Soaking up the winter sun.....

Cats know how to really enjoy a patch of sunshine :-)

 Every morning when I open the curtains, Mouse stretches out in the sunshine.  Sometimes I feel like telling her to "move over!"  

 Kitty bliss

 If she would open her eyes, she would see the squirrel enjoying the sunshine and free bird seed on the deck.

 At the wetlands this pair of Mallards were enjoying a bit of sun, too.

 The lovely Mrs......

 ....the male searching for food.

 I like being able to see nests in the wintertime.  This one looked very sturdy and well built.  I always wonder what lived in them.

 Lichen on a stump

 The sunlit grasses.

Not much in the way of wildlife out that day, but the sun sure felt good!

In my other blog "This, That, and The Other Thing" I have posted some photos of quilts and quilt barns from our last trip to Henderson area.

Hawk.......

Not much to post.....

 We came out of the Pet Food Center and heard this hawk crying in a nearby tree, even before we saw it.  

Red-shouldered Hawk.

It was behind the Dairy Queen......maybe it was trying to order the Blizzard of the month.  Hmmmmm....wonder what flavor a hawk would prefer?  Field-mouse Mousse?  Sparrow Spumoni?

Mockingbird a.k.a. "Mr. Mean".....

Along with the Bluebirds, a Mockingbird showed up at the feeders.  Looking at the photos, I can't decide if they are all the same Mockingbird, or whether a couple of them were out there off and on.

 I call him "Mr. Mean" because he tries to claim all the feeders for himself and doesn't want to share the suet with anyone!  The smaller birds are often intimidated, but some of the others sort of ignore him.

 I do think they are pretty birds and they pose nicely :-)

 Grey and white.....he matches the winter weather.

"I'm telling all of you for the last time...this feeder is mine!"

 "This one, too!"

 "Don't make me chase you away!"

 Resting.

 "Just look how big I am!"

Balance.

I don't mind them, and as long as there is food for all, he can posture and pose all he wants.

Bluebird blessings.....

If I get lucky, every winter a few Bluebirds stop by for a brief visit.  They never seem to stay at my house, but I welcome them for the time that I see them!  I have a Bluebird box, but they don't seem to like where it is located and never stay to live in it.  I need to try moving it to a new location they might like better.

 A pair on the ground.  I have one male and several females, I think.  I haven't figured out for sure how many I have seen out there.

The male is checking to see if the Downy and the Mockingbird have left the suet so he can get some.

 The female on the roof.

 I think they know this little dish was designed for mealworms and wonder why I don't put any in it!  I tried some apple bits, some crumbled up suet....whatever I thought they might eat.

 "You expect me to eat peanutbutter???"

 "Where are the mealworms????"

 "Apple???"

The female is a pale imitation of her bright colored mate, but I think she is very pretty anyway.

 Bluebirds are VERY blue!

 The colors are so bright and cheery in the winter.

I wonder where the phrase "The bluebird of happiness" came from?  They certainly make me feel happy when I see them!

 Very bright back view.

 Looking up at the suet again.

 "Your suet is much better than this apple stuff."

 Tail view

A little too close maybe :-)

 They like this little solar light to sit on :-)

Giving me the eye.

This male looks just perfect.

I hope they stay around for awhile....until we get some sunshine for my photos, would be nice!

The other water fowl over in Henderson, KY.....

These are my last shots of the birds we saw over in Henderson, KY.

 There was a large flock of the Greater White-fronted Geese in one field by themselves.  Sometimes they mix with the Snow Geese and sometimes the different geese separate.  Again, there are both adults and juveniles. The adults of these geese have the marks on the bellies....dark stripes.

 A few in the air.

Filling one hillside.  

 A lot of Mallards were hanging around, too.  This isn't a good shot, but you can count the green heads and see that there were a lot of male Mallards!  Just a few females in this mix.

 A pair of Mallards.

Some more of that mix.....on the far right is a female Shoveler.  You can see her very large bill.  We saw a group of Shovelers in another spot, but they were so busy feeding with their heads in the water, I didn't get and good photos.

Mallards taking off.

I didn't even see that Heron until we had this on the computer!  I was too busy looking at geese and ducks.

These are mostly Canada Geese, but towards the right side is a Pintail duck by itself.  And I see one Snow Goose out there with them.  Towards the far shore were some other ducks and a few Shovelers in the foreground.  Too far, and too little light. 

 My "7 swans" are still out there swimming....at least 7!  Maybe 9?

Shovelers, Coots and Mallards.

*******

We also drove past some barns with quilt squares in that area on the way to lunch at a nice barbecue place with quilts hanging inside.  I will either post those at a more distant time or in one of my other blogs.  I have some Bluebirds hanging around the house and am anxious to post their photos here soon!