Squirrel Sunday....."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

Me: "Hey, Star.....I put up your Christmas decoration, what do you think?"Star: "As long as it doesn't interfere with my eating you can do whatever you like!"
Me: "Well.....I've found that it's pretty hard to interfere with your eating...ever!"

"If he doesn't want the food, I'll take it and I think that the decoration is very festive."

Me: "Looks like you found a wren to share with....very nice Mr. Nuthatch. Just chase Star away anytime you want."

More from Goose Pond....

We did see some birds other than Whooping Cranes at Goose Pond. I think this is a pair of Gadwalls.
It was spitting a bit of snow, so sometimes there are white spots where they shouldn't be :-)

One of them took off over the water/ice mix.

Further back was a line of ducks that appear to be mostly Shovelers and maybe some Teal? I'm only sure about the Shovelers, but there was something with shorter bills in the mix here and below. There are a lot of those mounds in the water.....beavers?

More of the duck line

In coming!

Landing!

One pond had a bunch of Coots swimming.

Heading away

Walking on water....I mean ice!

A vulture was cruising overhead above this pond. I never could see a red head. Maybe it was a young one. It seemed to be uniformly black top and bottom.

Seeds......I could see sparrows flitting around among the grasses in the meadows. I think I saw a Tree Sparrow, but it took off before I got a photo.

An old bridge. This is blocked off by steel beams because the road is gone. Last spring I "scooted" under the beams to get across to a place near the water, but my knee doesn't "scoot" too well any more. Today we just looked from a distance.

As we were leaving we spotted several herons either sitting on these mounds or on the ice.

Looking around.

On the drive home I was taking sky/sunset shots through the window. We saw a lot of hawks on poles or trees, but I didn't manage to get a good photo of any of them.

A farm against the late afternoon sky.

Well, that was our Goose Pond trip.....cold, poor light, but Whooping Cranes, ducks, coots, and herons! On the way home we visited a Winery. Didn't take any photos there but it was a nice place. Lots of little wineries all over southern Indiana.

Whoopee!........Whooping Cranes!?

We went to Goose Pond in Linton, Indiana today and hit the jackpot! The very first place we stopped, we could see some really big white birds in the distance, so we walked a trail headed in the general direction. We had no idea what they were.
These aren't great shots, but I'm just thrilled to have gotten anything at all.

Black wing tips.....I still didn't know that meant they were Whooping Cranes until I got home and started searching the bird book!

Lifting off. I could see in some of the photos that their legs appeared to have "stripes". After looking on the internet and seeing much better photos than mine, I know now those are the large leg bands they are marked with.

Heading away

My clearest shot.

As long as they were against the ground, I could focus.

Last shot I got before they were too far away for my camera.

Definitely a "life bird" for me!

I think I just got an early Christmas present from God :-)

Downy and Titmouse for World Bird Wednesday.....

Someone told me about a new meme....World Bird Wednesday, so I thought I would give it a try!Click on this icon to see more World Bird Wednesday posts.
You may get tired of my Downys but they are the birds that are posing for me the most at the moment :-)

This female stops in several times a day to get some suet.

The male Downy wanted a drink from the cup. He tried to reach from the branch, but that didn't work, so he worked his way down the tie wrap that I have it hung by. I haven't seen him do this before.

I like how he wraps his talons around the wrap while he drinks.

OK....back to the food!

It was nice of him to pose on the branch for me.

They also like to hang on the cage.

Titmice seem to like a varied diet and go back and forth between the sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet.

A seed for dessert.

Those are my birds for today!

Birds and the birdwatcher.....

One day last week, I look outside and there were a pair of Mallards swimming on our lake.It was a beautiful fall day and I was pleased to see them.
I haven't seen them since, but maybe some more will stop by....especially now that the lake is full again.

"How did I get up here??"

(That's a very good question! Mouse decided to help watch the ducks. I have no idea how she got up on that rail considering her arthritic hips and "chubby" build.) This photo was before our 6" rain and the lake was low then and full of leaves.

"I wonder if there are any birds in that gourd?"
At least I can see how she got on this rail...by way of the glider.

"Maybe a short nap until the birds show up."

Mrs. Cardinal in the vine tree.

I got two shots before she realized I was watching her through the window.

Mr. C. having a few sunflower seeds.

A Junco digging through the leaves in hopes of something good.

A Song Sparrow helping. I kept hoping it would look up or turn sideways or some angle better than this one.

Rained most of today. Maybe some more birds tomorrow.