Some people celebrate Valentine's Day with a romantic dinner or flowers.....Mike took me to Goose Pond, near Linton, Indiana to look for water birds. Perfect....I think he knows me very well after 43 years! We did have a very nice lunch out on the way home and stopped at the Amish cheese store in Elnora :-)
I was hoping to see cranes and we saw plenty! However, my photos are pretty awful. We saw at least 4 different large groups of the Sandhill Cranes in the tall grasses and along the water's edge....quite distant. I was hoping we might find a few Whooping Cranes in the mix, but no such luck on this trip. We did see them here once before.
This was the largest group. I would guess each group we saw had 40-50 cranes.
A few taking off.
Another group sticking up out of the grasses.
There were lots of geese and ducks also, but my photos are so poor, I can't identify much. I think I need to look at a new camera. This one does fine for close stuff, but has gotten terrible for distant photos. There were definitely Canada Geese, Greater-White Front Geese, Mallards, and I think I saw some Pintails in one photo.
This was the first bird we saw! An immature Eagle, I think. Looked too big for a hawk. Just sitting there on one of the little clumps in the water.
We think these white blobs on the mounds are Pelicans!
Pelicans and assorted geese and ducks.
I also saw my first Meadowlark of the year, and one Killdeer, and a pair of Harriers hunting over one of the fields. A good birding day spent with my favorite Valentine!
*****
The Great Backyard Bird Count starts today! Make a check list and send it in!
So far today, I've seen in the yard:
Song Sparrow-2
Titmouse-2
Goldfinch-8
House Finch-4
Pine Siskin-4
House Sparrow-31
Junco-8
White Throated Sparrow-5
Cardinal-13
Cowbird-1
Dove-9
Chickadee-2
Downy-2
Blue Jay-1
Red-winged Blackbird-6
Mockingbird-1
Red-breasted Nuthatch-2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-1
Red-bellied Woodpecker-2
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Mallard Ducks-2
Red-bellied Woodpecker-2
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Mallard Ducks-2
Starling-1
Robin-2
My final list for the day.
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8 comments:
Oh, I'm sooooo envious of your crane sightings Mary. We do have cranes in this country but only in one particular area on the other side of the country to me and very VERY few of them. They have been re-indroduced to the Somerset Levels in small numbers but I've not had a chance to get down there to see them yet! Thanks for your photos! (-:
That would be my kind of Valentine celebration, too! Great shots and my, my, you have already seen lots of birds today!
This sounds like my kind of Valentine's treat. If you are looking for a good point and shoot camera,check out the new Canon SX50 HS.This is a powerful little camera.I think you might like it.I bought one recently as a camera to have with me most of the time,especially when I don't want to take the big lens.
Thanks everyone!
Jenny: It was great seeing the cranes even if the photos are poor.
Dorothy: Yes, it's been a good couple of days for birds.
Ruth: Thanks for the suggestion. Mike looked that camera up and it looks pretty reasonable and powerful. Will have to find one and check it out.
Oh, I so wanted to meet you there yesterday but had things I had to do...cause we were coming here to Sarah's. I bet you had a blast!
Wow Mary, you have some check list! I've never seen sandhill cranes before. What a treat that must have been. I like your eagle too. A great Valentine's day for sure!
I love that shot of the cranes on the wing!!! Of course, it would be better if the quality were better, but some days, you take what you can get!!!
More wonderful sightings! I'm so impressed! Do you ever look at Chris's blog, Las Aventuras...he lives here, and his bird sightings are incredible! He and Kathie go birding together some.
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