Carolina Wren....

I didn't expect to have another post, but this cute little Carolina Wren showed up on Monday and I got a few shots. I haven't seen a wren for months! So nice to have the winter birds returning. Carolina Wren's are year-round here, but I don't see them much in the summer time.It checked out every one of my suet feeders to make sure I was going to have lots of food to share over the winter.
It looks pretty cute in this pose :-)
I was surprised at how "fat" it looked in most of the photos. It must have had a good summer, or it was fluffed up for the cold we are beginning to get.

I love their rich brown colors and perky attitude.

Head on makes it look a bit "doofus".

It loves the suet and is always a welcome visitor.

Digging in. The tail always looks "detachable" or something....like it was added on extra.

And they love to stick that tail up in the air! Part of their cuteness.

This and That.....

I'm on my way to Des Moines, Iowa as you read this to go to the big AQS Quilt Show there and visit friends. Here are a few odds and ends until I get something else to post. Probably won't post while I am gone. (one more bird post tomorrow)Rose, from Pics & Pieces and Time Stand Still posted some interesting bridges a while back and noted the dates on them, so I have been curious about some of the ones I drive under regularly. This old railroad bridge is one of them and I noticed that it does have a date on it.
1910....and looks every day of it.

This was in a yard we drove by recently.....an eagle carved with a chainsaw, hanging in a cage. They have recently added the carved Pileated Woodpecker to the side of the cage! Had to have a photo :-)

In their side yard, they have the grouping of carousel animals.

We actually had about 5 minutes of rain....at least its a start?

In my quilt blog, I have posted some of the quilts made by the inmates at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility here in Indiana. They have a special unit in the prison that is allowed to do things like this....a faith based, service unit. These men are making these quilts for the homeless, for the families of fallen soldiers, and other charitable causes. They have given away 1000's of quilts. I got to see a few of them recently and took some photos. There is a link for my quilt blog on the sidebar or click here.

Kestrel....

Not much today, but we did see a Kestrel up on the wire while driving around the other day. It sat there for a couple minutes before deciding it didn't like us....
.....but it didn't go far. From this point further down the wire it immediately spotted something on the ground and dove for it....

......back up with "something" held tightly in its talons.

....and away with the prize to a nearby tree!

Predator and possible prey.....

OK....here is the hawk from my header. Don't know what kind it is ..... Coopers?

This was one of those lucky moments. I was sitting by the sliding glass doors and had them open when he landed on the tree right next to the deck! So I got these shots without any glass between us. When he started staring at me, I was a little concerned he might decide to fly in! Never could see much of his tail because of the leaves.
Staring

This is my favorite shot for some reason. I like how he is staring out and the light is hitting him.

Good neck shot if that helps anyone identify him for me.

Oooh.....that stare is a bit scary! I'm glad that I'm not on his dinner list!
I was going to make a header from this one and put "Read this blog....or else!" LOL

Makes me think of the old "Uncle Sam wants YOU!" posters.

A few minutes later I went out the front door and this little House Sparrow was sitting on the rim of the fountain.

It didn't even fly away when I walked up to it! It looks pretty "downy" on the back. Young or sick or both. I even wondered if it had flown into the door and stunned itself, but I don't think so.

Perfect opportunity for photos! It let me walk all around it standing about 2' away.

His sweet little face. I know....I know....I'm the one always complaining about the "brat pack" eating me out of house and home! I have at least 24 young sparrows. Why is it they can hatch more babies successfully than any of the other birds? How many broods do they have a year?!

A little male....with his changing bib.

Later I saw him peck a few seeds in the drive and then lay down on the warm stones and just lie there. A perfect place to become a hawk's next meal, unfortunately! I wanted to tell him to get up and fly away, before it was too late!

SkyWatch Friday....

It's SkyWatch Friday time! This meme is for showing beautiful skies all over the world. Click on the icon on my sidebar for more SkyWatch photos.Sunset on the Ohio River.
From further back.
Had at least one interesting cloud day this week! Still no rain, however.

Starling on a light post outside of Burger King. Hoping someone might drop a hamburger maybe?

Another cloud shot at home.

Those are my skies for this week!

I'll save that hawk in the header for tomorrow....even though I was dying to post him today!