Fragrant Farms.......too early

We drove to New Harmony, IN today and I always stop by Fragrant Farms to see what flowers they have blooming.  They have 100's of peony bushes but it was about a week too early and most are only at the bud stage.

 I think this pink one looks almost like a wild rose....except larger :-)

 I like looking at the center of each one.

 The delicate color on this variety is very pretty.

 A bud ready to open on a deep pink one.

 A nice single petal type pink.  I'd like to have a one of each of these.

 The bushes.  You can see all the ones full of unopened buds beyond them.

 Another center.

Another bud hiding in the shade.

A frilly white one.  Not one of my favorites, but I do like peonies of all kinds!

 The only other flowers blooming today.....with bug.

 There was some sort of artist event going on at the other end of the peony fields.  We tried to stay out of the way.  New Harmony does lots of painting events and many of them outdoors.  It is a very scenic and historic town with lots to attract the artists.

New Harmony is on the Wabash River, so we stopped for a couple of shots of the river.  I was actually looking for swallow nests under the bridge, but it seems we are a bit early for those yet and there were only old ones and no birds flying around. 

The bridge crossing the river to Illinois.  

April showers bring....April flowers

I don't know if there will be any flowers left by May, but April is sure bursting into bloom! 

 It has been a very fast spring blooming season this year.

 I walked around the yard looking to see what was out already.  The small flag irises are blooming.  I have more greenery than flowers....they really need to be dug up and about half of them thrown away!  I find it so hard to throw away plants.  These iris are more like "weeds" than anything else, but I do like their flowers.  

 The Crane's Bill geraniums are blooming.

 My irises have taken a beating from the spring rain and winds and most are lying on the ground.  These are actually trying to get to more sunlight.  I have them in a rather shady corner next to the garage.  I just threw the roots on the ground there one year and they begin to grow and seem very hardy.

My one white iris is particularly tall and last night's winds brought it down.  I need to stake it up.

 The Mock Orange bushes are just beginning to bloom.

 I put some pansies in a pot by the front door.  I always like the short cool time when pansies are really happy with the weather before the heat sets in for the summer.

 My Peonies are also a victim of the wind and rain.  Lying on the deck, they still look pretty.

 I like the bits of red at the heart of the white ones.

I used to love the dark reddish ones, but now the white one has become my favorite.

The Rhododendron bushes are blooming.  I like rhododendrons better than their "cousins", the azaleas, because of the individual flowers with more green around them to make them stand out.....as opposed to the concentrated blooms on the azaleas.  But both are beautiful in the spring!

 Later on I will have a pale pink one blooming.  It is slower than these darker pinks.

 April showers also bring......April worms!  

The worms must be lying thick on the ground!  This Robin was collecting huge mouthfuls with little work.

 Taking them home to its mate maybe?

I have lots of birds around, but don't seem to get too many photos these days.

Blue Grass visit.....

It was sunny but cold, so we drove out to Blue Grass FWA....stripper pits that have been reclaimed....and checked out what birds were around.

 The best find of the day was this Great Blue Heron that was posing right by the side of the road.  We almost always see one on this particular pit.

 The farmers were working on the nearby fields getting them ready to plant, but a few Canada Geese were out picking around for food.  I thought they looked nice in the yellow flowers :-)

 One Killdeer in the field.

 Saw quite a few Robins.....it's spring, after all!

 LOTS of Red-winged Blackbirds buzzing in the trees at us any time we stopped.  I couldn't decide if "every tree has a blackbird" or if "every blackbird had a tree".

 I shouldn't post this pair of blackbirds.  I was getting ready to take a photo of a Meadowlark that was sitting on that tree, when they flew in and chased it away.....grrrrrrrrrr.

 This was rather odd, but not well documented by me.  There were at least a dozen swallows that kept swooping this one area.  They just flew around and around in circles over the edge of the bank and a pipe coming out from under the road and circling up over the road and around my head......didn't seem to mind that I was there.  I could not see any bugs, but they seemed to be very happy doing ....something!  I had very little luck catching any of them in their flight.

 It was fun watching them and they did this for a long time.

Some turtles along the edge of one of the pits.

I need to start going back here regularly now that spring is here and the birds are showing up.

Goldfinch......

The Goldfinches have mostly turned to their summer color....bright yellow for the males with a black cap.

My son gave me this nice new dish feeder for Christmas and I have been waiting for a bird to pose on it for me.  How appropriate that it turns out to be a Goldfinch, since the dish looks like a big sunflower and they love to eat sunflower seeds!

 "Are you taking my photo?"

Gobbling down the seeds.

 This one decided to wait in the shade of the tree by the front door.

 He was looking this way and that and sitting very tall.

 Close-up

 The "quizzical" look?

A funny looking stretch.