Cliff Swallows under the Wabash River bridge at New Harmony....

We drove out to New Harmony, IN today to have lunch, and to see if the Cliff Swallows were under the old Wabash River bridge.

Yes, they were!  I love watching the swallows. 

They were flying all around the bridge and back and forth to the nests that are plastered to the underside of the bridge. 

 I think they were working on the nests....adding more mud and possibly cottonwood fluff that was floating around everywhere in the air.  

 There were birds inside some of the nests and others flying back and forth.  I find the clusters of mud nests they build so interesting to look at.  Would love to see one up close.  I see a spot here where one used to be...maybe I should look on the ground :-)

 You can see a couple of heads sticking out and one bird flying off.

 Looking closely at the mouth of the nest it has gooey white stuff all over it. Another reason I think they are still working on the nests....closing the opening more.

A cluster on each side of this beam and a bird at two of the nests. 

Peeking out. 

 Sticking a head in. 

 "Just a little more mud, dear.....I'm not quite satisfied with the baby's room yet!"

 The water in the Wabash was high.  The water on the left is out of the banks and up on the boat ramp area.

The bridge itself is so old and in need of repairs that they have closed it.  This is a hardship for the farmers who have land on both sides.  Also, people who lived in Illinois and worked in New Harmony (or vise versa) now have a much longer drive.  Illinois and Indiana can't get together on who should have to pay to fix it or if it will be fixed at all.

This is the section of the bridge where they swallows build their nests.....over the land, rather then the water.

 Shooting the bridge reflection in a puddle.

I'm not sure I would cross this bridge at 25 mph.  I would rather race over it and hope it didn't fall in before I got to the other side!

A short drive to Henderson....

We went for a short drive over the river to Henderson, KY to where the heron rookery used to be.

 There were 4-5 of these Cabbage White butterflies flitting around in the flowers on the edge of the road.

 Gave me a chance to try my new camera on some butterflies.

 This is a bit off focus.....I caught it in a hurry and didn't even know the blackbird was there when I took the photo.  We spotted several egrets out in this wet swampy area and this blackbird must have felt one was too close to his nesting territory.

 The egrets were beautiful and really stood out against all that green!  However, they were pretty far away.

 One that lifted off just as I took the photo.

 Not sure what these plants are, but the whole area was covered with them.  I'm sure that they are growing in water, or the egrets would not have been there.  The area used to always be covered in water and didn't have all these plants.

 Two of them....there were 5 in all.

 1-2 Great Blue Heron were also stalking the area.

 These trees used to be loaded with heron nests.  If you have followed my blog for several years you might remember all the photos of the herons up in the trees and the dozens of nests. 

 This is the old eagle's nest in the middle of the old rookery area....empty....and you can see a couple of the old heron nests in the tree to the left.  Most of the nests have blown out of the trees.  I would love to know why they moved somewhere else and where they went!  I assume they are still along the river somewhere, but we don't know where to look for a new rookery.

 One of several Red-winged Blackbirds that was buzzing away at us.  He was showing his epaulets nicely.

 Another one giving voice to us...."This is my territory!  Go away!"

 Way out in a field I could see a few crows and something larger....one lone turkey!

 This turtle found a small high and dry place in the middle of the swampy area.

Some of the yellow plants along the road.

Blue Grass FWA on a windy day.....

Late yesterday afternoon we drove to Blue Grass to see what might be out and about.  It was getting overcast and the wind was blowing.....not great conditions :-)

 This big soft-shelled turtle was sitting in the road....making it easy to photograph.

Such an odd critter.  At least it wasn't blowing in the wind like everything else I saw.

This cowbird had just taken a bath in a puddle and was shaking itself off in the wind. 

Most of the birds we saw were in trees that were swaying back and forth.  I have trouble keeping up with the rhythm of the swaying.  This is a Dickcissel. 

A "headless" Indigo Bunting :-)....oh, well..... 

One of the first things we saw was a Killdeer in a field.  It must have a mate on a nest nearby, because it immediately started running in the opposite direction and making lots of displays to get my attention away from the nest. 

We were sitting in a car and not really much of a threat, but it went through a lot of posturing for us. 

It was fanning its tail and carrying on, and really wanted us to go away.  I was more concerned about the farmer that was plowing a distant part of the field.....hope the nest is real close to the road and out of harms way.

 A Meadowlark way up in a swaying tree with something in its mouth.  Taking food home to the nest maybe?

 Not real sharp....couldn't catch the rhythm, once again.  It sat there a long time.  

 A Robin not swaying in the wind :-)

 Red-wing blackbird.

The moody sky 

I thought these were pretty....some sort of crown vetch, I think.

Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge part 2.....

I don't really have a lot more to post, but do have a few more photos from our trip.

 Not sure what member of the flycatcher/phoebe family this is, but it posed for me :-)

 This Goldfinch pair didn't seem to mind us stopping for a photo either.

 Great Blue Heron

 Our best luck for the day was spotting one of the otters that live in the river there.

 Not the greatest shots, but just fun to watch it swimming around.

 It circled the area for 5-10 minutes and then disappeared into the river bank somewhere.

 Red-winged Blackbird female

 Spotted Sandpiper

 Snake skin we found in the grass.  When I held it up, it is about the same height that I am, so about 5'2".

 Pair of Wood Ducks showed up about the time it began to rain.

 This is Meyer's barn and cabin.  They are on the Muscatatuck property and the original owners must have had a really nice place to live back then, though maybe not so hot for farming.  Surrounded by trees, it is a very peaceful place, and there is a large lake behind the cabin that is the main refuge for the water fowl now.  

I really like visiting this place and wish it was closer to where we live, but it makes a nice little one day vacation.