Definitely two eagles in the nest....

(My scheduled posts are still not posting on their own)

You are probably getting tired of eagle up-dates, but we check once a week in hopes of seeing them begin to fly. Today was the first time I could definitely say there were 2 in the nest and neither was an adult with a white head. One sitting on the edge, one laying down
Both up

Stretching the wings some....I hope that means flight is soon.

Both heads sticking up here.

Beak open

These 2 herons are right above the eagles and were flapping their wings. At least the heron are getting ready to fly.

I'm always amazed at how crowded the heron nests are.

Sort of like raising teenagers in a one bedroom apartment.

A couple dragonflies just for variety. These were actually at the wetlands where we went next, but I'll save those photos for tomorrow.

We are going over to Olney, IL. on Wednesday for a day trip to look for white squirrels. It's been pretty boring around here....I take photos of the same things over and over.
It rained over the 4th and the Wimbledon final match on Sunday was over 4 hours long....longest final in the history of Wimbledon....so that occupied a large chunk of my time watching it. That is why no posting the last couple of days.

Left-overs from the week.....

A little of this, a little of that...... Young Grackle?
Young Cardinal

I thought these were interesting.

This heron stook there like a statue instead of flying off like most of them. Standing tall
....and from the other side :-)

A very angry Redwing Blackbird that says I am too close to his nest!

All the dragonflies seemed to be female.

Widow Skimmer female

unidentified flower

Young Killdeer, maybe?

Well.....that was a very decisive and informative post! I've got more question marks than anything else. Some weeks are like that.

Happy 4th of July to all of you. Celebrate our freedom and enjoy some family time!

Sunset for SkyWatch and butterflies and bees....

I haven't had any SkyWatch photos for awhile, but the other night there was a beautiful sunset! Early....
......ending!
For more Skywatch photos click on the icon on my sidebar. Thanks to the Skywatch team for all of their hard work to keep this going.


Since it was Thursday, we went to Hartman Arboretum to search for butterflies and had some luck.
A Spicebush Swallowtail

Mike took this one.

Trying to get it with the wings open is always hard, but with this butterfly I actually like the closed position better.

A small white one not too well focused, but I liked it with the purple flowers.

A Silver Spotted Skipper with a small friend.

The Button Bush was thriving with bees and other critters.

A Painted Lady...I think. Mike shot this one.

The bees are almost as big as the flowers :-)

Bee in a bright yellow cup.

Some odd cattails by the lake.

We saw several Monarch caterpillars.

This one was busy devouring that leaf. Notice the little green balls beside him.

3 different bugs.....the Milkweed was as busy as the Button Bush.

I like the way the Trumpet Vine is sticking out in all directions.

Why I let the sunflower seeds grow below the feeders.....

Discovery!
"Oh boy....fresh seeds!"

Perfect balance at all times

Leaning in

.....wayyyyyy in!

Hanging low and reaching under

I didn't have as many volunteer sunflower seeds grow this year. Now I wish I had planted some more! These beautiful Goldfinches make me smile watching them work for the seeds.

Making the weekly rounds....

We headed over to Henderson for the weekly eagle/heron rookery check yesterday. Nothing happening in the eagle's nest, but they are still there. I was trying to shoot the grasses, but realized that this gives you an idea of how far away the trees with the eagle's nest and heron rookery are.....that is them in the distance.
The roadside is so full of flowers and weeds and bushes now, that it is a wonder we can see over them to the trees! This Sulpher butterfly was enjoying the crown vetch.

Teasel!.....At first I thought it was a weird kind of thistle, but then remembered what it was. Very interesting....but very prickly!

I've never seen it blooming before.

Lots of herons in lots of nests....what can I say.

This area always looks like about 3 nests all joined together with many large birds :-)

Since the eagles were not doing anything, we headed out to Blue Grass to see if there was anything new there.

I decided to go walk in this little "forest" of trees....some sort of willows?

They had these "fruits" all over them.

Found a really nice nest in one of the trees just above my head. I was dying to look in it, but resisted. I'm always afraid I will disturb a bird and make it desert the nest.

Higher up in the trees, this little bird was busy cleaning his feathers. I don't know if he goes with the nest, or not. He was very intent on cleaning and itching.

Not sure what it is....a flycatcher of some sort?

Very plain in color.

One of the feathers he pulled out :-)

I'll stop here in case I don't have anything to post tomorrow.