A "Bale of turtles"......

Bale??????.....what does that mean??? Surely there is a more appropriate name for a collective group of turtles! How about a "pile of turtles"? Or a "log that is over-loaded with turtles"? Must be something better than "bale". I love this guy! I was amazed that I could crop them down so close and he was still in focus.
He decided to open his eyes for the next photo.

"Turtle necking"

Turtle grounded

Turtle pile....some like to be together.....

....others alone. I kept this for the other elements in the photo.

Such lovely green everywhere around them.

I call this the turtle pirate ship......"Land ahoy!"

The ones in between deserted the log, but these two are saving their spot :-)

I love that little guy....he looks like he is mimicking the big one!

"Am I doing it right, Grandpa? Head up, feet back?"
Why do turtles like to lay with their feet stretched out behind them?????

The reflection makes them look like a couple of "turtle clams".

"Big T ...little t.....what begins with T?

Two turtles sitting on a tumbled down tree.

The big turtles on the big log

I really like watching the turtles and Friday there were several "bales" of them!

Squirrel Sunday....Celebration and Swan Song

The "good news": Squirrel Sunday is one year old!

The "bad news": This is the official 'swan song'.

I hope that I'm not confusing you....there is nothing wrong with Star as far as I know. Actually, there have always been many "stars" and I have no idea which one is which.I started Squirrel Sunday a year ago to have an "easy" way to post on Sundays. It was a lot of fun and took on a life of its own. However, I've run out of ideas and Star does not come around and "preform" as much as he used to. I've made his life too easy for him and he just eats sunflower seeds and runs off to his home.

Sooooooo......Squirrel Sunday will not be a regular Sunday feature any more. Star will still show up from time to time, but I am taking the pressure off of both of us for having a weekly post.

He's tired

I'm tired.

Here is a link to the Squirrel Sunday post that started it all.

Squirrel Sunday...And this year's Pole Sitter is.....

Here are three of my favorite early "Star" adventures.

Squirrel Sunday

Squirrel Sunday....hanging out

Squirrel Sunday

Feel free to put Squirrel Sunday in the search box at the top left of my blog and see all of Star that you wish from the past year. You may actually see more of him now, because I won't save him just for Sunday!

Turn up the volume...bird songs

(I just found this link to a site that has most of my yard birds songs. Will have to study this! http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/ )

I'm embarassed to admit that I don't know most bird calls but wish that I did. My yard birds are so noisy right now, that I decided to take a video....actually an audio....clip or two and see if those of you who know more can tell me who I am listening to! There are two that seem to call back and forth to each other...very loudly. Turn up your volume and "Name That Bird!" (birds)

Birds from our wetland's walks.....

Besides the geese and ducks and heron at the wetlands, I've been trying to catch some of the other birds that are there. These photos are from 2 recent walks there. The evening we saw the goose family, we also were entertained by the swallows that were swooping and who decided to line up on the rail for us. I'm not sure if that one is screaming at us or what.
They had been slamming into the water, so we thought maybe they were drying their wings.

Someone doesn't seem to want to be like all the others and face the right way :-)

For some reason the marsh side was totally dry except a few puddles and these sandpipers were wandering around. I don't often see sandpipers so I would guess a Yellowlegs, but don't really know.

I was thrilled to see something I don't often see.

I saw one of the Prothonotary Warblers but he would not come close and the light was fading fast. A splash of yellow was the best I could do.

Yesterday we went back around lunch time and the place was quiet and deserted....except for the Red-Wing Blackbirds screaming at us from the railing. He did not want to let us cross "his" bridge. I saw a female nearby.....or two.

He moved on finally.

I could see this thrush-like bird moving around in the underbrush but only got a couple decent shots. I really don't know thrushes either.

Peeping out of the leaves.

When I took the photo, I could not tell this was a Titmouse, but he was cute out there fluttering around on that limb.

Finally, just as we were leaving, this little grey bird kept jumping from limb to limb. There were actually 2 of them and Mike and I both tried to keep up and get some good photos. This was the best. It had the look of a kinglet....size of a warbler. Grey, with white along the sides of the tail seen from underneath in one photo. My best guess looking in the book is a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but I've never seen one, so that is a guess.

White ring around the eye

I thought this silhouette might help. Most of the time I couldn't tell if I was taking photos of a bird or a leaf! He was very good at hiding!

Got some good turtle shots and saw my first dragonflies of the year mating and laying eggs, but didn't get a very good shot. Will post more later.

The out-of-town birds are passing through....

(My SkyWatch post is below this one)

I love this time of spring when the out-of-town birds stop by for awhile. I showed the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak male already, so today I have a few shots of the female. With that large beak she has trouble getting seeds out of these feeders, but so far has not gone to the tray feeder or just fed off the ground where it would be easier.
I may have more than one pair. This female looks more yellowish under the chin than that other photo. It may just be the camera angle.

I think her feathers look a bit ragged....sort of fringe like.... but that may be because she had been in the rain already.
When the Rosies arrive the Indigo Bunting is right behind! Yesterday were the first of their bright blue I saw.
Flanked by 4 doves he looks a little out-numbered.

Unfortunately he sat right behind that leaf, but this is my closest shot.

The Indigo and the Chipping Sparrow seem to get along well.

This is one of the non-breeding adults, according to Sibley. I always have one or two of those. It was getting ready to rain and the light was so bad.

My best shot of his back area.......mostly brown.

His chest and belly area.....a bit out of focus.

My third visitor is the Catbird. I think they are really pretty birds.

I wanted a photo that showed his undertail area which is rusty red, but he would not cooperate.

A nice side pose.

Can't ignore the home birds :-)

I seem to have a bunch of Downy's showing up all day long which makes me wonder if they are feeding babies. I usually see the babies around Mother's Day and that is very close!

The Chickadee parents are in and out constantly now. I keep hoping to see a little beak peak out. Next year I have a spot picked out for a gourd that will allow me to see a little better what is happening....if they use it.
I have stuff to catch up again, so tomorrow will probably be "left-overs" day :-) We also made a trip up to Indianapolis to the Indianapolis 500 Museum.....after all it is May and I live in Indiana! So I will be posting some photos in my other blog ...This, That and The Other Thing. Mike will have lots of car photos in his blog .....and things that go......as well. He has already done his first post from there and I will get one done soon.