Wetlands walk.....Part 1

I went to the wetlands yesterday and it was alive with activity!  I love this time of year.  I spent a good part of the time watching this bird below and trying to get some good photos.  Then I consulted with my panel of birding experts to tell me which "phoebe/flycatcher/pewee" it might be!

 I went back today and got some better photos and it has been decided that this is the Eastern Phoebe.  There were at least 2 of them and they had a series of perches that they took turns flying to and sitting on.

 They are certainly good bug catchers!  At least half of my photos have a bug in mouth :-)

 Yummmy!

 "Are you making fun of my dinner?"

 Not a very colorful bird, but it sure is fun to watch.

 Oooo.....not so happy about it catching butterflies!

 One of its perches was in "turtle territory".   They didn't seem to mind very much.

 A very fast little bug eating machine.

In this light it looked lighter in color which was part of the confusion in naming it. Very plain.  Another bug caught!

Sometimes it appears to have a slight crest.....

...sometimes it doesn't.

Well, I always get carried away with a cute bird :-)  

More things tomorrow....geese babies, turtles, frogs, whatever!

Paducah Quilt Show....

We went to the Paducah Quilt Show today and the quilts were fantastic!  They always have the very best.  Here are some of my favorites and nature themed ones or ones I think a particular reader will like :-)  Be sure to click for the slide show version to see them bigger and closer!

 This was one of my favorites: Audubon's Christmas.  The quilting behind the birds is fantastic.  I wish you could see it up close.  I took lots of close-up photos.  The woman standing there is the quilter who made it, Kathy McNeil.

 These barns were wonderful!

I liked the birds on this one....duck in the middle, quail top and bottom. 

Again, I like the birds in the triangles of this one....beautiful! 

The strange colored dogs is because this is part of a challenge using a line of fabrics.  I've never seen a quilt by Nancy S. Brown that I did not like.  She does fabulous animals all the time. 

Another great animal quilt!  I loved this one so much, you are going to have to look at all my close-ups of each animal :-)  The fabric choices were wonderful.  This was done by a group. 

 Two wonderful eagle quilts.

I like anything with flowers :-) 

Colorful horses...wow! 

 I actually took a class with this quilter (Freida Anderson) once, but I sure didn't learn enough to make something this wonderful.

 Wonderful lighthouse!

These penguins are another Nancy S. Brown.  She has a quilt in this show every year and it is always fantastic, whatever she does.  Ahhh.....to be this talented....sigh! 

 Sheep and other woolly animals.....would like to study this one closer.

I can't begin to describe the detail in this little group of houses and people. One of the very talented Japanese quilters made this for her daughter......tiny, tiny details. (Ayako Kawakami)

Beautiful!

Love the details in this one.   This is only a small selection.  Lots of other gorgeous quilts.  I will hopefully get all my photos put into a slideshow and posted on my quilt blog eventually, but I wanted to share some of them here.