Walking at the wetlands in the wet weather.....

During one of our rainy day breaks, we were near the wetlands, so we stopped for a brief walk....which got wet when it started raining again.

There were a handful of Canada Geese in the water taking it easy.

....practicing their ballet moves......

 .....exercising their wings.

2-3 on a far bank in the grass.  This one is on guard for the other two.

 I liked the clouds reflecting in the water.

 The little maple trees looks so pretty with their new reddish leaves.

A Mockingbird letting us know that this is "his" territory! 

 Don't know what this plant is, but I liked how it looked.

 New purple leaves on this little tree.

 A Red-winged Blackbird on the observation area railing.

 A Robin up high as we were leaving.

 Mr. Blackbird again.

 A bee on the teasel.

And of course a few turtle shots, although not many were out on the logs. 

 All dressed up in their green duckweed.

I thought this one was a rock at first :-)

 A female dragonfly.....Pondhawk, I believe.

 The Blue Dasher male.

 Tall flowers against the sky and clouds.

 This Fritillary butterfly wanted to lay out nicely for me, but it was on the railing and I'm a bit on the short side, so the angle is odd.

Fungi in the water.

An Amberwing dragonfly on our own pond. 

 And another Blue Dasher, as well.

 This pair of Damselflies was mating and I was having a hard time getting focused on them with the new camera.  I can't seem to get the close-up stuff figured out, so this is good practice. No idea of their name.

 Our double orange lilies along the back of the garage.  I just love these particular lilies and they have so many buds and flowers before they are done.

Had a bit of sunshine yesterday, but still having some rain almost every day.  A really wet year so far! 

The day started out wet......

We have had day after day of rain.  

I saw this leaf on the deck and wanted a photo of the rain drops. 

 The grass is in desperate need of mowing....but too wet.  One of Mike's little blueberry bushes....loaded with fruit even though it is only about knee high.

One of the dark orange lilies with water drops.

 I sat and watched the birds for awhile after the rain quit.  A Cardinal and a female Cowbird...I think.

Down in the grass.....a Cardinal family....male, female and in the middle a juvenile.....along with the cowbird. 

 Papa Cardinal in the tree

 Mama Cardinal keeping a fond eye on her offspring.

 Mom and babe

A different young one in the tree. 

 I'm glad the Cardinals have done well.

There seem to be several babies around.  All big enough to feed themselves, but not with the adult coloring yet. 

 Looking a little lost.....I think this is the youngest one that I've seen so far.

 Chickadee.....sideways while choosing just the right seed.

 Chipping Sparrow in the drive.

....and in the tree. 

House Finch on the left, Goldfinch on the right. 

One of the many House Sparrow youngsters. 

A wren on the "porch".  We think the baby wrens have fledged, but I keep seeing wrens going in the house.  They just don't go in as often.  Maybe the young ones are still living there?  The noise Mike could hear inside as quieted down.

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Got out and took photos several places today, so maybe I will post a little more often for awhile!  

House Wren parents at the nest box....

We hung an old bird house from the basketball goal at the end of the driveway.  It is a nice location because it is high, surrounded by tree limbs from the maple tree, the neighbor's pines, and other bushes, and I hope it is a hard place for predators to get to.  We have a family of House Wrens living in it.  I wish I could see the baby wrens, but Mike assures me that he can hear them every time the parent leaves the box after bringing food :-)

 Sometimes when the parent brings a bug home, it sits in the tree nearby for quite a while making sure it is safe to enter the house.  I try to sit well out of the way where they aren't too bothered by my presence.

 On the "porch"

 I wish they would stop on the roof more often....I get a better view of the latest food offering.

I find it fascinating to see the variety of insects they bring home for dinner :-)  I love to watch them, but it sure is hot sitting out there!  We have been having a lot of storms, too, so I hope the house is reasonably weather proof and securely fastened......and that the neighbor's cat will leave them alone when they leave the nest!