhile! I really can't predict how fast I will get about again, but know that I will be on a cane and taking physical therapy for several weeks. Would appreciate prayers against infection and blood clots...the two biggest worries. Thanks!