Howell wetlands is full of life.....

Each visit to the wetlands at this time of year usually brings something new to see.I'm beginning to see a few dragonflies.....a Blue Dasher male. I identified this wrong at first because I didn't look it up and just tried to remember from last year. (Thanks, Tom....I should have known I'd get the two blue ones mixed up without checking first :-)
This one looks like he is doing an act on the balance beam.....I give him 10 points!

Big fat bee on the clover.

The goose families are at all stages of growth and I'm always happy to see them.

It is interesting to watch the young ones begin to look and act like the adults.

A grooming lesson

A critic

We startled one family that had been sleeping in the shade along the creek and they hurried into the water.

Some Starlings(?) bathing

A Grackle with a big stick...wonder where he is going with it.

A Red-Bellied woodpecker was high on this tree and has a mouthful of something.

Mike got this shot with 3 butterflies in it...can you find them? One is showing its edge.

I got in some close-up practice on this yellow that was very willing to stay in one spot.

side view....

Working his way around the flower

Sucking up the nectar

Peeking over the top like an alien creature from outer space.

We also saw the resident "manky" ducks, a lone female Mallard, a lizard that was too fast for me, a few turtles, smaller bugs, Red-Wing Blackbirds, and swallows. A short walk, but a busy one!

Eagle information from our newspaper....

According to the Evansville Courier and Press, there are two chicks in the eagle's nest that I've been watching. Quoting the paper: "At six weeks, they are nearly as large as their parents; at eight weeks they begin to stretch their wings. These chicks appear to be covered with black juvenile feathers, which would make them six or seven weeks old. These feathers are necessary for the first flight, which takes place about 10 to 13 weeks after hatching." The paper had a nice photo, but my scanner isn't working at the moment and I didn't find it at their on-line site.

My first photo of what I thought was a chick was on May 5, so that seems to agree with their estimate. Looks like I have a few weeks to wait yet for flight shots!

Plant life near the rookery.....

While waiting and hoping the eagle or herons might do something exciting, I started looking at the really wild roadside where we park and all the plants there. It gave me a chance to practice my macro some, although I seem to have trouble with getting the hang of it on the new camera. Before I get to the plants, this huge turtle was lazing on a log in the area where the herons were trying to fish. Does anyone know if a snapping turtle can bring down a full size heron? I don't think I'd want to stalk around in the water near this guy!
Just one of the "weeds" on the roadside, but up close the little spines and such were sort of fascinating. I can't tell if those are bugs in it or part of the plant.

Tiny blue flowers and tiny white flowers. (very scientific :-)

wild onion or something in that family

I liked all their twists and turns. See the one that looks like a pretzel?

Don't know what this is, but it was interesting.

These were very pretty....Crown-vetch.
This plant makes me think of rhubarb....maybe a wild relative?

These tall yellow ones were mixed in with the crown-vetch.....with a couple of bee friends.

More of the yellow plants.

A different yellow flower. It would have been interesting to have a count of all the different plants that were growing in this area! It is just packed with stuff and the low trees/bushes are getting tall enough along the water to make it harder for a short person like me to shoot over some of it towards the herons.

The Herons and Eagle are growing fast....

I've been told that there are two eaglets, but I never see more than one plus the parent. Sunshine today made for better photos.Look how big the baby is now! You can see the adult's white head above that branch and "junior" is getting quite tall.
Do you think he might be dreaming about flying as he sits there.....or just watching for dad to bring some food?

Look at this poor harassed heron! I assume it arrived with food and the 3 very large youngsters want some....now!

It looks like they are attacking!

No wonder we saw several of the adults down "fishing" in the swamp below.

Caught in a rather clumsy flight moment.

Mike saw this one catch a big fish! He said it could barely swallow it. At least someone's chicks are going to be happy!

The two parents in that top nest have 3 chicks as seen in the next photo. The nest below on the right appears to have several chicks that are unattended at the moment.

3 little heads peeking up. These are obviously not as old as those 3 mobbing the mother in that other nest.

Showing the variety of life in the rookery.

More unattended chicks?

Can't tell if this is one nest or two, but there seem to be a lot of heads in it!

I also took photos of some roadside wildflowers and we went to the wetlands, so I should have photos all week......in between watching the tennis matches :-) The last American player got beat in the men's today. There have been a lot of upsets in this tournament.

My little Chickadee..dee...dee

Early evening brings the little chickadees to the feeders to try their new feeding skills. I've seen 3 for sure, so I'm pretty sure my family from the gourd survived. "I'm king of the feeder!"
"unnn.....I have to eat that?"

"Ok...I got one, what do I do now?"

"You're kidding....put it between my feet???"

"I think she needs to refill this watering bowl"

"I'm so cute!"