Gloomy Thursday

It started out raining yesterday morning, but we had planned a trip to the Kinzua Dam to look for Bald Eagles that had been spotted there recently hunting near the base of the dam, and I'm glad we went because the weather cleared up, and although we saw no eagles, it was a beautiful ride. This dam was constructed beginning in 1960 and is located about 12 miles from my hometown of Warren, Pennsylvania. When I was growing up, there were many times the Allegheny river over flowed it's banks, and flooded our town. My parents had a cottage along the river about 5 miles below the present dam sight. Before the dam, the river used to freeze enough that we could ice skate on it. In 1956 in the early Spring ( March) there was a quick snow melt due to heavy rains which resulted in a massive ice jam on the river below our cottage. The water rose at an average of an inch every 30 minutes, and eventually there was 18" of water inside the cottage. It took many days of cleaning all that mud and silt before we could stay there again. The cottage was built up off the ground but had a "crawl space" underneath and the chunks of ice that got trapped there didn't melt completely till June!  

Across the road from the dam, the cliff has lots of trees, and even some big rocks that occasionally break loose and fall to the road below. As you drive along there are signs warning of falling rocks, and some do get quite close to the actual roadway!

This is the lake above the dam. Lots of recreational places, boating, fishing and camping.

On the way home I drove along the same river to the spot where I saw the Mute swan family last summer. Only the parents remain. The locals had told me that all the cygnets ( there were 6) had disappeared, mostly taken by Muskies or turtles.
  Well, gone is the brief sun we had yesterday, and back to the gloomy days of winter, and no snow now to complain about... Take care all.

Weekend Reflections

This week we drove to the Allegheny river to check on the resident Mute swan family. So sorry to say only this cygnet survived. The others were most likely taken by Snapping turtles, and/or Muskie fish. This little guy is so cute and doing well, protected by Mom and Dad.
Happy Weekend Reflections, and do click on over to http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com/ to see lots more reflections.

Winter just won't give up!

Here it is one day from April and as I post this blog it is snowing! Yes, the ground is covered, and the weather folks say we might get a couple inches by morning. At any rate it was a beautiful day, and I got some pictures of this Common Merganser pair. A little farther on the Allegheny river near Warren ,Pa we found the Mute Swan pair. I posted pictures of these two last Spring with their cygnets, and they are again sitting on eggs, but on this day they were both in the water, and I had treats for them

Near home an Amish farmer spreads manure on the fields of his farm.

It's maple syrup time here, and lots of the sugar Maple trees have the buckets hanging on them.

Near that corn crib where I always see the deer, another small herd was there for a snack.

Along "our" creek the Beavers have been busy even though the water is still high. You can see they haven't taken any of the branches yet.

My oldest cat Maggie, will be 24 years old this summer. She is still in fairly good health, and loves sitting next to the house soaking up some sun.

World Bird Wednesday

I took these pictures last Spring, and thought I would post them again. There is a family of Mute Swans on the Allegheny River near Warren, Pennsylvania, and apparently this is the 2nd family raised in this area..The residents near here feed them and look out for their well being. Dad is very proud of his young-ins and won't let you get too close! This is a warning..

Here is Mom and one of the cygnets doing some preening. This is how they learn.

A close-up of the cygnets. During Thanksgiving week-end we took a ride to check on the family and saw 5. They were out on the river a ways and I couldn't tell if the parents were there too, and mostly out of range for any good pictures. The babies have grown up but aren't all white yet.
Stop on over to http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see lots more birds.

Last week

In between raindrops last week, we did have some beautiful skies., even though the temps were only in the 50's. These types of clouds have been around for days. This moon was visible between the clouds around 6PM one evening.

Then the very next morning we had a heavy frost. This is on the end of a fence post.

The colors in the trees are at their peak in this region this week.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, down near the Bay is the Bicentennial Tower that allows you to climb or take the elevator to the top to see all over the city and the Peninsula by Lake Erie. Of course this day it was closed.

Out on one of the piers, a couple guys enjoy a day of fishing.

We also spied a pair of Mute Swans.
They were far away, and never did get very close.

A busy day today. More cleanup out around the property before winter. We have just about everything ready for all the white stuff. Did I really say that?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful safe weekend.

Guess what we're up to.

It's that time of year again and the logs are here. On this early foggy morning they are waiting! The older I get the less I like winter and although I do love the warm cozy feeling wood heat offers, I would just as soon have winter over with the day after Christmas. Our son cuts all the logs into about 18" lengths, and our daughter-in-law splits a good deal of it by hand with a huge maul. She likes to do this for exercise and will be doing the same for her parents, and for themselves too. As soon as all the wood is cut we will then begin using our wood splitter.

This is some of the wood she has split. Before we quit for the day, the pile had doubled. Tomorrow Gary and I will start stacking it in the woodshed.

Friday we took a ride to check on a flock of Mute Swans about 30 miles from here on the Allegheny River. We stopped at Wendy's for lunch, and these ducks were in the parking lot begging for a treat. A duckling was standing right outside the door to the restaurant looking in through the glass, but I didn't have my camera with me.! It would have made such a cool picture.

The Swans are alive and doing well. Earlier in the Spring I posted some pictures when the
Cygnets were very small.

I had a bag of Cherrios in the van and coaxed them over to the river bank.

That's the babies in the middle between Mom and Dad, and in my header today too.

With all the early morning fog, it's easy to find lots of spider webs.

Have a wonderful rest of the week-end.

Weekend Reflections

A few weeks ago I did a post with a family of Swans. We took a ride yesterday to see how they were doing, but the male Swan was the only one we could find, and his reflection in this stagnant waterway made for a good reflection.
Click on over to James' site http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com and you can see what he has done with this meme.

Of Herons and Swans

A couple good days of photography. I'm posting lots of pictures, and won't take up much space by being too wordy.
We found this Great Blue Heron rookery about 25 miles from home. These nests are about 300 yards from the road and are on private property, so I couldn't get any closer. Also at least 2 of the nests have chicks. I do wonder how all the sticks manage to hold together with all the strong wind we've had lately.

Earlier a friend told us about a family of Mute Swans on a local river near here .

What an awesome opportunity! We don't see Mute Swans in the wild very often..

This is Dad, and he is VERY protective! Someone feeds them and they aren't afraid so I was able to get close as long as I kept an eye on the male.

Time for some preening, and this is Mom.

Couldn't close without showing you a baby Mourning Dove on our deck.

A miserable wet day, but promises of wonderful week coming up.

Have a super Sunday.