Golden Eagle, Great Blue Heron, turtles and a gar pike!

David is off to Metropolis again today for a third physio appointment. He's hanging in there!

It did rain last night, as forecast, and will probably have more today with a lesser chance for the next few days. It has cooled off to the 60s today, and is quite windy!

I am still going through the many archives and found that March 26th 2012 was a particularly exciting day since David was able to get some photos of a Golden Eagle at Barren Creek, near the Ohio River.

If you don't know about these magnificent birds, they are 30 - 41" in length with a wingspan up to 7 1/2 feet, with wings held out straight when soaring; dark brown, with golden-brown crown and nape. Great fliers and hunters, they are fast enough to take grouse and the like while in flight; they usually prey on ground squirrels, prairie dogs and rabbits.

They will attack animals up to the size of deer, especially in winter (but cannot carry off the heavier animals). In our area, they are winter visitors (non-breeding).

 

 Apparently under a few years old (for their first several years of life, young birds have neatly defined white patches at the base of the tail and in the wings as seen in the photo below).

 

Of course, the Great Blue Heron is a rather awesome sight to behold as well, even if it is a year-round resident! Taken on the same day, we had a sighting near Barren Creek.

Another common sight is one of turtles sunning themselves on logs, this day was no different. Sorry, I haven't identified the actual species yet!

While going through this day's photos, I found one of the places we have stayed at before we moved here (found under the Lodging tab), the Barren Creek Cottages. Beautiful, quiet and peaceful.

If you followed yesterday's post, in one of the videos David mentioned a Gar Pike swimming toward the canoe. On this day's photos, it appears there was another sighting, and doubt my fisherman husband would forgive me if I left them out.

Prehistoric looking things aren't they?!?

 

Until next time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch and Barren Creek sights

It has been rainy and a bit cooler yesterday and today (around 60F today, with a low of 54F tonight forecast). It occurred to me that the rains seem different in the forest than what I am accustomed to; for some reason you get more of a feeling of invigoration than it being dismal, you can almost see everything turn a bit greener before your eyes.

David was able to get out yesterday for a little while around Barren Creek and get a few photos in while having a bit of a fish in between rains.

We're actually not sure what this bird is yet, I have some checking to do!

 

Here it is, zoomed in a bit...if any readers out there can offer suggestions, we're all ears! (UPDATE: A friend from Southern Illinois Birding on Facebook reckons this is a female Red-winged Blackbird)

A tricky thing is to get a good photo of the Great Blue Heron, a year-round resident here. As soon as you stop your car, they normally fly off! With a length of 36 - 40", a height of 4' (including head and neck) and a wingspan of 6' they are an awesome sight, in flight or not.  It spears fish or catches them by using its bill like scissors. It also feeds on frogs, snakes, mice and birds.

A Great Blue Heron may slowly stalk its prey or stand motionless waiting for something tasty to come within reach. Even though its bulky, it can float like a goose and take off from the surface of the water.  

They nest in colonies, usually in tall trees.
 

Next, at some distance away, David captured (on film!) what we think is a female Ring-necked Duck; from what I can see they supposedly are just a winter visitor here, although looking at a map of their territories, we are close to the breeding range, and this one fits the female's description. Their length is 15 - 18", with bill bluish, with white ring, black tip, and white at base; male with purple gloss on head, black back and white bar on side; female brown, with white eye-ring and streak to nape. 

Now, for turtles! Many times you must pick one up to truly identify it but I'm going to venture a guess and say this is Snapping Turtle! If we are right, you don't want to be picking one of these up (although many will still give you a nasty bite). Their shell length is 8 - 20"; they have a big head, with powerful jaws; carapace brown, often covered with algae or mud; long tail. They enjoy quiet mud-bottomed waters.

The head sure appears to be one:

 

Now, for a short blast from the recent past, another winter visitor to our area is the Red-breasted Nuthatch, one I had never seen before moving here. They are 3 1/2 - 4 1/2" in length.

This photo was taken on February 18th by David on our front deck while the little darling was getting a snack.

As you can see, they have a white line above the eye; black cap; blue-gray back; reddish underparts. They enjoy coniferous forests; mixed woodlands (mainly in winter).

On March 14th, David was able to photograph one a few more times, again on our front deck:

From what I can see, our last photos were taken on March 23rd on, you guessed it, our front deck:

It's such a joy being here every day, and we love discovering what's next! Until next time...

Birdfood wars & why did the Killdeer cross the road?

David snapped some photos on April 17th that I want to share today. First, I'll feature the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (a Fluted Swallowtail) that he happened upon. This species has a 2 1/2 - 6 1/2" wingspan. They are a large butterfly, unusually dark, with pale to bright yellow spots near edge of wings and usually has a tail. They enjoy deserts, grasslands, forests and gardens.

 

 

Here we have more photos of the Killdeer I featured yesterday. You can read more about these birds (as all others featured on this blog) by clicking on the Birds tab at the top. I wanted to share with you now an interesting tidbit about these birds, though, is their defense if a predator comes very near their eggs or young: they will try to lure it away by playing wounded. With one wing held up over the back and the other flapping on the ground, it waits for the intruder to get close, then runs and repeats the display until the intruder is a safe distance from the nest or young.

 

 It's not only chickens that cross the road!

Everything here is so different than where I grew up and every day here is an adventure, whether it's just walking down to the mailbox...or watching the feeders, especially when there are several varieties wanting to eat! On this particular photo session, we had cardinals, goldfinch, white-throated sparrow and chipping sparrow trying to see who would win the birdfood-wars.

(Above) In front, Chipping Sparrow, middle American Goldfinch, in back is White-throated Sparrow.

 

(Below) At left, below feeder, and at far left on feeder, female Cardinals; next American Goldfinch (showing back still molting for Spring); at back is White-throated Sparrow).

 (Below, the male Cardinal joins an American Goldfinch (bright yellow) and two White-throated Sparrows)

 Cardinals do love their sunflower seeds....

Oops, not on the feeder, but can't resist photos of the Holly bush! Distractions, as I said, are the norm around here :)

Back to the feeder:

 What's a day without a Ruby-throated Hummingbird fix?!? As of this date, we have two males and a female!