Great Blue Heron on the Ohio River....

After the quilt show on Thursday, we came home through Illinois so we could stop at Ft. Massac and Metropolis. I will post a few photos from there eventually.We were standing behind the fort watching the barge traffic and the bridge across the Ohio River in the distance.....
....when we saw a Great Blue Heron flying over the water. He swooped down and came up with this fish and began to fly to shore with it.

Landing on the beach.

I think this must have been a fish that was already dead because it didn't seem to be putting up any sort of fight.

The heron didn't seem to know what to do with it once he had it.

He got it in the traditional swallowing position and then just stood there with it. I have about 10 shots of him like this....waiting, thinking?

Finally he put it in the water and watched it and pecked at it a bit.

"Hmmmm....what do I do now?"

Picked it up, put it down.

Maybe he decided it was too old and nasty :-) At this point he gave up on it.

Left it there in the shallows and took off.

I hope he found a better one next time! It was interesting watching him, but I sure wish I knew what was going on in his mind and why he rejected it eventually.

Squirrel Sunday.....

"April showers bring...........wet squirrels."
"How about an umbrella out here?"

"I heard there was a squirrel quilt at Paducah this year"

That's right....and here it is! This quilt was made by Barbara Barrick McKie from Lyme, CT. It tells a familiar tale for all of us that have tried to defeat squirrels at our bird feeders :-)

More Paducah quilts....

I tried to pick out some of the quilts with floral or animal subjects, but also in a variety of styles. This is just a sample of the 100's of quilts....all gorgeous!

How does one quilt the Grand Canyon??? Pretty well, apparently!

Blue Footed Booby...cute

Some of the really detailed quilts like these two ....above and below, ......are impossible to describe and have so much going on in them, that one photo does not do them justice!

I don't even have some of my personal favorites on here, but they aren't all nature themed and many were really hard to get good photos of! Eventually there will be a link in my quilt blog to a file of all the photos for those who have lots of time to browse. I didn't get photos of every quilt and began to tire after a couple hours of looking....one day is just never enough.

Paducah Quilt Show teaser.....

I've been gone all day at the Paducah Quilt Show...wow! I don't have time to go through all of my 500+ photos now and do anything with them. I'm tired and I have to go somewhere tonight, so I will post more of these when I have time. It was a fantastic show! Click on the photos to see them closer in more detail.This gorgeous butterfly quilt deserved its ribbon!
I was fascinated by this one and the work on the flowers. Tried to take close-ups but not all good. It is hard in the huge crowds of people to take the kinds of photos I really want to take. It is a very hit-and-miss sort of thing to do. Especially when you are only there for one day and can't go back and redo the ones you want better photos of...sigh.
Very cool turtle quilt!

The artistry and talent of these quilters always amazes me!

If you live near Paducah, KY the show lasts through Saturday!

Late afternoon at the wetlands....

Monday it was too nice a day to not go out somewhere as the afternoon was winding down. So of course I picked the wetlands as the easiest place to go and know I would see something interesting there.We had barely started across the boardwalk, when Mike spotted something swimming in the water.....Muskrat!

He either didn't really mind us being there or didn't notice, but he did start swimming towards shore.

We watched him dive and disappear near this bank, so now we know where his home is.

A Cardinal soaking the last rays of sunshine.

Two or three Red-Wing Blackbirds were "buzzing" at us as we walked around. This one posed in the sunlight for a few minutes before taking off.

This one remained hidden, but I like this photo for some reason.

A log full of interesting fungi......sort of like "bellybuttons" :-)

Several Goldfinches were flitting about.

The closest I've been to a squirrel for awhile.....couldn't get any good shots. There were two of them eating among the trees.

A little butterfly that was frantically flying about......Red Admiral?

This was at home, but I watched this Downy "freeze" on the tree for several minutes. I didn't see any hawks around, but it sure acted like there was something to hide from. It finally stuck its beak around the edge of the tree and decided all was well.