Squirrel Sunday.....NOT

Squirrel still not hanging around much....so how about a couple of other mammals? Mike happened to step to the front door last Sunday night and spotted this Opossum (America's only marsupial) in the "vine tree". The possum couldn't really go anywhere from there, so Mike was able to take a couple flash photos. Then I told him to chase it away.....I don't like possums.
Mike gets credit for this one, too. While at the wetlands, Mike saw this muskrat moving in the grass near the edge of the water. I couldn't even see it, because it was down so low. Mike leaned over and got a couple of shots of it in the water before it saw him.

Another animal that just isn't "cute and fuzzy" like squirrels. I hope my squirrels come around more soon.....I miss them!

Hawk cry.....

This was new for me. This hawk was circling overhead and making a cry the whole time. I've never heard a "noisy" hawk! Doesn't that make it a lot harder to catch anything??After he landed at the top of this tree he continued to cry very loudly.
You can see his mouth open here.

It was enough to make this goose who was swimming by itself, decide to go somewhere else....although it did honk back a couple times.

I tried to capture the cry, but just caught a quick sample. I don't know how to get rid of all that other noise...wind?

Geese as entertainment.....

Lots of geese are beginning to gather at the wetlands....about 70 in one area and another couple dozen further down the creek. They like to stand in the shallow areas and clean themselves, which gives me a lot of entertainment watching them.
They also make nice trails through the duckweed.

Does this look comfortable?

I always tend to think of their movements as "goose yoga".

Their necks are soooooo bendable.

Like this.....

...or how about this one??

They very senuously rub their heads over their feathers.

" OK....time to take care of the butt area....stop watching!"

I like how the tail goes to the side.

"I said....stop watching me!"


I call this last sequence the "Goose Hokey Pokey"

"Are you ready???......"

"Put your left foot in....."

"Put your left foot out....."

"Put your left foot in...."

"Now shake it all about...."

"Do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself about....that's what it's all about! "

("Has anyone seen the Goose Chiropractor around here.....my neck is killing me!")

Wetlands full of color.....

Everywhere I went at the wetlands yesterday, there was color of some sort. I got so many shots, I will have some more for tomorrow. A pair of Yellow-Rumped Warblers! I was excited, because I don't often see warblers and these I could spot so easily....although I didn't get any outstanding photos of them.
No matter where they landed, that yellow rump stood out as a bright patch of yellow giving them away.

Speaking of color.......

This leaf isn't real colorful, but it was so BIG! I had Mike put his size 13 shoe next to it to give a better idea of the size.

Red leaves on a small tree near the water.

A splash of color in the distance across the creek.

Mallards swimming in red water?.......

.....ah! Now I know why the water is red!

Mrs Mallard snoozing on a log.....well tucked in.

An armada of Mallards trying to get further away from me.

Always turtles in the banks.....

....on the logs. Now that it is getting colder, they are coming up for some sunshine again.

A Great Blue Heron with a bit of color behind it.

A Goldfinch in the grass of the meadow looking for seeds.

This "wooly worm" was no surprise.....

......but the Monarch was! Seems a bit late to be hatching out. I hope it heads south soon! I also saw several Sulphurs, a Buckeye, and a Cabbage White still hanging around the meadow.

I thought this wasp would be something a little different. Such a nice shade of red. Fits with the fall color scheme.

More tomorrow and I have a bunch of left-overs from other days I haven't used yet. Always either too many photos or not enough!

Cardinal.....

The Northern Cardinal is the Indiana state bird. A very handsome fellow that I can count on seeing every day. Right now they look really good. I think these are young ones that are probably from this years youngsters.
They don't like to pose and if they notice any movement they are off very quickly. They tend to see my camera light as it focuses and that usually is enough to scare them away.

This female didn't seem to see me and was less jumpy, which is another reason I think she is young.

I've been putting seeds in the ant guards now that I have taken the hummingbird feeders down and she thought it was her own private cup to eat out of.

The sunlight wasn't in the best place for these, but I take what I can get!